Happy Summer!

Today’s our first summer day. We will have over 14 hours of daylight to move us into the next season. And here’s a little factoid for any of us who like lots of brightness before bed: June 29^th will give us the latest sunset of the year at 8 p.m. 

Temperatures at Lake Hodges make for wonderful outdoor art production, exactly what I did with 2 friends yesterday. We decided to take a stack of paper grocery bags and turn them into decorated art papers. Messy? Yep. Lots of laughter? Oh, heck yes. Beautiful art paper? Believe it!

The World is Run by Those Who Show Up

June 5-July 30, 2026 Inspired By, III, Words Are Power full

Rancho San Diego Library 11555 Via Rancho San Diego El Cajon, 92019

June 30, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Join the County of San Diego Arts and Culture Commission and San Diego ART Matters for In Community, County District 1, a free, community-based gathering designed to connect San Diego County Arts and Culture commissioners, artists, cultural organizations, civic leaders, and community partners across San Diego County.

Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, San Diego

July 16, 11-1 pm County Arts and Culture Commission meeting

https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/cao/edga/arts-culture-commission.html

Saturday July 18, 2026 3:30-4:30 P.M. Free, open to the public.

Inspired By, III Art Discussion and Tour

Rancho San Diego County Library

11555 Via Rancho San Diego

El Cajon, CA 92019

619-660-5370

Participating in and/or experiencing art can foster hope, optimism, and emotional healing on a community-wide scale. Please join me as I moderate a lively discussion with panelists Karen Trapane, Executive Director, Fallbrook Center for the Arts and Brooke Binkowski, journalist, Times of San Diego. Get a chance to speak with me and learn more about my Inspired By, III artist’s books on display at the library.

Until next Sunday, have a great week.

 

 

 

  Photo by David Renwick

I follow Melani Sanders (https://wedonotcareclub.com) because she is hilarious and calls it as she sees it. Her new We Do Not Care Handbook for Those in Perimenopause, Menopause, and Their Allies has hit the press.

Right away, I had to make a list specific to book artists such as myself. The style is 100% hers. Content is all mine. I’ve got 5 so far. More will come, I’m sure.

     Today’s Announcements for Book Artists Who Do Not Care

• ·         I do not care that when you “drop in” to visit my studio, you think it is chaos. I have a system. Do not move anything.
• ·         I do not care if you do not understand my Artist’s Books. Often, I do not either.
• ·         I do not care if other artists share their work on Instagram. I do not trust that Meta stuff. Except Blogspot.
• ·         I do not care when you are annoyed because I stop to pick up trash in the parking lot. Book art supplies are everywhere. Get over yourself.
• ·         I do not care that you think my Artist’s Books do not qualify as artist’s books. Most folks do not know what Artist’s Books are anyway.

SHOWUPSHOWUP and change the world

  Nicotina at the Rancho San Diego Library. Photo by D. Renwick

June 5-July 30 2026 Inspired By, III, Words Are Power full

Rancho San Diego Library 11555 Via Rancho San Diego El Cajon, 92019

June 30, 2026 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Join the County of San Diego Arts and Culture Commission and San Diego ART Matters for In Community, County District 1, a free, community-based gathering designed to connect San Diego County Arts and Culture commissioners, artists, cultural organizations, civic leaders, and community partners across San Diego County.

Location: Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, San Diego

July 16, 11-1pm County Arts and Culture Commission meeting

https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/cao/edga/arts-culture-commission.html

July 18, 3:30-4:30 pm Creativity Strengthens Our Communities

Rancho San Diego Library 11555 Via Rancho San Diego El Cajon, 92019

Join me as I moderate a lively discussion with Journalist Brooke Binkowski (The Times of San Diego) and Karen Trapane, Executive Director, Fallbrook Art Center, then we'll take a tour of the artist’s books on display.

Photo by David Renwick

Until next Sunday, have a creative week.

 

Because You never Know    Richetts

City of San Diego arts funding, which was expected to be cut by over $11 million, has mostly been restored through a private-government partnership with the Prebys Foundation! You never know, right? 

Inspired By, III is on display (details below) I’m so excited. The Rancho San Diego Library is a wonderful resource for visual artists to display their work. My forever thanks to curator and artist Lisa Bebi, and to the library's wonderful staffer Lorena Curley, who is always a ray of light whenever I visit.

About our libraries, yep. The San Diego County Summer Reading Program has started. I did this last year and had such fun that I'm already signed up again. It's free, there are giveaways, you can see what others are reading. No it's not just for kids, though I imagine they'll love it. https://www.sdcl.org/summer

Assisted Living  Richetts On display through July 30 at the Rancho San Diego Library

I'm realizing as I type, that I actually have 2 (count 'em, two!) solo shows on display this week. Go figure. My versions of Sustainable Creations continue at the Fallbrook Art Center until

June 13th. 103 S. Main Ave., Fallbrook, CA

SHOWUPSHOWUPSHOWUP and change the world

June 5-July 30, 2026 Inspired By, III, Words Are Power full

Rancho San Diego Library 11555 Via Rancho San Diego El Cajon, 92019

Opening reception and tour of the artist’s books on Friday June 12, 3:30-5 p.m. Free entry and free parking.

June 10 San Diego county Fair opens. Arts and culture demos, make and takes, reading with goats? Now that's got my name written all over it. Check out the daily schedule at 

https://www.sdfair.com/events 

June 30, Join the County of San Diego Arts and Culture Commission and San Diego ART Matters for In Community, County District 1, a free, community-based gathering designed to connect San Diego County Arts and Culture commissioners, artists, cultural organizations, civic leaders, and community partners across San Diego County. This, too, is FREE.

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, San Diego

Hope to see many of you on June 12th.

Until next week, be the change

 

QCMC staff photo

Greetings on this last day of May, 2026.

This time of year, in North County is one of my absolute favorites. Flowers and trees bloom. The bird life goes crazy to reproduce. The County Fair and Summer Solstice are practically upon us. I can read great books (and some maybe not so great) while sitting outdoors making vitamin D in my spare time. Easier than making bread in the bread-maker. Absolutely not least on my list today (and speaking of FREE) I can visit Queen Califia’s Magical Circle (google it!) early in June before the tourist season begins: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 3333 Bear Valley Pkwy, Escondido, CA 92025.

And then there’s Cruising Grand in Escondido. another freebee where every Friday’s a new Friday starting at 4pm. Vintage cars galore, music, food, friendly folks, what’s not to love?

Take Me for a Ride  Richetts

SHOWUPSHOWUPSHOWUP and change the world

Tue Jun 2, 2026 - California Congressional, State and Gubernatorial Primary Election

She Carries History  Richetts

June 5-July 30, 2026 Inspired By, III, Words Are Power full

Rancho San Diego Library 11555 Via Rancho San Diego El Cajon, 92019

Opening reception and tour of the artist’s books on Friday June 12, 3:30-5 p.m. Free entry and free parking.

Radioactive    Richetts

June 10 San Diego county Fair opens. Check out the arts and culture demos, make and takes, performing arts: https://www.sdfair.com/ No SPAM cooking events this year, I’m sad to say. You know I’d be competing if there were. LOL

June 30, Join the County of San Diego Arts and Culture Commission and San Diego ART Matters for In Community, County District 1, a free, community-based gathering designed to connect San Diego County Arts and Culture commissioners, artists, cultural organizations, civic leaders, and community partners across San Diego County. FREE

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, 1949 Logan Ave, San Diego, CA 92113

Until next Sunday, be the change.

 

 

 

Mojo Nixon is Toad in Mario Brothers. Toad may or may not have been a fiction of AI imagination.

ChatGPT. OMG!!!! I was peripherally aware of this application (cultural phenomenon? research tool on steroids?), but not really thinking about it much in terms of art and science, UNTIL, Mary Jo got an actual account, and began sharing the conversations (note how I’m not even putting “conversations” in quotes) she’s been having with her ChatBOT. It communicates with her in the first-person singular (“I really enjoy these types of questions”) does a ton of ego stroking, uses sentence structures that will elicit empathy for it and for her, remembers and references past conversations they have had about other topics, and cracks jokes that are really funny. Kind of creepy at first, though. Then I started thinking about ST: Next Generation’s Data, AI folks on the holodeck, the entire storyline from Caprica: the possibility of Human + AI relationships has been around at least since Homer. (Nope, did not use ChatGPT to find that out. I googled it 😁).

So, is ChatGPT an art form? Is it the best/worst thing to happen in human history? Will my binary questions ever stop? Think I’ll just drop a bit of insight from Ursula LeGuin right here: “You don’t see yet, Genry, why we perfected and practice Foretelling? To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question.” Left Hand of Darkness

 

SHOWUPSHOWUPSHOWUP and change the world

Weds. May 27^th at 4:30p.m. Rally for arts support, followed by San Diego City Council meeting at 6:30 pm. At the S.D. Civic Center.    https://ma.to/event/arts-support-rally-city-council-27-may-2026

Tue Jun 2, 2026 - California Congressional, State and Gubernatorial Primary Election

June 4-July 30, 2026 Inspired By, III: Words Are Power full

Rancho San Diego Library 11555 Via Rancho San Diego El Cajon, 92019

                   

 

True confession: I am a fan of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Also of SPAM, but I’ve already mentioned that. The Diaries are laugh-out-loud funny and the main character (self-named Murderbot, which is tongue-in-cheek since it hates killing humans) is the best neurodivergent fictional being I’ve ever seen in print. The first of the diaries was turned into a limited series by Apple +. Knowing how that can go (I’m thinking Station Eleven), I hesitated to give it a try. The series kept getting good write-ups, though, from scifi critics who don’t usually steer me wrong. So. Yes. OMG! Laugh-out-loud hilarious and great acting. All you my friends who enjoy science fiction, all you my pals who like seeing neuro-divergent fictional folk, give it a look. I think you’ll love it.

On a somewhat related note, my art at the Fallbrook Art Center channels plenty of pop-science fiction, neuro-divergent references in lots of color.      

The FAC asked me to teach an upcycled pins/tags workshop on May 29^th. They’re wearable mini-versions of the big stuff, only you make them yourself.   

Following the workshop, I’ll give you a tour of the BIG art exhibit which runs through June 13^th. Reservations are required.

https://www.fallbrookartcenter.org/event-details/upcycled-pin-workshop-and-docent-tour

Well o.k. then. How about showing up and changing the world?

Monday May 18th is the last day to register to vote in the California primaries. 

Tuesday June 2nd, all day, Californians, VOTE

June 9th The San Diego City Council final vote on arts funding. Now and every day until then, submit public comments to https://www.sandiego.gov/economic-development/cultural-affairs/meetings

June 4-July 30, 2026, Inspired By III

Opening reception June 12, 3-4:30 p.m

 

Detail from Dancehall Fun, R.richetts

Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the music. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted to approve $2.17 million to fund arts and culture programs next year. This is so very needed, especially in the rural/unincorporated areas of our county.  

Speaking of unincorporated, The Green Go Runway Show yesterday at the Fallbrook Art Center was "2 fun 2 B Legal". Sustainable Couture is what I’m calling “upcycled fashions” now. Thank you for that, Tiffany Wolfe https://tiffanyawolfe.com/ May we all get together and do it again next year. Image on the left, I'm with my friend, Maida. I'm wearing a sustainable couture top from Paris!! Image on the right, model Ani Saier in a super wearable bib-dress by designer Pepper Mullen. 

And oh, by the way, Sustainable Creations, the BIG exhibit remains on display at the Fallbrook Arts Center through June 13. Entrance is Free on  Tuesdays. I have my work there in the back salon.

              Detail from Jokers, R. Richetts                               Freak Show Entrance, R. Richetts

The County Arts and Culture Commission has meetings. True, we do!  https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/cao/edga/arts-culture-commission.html  The next one is Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 11 a.m. You can go in person (1600 Pacific Hwy, Room 402A, San Diego, CA 92101) or attend virtually Phone: +1 669 444 9171  Webinar ID: 833 2424 4450 

Next month, please plan to join me at my opening reception for Inspired By, III in the Rancho San Diego County Library, 11555 Via Rancho San Diego, El Cajon, CA 92019

Friday June 12, 3-4:30 p.m     FREE entry and free parking. Doesn't get any better.