|
I started painting at sixteen because my sister, Marilynn Abel, is an artist and etcher. My first teacher was Frank Lobdell. This was the summer of 1960 at the San Francisco Art Institute, then called The California School of Fine Arts. I received a B.F.A. in fine art (painting) in January, 1965. My teachers were: Frank Lobdell, James Weeks, Jack Jefferson, Fred Martin, Elmer Bischoff, Manuel Neri, Richard Diebenkorn, many others. I was an assistant instructor with Carlos Villa (drawing) and with Leo Validor (painting) in 1970 while in the M.F.A. Program. I did post-graduate study in Asian Art History in 1971-72.
In 1960, on a visit to City Lights Books I met Allen Watts who had published many books on Buddhism, Zen, and Kenneth Rexroth, artist, poet, critical essayist, translator. I did not know at this time that he translated Chinese and Japanese poetry into English. I recognized Allen Watts because I had been to some of his lectures on Buddhism and Vedanta at the California Historical Society. This when I was at Lowell High school in 1959. I knew Bob Kaufman, the BEAT poet and co-founder of BEATITUDES. I practiced meditation at the Zen Center in 1959, 1960 back when it was on Bush St. in S.F. I practiced Tibetan Buddhist meditation with Chogyam Trungpa and helped print images for the Darmahdatu center.
Allen Ginsberg was there at this time. I have known Jack Hirschman, San Francisco’s poet laureate and artist since 1975. I married the poet Deorthea Berg on April 17, 1963. We had three children together. She died on Dec. 6, 2000. I will be publishing her poetry with Beatitudes (east bay) later this year. I have been in five shows at the LIVE WORMS GALLERY, First in 2005 in the ARTISTS ON WAR, WAR ON THE ARTS show organized by Jim Brightwolf. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Hirschman, Agneta Falk, and other artists were in this show. I also had a three man show in January, 2008 at LIVE WORMS GALLERY with Susan Cervantes, and Torrey Nommesen.
I live in Oakland, Ca. and I was the curator of a show at the new U.S. CHINESE ART MUSEUM in Oakland. This was in July, 2008. I have a room of my work at this museum. The U.S. Chinese Art Museum has a permanent collection of Chinese painting, sculpture, and calligraphy. If you contact me for a private viewing you could see the entire museum also.
I live on the museum grounds.
|