My Weekend: The Books, Bay Area Figurative Artists, Patti Smith and more

A few days ago I decided that I would rearrange my bookshelves to make things more, um, accessible. I also really wanted (and still want) to clean my living room/studio area that has been neglected since David got sick last February. 

Let's just say that if you are a bibliophile and you have the brilliant idea to rearrange your shelves to make things more "accessible", you might want to think twice. I'm knee deep in books. I'm also looking at our (sad) IKEA bookshelves and wishing that we had never bought them. They're crap and even after arranging the shelves, they're still bulging (even with less weight on them.)  I wish that we had been able to invest in better shelves but we'll make do with them now as we did when we bought them.

By the way, another thing to remember is don't pick the hottest weekend of year to begin a project this one.

All of this said, I will be adding books to my book blog within the next week. I have LOTS of art books that need new homes. It will be nice to have some order in our home again (to some degree.)

I'm also going to be cleaning out art supplies again and making grab bags/boxes to sell but that's a whole 'nother post.

Speaking of books, I picked up Patti Smith's latest book, Devotion, the other day. Clearly, I don't have enough to read on my bursting shelves. I love Patti's books and there's something about the way she puts words together that is pure magic. I stayed up past my bedtime last night reading it and I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

I finished the David Park book that I mentioned the other day. David Park: A Painter's Life is definitely one of the best books on an artist that I've ever read. I'm so happy that I picked it up after hearing someone (I think it was Jealous Curator) talk about Park and Diebenkorn on a podcast and I had never heard of them before. I found a copy of A Painter's Life in my travels at a used bookstore and couldn't pass it up. When I was rearranging my shelves, I decided to create some space dedicated to the Bay Area Figurative Artists. I'm happy to say that Park, Diebenkorn and Bischoff are all together on my shelf. I have my mind set on a visit to the Oakland Museum of California in early October (when I'm up there to teach) specifically to see Park, Diebenkorn and Bischoff. I want to see more of their work in person (any suggestions for anything within driving distance? I'm headed to New Mexico to teach in November and I know Diebenkorn was there for a bit. Ideas would be greatly appreciated.) 

What are you reading (or what do you want to read) this weekend?