The William Collection opening reception went swimmingly with a nice sized turn out of old and new friends and art mavens. Wine was slurped, mini cupcakes gobbled and photo ops were had.

A few are posted below but if you want the full treatment check out the photos on FlickR William Show Reception Photos You can download the full size versions there if you want.

Jennifer and William in full flirt - Jennifer is the owner and designer of William's custom lingerie!


Robt, Colin, Me, William, Daryn and Dave


William and the full size version of the special edition lingerie. Oh la la! get them while they are Hot!

Hello patient friends and interested parties-

That's right I'm off my artistic butt and hanging my first show of the year! So much time painting and working it took a little distraction to get back out there and show something. It's time and there are more shows in the works. But for now...

What's on: "William" pseudo documentary photos of my lil plastic muse William
Where: Porcelynne Boutique & Gallery 487 14th St. @ Guerrero SF,CA
When: May 2nd - May 31st
Opening reception Friday May 11th 6pm - 10pm

The show will be up all month long but if you are in the SF Area please come by the opening on Friday the 11th. The gallery owner is doing all kinds of crazy promotions for the show - including a "Win a Date with William" drawing, photo booth with William as well as special limited edition lingerie, which he'll be wearing for the show. Yes indeed he's becoming a lil plastic star. This would be the third time he's had couture made just for him. I've even added a new photo to the series for the occasion (the first in several years). The show is also an official part of SF Art Fest - woo hoo!

See: http://www.juliennegivot.com/william/index.htm
Make friends: http://www.myspace.com/ohmywilliam

I hope this finds you all well.

After an almost 8 month hiatus the PurseCam section of my website has been updated. Only a handful of new images are there but that's a start (or restart rather). I began the whole thing to keep myself shooting every day -guess I slacked a bit. My new-ish cell phone camera is slightly better than the old one but I still like the crappy quality. I tend to carry my other camera with me too so the page contains images of both good and poor resolution.

The Masomo Project book has kept me busy so there is not much new happening in the world of painting. I am aching to get at least 3 more paintings done to complete the new series. It's been quite a move to the more narrative/illustration style for me. Representational work is still a challenge for me technically but I've always been the type that learns by doing. Feel free to use this link to see the 3 completed paintings.

I'm also preparing for a solo show at the Procelynne Gallery in May. I'll be showing the William series with a few new images of ole Will in some custom made lingerie. Oh la la!

I just completed this painting - number three in a new series.
15 x 30 oil on canvas - the working title is
"moon tower" but I am open to suggestions.

I have a few upcoming show announcements:

May 07 - William (solo exhibit) - Porcelynne Gallery - SF

June 07 - Group Exhibit - Mina Dresden Gallery - SF

What's happening?
Still not in the 9-5 groove (avoiding it actually) and workin the creative angles with my time plus various contract and photo gigs. Been painting quite a lot as well. The 3 images below are 'work in progress'. A friend has graciously volunteered to help me learn some real technique. I've been happily flailing about with what little I remember from my 2 semesters of painting in high school. Guess it's time to take a crack at representational art but I can tell you already that I really prefer to paint from my head. I'm stubborn I guess.

Oil on Canvas:
Sock Puppet! work in progress


The first of what I think will be a narrative series:
Progression of the Moon -work in progress


Sometimes I Live on the Sun -work in progress

I quit the day job and am taking some time for creative projects. Yay! Part of December was dedicated to holiday stuff and clearing off a big ole 'to-do' list that I'd accumulated over the past year. Now I'm settling down to the projects at hand. Namely:

• Curating, editing and putting together a photographic pictorial book of Africa. The sales proceeds will go directly to the Masomo Project which is dedicated to providing education for underprivileged children in Africa. So far 23 photographers have enlisted to lend their beautiful images of Africa and I'm in the middle of the daunting task of selecting and editing them into the book. Projected publication date is May 2007.
  
• Website re-vamp. My site is long overdue for an overhaul. New images need to be added and old stuff removed. I plan on adding my painting work in addition to an updated look and feel. Completing a short montage of my time in Africa is part of this project as well.
  
• Writing! This one might be long term but I'm doing some work on a screenplay. Nobody gets details on that for a while. ;)
  

That's all for now. Feel free to view my profile on MySpace It's more personal than art related but I blog there as well and update it much more often than this one.

Be well and Happy New Year!!
love, Julienne

Africa was AMAZING and I miss it already. Everything went so smoothly and I had what I consider the best kind of vacation where there is both lots of adventure and some relaxation.

Below: Taken from the plane on the way to Zanzibar


We spent 5 days in Zanzibar - which was awesome but a little strange because it was Ramadan and folks were a little low on energy. Zanzibar is 90% Islamic and to pay respect we didn't eat or drink anything in public. Luckily the local posh hotel was a haven where we could hang out and relax with a beer without offending anyone.

Below: Sunset from the Serena Hotel in Stone Town, Zanzibar


Stone Town although heavy on the touristy stuff was also intense and beautiful - the main center is all tiny crowded alley ways. The area is known for it's ornate spiked doors. Photos below:


We had dinner in an open air market and feasted on some of the best 'street food' that I've ever had.

Below: Fharo Dani Market


Pictures indeed tell the best story and I've posted some at the link below.
Africa Photos

Sunrise over the Indian Ocean:


Thandie and I at the Hakuna Majiwe Resort in Paje,Zanzibar:


Thanks for all of your well wishes and notes while I've been away. Apologies to those I didn't get to respond to directly. Getting reliable access to my email was difficult but I hope to see / talk to you all soon.

Till then 'kwa heri' and 'hakuna matata'!
Julienne

Off the continent now!
September 5th I'll be leaving for a 6 week adventure; a month in London for work then 2 weeks in Tanzania visiting friends. I'll be back home on the 15th of October. Exciting! I'll post photos and such here but for more personal / detailed information please check out my profile on MySpace.
I'm taking 2 cameras and some watercolor materials for the more tactile art making. If you or anyone you know will be in London during September, please let me know. Feel free to email my traveling address dtjulienne-at-yahoo-dot-com.

I'll do something risky and post some links to photos of my painting work - finished and in progress. Feel free to leave comments on Flickr or email your thoughts .

Link here-->Finished Paintings are here

Link here-->Works in Progress are here.

You specialize in something until one day you find it is specializing in you. -Arthur Miller

Ever have an idea that has been floating randomly around your head pop to the surface and become this giant inspired thing? Well the sounds of popping have been going off like gangbusters for me lately. The post-it show in the UK, new paintings, sock puppets and a couple of new things have popped themselves to the surface recently.

One of the more exciting pop's of inspiration is helping raise funds to build a school in Tanzania, Africa. My friend, work colleague and informally adopted little brother Steven has a sister who has been teaching in Mwanza, Tanzania since 2002. She along with friends and family started an organization called The Masomo Project. The Masomo Project aims to provide an education for Tanzanian orphans, and thus give them a chance to a better future.

Even though I'd known Steven's sister Tini was working in Africa (and his other sister is working there on behalf of OxFam) for some reason today something went POP! I realized that it would not be that difficult to raise funds and get people motivated to help. This is no Sally Struthers fronted giant charity yanking on your heartstrings - these are people I know - who use 100 percent of the money raised to improve the lives of these children - and in turn, their community - and the world.

Do take a moment to visit their website. The Masomo Project Please be on the lookout for fundraisers in the coming months! For now your ideas and thoughts would be appreicated and if you are not in the Bay Area - maybe an idea for a fund raiser where you live? Bake sale, garage sale, art sale etc.

Some of the students in Mwanza, Tanzania


My chin dropped when I found out that it will only cost $40,000 to build the school. That's all? People spend that on a car here!

My other inspiration is a photo project - i'll blog that later maybe - but for now this is a top priority to shout out about. So stay tuned!