I’ve been away a lot in the last month, with a ten day trip to New York City, followed by the Morgan Hill Plein Air Paint out. I’m excited to tell you more about those adventures, but first I have a thoroughly San Francisco story for you:

Last month, I joined my friends from the East Bay painters for a day in Ina Coolbrith Park, but I went one block higher up to the very top of Vallejo, where there is a peaceful patch of grass with a beautiful view. I painted North Beach, the Bay Bridge, Oakland, and Mt. Diablo in the distance. After my trip to New York City, I posted the painting to Reddit. 

The next morning, I received an email from Chip, who was sitting next to his father’s hospice bed when he came across my painting;

“Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent with all of us on social media. Today, something amazing happened. I’m up in hospice with my father who has lived on the top of Russian Hill for the last 30 years. He loves this hill, and his special park was the one you painted at the top of Vallejo steps. We call that “Ron’s grassy knoll” as for the last 30 years he’d walk there. Lie there. Read there. It was his special spot.

So you can imagine the amazement this AM as I’m sitting here holding his hand mindlessly scrolling my feed and that beautiful picture shows up in my scroll. Stopped me in my tracks. Anyway, it was lovely and if I could be so forward as to ask if you’d be willing to share that particular piece with a guy who is going to leave a little piece of his soul and his heart there today.”

Time was of the essence, and fortunately I was able to prepare the painting and bring it to Russian Hill myself. They invited me into their home and introduced me to everyone so that we could have the painting in Ron’s room and, as they put it, bring his spot to him since he couldn’t make it there any longer. I was honored to be invited into their family at this tender, intimate moment.

The highest calling of artwork is to bring happiness, good memories, and togetherness when people need it the most, and it was amazing to be able to do that for them. I’ll always think of that spot as Ron’s Grassy Knoll from now on. 

Coming up! Mini solo show at San Franpsycho!

I’m going to fill a small wall in this local shop in the inner sunset. It’ll be a combination of new plein air paintings I’m excited about, and old pieces that deserve another chance to be seen. I’ll also have a selection of prints available at the shop for the duration of the show. Join us on June 7th, noon to 3pm for a casual opening reception with snacks.

Also coming up! Make sure to check out Delicious at STUDIO Gallery, May 28-June 21. Dozens of Bay Area artists present works related to food and drink. I have a new neon painting in the show:

Pieces sell right off the wall, so get there soon if you want to see it in person. Then return later to see new paintings on display! If you don’t see my painting, just ask the curator if it’s still around, or she might give you a tour of the drawers!

It had been over a year since my last trip to New York City, and I was itching to get back! I was traveling with my partner, and we couldn’t have picked a better time as we landed on the first warm day of spring in the city. Flowers were bursting open in every corner, and I met up with the NYC Urban Sketchers in Central Park to celebrate the cherry blossoms. 

It was the perfect day, and a great turnout of inspiring sketchers!  

In addition to my painting, I did a couple of sketches, shown here in the foreground. I got as much sketching and painting in the trip as I could!

This is the amazing view from the roof of the building where we were staying, which I made as a thank you for our hosts.

I met up with my friend Marlowe, and we painted the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges from Brooklyn Bridge Park.

I also got to hang out with Dave Zackin and see his ceramic studio! If that name isn’t familiar, check out my March newsletter to read about how I met Dave and helped him with a mural in San Francisco.

Though I’ll never run out of subjects within San Francisco, it can be inspiring and refreshing to explore painting and sketching elsewhere.

Shortly after my return from NYC, I participated in the Morgan Hill Plein Air Paint Out, which also got me out of SF and into new territory. 

Naturally, most painters are going for farms, wineries, and rolling hills in that area. Mila Kirillova and I, making Plein Air a team sport as we often do, were excited about cool motel signs, historic water towers, and rusty bridges.

If you find yourself heading down that way, the exhibit with my paintings, Mila’s paintings, and those of the 15 other talented artists will be up through the last weekend of June! 

Back in San Francisco, I’m excited to be part of the latest edition of the 415 Zine! You can pick one up at a few of my favorite places in town, including Fleet Wood and STUDIO Gallery. 

Thanks for reading! As a reward, here is a picture of Ruby.

While you await the next newsletter, you can check out my website to see my portfolio!

Stay tuned for next month, and let me know what you’d like to hear about in the newsletter in the future by responding directly to this email or reaching out at nathaniel@njbice.com.

-Nathaniel J. Bice

he/him

njbice.com