Dharma Bum

OC Daily Photo

Well I have another blog for you to follow. The always wonderful Suz Broughton from Alive in Wonderland asked me to participate in a new Photo Blog, OC Daily Photo. It'll be your go to site for all the interesting views of Orange County. Check out the other great photographers and be sure to bookmark it.

photo by Suz

Here's a little vid I did for the other blog of some art openings over in Santa Ana tonight. Yep, I ditched out on the OCMA thing. Artists in order are Yun Bai at OCCCA, the Kustom Kulture show at GCAC and Dylan Bartlett at the Memphis Gallery.

Intv.

  I was interviewed today by Orange Coast Magazine for their August issue which will feature a "state of the arts" section. They wanted to talk to me about the Foundation and my experience with the Art Blog and some insight into our local scene. It seems they're going to re-org their magazine and website. The website should start featuring artist profiles which I think would be great for all involved.

One of the questions was how it feels to distribute the money, etc? Michele attended a seminar this week where she told me the speaker said that people are hitting their mid-life crisis around the age of 50-55 these days and that they move from ego related success striving to searching for something more significant in their lives. She told me that I'm just ahead of the curve.

I told her my whole life has been one mid-life crisis..

HB Art Center Auction/Party

The 8th annual HB Art Center Party/Auction is coming up on May 16th from 7 to 9:30 pm. There's also a meet the artist Party on Friday May 9th from 7 to 9pm that is always a good time and will also feature performances by my friends at Finishing School. Be sure to come on out and support our local art center. See you there.

Following is a little video piece I did while Mark Dutcher and Sherie' Franssen were installing their outdoor installation at the center.

Outside The HB Art Center from Dharma Bum on Vimeo.

SAC Art Forum Series

If anybody has some free time tomorrow mid-day, I'll be giving a little talk for Santa College's Art Forum Series tomorrow at 12:30pm. For more info on the series and speaker bio's go here.

ART FORUM SPEAKER SERIES at Santa Ana College is a weekly lecture series for noted artists, painters, sculptors, architects, ceramicists, art directors, art collectors, critics and writers to discuss their work. Inaugurated in 1979 by Founder, the late Professor Gene Isaacson, 1936-2005. ART FORUM isthe longest running college art lecture forum in Orange County. The ART FORUM Quarterly Magazine is the only publication of its kind published in Orange County. It highlights the featured artists and architects, offering insight and perspectives on their work and experiences.

There's a new artist interview up at The OC Art Blog.

The New Project

Well it's time to unveil the new project. The wife and I have formed a private foundation to help support artists & arts organizations based in Orange County or Long Beach. The Hoff Foundation will distribute $3,000 a quarter in the form of grants. All the information about how to apply and various details can be found on the website. The first award date will be April 1st and we will be granting $6k (we missed the Jan 1st award date). Anyway, please spread the word. We're very excited about the next phase of involvement in the local art community.

P.S. Many thanks to James Rojsirivat for his work on the website.

Centered on the Center

Friday night I went over to the HB Art Center to catch the opening of Centered On The Center, their annual salon style bring your art and we'll hang it show. This might hurt my street cred but I always enjoy going to the opening for this show because there's always a good energy at the opening. You have artists of all ages and abilities, most showing their work for the first time so there's always a strong sense of excitement in the room. It's a nice break from the cynicism that comes with a lot of art world events I attend. Anyway, here's a few photos and if you're a budding artist be sure to get there next year and have some fun.

The crowd

Travis Collinson & HB Art Center Curator Darlene DeAngelo

Elaine Zellie and her Hair Squares

Free Art

Trace Mendoza