Artist's Perception

Spaulding Square Home, Los Angeles
image from Google Maps

I'm on Artist, Tony de Carlo's e-mail list. Every time Tony finishes a painting, he notifies his list of admirers. Tony lived in Los Angeles for many years, but now he resides in Savannah, Georgia. I've always loved his work. We own many of his paintings. Since Tony has moved to the South, many of his location paintings have depicted his surroundings. Recently, Tony finished a commissioned piece for patrons living in Los Angeles.
This is their perfectly adorable bungalow in the Spaulding Square area of L.A. (pictured above). This area was designated a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) in 1993. Most of the homes were built between 1916 and 1926. I do love Tony's vision. Now, this unassuming little bungalow looks like a sweet house in the Emerald City of Oz.

Painting by Tony de Carlo

Vintage Photo Friday - Millard Sheets

Artist, Millard Sheets, late 1940's

Oooooo......I'm very excited about our field trip on Sunday. I know it's supposed to rain in Los Angeles this weekend, I just hope that it lightens up on Sunday afternoon. We're attending L.A. Conservancy's "Millard Sheets: A Legacy of Art and Architecture" tour in the Pomona, Claremont area. Larry photographed many of the buildings and mosaics for the tour brochure. He spent a lot of time in the Inland Empire last month. So much time, that he digitally incorporated his own image into one of Sheets' mosaics as a Valentine card to me! So romantic. Sigh!

Former HS&L, Wilshire Blvd. and Rexford Dr., Beverly Hills,
Mosaic by Millard SheetsDetail, Beverly Hills Mosaic

I've been exposed, all of my life, to so many of Millard Sheets' mosaics right here in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Many of the former Home Savings & Loan buildings around town were designed by Sheets, as well as the mosaics and stained glass gracing the buildings. I've seen a few of the Inland Empire examples, but not all of them.

Former HS&L, Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica

Detail, Santa Monica Mosaic

I admire how Sheets always incorporated history about the place where the mosaic was located. The Hollywood HS&L has marvelous depictions of film stars in it's mosaic.
Sheets also painted one of my all-time favorite pieces, "Angel's Flight" 1931, part of the permanent collection of the L.A. County Museum of Art. I love that this painting doesn't actually show the rail cars of Angel's Flight, but the view from a run-down tenement atop Bunker Hill.

"Angel's Flight," 1931, painting by Millard Sheets
Permanent Collection of LACMA

Sheets was a native Californian, lived, taught and created here for most of his life. I've adored his work for years and look forward to seeing more of it!

Inspiration

Once again, I look to Ravelry for yarny inspiration. Here are a few of my latest faves:

Barbie Dress

My Barbie needs a cute little number like this one. Hey, Brenda B.! I think this is one of your favorite stitch patterns!

Knock Knock Knock Penny by Anke Spilker
I would seriously like to see this in a shawl format.

We're All God's Children by C.L. Halvorson

This reminds me of an old-fashioned quilt.

Baby ABC's Afghan by Coats and Clarke
Love the corner granny squares.

Brain Hat by Alana Noritake

I call this the Brain Beanie!

Which patterns have inspired you lately? Inquiring minds need to know!

E's 60th Anniversary

Queen Elizabeth II, 1952 (the year of her coronation)

2012 is Queen Elizabeth's 60th anniversary as the reigning British monarch. This is definitely an example of job longevity. You can read about her life here.
Last month, we were at The Tudor House Tea Room in Santa Monica. They have a little shop connected to the Tea Room. China commemorating the Queen's 60th anniversary were prominently displayed. I'm not that big a fan of the British monarchy, but I cannot get those dainty mugs out of my mind!!!

Queenly China

I want one! Liz and I are both celebrating this 60th year thang. Yes, I said it. I'm going to be the "S" word in July. Sigh. I need some cheering up. I might just run over to the Tudor today and buy a commemorative cup! It will look veddy proper sitting on my desk for afternoon tea time.

The Queen's Official Flag
We have the same first initial!

Queen Elizabeth, 2012
Did that glitzy crown!

ADDENDUM - 2:44 pm
Bought my fancy cup. Queenie and I are now enjoying a lovely cup o' green tea. The cup is MINE. I have emblazoned it with my signature lipstick smudge!

Honolulu Shawlette

Modified "Klamath" Shawlette

Before we left on our Hawaiian vacation, I looked through my patterns and my yarn stash to find an appropriate project to take on our trip. I didn't want to take anything too large or with too many different yarns involved. I tried to find an easy pattern, but not too boring. I remembered that our Knitting Guild, The Slipt Stitchers of El Segundo was conducting a Crochet-A-Long and a Knit-A-Long. The crochet pattern is "Klamath." The corresponding knit pattern is "Multnomah." Both are triangular shawls with a feather and fan border. Perfect!
I wound up my beautiful skein of SweetGeorgia Yarns Merino Silk and Lace in a rich aqua and green combo and stuffed it into my bag, along with my crochet hooks.


The first part of this shawl is very easy, rather mindless. I added a filet crochet row every fifth row to keep it interesting. When I arrived at the feather and fan border portion of the pattern, I must have been so relaxed that I read the directions incorrectly. I forgot to crochet the decreases every third row to create more of an zig-zag border. Oh well. I had just enough yarn left to crochet a simple single crochet edge and add a fleur-de-lis picot at the tip of each feather. It blocked out beautifully. Everytime I throw this shawlette over my shoulders I will remember our wonderful 20th anniversary celebration trip to Hawaii. Aloha.

Rockin' on Fig

Figueroa and 64th Street, South Los Angeles

On Friday afternoon Larry and I drove south on Figueroa St. to see The Rock or "Levitated Mass" sitting in the middle of the street on it's massive transporter truck.


The Rock is very tall. When a city bus rode by, I could see that The Rock was taller than the bus! No wonder the transport company had to build a special apparatus to carry The Rock from the Riverside desert to the Miracle Mile!

Larry and The Rock

I didn't get out of bed at 3 a.m. on Saturday to see The Rock land in front of the L.A. County Art Museum on the Miracle Mile, but I did drive by later in the day to see it sitting near it's final resting place, behind the Museum. This spot used to be the parking lot for May Company!

When "Levitated Mass" is finally placed, you will
be able to walk UNDER it for viewing!

The Rock at Home in the Desert
Photo by Mark Zaleski

Vintage Photo Friday

Funeral Procession, East Gate of China Town, Los Angeles, 1953
Photo Courtesy of the L.A. Public Library Archives

This morning we visited the Chinese American Museum, downtown Los Angeles. The exhibit we were there to see is called "Breaking Ground: Chinese American Architects in Los Angeles (1945-1980)." This is part of the ongoing Pacific Standard Time exhibit throughout Los Angeles.
This Museum is a little gem, on the edge of China Town. It's a two-story museum, filled with interesting photos and artifacts. The architecture exhibit covers the careers of four Chinese-American architects, "Eugene K. Choy, Gilbert Leong, Helen Liu Fong, and Gin Wong, architects who played pivotal roles in the development of Mid-Century Modern and Googie Architecture movements unique to California's Post-War architectural renaissance." I feel lucky to have met Helen Liu Fong before she passed away. We met a few times at Modern Committee events, sponsored by the Los Angeles Conservancy. This is an excellent and informative exhibit. You should definitely see it.

East Gate, China Town, Los Angeles, March 2012

The structure of the East Gate to New China Town hasn't changed much in the past 60 years!

Post & Beam Restaurant

Even though we're back from Hawaii, Larry and I are still on vacation. Last night we decided to go to Post & Beam for dinner. It's a newish restaurant at the edge of Baldwin Hills Plaza. The chef, Govind Armstrong, has created a wonderful menu with many interesting choices. This is our second time at Post & Beam. Our first visit, we each had a meaty entree...Larry had the short ribs and I had the pork chop. Both were cooked perfectly and came with yummy sides.
Last night, Larry had the pizza with house-made sausage, fire roasted peppers, grilled onion and a cheese blend.


I had the cast iron natural chicken with olive oil poached garlic and sage. My entree came with two small plates. I chose the charred broccolini wth chili and garlic AND the oven roasted cauliflower with braised chickpeas and salsa verde.


We wanted to try the deviled egg appetizer, but knew we wouldn't be able to finish our meals if we did. Everything was positively divine. We cleaned our plates!
The building is new....love the modern design. There's a patio with a veggie garden at one end. In the summer, this will be a great place for drinks. The crowd was lively, but not too loud last night. The staff is always helpful and courteous. EASY parking! This is one of our new fave places. We'll return often.

Time to Leave

Lightening Strikes Honolulu

Thunder, lightening and flooding in Oahu! Time to say a fond farewell to the enchanted Islands! Yes, it rained a bit during our visit to Honolulu, but it wasn't too bad until yesterday. It rained most of the day and night, there was flooding, bridges were out and some electricity on the Island went out too. ALOHA! Our flight leaves early this afternoon and I'll be glad to get back to sunny Los Angeles.
In spite of the rain, we had a wonderful time last night at Mocha Java with the Aloha Knitters. Thanks to everyone for welcoming me. The group was smaller than usual because of the rain, but the heart of the group was present. By the way, if you're ever at the Ward Plaza on Ala Moana Blvd. (a funky, old-fashioned mall), Mocha Java has amazing food and smoothies!

M.K. (Kai) Carroll and Ellen @ Aloha Knitters Group

Just a Few of the Aloha Knitters

Kai @ WeHo SnB, 2005, Modelling Regina's Turkeyzilla Tote

Naturally, I couldn't leave Oahu without purchasing some souvenir, vacation yarn! We stopped at a small shop near downtown Honolulu called Yarn Story. It was difficult to find...second floor of an obscure building with very little signage. The owner, Kim was very nice and her shop had a small but interesting collection. I purchased some Malabrigo Sock Yarn and some hand-dyed in Hawaii cotton/rayon blend!


Aloha and Mahalo! Thanks for taking this trip with me through the magic of the innernets!

Waikiki Weekend

Oh My! It was a truly busy weekend in Waikiki and beyond. I need to go back to L.A. to rest up from my vacation! We started out Saturday morning at the local Community College Farmers Market. It was packed! We wanted to pick up some mangoes and papayas. It was raining off and on. We accomplished our mission and headed over to the Rainbow Drive-In for breakfast. Wow! Huge portions and delicious food!


Then, we decided to drive toward East Hawaii and enjoy the gorgeous coastline. As we made our way around the shore, the sun came out and the waves were crashing on the rocks...positively breath-taking!


We stopped at a botanical garden where the plumerias were just about dying off for the season. We drove around to East Hawaii and stopped at a few shops and then came back to town.


Shopping at Bailey's Aloha Shirt and Hawaiian Antiques shop proved entertaining, along with a visit to Good Guys Music to try out the ukuleles.
On Saturday night, our 20th wedding anniversary, we went to the Mariana Sailing Club Tiki Bar and Restaurant for dinner.

Another Wow! This place must have all of the leftover tiki trappings from every single tiki bar that ever lived in Hawaii. It was tiki-rific-bonanza-a-go-go-time! The food was delicious too!


Sunday was a day of rest. I sat by the pool, rested, crocheted and read.


Larry came back from his photo tour around town and we walked down to the main street in Waikiki to watch the annual Honolulu Festival....very colorful, topped off by a magnificent fireworks display out in the harbor. Phew! I'm exhausted!!


Today is our last full day on the Island. It's rainy again, so we'll probably go to a museum. Later tonight I'm meeting up with the Aloha Knitters at the Ward Center for their Stitch 'n Bitch. I have an old acquaintance, M.K. Carroll, that I'm seeing there. M.K. visited our WeHo SnB group a few years ago and we've followed each other on Ravelry and Pinterest since that time.

Aloha from Waikiki!