Secret NYC drawing, Restoring the Beep’s Burgers sign, Zine fests, Castro Theater Painting!
Catching up on everything else after finishing my big series
When I started writing this month’s newsletter, I realized that this one marks a full year of newsletter writing!
Though the first few aren’t here on Substack, my first newsletter went out in September of 2023! Whether you’ve been reading along the whole time or joined more recently, thanks for being here and for taking an interest in my artwork. Since I have started this, many people have told me how much they enjoy reading it, and that keeps me going.
Over this last month I got to help restore the iconic Beep’s Burgers sign, make art from the original flooring from the Castro Theater, table at two zine fests, and install my Views From Fulton series. In this newsletter I will also share with you a secret drawing from my New York trip back in June, give you some event and reading recommendations, and gift you with a new picture of my cat, Ruby, as thanks for reading (or at least scrolling) all the way to the bottom!
During my very first trip to New York City a few months ago, I did a lot of drawing. You can read all about that (and my chance meeting with and drawing of Amanda Palmer!) in my July newsletter, but there was one drawing I couldn’t yet share. While I was still in Manhattan and posting stories of my sketches on Intagram, one of my followers asked if I could draw the George Washington Bridge. He and his partner had met on the pathway with a view of the bridge. I found a spectacular spot from the park near the Met Cloisters, which I also visited, where I could see both the path and the bridge!
I’m returning to Manhattan in the first week of October. I loved finding this place that meant so much to them and discovering someplace I wouldn’t have gone otherwise, so this time around I wanted to formally offer commission slots for my New York trip! If you have a place in Manhattan that you’d like me to go and draw like I did the G. Washington bridge, reach out to me (you can simply respond to this email!) by September 25. I will have three slots available, first come first served, each for $200. I hope some of you will enrich my trip with your special places! Newsletter readers are getting the first shot at it, and I’ll share it on Instagram on the 20th if they haven’t yet filled up, so get in there quickly!
Back in March at the USITT conference in Seattle, I attended a workshop on sign painting. I discussed that in my April newsletter. That was the first time I had used oil based enamel sign paint, and that skill came in handy for me when Neil G. Ballard asked me to help him restore the iconic Beep’s Burgers sign. Neil has been working to make this project happen for years, and he worked with Matt Stansell (an excellent artist as well) to remove the previous layers of paint and prep the sign before I got to come in for the fun part and help paint the letters. Here’s the before and after:
I love old neon signs like this, and it was so cool to actually restore and improve an icon of the city rather than observe and depict it.
On the topic of fantastic old signs around the city, I recently met paper cut artist Suze Riley who was in both the Voss Gallery and 50|50 shows with me, and who invited me to participate in an upcoming show all about dated signage. The exhibit is titled Vacancy and will be open at Francisco Gallery October 10-31!
September first was my third time tabling at San Francisco Zine Fest. Neil G Ballard (From the Beep’s sign project mentioned earlier) is one of the organizers! Check out Neil’s cartoons and zines on his website. I love SFZF every year as a chance to connect with the artist community and show a different side of my work.
I table for my art co-op The Spooky Haus, and my friend and fellow co-op member Henry tabled with me. He’s making new and exciting work, both drawing and collage. He has new prints now available at Queer Arts Featured in the Castro! We also teamed up again at Bay Area Queer Zine Fest. In preparation for these two fests, I created a new zine titled Thoughts and Figures.
Since I have been drawing (and more recently facilitating) with Sketchboard for years now, I have tons of figure drawings just sitting in sketchbooks and drawers. I was inspired by Ben Ahn to breathe new life into my old drawings by collaging them, though I did it in a very different way. I worked from a pile of potential drawings and looked for words that I felt matched up with a pose, and then I chose a color scheme and found beautiful textures with those colors. Then I arranged them all until I was happy. The drawings include Sketchboard founder Natalie Gavidia, trans art model Álida, and a duo pose with Amanda Palmer and Tallulah Talons, from New York. (Seriously, go read about my last NYC trip!).
30 second gesture poses with Tallulah and Amanda, re-purposed into collage
If you missed it at both zine fests, fear not because you can get it at Queer Arts Featured!
Speaking of Queer Arts Featured, I have had the honor this last month of working with Devlin and Rhys to make frames out of the original 1920’s wood flooring from the Castro Theater, which is currently undergoing renovation. Queer AF has been able to save and repurpose the flooring and the old screen, and make them available for artists to create with and on.
Me left, Rhys center, and Devlin right
They covered the walls of the gallery in the shop with the screen and invited the community to collaboratively create on it. Now parts of that exhibit, Wet Paint, are up for auction in the wood frames. The auction supports the shop and all of the wonderful community events they hold. Bidding is open through Sep 21, 2024 at 12:00 AM PDT. For this auction, I made a panel out of pieces of the flooring and did a plein air nocturne of the Castro Theater sign on it!
It’s nice to see all the lights on the blade sign working all at once, but the marquee is still dark. This painting captures this specific and complex moment in the theater’s history.
Stop by the shop to see this, and also my “Twin Peaks Corner” painting in person! You can also pick up a postcard of the nocturne painting. Take advantage of the chance to add a piece of Castro history to your home!
After nearly two months of constant plein air painting, I finally got to install my 50 Views from Fulton paintings at Sanchez Art Center. It was so satisfying to see them all up together!
There has been such an outpouring of appreciation and support for this series, and it has been so inspiring. Several paintings have already sold and gone to their new homes, but you can see those that remain (and get one for yourself) at Sanchez Art Center through October 6. If you can’t make it down there yourself, I recommend calling the gallery during their open hours if you’d like to get one of the paintings.
Instead of trying to include all 50 paintings in the email, here is the thumbnail sheet with all the street names so you can get a sense of what they all look like together:
I am still working out how to create prints with this series, but I did make a run of prints with six of the Golden Gate Bridge paintings. I have a few of these still available ($35 each), so reply to this email if you’d like one!
I’m also looking for ideas and feedback for how else to combine them into prints. Should I make a limited run of large prints with all of the paintings on it? Should I have one that has all of the paintings that include dogs?! What would you want?
At last it is time for recommendations! My reading recommendation for you this month is On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz. As an artist, particularly of cityscapes, my primary goal is to see and observe my city. This book discusses how we experience, notice, and pay attention to our environments, and the ways in which we don’t. The author takes walks, mostly but not all around Manhattan, with experts in different fields, and through this she explores the science of attention.
Each expert’s unique perspective on the city or place where they are walking has been exciting and inspiring for me. She talks about how an expert’s brain is changed by the thing they have spent so much time paying attention to, and how that gives them the ability to see things that are invisible to most people. Having spent so much time painting in San Francisco, I see compositions everywhere I look. Art is all about showing each other how our uniquely trained brains see the world so differently. What is it that your experience causes you to notice that others don’t?
I’ve been listening to it for free through the San Francisco Public Library! Yes, I will probably plug the library with every newsletter. It’s that good, and it’s free!
Every month at Stookey’s Club Moderne we host Crooners, a lavender live sing Cabaret. Hosted by Chester Vanderbox and Polly Amber Ross, it’s a celebration of queer vocal talent and beautiful music. This month’s theme is Too Darn Hot. The show is on September 22nd, the third Sunday instead of the fourth, and there’s only one show at 8:30, so make sure to reserve your spot! I’m always the door guy so I’ll see you there!
photo by Kayleigh Shawn
I am already looking ahead and planning for the end of the year, so if you are interested in commissioning something for a loved one for this holiday season, it’s not too early to reach out! Additionally, this year I am opening up two discounted slots for home murals to be painted over the holiday period. If you are going out of town over Christmas and New Years, consider that an opportunity for me to transform an entire wall in your home! The two slots will be first come, first served, so let me know if you are interested! Here are two examples of private home murals I have done:
Thank you for joining me for another month! While you await the next newsletter, you can check out my website to see my portfolio of plein air paintings, still lifes, block prints, figure drawings, tiny scale model houses, murals, and you can also find information on commissions! Please feel welcome to email me and ask about any ideas you have that aren’t covered on my commission page, I’m always willing to discuss.
Stay tuned for next month, and let me know what you’d like to hear about in the newsletter in the future.
Lastly, as always, here's Ruby!
Thank you!
-Nathaniel J. Bice
he/him