Dispatch From LA

Maybe I'm Being Chased

My new macro lens is the microscope I always wanted.  I followed some ants around today, but they wouldn't hold still long enough.  The range of focus is so narrow nothing can move.  Nothing.  Which makes stationary objects so easy to capture, but not nearly as mysterious.

  

World after world opening behind every petal and leaf.  I am caught in the grip of pure wonder.  Or insanity. Or curiosity.

 

 Or delusion.  My kalenchoe tomentosa is wearing a powdery coat with chocolate tips.

 

Lately I don't want to write in my visual journal.  My regular writing journal is the repository of my deep and shallow thoughts.  All I want to do is paint shapes that look suspiciously like eggs or jelly beans.  Must be channeling the easter bunny.

 
 Apparently I'm in a hurry.  Maybe I'm being chased.

 

I Want To Go To There

A blurry bee flying towards his target.  Captured mid-flight.

 

A mighty grove of succulents stand at attention!

 

It only looks like a lily.  It's actually a blurry pre-natal lemon. 

 

You'll be sorry if you don't click and get a better look at those whiskers.

 

Cabbage leaves!

My Remains of the Day journal.  It looks like I'm sewing with rope.

 

A 300 pound gold locket recovered from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon.  Really.

I could go on and on, but I'll spare you.  And besides. 

There is a new world I have not seen before. 

I want to go to there.

What If I Look At It By Accident?

Playing with a macro lens on the BIG camera.  Usually I use my little pocket Fuji for school or travel.  (camera details in sidebar)  But I felt like taking a walk on the wild side this morning.

click on these, then click again to see SERIOUS close-ups

 

Just because I'm using that particular word combination:  macro + lens  does not mean I know diddly squat about what I'm doing.

I just know that what looks interesting up close must be even more interesting up closer.  Mostly this theory has held true.  

The range of focus with this lens is very narrow.  And I wasn't using a tripod.

   Just me.  Lumbering around the room on my back legs like a circus bear.  Pausing occasionally to bark out reminders to keep reading and "don't look at the camera unless I tell you!"   

What if I look at it by accident?

There won't be any accidents today.

 
And there weren't.

Sky Report

Aside from horsing around in my visual journal, I've been going outside the second it gets dark and looking for my friend Orion in the night sky.   If you're in LA, you can see him pretty high in the western sky shortly after dark. The 3 most perfectly lined up stars in the sky.  He dips down lower and lower in the sky as the night goes on.

I've also been on the lookout for Saturn which is not so easy for me to locate.  But if I could find it, and had a telescope say, and could really really get all up in Saturn's business (which I'd like to do) I could see that its rings are tilted 3 degrees in our direction.  WHAT?!

Don't ask me, I just found this out on the Griffith Observatory Sky Report.

I love thinking about the earth tilting on its axis.  How the sun moved north across the celestial equator last Sunday.  How fast our little planet is moving through space.  How the universe keeps expanding.  Those ginormous rings of Saturn.  Big thoughts in my little head.

Yes Please

What I had for lunch:  carne asada burrito with salsa verde.  Thank you La Estrella for having the foresight and wisdom to park a few blocks from my house.

 

More enchanting blossoms have opened up in the garden.  Freesia.

 

I just heard flowers described as the reproductive organs of plants.  Which made me think about plant sex.  Pollination porn!  It's all happening right here.  Right now.  In LA.  All of our winter rain has kicked everything up a notch.

The birds, bees, moths, and bats must be full of punch drunk love.

 

Lavender.  A flower that keeps her wits about her.  Saving all that scent for her leaves instead.  I think I would like my entire front yard to be a lavender field.  No, I'm serious.

 

Here lies a splendid aeonium with no fragrance at all.  Who doesn't need at least one enormous green rose in their garden?  With waxy petaled leaves tinged with pink.  Yes please.  And thank you.

Or a dusty cat ready to sink into his favorite electronic cord pillow.  I try to stop him, but he's having none of it.

Where I Sit Now

One lemon flower has turned into about 5.  I inhale deep gulps every night before bed.

 

Lately on my drive to school, the sky is the color of sapphires.  The streets just beginning to be glazed with sunlight.

I drive by this temple every single morning and nod at the silk flags rustling in the wind.

 

8 hours later I'm passing by the Kim Sing Theatre.  I love the corrugated metal doors the color of sky.  Chinatown in all of her radiance.

 

A random shot of green.

Home.  Where I sit now.  In front of the window.  Breathing in the heady night air that smells of tuberose, lemon, honey, jasmine.  Thousands of blossoms opening at once all across the city.

Here is the picture I didn't take:   A quick stop at the market on my way home.  A scruffy boy with rumpled hair and a shabby white t-shirt trying to sell See's candy to whoever's buying.  One of his sneakers is untied.  He looks forlorn.  He sees me coming, stands up straighter.  "Wanna buy some See's?" he says. 

"Not today," I reply and wink. 

He gets me again on the way out.  "Are you SURE you don't want some See's?" 

I put my arm on his shoulder, stop for a second, "Does it look like I need any candy?" I say motioning down the length of my body.

I walk on towards my car.  He calls after me in the sweetest voice, without a trace of guile.  "Well I think you're just perfect."

And that, my friends, is a true story.

Pull Over NOW!

My sister, Dottie sends me missives from South Africa.  Details of her daily life.

 

Exploratory jaunts to interesting places.  In the shots above, a journey to the vast territory known as the Great Karoo to see outsider artist Helen Martin's Owl House.

 

I like knowing that one of the Moss sisters is off on another continent roaming far and wide.  

 

I wonder what this monkey is thinking about.  Probably wondering if a monkey above him is getting ready to crash land on his head.  Or maybe he's wondering if it's going to rain.  He could be thinking about the dream he had last night.  I wish I knew.

 

Look at that downy coat and chocolate eyes.  Small curious hands.

 

About 25 years ago on a narrow highway in the Florida Keys, Dottie screamed for me to "pull over Now!" so she could stomp off into a swampy area to chase an elusive blue heron she thought she saw.  I rolled my eyes and stayed in the car to smoke a cigarette.  She was gone for a long time.

 

I wonder how long it took for Dottie to get this shot.  I wonder if her traveling companion blew smoke rings out the window while she waited.  Somehow I doubt it.

IN UNRELATED NEWS:

One of my clever REMAINS OF THE DAY students, Jill, posted these slide show videos over in our Flickr group.  I love her use of photos and rubberstamp letters in the journal she stitched together.  Lovely & amazing.  You can see for yourself HERE and HERE.

Spring Brain

1. Corridor mirror, 2. #404 黃腹展啄 (Ballerina Doing A Pirouette), 3. Untitled, 4. after a storm, 5. Untitled, 6. My happy bike, 7. Sunday bear, 8. Hyacinthes, 9. 57/365 Composition

How fun to pedal around town on a bike like the one above.   If I could pull if off without looking like a circus bear I would.

Spring brain is still dreaming about bubblegum, birds, and night air that smells like jasmine and lemon blossoms.  If a robin wanted to land in the tree outside my window and build a nest and lay 4 blue eggs inside, that would be okay with me.  Just saying.

p.s.  4.4 earthquake jolted me out of bed early this morning, but no aftershocks and no damage.  It was moderate, typical, nothing out of the ordinary for we who live in LA.  All is well.  Had there been 4 blue eggs in the tree outside I would have dashed outside to catch them.  Since there weren't,  I slipped back into bed instead.  zzzzzzz

67 Sunshiny Degrees

Picture this.  A giant gumball machine.  We're talking HUGE.  I'm in it thrashing about.  Up to my neck in fluorescent gumballs. You don't know if you should call for back-up.  My head's thrown back.  I'm grinning.  I'm braying at something.  Possibly a neon yellow moon.  Or hot pink sun.  Don't call.

 

It's spring.  In Los Angeles.  Birds are singing non-stop.  The sun is warm, but not hot.  One of the buds on my lemon tree opened.  You know... into a FLOWER.  A lemon flower people! It is the most intensely fragrant magnificent smelling itty bitty perfume factory in the entire world.

I  know how nauseating too much enthusiasm can be, but playing in this little journal has been so...so...g o o d.   Color & pattern.  Trying out ideas.   Row row row your boat...

And now for a total change of pace.  The Hurt Locker.  Netflix has it.  I ordered it a couple of days ago and watched it last night.  Riveting.  So glad it won best picture!  Big surprise:  Evangeline Lilly from Lost is in it towards the end.  And Ralph Fiennes.    Who knew?

That's Me On My Steed

Rain on succulents.   Clusters of sparkly globes balancing on the leaves.  Little worlds under each.

 

My Meyer lemon tree is budding for the first time.  Since it's my first lemon tree it could just as well be the only lemon tree on earth.  Getting ready to blossom. For the first time ever!  EVER.  Producing the world's first lemons!    Who cares that the entire city is practically a grove of lemon trees?  Psshaw!

Another panel.  From part...

 

to whole.  That's me on my steed galloping directly toward a lazy weekend.   Or my next super-hero assignment.  Either one.

 

Yes.  Once, you really looked this doe-eyed and fresh from a milk bath.  You glowed that brightly.  Your eyes held that much mischief and merry making.  It's true.  It really happened.

 

Please tell me you'll go get the book Matilda and read it every single night to your dumbstruck child.  Who will stare at you with equal parts confusion and hilarity.  Who will howl uncontrollably when you read the part about Matilda supergluing Mr. Wormwood's hat to his mean head.  

 

Happy Sunday Cute People

The little downhill flowing brook that bloomed in the lane next to my house yesterday has dried up.  A big dose of lemony sunshine arrived this morning.

A hot sunshine spotlight centered right over Moss Cottage.  After my shower I air-dried out back in my towel.  Don't worry it's private!  More or less.   Besides my motto since my birthday has been, "I'm 47 and I can do what I want when I want." 

Yes I can!  I'm pretty much unstoppable.  You would be too if you had on a pair of party pants.  I'm off to stir up trouble in the neighborhood.  Then it's back inside for more artful experimenting.  Happy Sunday, cute people!

PURE EXPERIMENTATION Online Class News (mostly for the benefit of those who subscribe in a reader format)

REMAINS OF THE DAY is open for registration.   

STENCILRY is open for registration.

I'm going to continue to funnel 100%  of the Stitched & Stenciled proceeds into a Haitian Relief Fund.  You can read more about that HERE.

Light Rain 58 Degrees

Rainy Saturday here in LA.  The bluebird of paradise just flew by my window.  Really!  Bright feathers settling briefly on the porch railing.  Long enough to wink at me through the window.

I'm swinging back and forth between the wood panels and splashing around in the visual journal.  This one is tiny compared to my usual behemoth.  A nice change.  Since I've been spending time with the wood panels my usual journaling methods have been suspended.  Mostly it's a place to swish around the extra paint and glue down the scraps littering my work table.  Exercising the play muscle.  Good times.

Thought Fragments

White daisies & chrysanthemums from the market.

Another wood panel hanging on the wall.

More rain arriving on Saturday.

 

I awoke last night to moonlight streaming through the window and down onto my bed. 

I don't want winter to end.

The highlight of my day:  reading George's Marvelous Medicine aloud in our little classroom library with the lights off.

Hello Monday

Here I am.  A mosaic and a small bite of poetry.  Because I love the pieces sometimes more than the whole.

 1. lemons, 2. Prayer Flags, 3. 1950's Retro Telephone, 4. #98 黃腹雙逐 (A couple tracing each other in the air), 5. Sunset Lilies, 6. Untitled, 7. QUE, 8. Dreaming of Texarkana (detail), 9. After the Rain,

Ocean

Goodbye again. Say there is a little song in my head

and because of it I can't sleep or change my mind
about the future. Now the song runs all the way down

to the beach where I sit as if the sky

were my room now. No one, not even you,
can hear me singing. Not even me.

As if the music rose from the mouth of the ocean.

No mouth. Like rain before it reaches us.
Like wind twirling dresses on the clothesline.

by Jason Shinder