Art is everywhere this weekend- & in all forms!

The weekend has so many fascinating art events happening, I wanted to share them with you. If you have nothing planned, and like the price of free or very cheap, I'd suggest checking any one of these out. As for me, well, I'm going to Seattle to visit a friends and their new baby. Hopefully, I'll hear reports on what I missed!  Enjoy!

Gallery at the End of the World Art Bender Weekend

2475 N Lake Avenue, Altadena 91001
(626) 794-8779
June 4, 5, 6, & 7 daily from Noon-6PM as well as

Thursday June 4th 6-9PM, Artist Reception and Preview and Live Music

Friday June 5th Opening Reception 7PM-1AM ($5 cover) with Live Music

Saturday June 6th Potluck BBQ

Sunday June 7th Brunch

NewTown Presents

On The Trail Of: A Half Mile of Al Fresco Installations, Sculptures and Performances

By various artists in the Hahamonga Watershed Park (near JPL)

www.newtownarts.org

(626) 398-9278

Saturday June 6th 11AM-7PM

Sunday June 7th 10AM-7PM

Legg Lake Sound Circle

Sunday June 7th (every 1st Sunday of the month) 12-3PM

Bring an instrument!

60 Fwy, exit Rosemead Blvd. 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arts_ed_roundtable/attachments/folder/44677026/item/1617964275/view

Altadena Junction Presents

While No One Was Looking: Photographs by a Writer- exhibition extended!

Friday June 5th 7-10PM

Saturday June 6th until 4-9PM

http://junction.alackof.com/

The Outpost for Contemporary Art Presents

X, Y, Z and u Exhibit

Curated by the League of Imaginary Scientists

Thursday June 4th 6-8PM, Opening Reception

See website for many other events this week and through the month of June

http://www.imaginaryscience.com/xyzu/

6375 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles 90042

(323) 982-9461

A House's History in Plaster

Plaster is a nasty business. Have you ever tried mixing it? The chemical composition is one such that if you get the powder-water ratio incorrect, even just a little off, it is unusable. And if you don't use it quickly once you mix it, it dries up and you'll have a concrete-like mess in your bucket. So my advice? Find someone who knows how to do it. And well. We're presently re-plastering indoor walls in our circa 113 year old house.

We're actually trying to restore and repair our walls, rather than replace. However, in some areas that was not possible. There were walls that were held together by five layers of paint and wallpaper. When they came down, so did most of the wall. In those cases we took down the lathe (the wooden slats which original plaster adheres to) as well as the plaster. We lined the walls with a 'moisture seal'- a plastic sheeting called Tyvek. Those flexible white Fed-Ex envelopes are made of this recyclable material. I've also seen some designers use it as a lampshade material. Once the Tyvek is in place, we insulated. Then we put up a special type of dry wall which is used with plaster. Once the seams are sealed, with wire mesh in our case, then the plaster comes on. It is amazing to watch a plasterer at work. They are constantly working the material, moving it through their fingers and onto the trowel, getting the correct consistency with the correct moisture content. The results are amazing. I'll post pictures when it's all finished.

So some of our house is actually insulated now. It got so much quieter in the hallway after the plaster was back up. And I notice it stays cooler there too. Having an old house is fun 50% of the time, and frustrating the other 50% of the time. Construction is not always fun, but parts of the process can be. It was neat to find pieces of house history in the attic, and walls. A Sunday school teacher must have lived there at one time, we have empty Sunday school report cards from the turn of the last century, among other religious papers. We also have a pile of medical bills. Someone was receiving electroshock therapy, as part of treatment for some sort of mental illness. These papers are circa the 1980's, as I recall. We've also found bits of chandelier, bottles, plates, glass of all sorts while planting in the garden. The most interesting thing we discovered was buried in the garden- a rusted-through 22 caliber revolver. No joke! I thought it was a child's toy- it is so small- but no, several friends confirmed that it was an antique weapon. I guess that explains the bullet hole on the front porch... actually Jim tells me that was from a party on the day of the LA Riots. This is confirmed by our neighbor, who lived around the corner even then. So what does a person do with all that history found in their house or yard? We give it to our neighbor for use in her backyard mosaic, of course! Not the bits paper, but anything ceramic or glass, goes to my friend Pepi. Here is a picture of her mosaic in progress:

Pepi is meticulous about keeping records of who donated what to her mosaic- she gets a number of people who make donations. So our house will be on the list of donors. While Pepi has finished one phase of her mosaic, she has much more cinder block wall to cover. Can't wait to see the next phase. Looks like there is a peek at what she is planning in the picture.

So if you followed this rambling blog, and you are interested in restoration, or mosaics, you might like a book I just finished reading called 'Broken for You' by Stephanie Kallos.

Do it, bike it yourself.

Bicycling Magazine is not usually my kinda zine, but Jim receives it. The latest issue has an article which I just had to share. It is about a bike lane (on Los Angeles' Franklin Street) created by guerilla cyclists. Unfortunately there is no link to the article on the web, so I can't share it here. The article is called The DIY Bike Lane by Dan Koeppel and is published in July '09's issue of Bicycling. Here is a sample of what a DIY bike lane looks like.

I did some further web snooping and found that this was not the first guerrilla bike lane. Nor will it be the last, especially in Los Angeles. Did you know there is a Bike Master Plan that has approved all kinds of lanes and street updates for cycling? Yes, indeedy, there is. Lots of improvements are approved, but few actually are seen through. This article in particular highlights the fact that of the twelve bridges which connect commuters to LA's downtown area, none have bike lanes. As a once Pasadena-Los Angeles bike commuter, I know this all too well. May I just say, it is scary to ride across them. I believe most have side walks. And as a cyclist, I am against riding on sidewalks because my bike at full speed scares pedestrians, rightfully so. Any wrong move and one of us could end up either in traffic or in the LA "River"- which (at the moment) Angelenos know to be six inches of water with two feet of concrete underneath, in most places. Concrete is not easy to pick out of your teeth. Or skull.  

This is why bike lanes are so important. Organizations like CICLE and LA Bike Coalition are always fighting for cyclists' rights. Somebody's got to do it. The guerrilla lanes don't last long, according to the article it was there for 100 hours before being removed by LA Public Works. 

It goes without saying that this is totally illegal... and yet I love it. Sometimes you just have to push the envelope, no? 

Season of the New

Hmmmm... been a while since I posted. But it is a new and beautiful day. New Year. New vision... this day marks the turning of a new leaf. For me, maybe. But for our world?

Like on election day in November '08, I am here, torn again. Then it was the Election of Obama that excited me, and the passage of Proposition 8 in California that devastated me. That cool day in November, there were many people at my house- of all ages and races- celebrating the election events, and in turn crying at the history being made before them, especially during President-Elect Obama's speech. As I looked across the room at the glorious tapestry of people who graced my living room, outwardly I smiled. But inwardly, I was devastated. I couldn't help and think of all my LGBTI friends and how they were feeling at that moment. What did that day mean to them?

Again- all over again- the nomination of Sotomayor is so exciting (I am Boricua by birth) and yet in California, we have upheld this 'separate but equal' status of our LGBTI brothers and sisters. I don't know what else to say. 

So for today's post, I'll share with you a poem I wrote. Here's hoping that tomorrow will be a new and better day- for everyone.

Season of the New

afternoon light that gives a golden glow

warmth and promises of beauty there grow

 

the shock of new green and auras all around

song of which bird? And Seedlings on the ground

 

Pretty little blossoms, lining up for bees

Waiting for a pollen kiss to bring them to their knees

The wonders of this strange light

Winding serpentine

keeps rhythm with nature’s cyclic rhyme

So rolls out the springtime,

and it’s creation-

divine 

Cleaning house

So today was designated 'clean up' day at my house. That list included vacuuming, laundry, dishes, the dog, cobwebs- you name it. I'm really picky about what chemicals I allow in my home, but I don't like to buy specialty stuff because it tends to be expensive. Once I bought this hard water stain remover that was all natural. It worked like a charm on my shower curtain... but I went through most of the bottle in one cleaning and that stuff was not cheap. The shower curtain looked awesome but that is not an expense we can take on regularly. So I stick to these simple cleansers around my house:

Borax- simple, cheap, non-toxic. Good replacement for any powdered cleanser.

Distilled vinegar- also cheap, non-toxic. A great replacement for bleach as it has excellent germ killing power. Cut it with water, depending upon how you are using it. Here are some websites that give further explanation:

www.vinegartips.com/cleaning/

www.versatilevinegar.org

Baking soda- if you buy this in bulk, it is cheap. This is great to use for absorbing orders on a rug, and mixed with vinegar if you need an abrasive cleanser with the germ-killing powers of vinegar.

Ooooo I just got this email from Re-Nest (www.re-nest.com) that suggests using kosher salt and lemon to clean copper. Can't wait to try that one! Do I even have any copper items in the house? Hmmm...

No, I don't but I DO have some wrought iron that I recently purchased at a garage sale. It's a plant stand, I think. At least that is how I intend on using it.  Looks like it was once painted white, then painted black on top. It had some rust on it and I'm not sure I want to paint it yet. So I waxed it. That's right, I got some wax and rubbed the entire thing down. This will prevent it from rusting and give it a slight shine. You can use candle wax (naturally made candles will be easier to work with), or other kind you may have in the house. Save those candle stumps! I actually used car wax. Clear shoe polish wax will work as well. I am trying to rid the house of chemicals slowly, so rather than waste money and just throw it all into the landfill I'm determined to get rid of them by using them up. 

Need to strip paint from hinges or other hardware? Creative Quilt Girl (www.creativequiltgirl.com) can help with her simple baking soda and water soaking solution. That's one I will actually use, since we have plenty of unnecessarily painted hardware in this 112 year old house! Where do I start? I'll let you know next time. Ciao!