Larry Rippee and Molly Rea Art

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

RIP Al Ardelle circa 1934—2025

Early in his career, Al worked in graphic art and advertising and was a creative director in New York.

He later received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in video art. Al was a photographer, printmaker, painter and videographer.

He participated in probably a few dozen art shows during my time as visual arts coordinator at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center. Al was a good guy.

Here's a sampling of his diverse endeavors.

"Aiko". Woodcut

"Walt Whitman", Woodcut

"Anonymous", Multi-media

A flyer for one of the many documentaries Al worked on

Al with his work at a Spring Art Show opening.

(Photo courtesy of Donn DeAngelo)

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Psychedelic: Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960's

Two posters, under alternating lights, by the masterful Victor Moscoso.

The Portland Art Museum's "Psychedlic: Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960's" continues until June 15, 2025

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Made by Human Hands

Now that I'm retired, I'm no longer Visual Arts Coordinator for the San Geronimo Valley Community Center's Maurice del Mue Galleries, but they're still letting me show in the annual Spring Art Show.

I decided to do a cartoon regarding something that is weighing on my mind--the status of hand made drawings.

I started with this doodle in my sketchbook.

After resketching and enlargements, I finally put it on a lightbox for transfer to Bristol Board.

You would think it's one simple cartoon (maybe I'm feeling a bit rusty) but I even did a sample wash rough before applying an India ink wash to the original.

"Made by Human Hands" is hanging in the 35th annual Spring Art Show until May 25.

c Rippee 2025

Monday, May 5, 2025

Happy National Cartoonist Day

Yes, it’s National Cartoonist Day.

It always seems best to celebrate National Cartoonist Day with the great B. Kliban's classic cartoon.

There's never been a tougher time (or perhaps a better time) to be a cartoonist.

Newspapers in this country are running scared, editors and publishers are dumping cartoonist's work and eliminating staff cartoonist positions. (Or in the case of renowned Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes, quitting in protest over censorship).

This May in London, bizarrely and apparently with no sense of irony, the 'License to Offend' cartoon exhibition was cancelled because of concern that the show might offend. Contributors included cartoonists Morten Morland (of The Times), Mac and Pugh (The Mail), Patrick Blower (The Daily Telegraph) and Martin Rowson (The Guardian).

Morland stated in the press that "These weren’t offensive cartoons. They were cartoons that had already been printed in national newspapers. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It’s an idiotic decision on so many levels.”

Here's the article:

Around the planet we've seen that drawing a cartoon can lead to threats-- and prison. In years past it was cartoonists such as Ali Frezat or Pedro X. Molina. Currently, it includes Atena Farghadani, Zehra Omuraglu, Fahmi Reza and handfuls of other cartoonists in China, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America (And if you're a British cartoonist don't plan on backpacking around in this country).

And let's not forget the domestic book banning of graphic novels from Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe to Maus by Art Spiegelman.

But cartoonists continue to amuse and annoy...so Happy National Cartoonist Day

Zim

Here's just a few Hall-of-Famers:

The great Golden Age comic book artist, Lily Renee, and magazine cartoonist, Eric Peters (aka Eric Gold/ Goltz). Both of these artists fled the Nazi's during World War II. They met and married in the United States.