Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Josey Baker Bread

After a quick but fruitful day of shopping on Haight street with the lovely Iris we headed over to Mission pies for an afternoon delight. Man oh man they did not disappoint. Not only was the pie delicious, as always, but Josey baker (yes that's really his name) of Josey Baker Bread was there with a smile on his face, selling his amazing bread. I used my fresh from the oven sourdough loaf to make a havarti grilled cheese but think it's best warmed up with a little bit of butter. I strongly suggest you drop by and buy a loaf for yourself. Josey's there Tuesday's and Wednesday's but get there early as they go quick!



Sunday, January 9, 2011

Spotlight on Jennie Ottinger

Hello out there! Gillian here. I was out in Oakland on Friday night for Art Murmur with some friends and came across SF-based artist Jennie Ottinger's show at the Johannson Project gallery.
Her work drew me inside, away from the vegan cupcake hawkers in the streets, and I was completely captivated. The show featured many paintings, all with her signature minimalist renderings of folks. Spare though they are, each portrait transmits a surfeit of emotional content.





For me the highlight of the show was her collection of "books". The dust jackets of each of these classic novels displays an original cover design conceived and painted by Ottinger, but inside are the real treats. Ottinger has distilled the essence of each of the novels into tight, irreverent, and highly opinionated summaries; post-modern CliffsNotes for Twitter attention spans.



Ottinger's synopsis of Moby Dick begins with, "This book is more tedious than the war parts of War and Peace but the character names are so much better!" Each of her boiled down summaries is smarter and more hilarious than the last.



Thanks to MKC for several of the photos, and thanks to the Johansson Project in Oakland for putting together such a great show!

--gillian