Cafe Rolle Featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri

I found out recently that Cafe Rolle was featured on Guy Fieri's show. This is very cool and also hilarious. I actually bought all of the ingredients and cooked the lentil salad. Mine was okay but I used powdered chicken stock and it ended up being way too salty, but it was still tasty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6pj97MMXGg

Cafe Rolle Painting Delivered to Chef William Rolle

I was finally able to drop off the original painting after I made some adjustments and chef Rolle was very excited. He's going to hang the original in the restaurant. 11x14 prints are $25 and 16x20 prints are $40. They are matted to that size. I am now able to complete credit and debit card transactions so let me know if you would like to purchase anything.

Cedar Room closeup

New oil sold to the Cedar Room

I went into the Cedar Room here in Carmichael and showed the owner this painting. He loved it, bought the original and we've agreed to sell framed giclee prints on canvas to their customers or anyone else who wants one. I'm selling framed 11x14 copies for $80 and an 8x10 will cost $50.

I always enjoy hanging out in this place because it's very laid back and friendly.

Taxi on Bohol Island

Like the Bohol cafe, this is an 11x14 oil painting. We were at the roundabout at the base of the chocolate hills and I took a photo of this taxi. I mixed up a soft purple and painted it almost entirely upside down with my pallette knife, giving it a loose feeling.

New Paintings of the Philippines

Here are a few new oil paintings, specifically of Cebu and Bohol Island. This piece to the right is a beachside cafe on Bohol. Amazing white sand and laid back people. Great new friends like Ady, Vanity, Ronan, and Junkay brought us here after spending some time on the river and the chocolate hills. An unforgettable and indescribable day.

New Paintings Showing at Luxe

Well, well, well...it has been a few months since my last post (why does that sound like the beginning of confession?) so it's time for me to get caught up on the latest happenings. I was in Cebu, Philippines for most of December, came home for the holidays then immediately flew to Chicago for another three weeks in January. I'm back in Sacramento now and was invited to do a show at the last minute at Luxe Salon and Spa at 2115 J St. here in Sacramento. I was surprised at how big the place was. My newest paintings incapsulate my trip to Cebu and Bohol Island as well as a newfound interest in portraits. This painting is a combination of both. The show will be up through the end of February. They are open until about 8:00 p.m. so go in and check out the new pieces.

New Oil of Tokyo Underground Nightclub

This 16x20 inch oil painting was inspired by a night at a secret club in Tokyo, where I attended a music industry party put on by Jon Lynch. They projected old movies on the walls and there was a group of models there in kimono. This was the night I met the band consisting of a bass player and a guy who did ikebana (Japanese flower arranging). They were charging $30 to see their rock opera. I'm not sure what kind of show that would entail, what with bass solos and violent flower arranging going on, but it's definitely something you wouldn't witness twice.

Pecha Kucha at the Urban Hive

We had a successful Pecha Kucha night at the Urban Hive, an office building that provides space to architects and various creative types, giving them a central location to bounce ideas around. Pecha Kucha is organized here in Sacramento by local architect, Claire Obenson. She does a great job and, once again, she asked me if I could be the mc after I had already arrived. Sometimes it's better that way. All of the presenters were well prepared and it showed. I showed the Sophia video featuring a time lapsed painting of West Indian Girl and it was very well received. I brought in the original so people could view the painting afterwards. There are always interesting people there and just about everyone I meet is involved in some kind of creative endeavor and could probably present if they wanted to. Here is a link to our group's site.

Click here to go to Pecha Kucha Sacramento.

Hiatus is Over

Thanks for your patience, everyone. I took a little break from painting but I'm happy to say that I've been painting again and I'm cranking out some pretty good work. I'll take some photos and get them online soon.

I will be premiering my Sophia time lapsed video of the West Indian Girl painting this Friday at the Pecha Kucha event held at The Urban Hive. I'm looking forward to showing it.

Friday, Nov. 6th

The Urban Hive

1931 H Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

(916) 585-4483

www.theurbanhive.com

8:20-10pm

Livingston High School Silent Auction Complete

Hello,

I was in Tokyo on the day of the silent auction but I heard that the original painting brought in $800 for the program. We have also sold about 15 additional lithograph prints at $55 each. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing one. They are high quality giclees from Sacramento Giclee on good quality paper. They are signed and numbered as well. I'm not sure what I'll paint next year but I'm already looking forward to it.

In Tokyo news, I survived two earthquakes, two typhoons, and a lot of overcast and incredibly humid days. I met some interesting characters during my painting trips, finally tallying 4 completed paintings. I've taken photos as well so I can complete a few more when I get time. Thanks to all the well wishers who kept in touch during the various storms we had to endure.

LHS Baseball Fundraiser Image

Livingston High School baseball fundraiser painting complete!

Well folks, the painting is done. I got it professionally scanned at Sacramento Giclee for signed/numbered lithographs. The big fundraiser is August 7th at Rancho Del Rey Country Club in Atwater. We welcome bids from anywhere in the world, just contact me or Matt Winton.

Price? Well, this painting is huge, framed and it took me a loooong time so we agreed to start the bidding at $300.

Current high bid = $450

If it doesn't sell I'll donate that amount and keep it for myself. Now here is where it gets interesting. We are going to make giclee lithographs through Sacramento Giclee. These will be sold, not auctioned. They are $50 (signed by yours truly!) and are roughly 16x24. Just let us know if you want one and we'll put in the order. Anybody who coughs up $50 for the LHS baseball program gets one. Spread the word to the Atwater folks as well. If you live in the area then you can pick it up from coach Winton. Mailing will cost an additional $5.00.

Sacramento Magazine Interview on News Stands Now!

I was in Starbucks yesterday with a colleague and looked down to see that the August issue was already in print so I bought a copy. I was happy with the way Jan Ferris Heenan wrote up the article. Jan came to my show at Casa Bella Galleria and had a lengthy discussion about art and world travel. At the time, I had no idea that she worked for the magazine. She and I met at Samurai Sushi and talked for over an hour so I was curious as to how all of that would be distilled down into a short article.

As I was telling a friend recently, I think this is the first article I've read about myself that was entirely accurate. My first experience with this was years ago when I read that I had been the star of a championship basketball team in South America. Ummm??? Sometimes there is no amount of linguistic legerdemain that will turn fiction into fact, but I digress.

Here is the link:

http://www.sacmag.com/media/Sacramento-Magazine/August-2009/City-Sketch-James-Patrick-Lane/

Para los hispanohablantes: Hice una entrevista con una revista aqui' en Sacramento y por fin, ya esta' de venta...perdoname, pero esta' escrito en ingles. Si tengo un poco de tiempo libre lo voy a traducir al ingles pero en general se trata de donde naci', los viajes alrededor del mundo, y el arte.

日本語：　私はサクラメント市の雑誌のインタビューをしました。　英語で書てありますですけど。。。少しひまがあったら　翻訳　を　します。　ほとうんどの書いていることは私のふるさとう、画家の人生、と　世界の旅行です。

"The Single Mom"

It's finally finished! I am dedicating this painting to single moms everywhere, but especially to my favorite single mom, Shirley Lane. It's not easy being a police officer, chef, nurse, firefighter, boxer and still have the grace to feel like a princess now and then.

I painted the crowd to display a range of emotions; some are impressed, others are fascinated, still others are confused or condescending. Unfortunately, sometimes we feel like our life is a circus and we're always on stage. Don't forget to breathe and be kind to yourself.

This painting will be shown at the Level Up Lounge in Sacramento during the month of July. Hope to see you at the Second Saturday party.

"The Single Mom"

"The Single Mom" closeup

New Painting Direction

Hello again,

I have been taking a new direction in my painting and hope to have the first pieces in the series completed by the time I hang the show at the Level Up Lounge (25th and I in Sac) in preparation for the July Second Saturday art walk. I was recently interviewed by Sacramento magazine and when asked about the most difficult aspect of what I do I was honestly a bit stumped. The final answer revolved around having a voice and conveying what you want to say. A writer may have full command of the language, but still struggle with the type of story to tell.

I've been struggling to understand all of the stress associated with these bizarre economic and social times. Things seemed to have mellowed a bit compared to early 2009 but it's clear that people will be struggling for quite some time. Given the all these emotions I've begun a series of paintings that draws a parallel between various socio-economic situations and death defying circus acts. As I began studying all the different acts in a circus I was shocked at how many parallels there are between things like being a parent and juggling hats, paying bills and keeping all of those plates spinning on their sticks. The list goes on. The first painting is called, "The Single Mother."

Painting demo of West Indian Girl's Sofia

Well, here it is....finally finished it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJpOY1CAjOo

I'm happy with it.

さいごに私の新しいビデオを終わりました。ソフィアちゃんはよくでるですから。。。。ものすごく幸せです。今主奥さんと子供たちが千葉県に戻ります。じじとばば　孫の顔を見れるから。。。うれしいです。私は７月３０日に日本に行きます。

　

"Sofia" painting video

I completed a painting of the band West Indian Girl a while back and videotaped the whole thing. I'm making some final edits to the time lapsed instructional vid over the weekend and hope to get it online asap. The background music is the song, "Sofia", which my daughter loves to sing.

New painting video of Gallo's wine cellars in Livingston

I decided to put together a time lapsed version of this painting now that I'm settled into the new home. I'm currently editing a similar video of the painting I did for the band, West Indian Girl, which is pretty psychedelic. I wrote a previous post about my experience at their show, desperately hoping that some crazed rocker wouldn't destroy the painting. Everything was fine.

The music for this video is by Village Drums. That's me on the bass. My good friend Carol Cody did the arrangement of this song. We always got a great response when we played this one live. I still remember Carol going off onstage.

I'm doing a show with abstract artist John Krempel at the Level Up Lounge (25th and J in Sacramento) for the Second Saturday in July. Can't wait. John has helped me tremendously here in Sacramento, as well as Suleka at Level Up.

Show tonight at 1615 Del Paso Blvd.

Come on out for a good time. We have five artists taking part in this show and a great jazz band playing right outside. I ended up speaking with Heather Fargo (Mayor of Sac for 8 years) for about an hour last night. She was fascinating, cool, opinionated, and hilarious. She also gave me a whole list of funky little dives to paint here in Sac. She likes to frequent the older restaurants with personality...the places that make a city thrive. Her top 5 were:

The Torch Club
Fox and Goose
The Market Club
Capitol Dawg
The original Java City (18th and Capitol)

She has met a lot of famous people like the Clintons and Schwarzenegger but when I asked which person impressed her the most she said Robert Redford. He could have taken the easy road and chilled in Beverly Hills for the rest of his life. I thought that was interesting.

Anyway, gotta get to the gallery. This painting of Crush 29 in Roseville sold last night to a cool woman named Mercedes.

Hope to sell another one tonight!

2nd Saturday Show at Casa Bella Galleria

I'm going to be showing more paintings at Casa Bella this coming weekend. This came on short notice but I'm happy to have the chance to show there again. Shane and Rhoda are great hosts.

Show info:
Casa Bella Galleria www.casabellagalleria.com

Friday, April 10
Saturday, April 11
6-9:00 p.m. both nights
Located on the corner of Arden and Del Paso Blvd in Sacramento.

Hope to see you there!

We've moved

As some of you may know, we recently bought a house in Citrus Heights (just north of Sacramento) and we've been in the process of moving large furniture and unpacking boxes. Today Dean and I built a big fence gate from scratch. It was pretty cool to see it come together and Dean was having a blast using the handsaw and hammering the nails. Sophia rode around us on her tricycle the whole time. After that we all went fishing down at the port of Sacramento (no luck although Sophia caught a big green weed that she still thinks was a fish).

I really appreciate my family during times like these. On our big moving day a crowd of 6 people showed up at 7 a.m. ready to work. They woke up before 5 a.m. to make it here and they worked HARD all day long to help us get settled in. I'm truly grateful.

I have some new paintings to put up on the web but haven't had the chance to take good photos yet.

All the best!
James

Paintings Now at Casa Bella Galleria

The show at Casa Bella Galleria went well. We even had a piano player playing everything from "An American in Paris" to tunes from the musical "Chicago." Shane and Rhoda offered to keep some pieces there long-term, so I now have 10 pieces there on consignment. I appreciate the chance to work with them. They were voted best local businesses in the Sac area and it's election time again. Please vote for them at www.kcra.com/alist. They are listed under the Shopping area. Psssst. You can send in one vote for every email address.