Bamboo-bag

02/07/2025

By Farwa Ali. (January 30, 2025) Graceful veined hands turn the seashell over a few times in reverent contemplation. A few moments later artist Ann Arnold tosses the seashell back into the…

10/08/2024

"Wrestling the Angel" will screen at Berkeley Public Library on November 2nd at 10 a.m. with a Q&A session immediately following with filmmakers Jonathan Villet and Fiona McDougall of OneWorld Communications and myself.

A recent review of the film:

My cousin Ann Arnold has always been a wonder to me -- such a good artist, such a good cook, such a good gardener, such a good mother, such a good camper (we meet most years on the shores of Lake Tahoe) and yet so unassuming and modest about her talents. In the silicon hunger games of the San Francisco Bay Area, she and her late husband Ian always seemed domestically enshrined in the 19th century, surrounded by Ann's still lifes and rich garden produce, Ian's vast book collection and his own slyly witty poetry, and their son Aldo's fascination with the ancient worlds of board games. Jonathan Villet, Fiona McDougall and David Gonzales have made a wonderful short film about Ann's art, home life and cancer diagnosis, weaving it around her reflections on how we deal with unexpected setbacks. Do we despair? Do we fight? Or do we, as she suggests, sweep them out like an annoying houseguest and move on? I particularly liked how the filmmakers animated Ann's own drawings of the fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper and the Biblical tale of Jacob's combat with an angel to illustrate her feelings about how life should be lived -- which do not always adhere to conventional views of who is a hero and who is a victim.

Donald G. McNeil Jr, former New York Times science reporter

image: Apricot, oil on board, 2024

08/31/2024

Wrestling the Angel
An intimate portrait of the artist Ann Arnold, by Jonathan Villet and Fiona McDougall. OneWorld Communications. 2024.
To watch the trailer and schedule a screening in your community, visit the website:

A documentary film Wrestling the Angel about Ann Arnold, a Bay Area artist.

08/29/2024

https://www.wrestlingangel.com/

Jacob says to the Angel, "I will not let you go except you bless me."

My friends Jonathan Villet and Fiona McDougall have made a film about me titled "Wrestling the Angel". I speak about my life and work as a painter and illustrator, and my experience facing a cancer diagnosis last year. David Gonzales transformed some of my illustrations into animations, a delightful surprise. It was a very moving experience to work with them and unexpectedly wonderful to see the final film. You can watch the trailer at the website in my profile. Please contact the filmmakers for information about screenings and setting up a screening in your community.

Wrestling the Angel
Directed by Jonathan Villet
Producer & Director of Photography, Trailer Editor Fiona McDougall
Illustrations for Animations by Ann Arnold
Animations by David Gonzales, Zap Media Productions

Film produced by OneWorld Communications,
San Francisco, 2024
https://www.wrestlingangel.com/

12/12/2019

Zinnia bouquet by my dear student Shanza.
It was a breakthrough for this student. After several months, she had not finished a piece during her lesson, making marks that she would erase, painting sometimes, but leaving it undone. I knew she was looking carefully, but not yet satisfied with what she was able to do. All the while lines were forming inside of her, a sense of color and shading, and I was so delighted by how they were expressed in this painting.
My students study the masters, and I encourage them to look at everything else that interests them, helping them develop their own sensibilities and find the way to express their individual gifts.
There is space to accept more students, all ages and genders welcome. Contact me here or through
www.ianjacksonbooks.com/index.html

06/13/2019

Logo design by Ann Arnold for Thesis Gems and Jewelry, along with the preliminary illustration in color. To see the final vector image, and the beautiful designs of Cate Claus who works with ethically sourced gemstones and sustainably harvested pearls, visit their site: thesisgems.com.
A growing collection of Ann Arnold’s paintings and illustration along with views of her world can be seen on Instagram

06/12/2019

Volunteers in The Huntington’s orange orchard use pole pickers to reach fruit growing in the treetops. Photo by Deborah Miller. Have you ever wondered what happens to the ripe, luscious oranges you see growing in The Huntington's orchards? They help feed people in need.

03/03/2019

One of our favorite pieces of music.
Wishing you a lovely Sunday.

From my IU senior recital in '89. "Hark Each Tree" from Purcell's "Ode to St. Cecilia". I'm the countertenor. The voice faculty cut me some slack and allowed...

02/28/2019

California grown saffron!
Read the article and follow Peace and Plenty Farm and Nursery to learn about their work to contribute to a sustainable economy of agriculture through their farm in Kelseyville.

Peace and Plenty Farm in Lake County is the first to grow culinary saffron commercially in California.

02/08/2019

Ann Arnold

Still-life painter, author and illustrator of children’s books, Ann is currently showing a selection of works at California Antiquarian Book Fair in Oakland. Ben Kinmont is hosting her exhibition for which a champagne reception will be held on Saturday, 9 February, from 2 - 3:30 p.m. at Booth 812, where Ann will be selling and signing copies of her books. On view will be ten oil paintings and four portfolios of drawings and watercolors related to Chez Panisse, the Cheese Board Collective (a gastronomic institution in Berkeley), and the working drawings and watercolors from two of her books, F***y at Chez Panisse and Firehorse Max, both of which were published by HarperCollins.

Ann Arnold was born in Marin County, and has lived in Berkeley for the last 40 years. Her early works, from the 1970s, were executed in gouache on paper, but now she works mostly in oil paint on walnut panels. Her subjects are chiefly fruits and vegetables from her own garden and the local farmers’ markets, frequently incorporating old pottery or porcelain from her collection. She has exhibited at galleries over the last thirty-five years, both in London and in the United States, and published nine books, the most recent of which can be found at: ianjacksonbooks.com

Portrait by Elvira Piedra