Monday, June 11, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
IN PICTURES & WORDS
1. It's All Good
These first visual impressions of California for a Midwesterner are hopefully more art than tour. No pictures of us standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge waving, but hopefully a look over my shoulder when I would have said to you, "Oh, look at that!"
The series is named after a Momas and Papas hit "California Dreamin'." I kept hearing it on the plane and in the taxi and on the freeways. Here it is if you don't know it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN3GbF9Bx6E
I still can't get my internal tape recorder to shut off "All the leaves are brown . . ." The song was written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963. It's about their homesickness for California when they were living in New York city in the cold and snow of winter.
We went in November, hence the "California snow" in the picture.
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2. The West Coast
If you are going west, young man, this is the end of the road. And a beautiful end it is.
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03. Sticks in the Landscape
My first visual impression of Los Angeles is one of fuzzy topped sticks poking out above the freeway walls. I'm thinking Dr. Seuss must have grown up here.
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04. Birds in the Cityscape
Besides Truffula Trees there was another surprise in the landscape. Along the freeways and at intersections off the freeways were bushes with orange flowers. When we got slow enough and close enough to look at them, I recognized them--The Hawaiian Bird of Paradise Flower.
I had seen a few in floral shops and at funerals. They do look like birds. Back in Wisconsin I knew a fellow who tried to grow them from seed. He sent away and waited a long tine for the right temperature for shipping. When they came they were purple with ornate fuzzy hats. And they came with three pages of instructions on how to germinate them. He did everything. They never sprouted.
In LA they grow rank.
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05. In the Neighborhood
We stayed overnight in Pasadena because we wanted to see the Gamble House the next morning. It's a famous example of the Arts and Crafts Style. In the evening we walked the streets of the neighborhood where our motel was. Once lovely, the tree-lined streets now were shading iron grates over empty store front windows. We walked past a hulking, monolithic brick building in the shape of a great tower. It turned out to be the apse on the back side of St. Gregory's Armenian Church. That's when we realized were were walking in an Armenian neighborhood. We enjoyed our walk better.The motel guy recommended the Armenian Restaurant. We couldn't find it. We asked people in shops and people on the street. No one knew. We finally found it. We shouldn't have asked, "Where's the Armenian Restaurant?" we should have simply asked all those Armenians, "Where's the restaurant?"
We had to wait for it to open, and so we were the first, as the chef told us, to get the just finished soup of the day. The place was pleasant, more folksy than fancy, but five plus stars to be sure. Best kabobs in the world, and the salad with dill sauce and the unpronounceable soup were beyond delicous. We chatted with the friendly staff and other customers, and liked the people as much as the food. We walked back to our motel filled and unafraid, genuflecting slightly at St. Gregory's.
The place in this picture is quite a different Pasadena neighborhood. Not too far away, it's the Gamble House area. All the houses there are in the Arts and Crafts style. We had to wait for our tour of the Gamble House so we walked the neighborhood, drooling, not over more kabobs, but over the visual feast.
The "Neighborhood House" of the picture is next door to the Gamble House and is the opposite of our Midwest experience. There old churches got turned into houses. Here, in Pasadena, this large Arts and Crafts house got turned into a church.
Did you notice the "Hate Free Zone"?
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06. In The Neighborhood 02
This is a typical house in the "Craftsman" neighborhood around the Gamble House. They are all part of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900's. These houses must have seemed very modern compared to other houses of the day, like the soaring Queen Anne Victorian style with it's vertical lines, lofty towers, gingerbread decorations everywhere, and many-colored exteriors--those "Painted Ladies," as they were called. In contrast, this kind of house with its natural materials and simple lines must have looked not only modern, but totally without conspicuous opulence. Perhaps they seemed to the very wealthy even humble.
The bricks used as balusters are a unique feature of this house.
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07. In the Neighborhood 03
A Craftsman garage on a Hillside House. The garages were built with as much carefulness and craftsmanship as the houses.
07. In the Neighborhood 03
Two California architects, the Greene brothers, designed not only the Gamble House (of Procter and Gamble fame), but also many houses in that neighborhood. It made for a fascinating walk.These "In the Neighborhood" pictures are from that walk. I was looking for designs and interesting compositions rather than full examples of any one house--except, of course the Gamble House. But that's a bit down the street.
The Greene brothers developed their own Californian versions of the Craftsman style. In their attempt to be plainer and simpler than the flamboyant Victorians they often incorporated into their homes things normally thought of as spoiled or of no value. In this case it's the curved bricks. The curves happen when bricks are too close to the fire in the kiln. Because they are not flat, they were considered not suitable for building. But as you can see, the Greene brothers used them to make a curvy wall that is quite charming. I like that notion of finding a use for the flawed. It's like God using us for beautiful purposes.
Another characteristic of Greene and Greene houses is projecting roof beams and rafters. They are a great place from which to hang things, as was done with this lantern.
One of the phrases to come out of the Arts and Crafts movement was "useful and beautiful." I l just love that.
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08. In the Neighborhood 04
Here's a Craftsman feature that the Greene brothers liked a lot--exposed and extended roof rafters and purlins. In a Craftsman home the emphasis was on "craftsmanship." Everything was done with great care and accuracy. This roof corner is a good example of the Craftsman principles. Did you notice the rain gutter?
In this composition I like the three diagonal colors flanked by black and white.
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09. In the Neighborhood 05
The Craftsman Style has a simple elegance, here enhanced by a simple landscaping.
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10. In the Neighborhood 06
It's the colors and textures here--redwood, weathered green copper, bricks, cedar shakes, stained glass, rafters, leaves, sky.
This fence was between a brick wall and a large, solid wooden door that shut off the driveway. The holes in the decorative copper pieces made a way of seeing who was there before opening the door. I'm not sure what those copper things are, but they were used in the Gamble House over the basement windows. Perhaps they are decorative window grates used for security. Whatever they are, here they are used for a "see-through" in this charming little fence.
"Useful and beautiful."
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11. In the Neighborhood 07
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12. In the Neighborhood 08
12. In the Neighborhood 08
Useful and beautiful.
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31. On to the Close
It turned out to be a nice close to the day.
CA Dreamin' 30 - The Westering
On our drive north from Pasadena and Los Angeles to San Francisco we stopped at the ocean just to see it. Actually I went down to the water and touched it. I had to. It's the farthest west I'll ever reach. Fredrico Balboa and the New Peace Ocean. I wished I had brought my Spear of Discovery and jammed it into the sand to claim it all for us.
We saw some surfers in wet suits, but they didn't go into the water. Too cold. A different ocean current flows here than the warm one just to the south. The problem with surfing in cold water is not the temperature, it's that the black wet suits make the surfers look like sea lions, the favorite food of the Great White Sharks. But the surfers go anyway. Couldn't you just paint your wet suit blaze orange?.
You already saw a picture of the surfer place. It was the second picture in this whole series, and was entitled "The West Coast." It showed the ocean and a neat pillared beachfront concession stand. It was closed for the winter.
This picture is father up the coast where we stopped in the early evening, hoping to see a sunset over the ocean. Waiting for that I found this. I love headlands and beaches. I especially like the reflections of wet sand. I can see why there is a whole realm of art devoted to "Seascapes." It's a real trick to paint that hypnotic and illusive curl of the breakers. To be "on the strand" and to hear it is never to forget it. I still hear Lake Michigan sometimes late at night. Dougie and Aria heard breakers, albeit small ones, for the first time on a windy day at Lake Lanier, and were as spellbound by the sound as I had ever been.The Bible describes the surf as the waves "clapping their hands." I sometimes clap along. And with the gravel of the road and stones of the walls of Jerusalem I too, with such voice as I have, cry out our Maker's praise and his coming.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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