6 August 2009, Thursday

Recooperation day. I honestly did nothing today except help Peter pack a bit....
No drawing.

5 August 2009, Wednesday

Day 2 - LA

A bit hungover (esp me), we went to the Farmer's Market for breakfast and then to Bergamot Station to see some galleries. Not much there that was noteworthy, but there was a nice retrospective of Barkley Hendricks that we all liked. Some shopping followed in Santa Monica and Venice as well as a walk through (over?) the Venice canals. A bit of a slower day, but we needed it that way! We also got to see the Gehry Disney Hall (really cool!).

A little drawing of Julie when we stopped to breathe for a bit - once again (and I know better) I did it flat on the table and the proportions are all enlongated. Oh well...

4 August 2009, Tuesday

YAY! Finally, after talking about it for a year or so, we three art teachers took our trip to LA!

First stop as LACMA. AMAZING! I have been there before, but it's a bit hard to navigate around, so it was nice to have Angela (who used to work there) to tell us where to go. We saw all of these pieces that we talk about to the kids all the time - it was nice to see them in person. Art is SO different in person...images do them such disservice. There was this GREAT installation piece when walked up -a Korean artist strung together all of these crazy containers from the 99cent store...and it's a maze of these cool strings of color. We loved it!

Saw some Jeff Koons too - have never seen it in person and it was fun! Also, the Richard Serra pieces - GIANT steel structures you can walk thru - were amazing. Loved the interaction with the art. Also got the see them breaking down an exhibit and stuffing all of these priceless pieces into big wooded crates. Fun times.

We tried to go to some galleries, but they were mostly in between shows. No luck there. Went up to the Griffith Observatory and looked out over LA, saw the Hollywood sign...and a fire starting (yikes! Hope they got that put out!). Then had dinner and a VERY interesting night with some of Angela's family and friends.

3 August 2009, Monday

I got my new issue of Juxtapoz today....and spent most of the time drooling over these two new artists in there. I haven't been so sure about that magazine since they put SO much graffiti and random stuff - but every now and then they really hit it and this was one of those times for me.

Natalia Fabia and a graffiti artist who goes by MAC...I'm attaching images of their work since I am very inspired by them today and my mind is thinking....more than drawing.

MAC (top 2 images) seems really versatile - very skilled and perfectionistic but able to freehand large-scale murals at the same time! I don't know how he does it - his murals use this crazy hatching technique to get value and a blend from color to color...they are beautiful.

Natalia (3rd & 4th images) looks JUST like Paris Hilton, but she is an amazingly skilled painter. After looking up her past work, I really think she's gotten better. Her new work is amazing....they almost look like photos, and she really concentrates on setting up the scene and capturing the lighting. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE her models - I want them. I want those girls in my drawings. Find them for me!

2 August 2009, Sunday

Made it home today....unpacked and chilled out. The little crabbies finally made it into the pot - they are this amazing purple and orange.....but became this bright red in the pot. YUMMMMMMY dinner.

A fast contour line drawing...

1 August 2009, Saturday

Last walk around town...decided to buy some fresh, local live crabs to take home - yummy! They packed them in ice for us so we just kept checking on them...

Heading back south now, still on the coast. Stopped in SLO to walk around town since we skipped it before and had lunch at one of their local breweries, Creekside Brewing. It was great - a very cute little place actually on a creek. GREAT food, and some more safe/mellow beers. I wasn't ecstatic over any of them, but they were easy to drink.

Then drove on to Avila Beach, just south of SLO. There is a super long pier there that we walked out on....sea lions everywhere (sucks for trying to fish off the pier but great to watch!) One little guy was trying to find a spot to jump up to lay out in the sun but the area was full with big bull sea lions, so just kinda perched there on this small piece of wood for a few and then fell back in the water.....

Drove south more, through Shell Beach and Pismo Beach (overrun with ATVers and RVers), and stopped at a restaurant on a bluff to have a rest/drink and watch the ocean...saw whales!! And a wedding was going on next door at the hotel...it was out on the bluff, and was beautiful, but it was NOT warm and the wind was whipping the poor bride and bridesmaids hair everywhichway!

Ended up stopping in Lompoc for the night (weekends are MUCH more expensive so we didn't want to be near a big town, and campgrounds were booked up for the weekend).

Last day of July (31, Friday)

Did a nice walk this morning out to the rock to keep from getting stiff...then Peter and I explored the town. We'd already decided to stay another nite since we liked it here so much. Ended up having a GREAT day that just kind of opened up for us - started by looking for the local brewery that was supposed to be there a block from our inn but was closed. So we literally stumbled into the local bar from the 1930s that had just opened for the day....the guy that owns it RAD, letting us try a bunch of the beers he had on tap and talking to us about the town, its history, and the controversies surrounding the power plant there (it's just like the one we have in Carlsbad) but big and ugly and imposing right in the middle of this cute town. We were there for quite a while, and luckily there was this little window by the bar that connected to the pizza place next door - perfect!

Then we went to see the movie "Up" which was the only thing playing in town (which is an EXCELLENT movie, even if you don't like animated features). Back to the bar for a nitecap and then some more pizza in the room for din. It was a GREAT day - we just kind of indulged our whims and whatever we wanted to do at the moment, and it turned out great!

Got some ideas for pottery/ceramic shapes while walking around today...

30 July 2009, Thursday

Got up today and went to the local brewery (Downtown Brewing) in P Robles to check it out....pretty safe/mellow selection, but there were some standouts in the Blueberry Beer (yea, sounds weird but it was good - not too fruity, more spicy) and the Reggae Red (guess what Peter ordered...).

Then back to the coast to Morro Bay - I have been to Nor Cal and LOVED it and to Bodega Bay, which is much smaller than Morro, but Morro is still a REALLY cool little town. The weather was immediately different (not 90 degrees!) - super cloudy and cool...we had to put sweatshirts on! We parked to take a walk out to the big rock, got out of the car, and immediately saw Sea Otters! I have never seen them outside of an aquarium or zoo, so I was pretty excited. They were munching on something that was pretty loud and kept pulling the kelp over themselves, I'm guessing to help them stay put. cute...

The town was awesome and laidback (during the week, at least) with little docks, fishing boats, and we got some super good seafood for dinner.

29 July 2009, Wednesday

This morning we got up and decided to head north to Paso Robles....we heard it was great for nice red wines and thought it would be fun to add wine tasting to the brewery tour! Another short drive (nice, since I was never sitting in the car for very long, so the back was alright!) and we started passing vineyard after vineyard....and we weren't even to town yet! I ended up recognizing one of the names from good ol' Trader Joes and so we stopped and learned we were in the perfect area we wanted to be in! So we hit a few places, one in particular that was SUPER fun - Castoro.

Then we headed into town, which is really little and cute, like Sonoma, but without the TONS of people. It was nice to taste wine and not have to wait in line! First stop was at the Firestone Brewery....lots of really strong, hoppy beers. Not my favorite...just not as flavorful as Stone.

Then we stopped to eat lunch and were getting something out of the back of the truck, and opened the gate without thinking.....the big box of wines came crashing out and 3 of the 5 in there broke all over the pavement (and they were all my favorites from Castoro too). I was bummed. So Peter put us back in the car and we went back there to go more....luckily, the lady that had helped us was REALLY cool and gave us 50% off. WHew!

We stayed at this Mineral Spa Hotel, and the room was rad, and weirdly the cheapest in town....we had a fireplace and a balcony with a jacuzzi tub on it that the spring waters came up to! It was on the balcony so that they sulfur smelling water didn't stink up the room.....yum. So Peter and I mainly hung out there, aside from getting some yummy Thai takeout.

Busy day, lots of alcohol, no drawing. :(

28 July 2009, Tuesday

We ended up in Ventura last night, taking the coast as far as we could (it took a while!). There was a brewery there that we wanted to check out (Anacapa Brewery) - good beer! As much as I NEVER have ordered an IPA in my life, I ended up loving their DOUBLE IPA..weird.

Today we checked out downtown Ventura, and then headed up north more....to SLO. Didn't feel like dealing with town at the moment, so we went north to this little campground just off the road. It was nice and quiet, and I haven't camped in over a year (due to the good ol' back), so I was REALLY wanting to. We brought the tent and camping box and....an AIR MATTRESS! I love that thing!!! It was so fun, and I was so comfortable and all went well - I honestly think I felt BETTER as we went along throughout the trip!

Some great wildlife - there were these super bright blur birds there, some type of jay that hung out by camp and ate our leftovers. I have never drawn a bird before....

27 July 2009, Monday

First day of the trip - went on the coast the entire way to the Long Beach Aquarium! I have been wanting to go here for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It is a huge building, but there isn't as much aquarium/display space, so I had a hard time figuring that one out. It is VERY much geared towards little kids, of which there were a TON running around, so it's a cool place for families. Lots of touch tanks with rays and harmless sharks and starfish (fun!) but some of the other exhibit spaces aren't as neat. I liked it, but honestly like our dear own Birch better. And if you've ever been to the Baltimore Aquarium, you KNOW it can't be beat - maybe I'm spoiled from having been there a lot when I was a kid!

I LOVED the jellies - they are rad - like this slow-mo conceptual art exhibit instead of living sea creatures. I don't know how they don't just get all tangled up in each other! I sat and tried to draw without little ones looking over my shoulder....

26 July 2009, Sunday

Packed today...heading out on a weeklong spontaneous trip with Peter tomorrow. All we know is that we are getting in the car, heading north and we'll figure it out day to day! Super excited....

no drawing today

25 July 2009, Saturday

My friend and fellow teacher Justin Moodie had a farewell party today - he is heading up to SF for a new job. We'll miss him -

I also went to yoga this morning at the Y. It kicked my butt - I just cannot straighten out my right leg and I got a little down on myself. At least the teacher was cool and helped me out a lot, but I guess this was my first time back in the saddle and I could at least DO IT! I should start there and keep going...be positive!

24 July 2009, Friday

Happy Hour at the Beach House - fun times! Have been thinking about tattoos for myself and places to put them and about tattoos in general...which led (of course) to how I could incorporate them into my art.....just a fast sketch (she has a tattoo on her ribcage - text). I want my drawn girls to have personality - and art drawn on a person who is then, in turn, drawn seems pretty neat to me.

23 July 2009, Thursday

Didn't do much today. Peter and I went to see "The Hangover" - super funny. I liked that...it was creatively done. Have been brainstorming on art ideas, and how to include more motion and movement into drawings. I really liked how my last big piece (Lola) had movement, with the girl flinging her hair around. I'd ideally like to show movement from one position to the next.....here is just some playing around with that.

22 July 2009, Wednesday - Opening Day!

Opening day at the races - went with Julie, Angela, Jessi and Peter. What a crowd - SOOO many dressed up girls in hats stumbling around, and boy was it HOT. Peter and I joke and call it Boobs on Display. Here is my interpretation of the perfect Trifecta pick of the day.....what racing is all about. (jk)

21 July 2009, Tuesday

Went shopping with Angela and Moodie - yea...he wanted to go! :) Trying to find hats for Opening Day at the Races.....success! Did these 2 drawings while waiting for lunch on my paper placemat. Ended up being a bit elongated proportionately since I did them flat on the table. DOH - I know better.