Kim West

Wandering downtown on a sunny morning,

I happened upon this mural on the corner of 7th and Mill.

A story seemed to unfold across the matte gray facade.

A forest of pastels; an eagle flying with a poppy,

large iris-like petals,

 and a buck with pink and gold antlers drenched in twilight.

Kim West, the artist, was inspired by the building's location,

the border between The Arts District and Skid Row.  

West knew, "I wanted this mural to have the feeling of a sort of daydream,

the kind you might have on a road trip as a passenger:

 your eyes are shut but the sun is seeping through.

There is a vivid contrast between the darkness of closed eyes and the technicolor,

 over-real images that float with varying degrees of focus and blur."

LA RIVER

There is a tunnel, below the Sixth Street Viaduct,

that leads to some of the most iconic Los Angeles landscape.

Power lines, art deco bridges and skyscrapers,

 immortalized from this vantage point in many films,

  hearken back to the city's early industrial age.

The lap of water flowing across the concrete river banks

 added an odd tranquility

to a place that is on the brink of major redevelopment and change.

The transformation is palatable.

This summer the viaduct will be demolished

and construction on a new bridge will commence,

 further transforming the Arts District and Boyle Heights.

Pedestrian walk ways, bike paths, and public parks will grace this part of the city displacing the homeless campers, and bringing more foot traffic to a city known for the automobile.

I'm a believer in change,

but there is something about being on the cusp of such major transformation that is equal parts exhilarating and unnerving.

There's a timelessness to this area of the city,

 but it is definitely overdue for renewal and rebirth.

The Hundred Day Project - Days 22 - 28

doorways and agaves,

blue skies

rectangles and textures

barks and vines

Aegean and Pacific

looking out, looking in
color coordinated landscapes

Marriage

“No union is more profound than marriage,

 for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family.

 In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.”

Justice Kennedy

Mystery

 

It began in mystery, 

and it will end in mystery,

but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between. 

 

Diane Ackerman

Preparation for the Next Life

Atticus Lish's first novel is 

a raw portrayal of an unlikely couple --

a Chinese immigrant and a mentally unstable Iraqi war vet

who find each other in Flushing, Queens

and embark on an unsentimental romance.

The prose is at times disturbingly bleak, but hauntingly authentic.

The Hundred Day Project - Week Three

There are a million inspirations in a single photograph.
A color, an object, a mood, a perspective
can trigger an image.
Some threads are more literal, others more abstract.
From Mad Whip's photo of the tram reflected on the side of a building
I was drawn to the telephone wires as they emerged from a foggy sepia drenched morning.
Her line drawing lead me to more wires, this time they were barbed.
The grayish green monochromatic building rising from the corner of the photo
influenced the close up of the greyish green cactus growing in my garden.
The trees reflected in the glass doors of the brownstone
brought me to the lake in Echo Park
to capture the glorious lotus blossoms
reflected in the water.
Purple induced blue.

And Picasso's cubist woman

provoked an off kilter self portrait.

This project makes my heart sing!

Rising Lotus