Interviews
Brief Conversations #1
In high school, I started reading Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. I remember Truman Capote’s interview with his housekeeper like it was yesterday. A few years later, I got hooked on
The Rewirement Interview
This interview begins a series of conversations that we are going to publish in 2022. Many of them will focus on art making. The first interview is with the editor himself.
From Sculpture to Intaglio Prints
A Conversation with Woody De Othello Last year during the pandemic, I interviewed artist Woody De Othello about his adventure at Paulson Fontaine Press making prints. There was a lot
Ron Nyren on “The Book of Lost Light”
Here is an interview with my frequent collaborator and good friend Ron Nyren. We are talking about his first novel which was recently published. I met Ron Nyren in the
Renee Bott Painter
I met Renee Bott many years ago when I started preparing and editing interviews for Paulson Bott Press (now Paulson Fontaine Press). Renee retired from the press a few years
Finding Artist Heidi Schwegler
Leaving Barstow, the road drops and the great vast Mojave desert comes into clear view. The huge emptiness is both frightening and strangely familiar. On the one hand, it’s hard
Henry Urbach Interview
In 2011, I interviewed Henry Urbach, then the head of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), about the museum’s ParaDesign show. We toured the
Hungry Ghost Theater
I’ve known Sarah Stone for years. Her novel, “True Sources of the Nile” captured parts of a life that sounded familiar (Marin) and completely unfamiliar (Africa). More than fifteen years
A House to Be Present In
In 1990, I met a young architect, Tom, who was funny, outgoing, and adventurous. He didn’t live from a place of fear. Our design aesthetics were similar, and he drove
Alison Damonte, Design Sleuth
I met interior designer Alison Damonte through my pal Molly Thomas at WRNS Studio. Or I met her through her husband photographer Bruce Damonte. Or I met her at some
Design Hospitality at Placewares
Shev Rush and Kevin Lane took over Placewares from founders Maynard and Lu Lyndon in early 2016. I was asked to write about the store for the Sea Ranch publication,
Bhutan’s Buddhist Architecture
Laura Blake is an architect with an independent practice in San Francisco. She has degrees in art history and architecture and was the writer and photographer for a recent book
San Francisco Stories: A Conversation with J.K. Dineen
JK Dineen looks and sounds like a journalist. Boston Irish. He’s not very pressed, his red hair is a little messy, you know he probably wants a cigarette, and a
Remembering Agnes Martin
The Tate Museum in London is showing a large retrospective of the work of American painter Agnes Martin until October 11, 2015. The exhibition will continue to Dusseldorf, New York,
Lonnie Holley
Artist Lonnie Holley works in a variety of forms and materials. His first pieces were sandstone carvings, tombstones for two of his sister’s young children, who had died in a
J. John Priola Part Two
In Part One, J. John Priola talked about his growing up and early work. In Part Two, we talk about his more mature work. He put out a number of
Setting It Up
An Interview with photographer J. John Priola – Part 1 An exhibit of J. John Priola’s recent photographs just opened at the Paule Anglim Gallery. The show, “Nurture,” reveals the
Welcome to Frazierville: Part Two
Q: So much of your work is about distillation. And even though you’ve distilled it really far, there are multiple meanings to be found in the simplest of illustrations. Are
Welcome to Frazierville: A Conversation with Illustrator and Author Craig Frazier
Craig Frazier is an illustrator. Most of his work is by commission. But when you look at his collected work, it feels like the oeuvre of an observant illustrator/writer/artist. You
Liam Everett
Untitled (Cahors) 26″x21″ It was hard to stay ahead of artist Liam Everett in our recent conversation at Paulson Bott Press where he was making a series of new intaglio
A Conversation with Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher is well known among the cognoscenti of American architecture. In addition to renovating noted buildings by A. Quincy Jones, he has designed numerous projects for the Annenberg philanthropies
Living More Fully in the Present by Living in the Past?
A Interview with “Man of War” Author Charlie Schroeder I met Charlie Schroeder a few times in Los Angeles through my friend Ian Helfer. The first time I saw him,
When Place Means Flint
A Conversation with Gordon Young, the author of Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City Journalist Gordon Young escaped Flint, Michigan, and eventually found himself able to purchase a modest cottage
Art from the Ruins
A Conversation with Artist Aaron Moran A few years ago I took an extension class at the SF Art Institute about creating art from scrap. The truth is I took
God or Gardening – Part 2
An interview with Graham Cousins This is the second half of an interview with Graham Cousins that took place in the summer of 2011 in a wild garden in Provence
God or Gardening – Part 1
An interview with Graham Cousins During a family vacation to Provence in the Summer of 2011, Graham Cousins and I sat down in the shade to talk about gardens and