Amy Ruppel at TS - I couldn't help myself!

So just because our kitchen is all tore up and we're spending all extra pennies to make it real purdy and we don't have any wall space left for art and I swore I'd try to kick my Tiny Showcase addiction doesn't mean I don't slip off the art wagon now and then!! I am only human after all, and this print was just too fabulous. I was actually very lucky to land this one, as all 200 prints sold out in 30 minutes. I owe this one to Gina, who alerted me of its presence moments before it sold out. She scored one too, so Long Beach will be graced by at least two of them.

This lovely 4x6" print by Amy Ruppel is called "Mensa Masters," so I think buying it was rather genius, so to speak. Plus it comes with two enamel pins! And by golly we will find wall space for it! Plus $250 of the proceeds benefits Direct Relief International, a non-profit humanitarian medical relief organization. Because that's just how cool the Tiny Showcase people are.

The coolest opera - Long Beach Opera

We were fortunate enough to attend last night's premier of Long Beach Opera's "Orpheus and Euridice," a classic tale of love and loss told in a totally unique format. The company used Long Beach's Olympic Swimming Pool to fill in for a river at the gates of hell, and they used lighting, boats, cloaks and smoke to stunning visual effect. It was so refreshing and unique, and made a me a sudden, ardent opera fan! Elizabeth Futral's voice alongside Todd Palmer's clarinet were haunting, beautiful, and totally engrossing. Check out this cool time lapse video of the whole production (including set-up and tear-down).

SUPER TUESDAY: GO BARAK!

I feel almost as excited as Obama's cutie pie 86-year-old grandmother, Sarah Hussein Obama. I love this shot of her holding a picture of her grandson as she awaits the results of today's primary in Kogelo, Kenya.

Shane Guffogg at Leslie Sacks

If I could somehow work a drive to Brentwood into these hectic days, I'd head straight to Leslie Sacks Fine Art to view the new works by Shane Guffogg, whose work I adore and whom I'd drive much further than Brentwood to see, if I didn't have to do random, time-consuming things like work.

As you can see from this gorgeous image, Secrets of the Golden Flower from 2007, Guffogg is highly skilled at creating layered, hypnotic abstracts. Could this painting possibly have a more apt title? I see secrets! I see gold! I see flowers! Through the gorgeous haze is a beautifully symmetrical play of color, evoking an almost Victorian pattern with a '60s-esque dazed feel.

Some of his work is darker and even more mysterious, like this one on the left, Intimations of Daybreak from 2007. Eric and I were the lucky "winners" of one of Guffogg's work at an art auction last year. I had to rub my eyes and pinch myself when I realized the work would be ours, I love it so much! This one on the right is our own little Shane Guffogg: Book of Secrets from 2006. What secrets do you have, pretty little painting? Do tell!!