Dispatch From LA

time travel

lashing rain and wind.  i went from window to window sliding along the wood floors on my socks.  i made coffee and breakfast and read maps and plotted and planned and read some more.

then more wind and sun and blustery air.  grey turned to blue.

one of you told me to go somewhere so i did.

i always do what i'm told.

more on THAT later!

for now i am off to make something with something i got at the place i went.

promise me that next time you go on a little vacation you'll rent a house instead of a hotel because it's like stepping out of your old life and rambling around inside a new one for awhile.   i don't know why.  but it is.  and no matter how much you enjoy your old life being born again into a different time and place is like time travel.  all those unlived lives waiting in the wings.

makes me feel a little breathless.  a little bright eyed and bushy tailed.

like that.

city by the bay

i landed this afternoon.

right here.

at this house on a hill.

walked through this doorway...

and sat out back in this blooming spring garden with my face tilted up to the sky.

there's a room with a view.

and i like that very much.

i scampered about only long enough to gather provisions.

i was expecting clouds and rain, but the air was clear as glass with sun beaming down on every surface.

tomorrow big storm coming!

here in the city by the bay.

but i brought my bag of yarn and rocks.  and i just spied something that will go into my sketchbook.  and i'm almost falling asleep, but that's going to have to wait because there are nooks and crannies of this house to explore.  and a big fat architectural guidebook to study.  and walkabouts to plan.  and buses to ride.  and streetcars to chase after.

i ♥ san francisco.

on the eve of my departure

last night i crocheted around one of my larger stones.  oh boy!

HERE is where I found the original pattern.   THIS is Margaret's blog, the woman who originated the idea.  Others might have crocheted stones before her, but I think she's the one who really made the idea captivating to me and countless others flung across the globe.

I found THIS pattern yesterday.  Which I used for the first 3 or 4 rows then I went off on my own.  Eventually popping the big stone inside its little crochet sweater and stitching it in all snug and tidy.

Now I have to go pack.

My chariot is heading out into the bright morning and onto the open road first thing.  Miles and miles of gray ribbon of road unwinding.  And me master and commander of the very first day of my shiny new 10 day vacation.  That is a thought I like thinking about.  A lot.

Eventually I will land at my enchanting destination.

And there will be photo stories and ramblings and more crocheted stones and some sketchbook pages and walkabouts.

I'd be totally lying if I said I wasn't giddy. 

because i am.

inspiration board

as of 8 pm this evening i was officially plugged back in to the internet at home.  

i have been restored.

during my hiatus i re-did my inspiration board.  apparently i can't get enough red, orange, pink, and aqua.

i put up my pam posters and my hammerpress, my vintage postcards from budapest, and other things that make me feel giddy and excited.  i wish i could remember who made/sent me that felted monkey...but i can't!  {one of you}

but i love him dearly.

i also wish i could remember the brilliant, talented artist i bought this linen fabric from on etsy awhile back...hmmmm...  lovely silk-screened scraps. 

i'm headed somewhere fun and new and different on friday morning.  so put on your party pants.  the pink leather ones that have the orange embroidered FOXY across the arse.  yeah.  those.

i'm heading back to the yarn store tomorrow to get some crochet thread so i can crochet sweaters for 923 more rocks.  I ordered a book of crochet motifs.  if you come to moss cottage there will be stacks of yarned over rocks on every surface.  STACKS people!  then i will sketch the rocks.  crochetsketchcrochetsketchreadcrochetsketchcrochetsleepcrochetsketch.

spring break is 48 hours away.

zippety do dah!

Crocheted Rocks

Have you seen those crocheted stones all over kingdom come? During lunch today I found a tutorial over at the purl bee. I didn't have the right size yarn or hook, but I do have plenty of river & beach rocks that need sweaters. I got a little confused with the directions and since Joyce wasn't around I improvised.

I can't wait to try again with a thin cotton crochet thread. Won't that be nice? In the meantime that stone is happy. I can just tell. and the other stones...they're jealous.

And this is where I'm at with my clutch:

4 down 8 to go.
Tomorrow my Internet service is supposed to get zinged into my house.

Sent from my iPad

Quadruple cluster chain triple crochet hooked loop weekend

Hey you...

I found a pattern on etsy for the most fabulous little crochet clutch you can possibly imagine. (will share those details ...once I'm plugged back in next week)

This necessitated a return to Joyce's after school on Friday.

How nice it was to eat, crochet, and yack about arty matters. Joyce has a rich personal history with Los Angeles...including her 5th birthday party at the BILTMORE downtown with Carmen Miranda in attendance. Really.

not everyone gets a crochet guru like mine. And you better believe I appreciate my good fortune!
Which is why. I decided not to steal her silver. And take it home to sketch.

Sent from my iPad

soothing the savage beast

I came home a hot mess. Fizzled, frazzled. Close to hissy fit territory. Watched tv. Wrote in my journal. Still agitated.

sat down and started to sketch. RELIEF. Then I turned on CNN. Holy crapoli. Did you know that television has a pause button and if you press it you could instantly be in a figure/portrait drawing class with different poses and everything!

plenty of quirky characters! Take your pick!

but desktops are,fun to draw too...

Sent from my iPad

Why, hello there.

Why, hello there.

I sort of miss blogging the old fashioned way. Ya know? Where I sit at a real chair in front of a real desk with my happy washi keyboard clicking out the rhythms of my day.

Even so, I'm not sorry I've had this sandwich of time in between Internet providers to remember the way life was before blogs and google and Wikipedia and email. I think I'm going to start taking a couple of days during the week to unplug and consciously tune out all the clatter. My sketchbook is reminding me of a self I used to be. Before all the distractions.
How lovely it is to go back in time 15 years to the mid-90's. Remember those days?

don't think for a second though that I won't enjoy zinging around to all my favorite haunts online and getting my fix of design, pattern, and candy colored inspiration the second my cyber power has been restored! I wouldn't ever want to go back to pre-internet days of being creative in tiny circles. I like the big circles much much better. The honey from the community hive is pretty irresistible. Isn't it?

Sent from my iPad

Daffodils

It's not so bad being without the Internet at home. I'm reading more and getting more arty things done. Yesterday I finally pinned up my new inspiration board. Have desperately wanted to update it for...oh...about 6 months now. Done! More on that soon.

I enjoy the slow movement of the pen across the page when I'm studying something that I'm sketching. The slower I go the better the outcome. SEEING things through careful eyes.

And then sometimes I get excited and heavy handed like the page below. Most things can be rescued. Some cannot. Either way the process is very satisfying.

the kooky portrait on the right is pretty much disastrous, but looking at it after a few days makes me laugh. Especially knowing the personality of the little person I was sketching.

Sent from my iPad

Oh hi!

It's me again. Broadcasting live from the McDonald's parking lot.

how are you?

We're hunkered down on the squishy couch watching tiny rivers wash down the lane. And reading. And sketching. And listening to that wonderful pi��a soundtrack.

well...that's where I will be in 5 minutes. Soon as I steer my little canoe out of here and head for home.

shamrock shake by my side.

Sent from my iPad

I'll just be at moss cottage sketching...

Big storm coming!

I'll just be here...

humming and sketching...
Going to the mcdonald's parking lot to check my email.
Stuff like that.

Sent from my iPad

Sweet

To console spiderman boy I brought in a book for him to peruse. It was a gift from my crochet guru. He's a sweet boy and completely delightful. And he doesn't like to be teased about his favorite shirt!

Lots of nights ahead of me free from Internet distractions. Sketching nights!

Sent from my iPad

AT&T Internet Review

Since I know my complaint directly to the company won't be passed along, I'm blogging about the dreadful situation just in case you are even remotely considering switching Internet providers. JUST SAY NO to AT&T.
The fellow who took my order on Friday told me to cancel my EarthLink account right away so that my new service could begin by this Friday. Since I'm switching to the wireless service without a landline he also cancelled my phone. I was told a self install box would be sent to me immediately and by Friday my new service would be up and running. Cool! Only losing out on a week of service or less. Well I had the bright idea to call today and make sure everything was on track and it's a good thing I did because there was NO ORDER on file. Furthermore the earliest I can be wired for service is march 27! And to add insult to injury the indifferent service rep was distracted and had me on the phone for nearly an hour. $&?!!$&@/:;$@!!!!!
I'll have internet from 7-3 while at school, but I can really only check my email uninterrupted at lunch. oy. What a pain in my tuckus. I'm writing this at home but driving over to the McDonald's parking lot to connect so I post this ASAP. Then I'm coming home opening a bottle of Spanish wine and drawing more birds and cats and people with open mouths and interesting teeth. Yes I am! And I am going to forget all about the Internet. And that silly boy who replaced my order. And everything unpleasant. Every last thing. And in the morning I'll post more quirky characters.

And don't order AT&T Internet. Blec. They will be given the opportunity to redeem themselves by providing lightening fast speed and no future crappy service. I'll blog about them again in a couple months and reissue a report card. I'm afraid for this semester they are FAILING.

Sent from my iPad

I do not understand those little squares called teeth.

I am officially off the grid between the hours of 3 pm till 7am ish everyday until my new wireless Internet signal gets zinged into my house. I am such an ignoramus for imagining that the new switchover would be seamless. I'm not getting mail from the dreamdeep/earthlink address anymore, just the new one. So if you sent me anything there you'll have to readdress to the email listed here at typepad or over on facebook. I've tried to change it everywhere but I know I forgot a few places.
All this is to say...who cares?! I've got a sketchbook that has living breathing crazy people living inside of it that are starting to talk to me at night!

the level of unpredictability in the pentel pocket brush pen is wildly fun. And funny. I'm also enjoying the pigma microns and the Pitt artist pen/markers in shades of grey. For years and years the only pen I've ever used is the pilot permaball, which is not waterproof. Having 13 pens at my disposal is exhilarating!
I'm just plain drunk with sketchbook love. That's the truth.
I'm getting really excited about revisiting the visual journal and eventually combining sketching and collage. Or it could be just one giant sketchbook.
I'm feeling lightheaded with all the possibility.

Drumming fingers on table.
Who will have the misfortune of winding up in my sketchbook next?
Friends neighbors and school children ...running and cowering. Yeah you.
You CANNOT run fast enough to escape my pentel pocket brush pen. Don't try.

Sent from my iPad

you have committed poetry!

This should dissuade those kind dear people who have said such nice things about my fledgling sketches.  I'm going to call my series of 3 Joyces:  crazy, crazier, and craziest.

I sat outside and sketched today.  

Don't we love the act of creation?  And how it doesn't matter what the end product looks like because the process is so delicious?  Narcotic bliss.

When you draw with a pen and can't erase interesting things happen.  Joyce.  I have 2 words for you:  I'M SORRY.  hahahahahahahaha

Speaking of crazy, I saw a Norwegian movie last night that filled me with complete and utter delight.

My favorite part is when Elling discovers that he is a poet!

That was when the words struck me.  It was as if they were written on the inside of my eyelids.

'we found her in the stairs.  her hair, a black raven's wing beating against the filthy linoleum.  we laid her on the bed, and saw she had an angel's child in her womb.'

My god, Elling!  You have committed POETRY!  My entire life I have walked the earth not knowing I am a poet!  No wonder there have been certain misunderstandings.  My poetry...my own language, has lain undiscovered within me.

I am convinced you won't be able to thank me enough if you watch it.  Convinced!  I am planning on watching it again tonight.  I never ever ever do that.  

I also went to see PINA in 3D at the Arclight in Hollywood yesterday.

Compelling.  Beautiful.  Stirring.   I loved the group of dancers who were over 65.  You can't possibly imagine how fabulous they are - vital, alive, filled to the brim with talent & wit.  The experience was so rich!  I dig the soundtrack all the more now.

And finally HIGHLAND PARK my neighborhood made it into the LA Times.  Also HERE.

my crochet guru is a comic book heroine!

sketching really is terribly fun.  

joyce my crochet guru is now a comic book heroine!  i didn't plan it that way.

...but after i drew her with my pentel pocket brush pen, (which by the way is waterproof and has a big thick sloppy line that i love) she turned into one.

next up:  i watercolor little portraits of the cat posse in these lockets.  holy cwap this is fun!

This is what a good book can do to you.  Inspire you to take up a new practice.  And that's exactly what DRAWN IN did to me all those weeks ago at the loveshack in ojai.

it feels so delicious to have zillions of sketch ideas coursing through my art brain!  zing zip zapa wappa pop drop

p.s.  after 15 years my email has changed!  my new email is here at my blog and on facebook.  there are too many people to notify to send out an email announcement.  goodbye earthlink.  hello at&t wireless internet.  i really hope you're faster and have better service.  i really really do!

the joy of cooking

because I had to. nilla wafers + bananas + vanilla custard. joy of cooking recipe minus the butter and cream. crazy delicious.

Sent from my iPad

midweek play in the fields of the sketchbook

Sent from my iPad

i'm going to have to insist that sunday not end

i very much resent sunday's departure.  i'm angry that i can't just keep on listening to my new melodic cd from the soundtrack of wim wenders new movie pina.  which.  i resent not having the time to see yet.

 

but i want to.  i really really want to.

i'm disconsolate about having to STOP fooling around in my new sketchbook.

 positively filled to the brim with bitterness.  if you are not a member of the working stiff community would you please stay up until 2 am for me tonight?  and have a sketchbook dance party while playing PINA really loud.  would you?

i'd appreciate it.

oh hi!

good morning saturday.  you're full of sun beams.  i'm going to sit in them and hum.

and sip coffee.

and breathe in freesia scented kitchen air.