The Lodge, LACMA and Long Beach ~ Running around L.A.

Don't brood. 

Get on with living and loving.

You don't have forever.

~Leo Buscaglia

Sometimes when things get rough, you want to crawl in bed and just stay there. Other times, you can't sit still. (Don't worry, my health is fine. It's another kettle of fish.) Right now, I'm having "big bursts of busy" and saying yes to every idea and invitation. 

My friend Lisa called a couple of weeks ago, and was going to be in town from San Diego. She asked if I'd like to have dinner. "Yes!" I said. Then she proposed going to an art gallery opening at a place I'd never been, over on Western. "Really? On Western?"  

Yep. The Lodge is on Western in an unexpected place, not known for being an artsy area. It's not the exactly the hood or anything, but it's also not exactly in an "artsy hip" area (like Silver Lake) or an "artsy swanky" spot like La Cienega or Beverly Hills. 

Anyway, I threw my hair in a pony tail, put on some red lipstick, and out the door we went. 

The LODGE

The Mini Show

Conceived by Clare Crespo

3rd-24th October 2015

Lisa had heard about this gallery opening, on the radio, on the drive up to L.A.. Though the picture above looks like a regular gallery window ... it's actually a tiny "mini" gallery, inside the actual big gallery.

Below, I'm looking down into the Mini Show. A wooden scale model of the actual ...  gallery!

This, below, gives you a better idea of the scale!

I liked that. Seeing things differently, even when small ... broaden your mind and can help you think ... bigger!

Little magnifying glasses available to look at the art!

My favorite piece in the show was the tiny protest installation below, by Miranda July ... "Close Tiny Guantanamo" "Tiny love is Tiny love" "We are the tiny 1%"

My fabulous friend and kindred spirit Lisa, I've known since we were 5. 

The reception in the courtyard was hopping! Not sure what's up with the little addresses in the courtyard? Trying to find out! Someone said something about art studio spaces? 

It was the first weekend of October ... and you can tell by the sandals, still sweltering. No, not Death Valley sweltering, but L.A. sweltering. 

I love the "1/8" on the address and Lisa in the reflection.

Sometimes it's just patterns that interest me. 

This was on a building a couple of doors over.

That night we walked with our friend Shea to a yummy Pizza place on La Brea, then Sunday I was busy going to the Farmers' Market and teaching a private student.

I'm also watching the new Masterpiece Theater show Indian Summers on PBS. Are any of you watching it? I think you can get caught up online. Episode 4 just aired Sunday!



That following Monday, my friend Shannon was going to be in LA with her kids' school tour of LACMA. Would I like to meet them over there? Sure! Why not!?

Here they are looking at a mummy that was discovered not long ago, by DNA, to be a young female.

Coffin Base
Egypt, likely Thebes, mid-21st Dynasty
c. 1000-968 BC

My mood. (below)

Ancestor Figure

Papua New Guinea, East Sepik 

c. 1950

 

My favorite painting at LACMA, below. Last time I was there, there was no light on it. If the museum hadn't been closing I would have found someone to talk to about that! This time, the light was on and all was right in Kandinsky world.

Wassily Kandinsky

Untitled Improvisation III, 1914

I also saw the new New Objectivity: Modern German Art in the Weimar Republic, 1919-1933 show that's up but that is a whole other post!

After LACMA I drove to Long Beach for dinner and Dancing With the Stars, with my aunt and uncle. They also wanted me to see the great old building where my uncle has an office now.

The Breakers

Long Beach

Opened in 1926

The building has a fascinating history. It was built as a swanky luxury hotel, in the Spanish Renaissance style ...

This video from youtube is of Long Beach historical buildings "then and now" with The Breakers at 2:08 on the video.

And a groovy art deco bar and restaurant with a view upstairs! Back in the day, it hosted stars like Cary Grant and Clark Gable! The penthouse had been converted to The Sky Room, was when it was owned by Conrad Hilton.

The Sky Room

Apparently, Elizabeth Taylor and Nicky Hilton honeymooned here!

The Empire Grand Ballroom

Up until recently, much of it had become a senior living facility. (Which was in the first video.) Now, most of the seniors have moved out and there is another metamorphosis going on at The Breakers! 

Here is a slideshow from youtube with some very old photos from the Long Beach area.

This is a few nights later, on Hillhurst after work ... 

Who doesn't like a little cold unfiltered sake on a hot day?

For more on the Mini Show, on The LODGE website, click here

For the New York Times article about the Mini show, click here.

Still staying busy and much more to post! Hope you are all doing well!

Blessings and Light

To me, 

if life boils down to one thing,

it's movement.

To live is to keep moving.

~Jerry Seinfeld

Magic Hour ~ Long Beach in September

The capacity for delight

is the gift of paying attention.

~Julia Cameron

Long Beach, California 

I'm taking a little break from posting my New York trip, to share some Southern California September with you! Yes, I'm very behind!

The photo, just above was a perfect spot to have a glass of wine and enjoy the ocean air! O.K., I'm getting ahead of myself! Let's get into a groove ... 

Please press play. ;)

Anyway, I used to spend a lot of time in Long Beach, back in the early/mid 90s when I had a boyfriend living down there. After that, my visits were few and far between. I'd head down if there was an exhibition at the Latin American Museum of Art or the Long Beach Museum of Art, that I wanted to see. 

But just recently, over the summer actually, my Aunt and Uncle moved down there, and I finally made it for a visit! What a gorgeous perfect day to drive down! (A little less than an hour, depending on traffic? Less on the way home.) 

This was during one of the biggest heat waves, of September, and my apartment was in the high 90s, so I was thrilled to be near the ocean! And Long Beach has changed a lot since 1994! 

Slow down and enjoy life.

It's not only the scenery you by, going too fast-

you also miss the sense of where you are going

and why.

~Eddie Cantor

My Aunt and Uncle love being in Long Beach and I can completely see why! Isn't it fantastic?! They are a little farther away from me, but what a great place to visit them for our dinners and our DWTS and So You Think You Can Dance viewings! 

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,

if a blade of grass springing up in the fields

has the power to move you,

if the simple things of nature 

have a message that you understand,

rejoice, for your soul is alive.

~Eleonora Duse

What a perfect late afternoon, early evening! After the pier, we headed to their place for a delicious meal and Dancing With the Stars. There is something so rejuvenating about the ocean air and sound of the water and seagulls ...

Another beautiful evening! 

Thanks Penny and John!!

Be the holder of your own Nature.

It is a joyful responsibility.

~Eric Fischl

Blessings and light!!

Frida: Her photos ~ A trip to MOLAA and Long Beach!

Nothing is worth more than laughter.
It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself,
to be light.
~Frida Kahlo

In mid may I headed down to Long Beach, and met my aunt and uncle at the Museum of Latin American Art. I'd been hearing on the radio about an exhibition of Frida Kahlo's private photos, finally released after 50 years, for public viewing! 

On arriving at the museum, I couldn't believe how different it looked! I remembered it being very small and kind of hidden. Not any more! I realized it had been a decade since I'd been there.

Oh, and there was a mariachi band in front of the entrance, when we arrived!

The exhibition had all kinds of personal photos, including old photos of her family members. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos in there and there was no catalog, but this video, below, gives you an idea of what they chose for exhibition. 

I would say it's definitely an exhibition for those fascinated with Frida and her life, as well as those who enjoy seeing history through old photos.

From the MOLAA (Museum of Latin American Art) Website

About the exhibition

Frida Kahlo, Her Photos presents over 200 images from Frida Kahlo’s personal Casa Azul archive in Mexico City. MOLAA’s featured spring exhibition includes images of Frida, by Frida and for Frida. Represented here are a wide range of photographs that shed light on a more personal side of Frida’s life, from family photographs, both traditional portraits and candid shots at the Casa Azul, to mementos of pain, love, and the artistic, intellectual and political milieu in which she lived. This selection from the Casa Azul trove also includes images by Lola and Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Man Ray, Tina Modotti, and Edward Weston among others.

Never before had a woman
put such agonizing poetry on canvas
as Frida did.
~Diego Rivera

A little music for the visit ...

Take a lover who looks at you 
like maybe you are magic.
~Frida Kahlo

I have always been inspired by Frida, because her art is so raw and courageous. She bares her soul, her life, and heartbreaks, in such an intimate and visceral way. I have always admired that. 

They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't.

I never painted dreams. 

I painted my own reality.

~Frida Kahlo

In the exhibition, I found out that not only was her father of German decent (like mine) but her mother's side was of Spanish decent and a Calderon de La Barca ... Like mine! I texted my sister immediately. I have now decided that she must be our cousin! ;)

Frida recovering ...



I am not sick.
I am broken.
But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.
~Frida Kahlo 

At the end of the exhibition, there were activities for kids (and adults.) Frida was known to have painted her body cast. (In 1925 she was in in a bus that hit a trolly car, and broke her spinal column, collarbone, pelvis, right leg, ribs, foot ... among other injuries.)

There have been two great accidents in my life.
One was the trolley,
and the other was Diego.
~Frida Kahlo

The other "activity" was to write Frida a get well postcard. This, below, was my favorite that someone wrote. Love her comment about Diego Rivera (Frida's lover, and on again off again husband.)

My aunt and uncle, in the lobby. ;)

At the museum, there were other exhibitions going on, including a room of black and white photos by Manuel Carillo (born 1906).  This small exhibition runs through Nov. 30, 2014.

Boy Watering Horses, 1956

Manuel Carillo

I got the photo, above, off the MOLAA website. Google him, and you will see how beautiful his photos are! To see my favorite photo of Carillo's, click here.

We had a Mexican beer and snack in the cafe, as well. Pretty yummy flat bread with molé and cheese!

Back out in front of the entrance ...

My aunt and uncle are actually going to be moving down to Long Beach, next month, so they drove me around their very cute new neighborhood! Looking forward to some fun visits and more exploring of the area!

Old footage of Frida ...

Yay! I made it to the exhibition! It closes June 8th, so if you are in Socal, get on over there! (And no, I couldn't help myself with the "theme dressing!" What else is new?!)

I used to think I was the strangest person in the world 
but then I thought
there are so many people in the world, 
there must be someone just like me
who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do.
I would imagine her, and imagine 
that she must be out there thinking of me, too.
Well, I hope that if you are out there 
and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, 
and I'm just as strange as you.
~Frida


For more info on MOLAA click here.

Big blessings and light!
Can you believe it's almost June?