Dawn Hampton Mixed media on canvas, 40 inches x 30 inches, 2008
This portrait is of the inspirational and legendary dancer, singer and cabaret artiste Dawn Hampton, who performed with artists such as Cab Calloway and Bette Midler, and inspired Lindy Hop dancers all over the world through her teaching of musicality. Learn more about Dawn and her incredible family of musicians in the documentary “The Unforgettable Hampton Family”. This painting depicts Dawn dressed up for one of the theme nights at the Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden in 2008. The painting was displayed as part of Dawn’s 82nd birthday celebrations in San Francisco, June, 2010. Sadly Dawn just passed September 25th, 2016. She will be greatly missed.
At that same Herrang dance camp in 2008, Dawn sat for a 3 minute portrait I created as a live painting performance, “Happy Feet, Happy Paint”, during the weekly Herrang cabaret evening. Even in sitting she shows her humor, spirit and musicality! Enjoy the video:
Dawn and her portrait, the Harlem Hotshots, Chris Lee and I at the Diego Rivera Theater, City College of San Francisco.
Dawn and I at the Diego Rivera Theater, City College of San Francisco.
Dawn talking at the Rent Party, San Francisco, June 2010
“The Golden Gate Bridge”
2012
120″ wide x 84″ high, mixed media on canvas
Created in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge
Unveiled at the
GGB75 Soirée
May 26th, 2012
The Painting “The Golden Gate Bridge”
This painting is a tribute to the vision, determination, skill and sacrifice of the many people we have to thank for this magnificent icon. In the lower left corner of the painting you will see the faces of five important players in the creation of the bridge. From left to right:
Joseph Baermann Strauss, Chief Engineer, who doggedly pursued the idea of building a Golden Gate Bridge after being asked in 1917 to offer a proposal by city engineer Michael M. O’Shaughnessy, and eventually saw it through to completion.
Amadeo Peter Giannini, financial guarantor whose Bank of America bought $6 million in bonds in 1932, without which the project would probably have never got off the ground.
Irving F. Morrow, consulting architect with is wife Getrude C. Morrow (they replaced the initial consulting architect John Eberson) and who, building on Eberson’s initial design and in close consultation with assistant engineer Clifford Paine, was responsible for the beautiful Art Deco styling. Irving Morrow lobbied successfully for the distinctive International Orange color.
Charles Ellis, key engineering expert who undertook many of the complex design calculations (they filled ten volumes).
Leon Moissieff, designer of the NY Manhattan Bridge, who contributed force calculations and worked closely with Ellis.
The workers who toiled above and below the treacherous waters are represented in the mid-left section of the painting. Throughout the artwork are newspaper clippings from the San Francisco Chronicle published on May 27th, 1937, the day the bridge was opened to the public, and the subsequent two days. The opening of the bridge was accompanied by a parade and a city-wide “Fiesta” featuring multiple celebrations, events and venues. The Fiesta program is included in the artwork. There is much else besides which I’ll be happy to point out when you visit…
The Painting “San Francisco Heart” This painting, which prominently features the Golden Gate Bridge, is on display at Sutton Studios & Gallery in a unique 36″ x 60″ luminescent LED Light Panel presentation kindly loaned by TaDah Corporation, as well as the original mixed media collage on canvas.
Sumi-e brush paintings on paper inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge
New series of Sumi-e ink paintings inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, painted on 19″ x 24″ fine art paper prints of original pages from the San Francisco Chronicle at the time of the bridge opening. Besides being inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, the series of Sumi-e brush paintings were also inspired by a number of other influences, first and foremost by my Zen calligraphy teacher, Sarah Moate sensei, who studied under the late Zen master calligrapher Terayama Tanchu Sensei, and also by the art of Jung Woong Lee and Robert Motherwell.
Historical program presented by Peter Moylan on the fascinating story behind the building of the bridge
Included in the GGB75 Soiréee was Peter’s telling, with slides, of the epic saga of the greatest theoreticians and designers of bridge building, fearless engineers and construction workers, and dedicated political and civic leaders, all led by a visionary with a desire for a monumental achievement of a lifetime, to build the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bridge historian Peter Moylan told this story in a unique combination of documentary narrative and storytelling that captures the dramatic events and personal sacrifices of those whose faith in the future and the value of progress overcame vast challenges of finances, politics, and engineering to create one of the world’s greatest icons.
Peter has been a student of San Francisco history for 36 years. He has also been a participant in civic and political events. He currently operates San Francisco Walks and Talks, offering the only walking tours that tell the entire history of San Francisco from native American village to the City we know today. I highly recommend arriving at the GGB75 Soirée before 7:30pm so you can enjoy his fascinating presentation.
May 26th is also a special Lindy Hop swing dance anniversary: Frankie Manning’s 98th Birthday
The day before the Golden Gate Bridge opened, and across the continent in New York City, a talented young dancer, Frankie Manning, was celebrating his 23rd birthday. While the Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta weekend was in full swing in San Francisco, it is likely that Frankie was pioneering innovative Lindy Hop air moves on the dance floor of the legendary Savoy Ballroom to the live music of big bands like the Count Basie Orchestra. Frankie, who performed internationally with the famous Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and appeared in films like A Day at the Races and Helzapoppin’, subsequently served in the Army in World War II and fought in the Pacific, worked in the United States Post Office for over thirty years, and in his 70s started teaching Lindy Hop around the world, becoming the Ambassador of Swing to new generations of dancers. I took my very first Lindy Hop lesson from Frankie in 1995 and was inspired by his incredible joy, spirit and energy. He continued dancing and teaching until we sadly lost him age 94. May 26th would have been his 98th birthday and in Frankie’s honor my portrait of him was displayed at the GGB75 Soirée and some of his favorite tunes from the same era of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge were played.
Big thank you to the Sponsors & Contributors whose generosity has made this event possible
Peter Moylan for contributing his time and sharing his deep knowledge on this fascinating topic!
TaDah Corp for loaning their fabulous LED Light Panels
SF Teatime / The British Grocery for their delicious contributions to the refreshments
Vinfolio for donating a top notch wine to the drawing
SFMade for donating SFMade T-shirts with their distinctive logo that features the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge Furniture Company for bringing along examples of their furniture made of metal from the actual bridge (yes, there will indeed be real pieces of the bridge in the studio!)
Big thank you to Sarah who helped prepare the studio and the refreshments (even arranging
the cheeses to look like the Golden Gate Bridge!)
Big thank you also to Peggy for helping out, beyond The British Grocery!
Lights on Mid-Market 2009 36″ x 52″, pigment ink and acrylic on canvas
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom viewing the painting during the official public launch of the Mid-Market area Art in Storefronts program.
This painting depicts a vibrant, exciting, bustling evening in the Mid-Market theater district of San Francisco. It features three of the magnificent art-deco style theaters that this area of the city is home to: the Warfield, the Golden Gate and the Orpheum. The Warfield Theater was once a sister Fox theater to the stunning Fox San Francisco further up Market Street and the Fox Oakland across the Bay. My Fox Oakland painting, created to celebrate the reopening gala of the beautiful Fox Oakland, shows the positive impact of the lighting up of the glorious marquees above these historic theaters. The bill-board depicted in the painting shows the fabulous New Orlean’s trombonist Trombone Shorty.
David Addington (on right), the owner of the Warfield Theater and the driving force behind Prop D, and I outside Show Dogs, the new gourmet hot dog place with an exceptionally fine selection of speciality beers.
I originally created this artwork in support of Proposition D which, though it did not pass, was intended to establish a new Mid-Market Sign District between Fifth and Seventh streets on Market Street in the center of San Francisco, allowing beautiful theater marquees, like that of the Golden Gate Theater and Warfield, and other signs in that area, to spring to life once again. For those not familiar with San Francisco, these two blocks, which once were a popular destination, have unfortunately been for many years a sad blight, full of abandoned properties, boarded up store fronts and the homeless living on the streets. Thankfully that situation is now slowly turning around, as I mention below. When I taught a Painter workshop at the Ramada Plaza Hotel (now the Whitcomb Hotel) on Market and Eighth in 2003, the wife of one of my students, on her first visit to San Francisco, walked along this section of Market Street and felt so threatened she daren’t go out again on her own the rest of the week.
Show Dog’s Seth Carter and I looking at the painting.
View of the painting with the Golden Gate Theater in the background. The mysterious wrapped figure on the roof is part of the Arts in Storefronts program.
As I explained above, I created this painting back in 2009 to depict the vision of a vibrant, exciting, bustling evening in the Mid-Market theater district of San Francisco. It was my hope that that neighborhood would be able to return to the elegance and vibrancy that historically it once embodied. Now, seven years later, in 2016, that transformation in the Mid-Market district is slowly happening. Thus when ArtspanSF sent me the #SFPublicCanvas call for art relating to the question of “How can we build a future for the Market/Tenderloin neighborhood that addresses the issues facing the area today?” I thought immediately of this artwork. #SFPublicCanvas is a large scale public performance event planned for June 16-19, 2016. Projection art will be displayed on the exterior of Hastings College of the Law on Golden Gate Ave, serving as an environment for a vertical dance performance by Bandaloop, with aspects of the animation triggering, and being triggered by, the performers. The “canvas” for the performance will be a video projection of compiled art submissions that reflect the community’s hopes and aspirations for the future of the Mid-Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Sounds like it’ll be a very cool event! This painting was originally created using Corel Painter and a Wacom pen tablet on a Mac. It was then printed on canvas and acrylic paint was added. The fact it bridges digital and non-digital media seems to fit with the digital / non-digital contrasts of the Mid-Market neighborhood as tech companies rub shoulders with traditional art stores and theaters; and tech workers, tourists, residents and the homeless all pass each other on the street.
Summer Afternoon 2005 Mixed media on canvas, 38″ x 63″
This painting is based on a scene I witnessed at the Great Gatsby Afternoon at Dunsmuir House in Oakland, a journey back into the 1920s organized by the Art Deco Society of California. You can see details from the painting and the original photograph below (scroll down).
* To purchase the original painting please either call 415-641-1221 or email jeremy@jeremysutton.com.
Misty Waterfall at Guangzhou 2009 24″ by 36″, acrylic and pigment ink on canvas
This painting was inspired by a photograph I took in GuangZhou, China. The chop (red stamp) on the upper left is my name phonetically recreated in ancient Chinese characters. The poem on the lower right is inscribed in the rock next to the waterfall and means, roughly, a good friend is never distant.
Misty Waterfall at Guangzhou on display at the Gatsby Summer Afternoon 2010
Avalon Olds
2014, 36″x 26″
This painting depicts a 1956 Oldsmobile convertible parked outside the classic historic Avalon Hotel at 700 Ocean Beach Drive in South Beach, Miami. The hotel was built in 1941 in the late Art Deco style (in the subcategory of Streamline Moderne) and was designed by architect Albert Anis, renowned for designing many Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach and Chicago. The painting is based on photos I took when walking along South Beach early one morning. I was inspired by quality of light, the color and shapes of the buildings, the style and character of the car, the reflections in the windows, the exuberance of the palm trees, and the distorted forms of the shadows on the road. The final artwork is a mixed media painting which included the use of Corel Painter with Impasto brushes for the digital paint portion of the creative process.
Breakwater Chevy
2014, 36″x 26″
This painting depicts a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air parked outside the historic Esplendor Breakwater Hotel at 940 Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami. The hotel was built in 1939 in Art Deco / Mediterranean style. I was inspired by the relationship between the style and colors of the classic car that was parked outside the hotel every day and the building and palm trees behind it, and the play of warm yellow light that filtered through the trees onto the hotel wall. There were usually so many modern cars parked alongside the Chevy that in the end I got up very early one morning and caught the scene when only the ’55 Chevy was parked there…
“Joe”, 2014, 9″ x 9″, 2B Grumbacher Pentalic Woodless Pencil on Fabriano CFM Ingres 90 gsm acid free paper
This drawing is a result of simple pleasures: sitting outside in the Coffee Bar patio one morning with an excellent caffe latte while sketching my good friend Joe. The simple pleasure of making a sketch from direct observation of a subject, as a opposed to drawing from a photograph, cannot be underestimated. It’s something I encourage everyone to do! In this case part of the pleasure was leaving lots of empty space on the page and deciding when enough was enough…
“David Rubinger”, 2014, 9″ x 9″, 2B Grumbacher Pentalic Woodless Pencil on Fabriano CFM Ingres 90 gsm acid free paper
I was recently invited to teach at the FOTOfusion 2014 conference at the Palm Beach Photographic Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. As I walked into the exhibition area on the first evening I was stopped in my tracks by an incredibly moving, personal and powerful set of photographs on display, “My Eye on Israel” by David Rubinger (available as a beautiful coffee-table book and as an iBook which includes videos). I had the great pleasure of meeting David and then drawing him. The finished drawing is shown here (above) plus some documentation of the process (below).
As I walked around the exhibition of David’s photographs one in particular seemed very familiar: the photograph of the bloodied song sheet with the “Song for Peace” that assassinated Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin had just sung and was in his pocket when he was shot. David photographed it the next morning. It was that photograph that had led me to create my portrait of Rabin back in 1996.
