de Young

Last night was the opening of the “Diane and Sandy Besser Collection” exhibition at the de Young Museum. The exhibition consists of over 70 works on paper, over 70 teapots (like you’ve never seen before), and many examples of African bead work. There were dozens of artists there whose work is in the collection. You cannot imagine how surreal it is to walk into a major museum and see your framed art hanging on the wall. Even more surreal is to see your name, y.o.b., country origin, title, etc., on one of those official museum wall tags. I think I almost fainted. My mom almost cried but then Mary, my mom, and I all started laughing at the same time. I don’t know how many artists are probably used to this experience but I seriously never imagined my work in this situation. It is really a humbling experience to have your work along side the likes of Travis Somerville, Sandow Birk, Ala Ebtekar, David Sharpe, Jonathan Solo, Taravat Talepasand, Charles Kraft and many, many more talented folks.

The galleries were open for a members preview and we were early so we scooted down to check it out before the place filled up.


It’s a big NO NO to take photos in the gallery so all these pics are shot on the sly without a flash. In other words, I don’t have pics of a fraction of the show, Sandy Besser, or the massive crowd that jammed this place in the hours that followed. But I did of course get pics of my work.



The teapots were truly amazing. What a collection! Really, anyone who works in clay must see this show. They and everyone else who can. I was blown away and again, my pics do not do this show justice.





Upstairs we hung in the VIP lounge for like a minute to get a drink but returned to galleries shortly after. Anyway, here’s some random pics from upstairs.




Lovely wife and lovely mom.

I dressed like a museum guard and I was asked where the bathroom was more than once.

Chilly night

Full moon