1890 Bryant Street Studios

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 A time for bittersweet goodbyes and gratitude for the tough but triumphant past 4 years of assistant turned apprenticeship for an unforgettable artist of our time. I feel quite lucky to have had such an opportunity to work with this extra- mental and non conforming painter (writer & film maker). An Apprenticeship is a rarity these days, but I am here to stress to you that there is nothing like it, nothing that will move the needle like an apprenticeship. 

  I am forever indebted to my mad scientist studio mate, mentor and best friend who has given way more than he ever intended to give. Thank you Blair, you are my hero. 

 Quick background......When I began to search for my groove with a paintbrush and a canvas, I was intent on finding myself, and convinced it would show itself in my work. It did not....

My work felt shallow, bored and random at best, and I was giving all my time to a free yourself type exercise of making art, but it wasn't working. I felt stiff, lost and the only free part of me that was making art was in my deeply personal poetry that to this day has been kept private, only shared with a trusted soul, my studio mate & mentor.  The doors were blown off of this creative block when Blair made art out of one of my poems I had thrown in the trash...This quiet action said two things to me; I had moved another human with my work and there are no limits to what can come of and idea, unless its abandoned!  This was all I needed to develop a sense of worth, as much as I hate to admit it, this tiny bit of encouragement, non verbal though it was, lifted the fear. Feverishly I wrote, obsessively I sought that flow state and the encouragement of my mentor...

It was around that time that Blair agreed to let me rent a small corner of his rather roomy and artistically booming studio in the Yosemite Artist Building in Bayview, SF. An absolutely defining time for me and a taste of artistic freedom.  This unique relationship became an apprenticeship and Blair's talent would become even more clear to me as it permeated his space. What was to slowly unfold for me was the finding of my heart, the healing of my soul and a long lost bestie who finishes my sentences and rarely (yet honestly) laughs out loud.

 As time moved along, I was spending more and more time playing with Blairs oil paints, learning to stretch a canvas and delving deeper into my psyche to find what's me, what's beautiful to me, to find my flow state. 

 Let's face it, making art is a wild ride. It's a ride because you are giving yourself over to the creative force that lives within, if you are lucky enough to locate this divine force. I am still searching, but I have found what is beautiful to me and that's a great start, I tell myself. I feel honest at least and that is triumphant in my book. 

 So fast forward to 2024 and I have put my art out for eyeballs to see for the past 4 years.  I am humbled by the response and I am driven to create more. 

 When the ad for a studio space jumped out at me because of its 1890 Bryant Street address and it was under Fuzz E. Grant's leased studio (Fuzz is another "mad scientist" just my type!), I knew it was time to fly. I could just feel the energy in Blair's studio needing to be whole again. I knew without saying it, that it was time for Blair to regain control of his creative space and that meant I needed to leave. 

Heres to the next phase of healing through artistic expression...

I see the future and its crawling with adventure, big dreams and loads of creating art. 

Peace & Positivity,

Autumn Wind James