South Pasadena Abstract #1

I feel like looking at things in the abstract this week.  Art is everywhere if you just know how to frame it.

(I found this as an entryway to a house in Monterey Hills.)

Want to say hi?  I'd love to hear from you.

Noir in Daylight

It's really hard to pick a favorite of all the old cars I've captured in South Pasadena over the years, but this one is definitely up in the top ten. Okay, in the top twenty. Oh, who am I kidding? I love them all.

Originally published on April 10, 2011

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Map of a Few Generations

Lucky for me, I live in a place where masterpieces are literally minutes away from home. Here, at the Norton Simon in Pasadena, Sam Francis' Basel Mural I offers a beautiful, expressive focal point.

Some people meditate for clarity, but I prefer to stare at something like this to sort out the big questions of life. And like meditation, staring at artwork often brings surprising revelations.

I've always been partial to Francis, and not just because of his expansive visual style. He belonged to the same era as my father. They were both born in California, both joined the Army Air Corps during World War 2. My father was fortunate enough to serve his time in the Pacific without any physical injuries, but Francis was badly hurt during training maneuvers and spent three years recuperating in bed.

During his recovery, Francis learned to paint. He used his new hobby as an escape as well as an expression. I remember once showing my father a print of a Francis painting. I don't recall if it was the one in today's post, but it was similar in its wild explosions of noisy color. I saw infinite optimism and potential when I looked at it.

"Interesting that he was in the Air Corps," Dad said. "This painting kind of reminds me of what the ground looks like after a bombing mission."

Ever since that conversation I can't look at anything by Sam Francis without thinking of my dad.

In Francis' last years, as he was suffering from cancer and clinging to life, a bad fall took away the use of his right hand. Like so many of his generation, he didn't let the setback stop him from achieving his goals. He simply used his left hand to create a series of brilliant small works.

That also reminded me of Dad. No matter how badly my father's body fell apart during the last years of his life, he was undaunted and without complaint. He might not have painted canvases, but he filled our family's world with great beauty all the same.

When my family and I visited the Norton Simon recently, I stopped for a while to look at this familiar painting. I'm about 15 years older than the last time I saw it. I still find the optimism there that spoke to me in my youth, but I can now better imagine the world it brought back to my father.

"What do you think of this one?" I asked my daughter.

"It looks like a map of a sad place," she said. "But it's hopeful too. I'm not sure why."

And right then, I realized how weirdly connected families are ... how my little girl not only saw what I saw in that painting, but also the impressions of her grandfather who died before she was born.

"Or," she said walking away, "Maybe he just liked paint splatters."

Art. It transforms, connects and heals. (And sometimes even makes us laugh.)

Now What Was I Saying?

This happy scene made me start singing Three Coins in the Fountain. Except I was singing it to the tune of Red Sails in the Sunset.

Next time I throw a coin, I'm wishing for a better memory.

Groovy Food

What do we need after a week of noir shadows? Some technicolor fruit!

Summer is busting out all over Southern California. Here is just one of many recent Allee family fruit salads incorporating organic goodness from nearby growers. Pluots, nectarines, peaches, watermelon, apples, honeydew ... even those grapes are from a local farm!)

We stock up on beautiful produce from the South Pasadena Farmers Market, and also take advantage of Farm Fresh to You -- an organic produce delivery service bringing boxes of yummy stuff harvested from area farms. We subscribe to the Valley Box, which brings all kinds of delights from small farms in the Los Angeles area. Every other Wednesday we wake up to a crate of nature's bounty. It's a fun way to get out of a culinary rut and force ourselves to eat a variety of fruits and veggies we might not think (or have the courage) to pick out on our own. Beets? Rainbow heirloom carrots? Italian Kale? You betcha!

Look for the Farm Fresh to You stand next time you're at the Farmers Market. (And if you want an interesting new way to use a huge bag of golden potatoes and pile of ripe avocados, just ask me about the recipe for Equadoran Locro de Papa I made last week...)

Bon appetit!

Style Guide

"Elegance is refusal."

--Coco Chanel

The Most Fabulous Lawn in the Entire World

I don't know who lives here, but every spring when this shocking lawn starts blooming I imagine the owner must be someone like RuPaul or Angelyne or, heck, maybe even Strawberry Shortcake.

One thing is certain: they're in the pink. Literally!

I love it.

play

“Play is the exultation of the possible.”

-- Martin Buber

Strawberry Tops

South Pasadena's Farmer's Market is great for fresh produce -- and for inspiration! Even these strawberry tops are beautiful. Trash or art? (Why not both?)

just open up and turn toward the light

"Flowers don't worry about how the're going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful."

--Jim Carrey

Here's the Deal...

There was a perfect 1940s green roadster driving right here. The blue sky! The pink tree! Those fluffy white clouds! It was a picture made in heaven and I could not stop smiling. I couldn't tell the model of the car because I was trying to keep one hand on the road while using the other hand to grab at the Lumix in my purse in a mad scramble to capture the moment. The roadster sped up and just as I was about to, um, ease through the stop sign, I noticed one of South Pasadena's finest in my rear view mirror.

He was not smiling.

Needless to say, I missed the roadster. So, just use your imagination.

Eggsactly This:

And may your chocolate bunnies be solid, never hollow.

Brainstorming

Rainy day bad idea:

Decide to do a big grocery shop at Ralphs, grabbing the umbrella with the broken spokes and wearing the wool coat that soaks up water better than a squeegee, getting stuck standing in the parking lot as an elderly woman in an 80s Lincoln Continental pulls out and then desperately tries to clean her wet glasses with her crocheted shawl as you helplessly watch your cereal boxes get soggier and soggier and you wish that you had included a bottle of scotch on your grocery list.

Rainy day good idea:

Put away the wet groceries, dry off and head over to Charlie's for great coffee, warm atmosphere and cool tunes. (Which is exactly what I did when I was stopped by the train crossing, and noticed this lovely shot.)

Happy to Oblige

This whimsical convertible van was parked here for almost 7 hours yesterday. (And yes, that umbrella was attached to it.) Given its choice of parking spot, I think it wanted its picture taken...

In Bloom

I'm not sure what I love more: the red hair, or that almost-hidden anklet.

You go, girl.

Electrical Storm

Today is the first of the month, and that means it's Theme Day for participating City Daily Photo bloggers. Today's theme is Electricity.

I think Dave Barry said it best:

“Electricity is actually made up of extremely tiny particles called electrons that you cannot see with the naked eye unless you have been drinking.”

Here, it looks like I must have been on a real bender: vintage streetlamps reflected on rainy sidewalks with a sky still illuminated by lightening and whatever that magical thing is filling the world with static after a storm passes through.

On nights like this, you might create a spark when you brush up against a stranger. Don't miss out. (Who needs drinking when the current of the universe can pass right through us?)

For more power shots, check out the other Theme Day contributions by my worldwide photoblogger community. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

--Robert Frost

Deco Unexpected

The next time you see a play at the South Pasadena High School Auditorium, make sure to check out the water fountain in the women's bathroom.

Who knew?!

Winter White (#2)

These pear blossoms are too wonderful for just one post...

(In fact, these pear blossoms make me think of this, which makes me oddly think of this, and that has nothing to do with these pear blossoms at all.)

Public Service Announcement...

For those of you having trouble keeping those new year's resolutions to eat healthier: the South Pasadena Farmers Market offers plenty of incentives. (Just don't tell anybody about the Cool Whip you pick up at Vons.)