Never Settle For Just Plain

A new unfinished frame

Ever wander through a store and stumble on the craft department? I don't just mean what you find at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnns's or A.C. Moore, I've noticed that stores like Target and Walmart are carrying some of these same items. Paints, brushes and even wood frames, birdhouses all at varying prices. The wooden frame shown here was $1 at Walmart. It is about the same price at Michaels.

Here is the finished frame

A dollar? Well, you gotta get that, right? So you get a frame ... what do you do with it? I know that I have talked about this but I feel that each project, no matter the cost of the platform, be it a birdhouse, tray, platter or picture frame, presents a wonderful opportunity to think outside of the box. That is what prompted me to try this project.

Detail of a Crazy Quilt Frame

Since I started creating a variety of items using a "crazy quilt" design where I painted fabrics just as you might see on a fabric created quilt, I painted these items that seemed to be a hit. I won an award from DecoArt for my original "crazy quilt" birdhouse prompting me to try other that sold well on my former Etsy store.

I don't know about you, but finishing a wooden frame, either with a stain or a color didn't offer much of a challenge. As you can see here, the same frame painted is totally different. 

Right now, let me point out that it can a tedious process. Here's why:

First you have to select base colors of your fabrics. I used six (6) base colors. They were used at least twice on the frame. Since I wanted this to be a holiday frame, I decided to choose colors that would be found on Christmas wrapping paper.

Once the base "fabric" color is painted then each color would have its own, unique pattern. As you can see in the detail, these patterns again are similar to patterns would find on Christmas wrap. And let me tell you when you finish some patterns you are so very happy.

Even the back must be painted - here I used
a solid color

To complete the effect, I use a golden ink pen that you can paint on acrylic paints to create stitches, the final touch for my Crazy Quilt frame. This takes between one to two hours. You may not need to do this but "stitching" the fabrics together in paints add a final finishing touch.

To be honest, it is pretty easy to do. But remember it also takes a lot of time. I recommend you work on several items at the same time as you must allow the paint to dry since each painted fabric has the same design. It is too easy to smear paint used on one side as you work on another. Trust me, I know all about this! Its a pretty good thing acrylics dry quickly. It is relatively easy to repair or recreate but being careful saves having to waste time doing this exact thing. Go ahead try it. Since most of you already have the paints and brushes it's a small cost to experiment with a new style.

Thank you for reading my blog. Please read some of the earlier blogs. I cover a wide variety of crafts, books, movies and more ... all items that depended on someone's design. 

My, My, Concerts Have Sure Come A Long Way: Going to the Foo Fighters Concert

One of the earliest live concerts that I saw, other than those in college, and we had some pretty good acts I might add, was a Sonny and Cher Concert is a city park in Seattle, WA. In those days all you needed was a fair sound system, a few lights and an enthusiastic large crowd. This was at their height too, 1967. How things have changed.

Electric Sign at Honda Center

Saturday I was with a friend who got tickets for the Foo Fighters Concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. Normally an ice skating arena for the Ducks hockey team, it does a nice job of making things accessible for concerts. It was packed and all the groupies were out on the floor. The bands leader, Dave Grohl, had broken his leg falling off a stage somewhere in Europe but didn't let that slow him down ... not one bit! The stage was set up with a long runway and he rode an electric cart up and down it from the stage to everyones delight!

Dave Grohl on his electric cart!

As much as I wanted to go, I was afraid I wouldn't know any of their music but when I went to that old standby, iTunes, I found clicking on their music I was more than surprised at how many of their songs I knew! I hadn't memorized the lyrics as many in the audience had but at least I knew the tunes.

My other fear was that I would be the oldest one there by several decades, not that it mattered but you do get tired of being stared at as if you are, say, a living fossil. There were other grey beards as well!

Watching all this I realized that what was once a simple production - an audience, lights, some kind of speakers and play music for the fans has changed from music oftentimes to a "production." We have come a long ways from "I Got You Babe" played forever in the movie "Ground Hog Day" to Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift or the Foo Fighters. Just think this all must be loaded on a truck. Sounds like "Ground Hog Day" to me!

Watching the bands take down and put up the next day at the Kaa Boo Festival in Del Mar, it has become something much greater than those early days. AND, it took somebody(s) to design and implement it. At Del Mar there was much scurrying around as the crew for the next band set up. I was in fact awed by all that went on and wondered how they could do it over and over again in venues that were never the same.

Honda Center filled for the Foo Fighters seen from the Nose Bleed section

I can't help but believe that long on-the-road concerts are grueling for just about everyone involved. Lessons must be learned at every stop, adjustments made to provide not only the best sound but the best show for the audience. I'm sure it doesn't take much to defeat the original purpose but also what we don't know won't make any difference anyway. 

Sometimes artists have great opening acts but Saturday night was not one of them. One of he biggest problems to me is the volume of sound. It is so loud that besides being unable to think, you are subjected to a volume of sound that almost makes you deaf. I couldn't understand a word they said and, of course, had never heard of them before so didn't know their music. It was hard to even pick out the tune. Loud does not make for great music.

While loud, the Foo Fighters were a bit different. You could recognize the music and on the first bar

Foo Fighters on stage

or two, the audience came to life. In fact they played a solid 2 1/2 hours straight!

Watching all this, studying what they were doing, you realize that concerts, like everything else in life, are designed for a certain affect. The huge video screens showed details we would never see, the sound was well, loud but tunes and voices were audible, the lighting was at times dramatic and changed with the flavor of the music. The overall effect is to surround you with an otherworld experience. It does too!

They are returning to Anaheim again next month and I heard people say they were coming back for that concert. I must be callous but unless they had a new album I wouldn't want to come back for a year or two.

Thank you for reading my blog. Why not take the time to read my older blogs that comment on a variety of ways our lives are designed.

Beards & Hair: A Short History of Men's Facial and Head Hair Styles

For many years, something upwards of 30 years, I wore a beard. I am not sure why but it seemed a logical next step from years of wearing a mustache. When I worked for Kmart in the early 70's we manager assistants were told NOT to wear beards, mustaches and the like by the corporate office in Troy, MI. I rebelled and grew a mustache, something I could do in a week. Every other man in our store, located back then and maybe even today in the backwater of Los Angeles County, Lancaster, CA grew a mustache too.  Few would visit us from Troy, MI and the manager, who didn't dare, supported our rebellion. I had tried earlier when I was in the Peace Corps but it was so hot and muggy in West Africa, I sweated so much I could feel the rivulets of sweat go down every hair! However, I moved on to a beard in the more civilized San Gabriel Valley, just east of the Los Angeles city limits. 

Post Metrosexual beard and hairstyle. 

All that's missing here are the tattoos.

Bin Laden

Recently I have become aware of the beards the post Metrosexual men have been wearing. Never much of a fashionista, a short jaunt to Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade recently made me totally aware that the young men were dressing differently than what was being worn in Alhambra. There are many Asians in my area now and they are probably as tuned in to the latest fads as anyone but even they couldn't match what I had seen on the west side. As I perused "People" magazines in doctors offices I saw this was what all the stars were wearing as well.

There were many young men that didn't look all the different than the model (above left) with a kind of pompadour on top with hair shaved on the sides and well, a Bin Laden styled beard. Neat and ratty.

General Grant - Savior of the Union

Never having seen this fashion before I wondered why would young men ape a face style from a man (Bin Laden above right) or group that we have fought now in wars for at least 14 years - the Taliban, ISIS and other Arabic terrorist groups. Yet we have a history of beards in the United States and looking farther into this realized beards are here today and gone tomorrow.

General Ambrose Burnside

The founding fathers were generally beardless, nary a mustache. However, by the time of the Civil War, just about every general and the Union President sported a beard. Why, we will never know. Someone was a trend setter and soon the fashion swept the nation. 

President Abraham Lincoln

There were a variety of styles to choose from ... a full beard like General Grant shown here or a modified moustache shown on General Burnside. That Grant won the war and Burnside was a disgrace seemed to have no affect on fashion. President Lincoln had a modified scraggy beard usually favored by Quakers and the Amish, eschewing the fancy twists and turns of some of his peers.

After the Civil War beards fell out of disfavor unless you were a settler who didn't care or have the time on the plains as railroads brought thousands of farmers to settle the land from around the world. Working class men rarely sported a beard. Class equaled head fashion.

King George of England

Europeans made beards acceptable again at the beginning of the 20th century. King George of England as well as Czar Nicholas of Russia had beards that sported a rather dandified mustache with many modifications. Captain Smith of the HMS Titanic also sported such a beard. Two years later when World War 1 started soldiers didn't have the time to preen themselves. Beards fell out of favor. The 1920's and 30's saw clean shaven men. Their frivolity was spent on suits and shirts and hair styles that we would recognize today. Suddenly men dressed much we do today and beards were a thing of the past. Women's styles were more drastically changed.

Lionel Richie with his Afro

Instead men worked with their hairdo's. Anyone remember the Afro? It wasn't just for the African Americans either. 

I sported an Afro being told it would hide my growing bald spot that started in my 20's. I don't know why women go through curling! Finally I started wearing it short after seeing a "combover" flipping in the wind. After that I swore that I would never ever do that, and never have.

The Afro was followed by the "shag" I think pioneered by Rod Stewart. Men, pretty much, didn't wear a beard but by then I did. There were a few mustaches, but mighty few. Again they were long droopy types recalling a cowboy on the farm. My father-in-law wore a beard for many years and since I had very sensitive facial skin it seemed the answer to a whole range of problems. When it was discovered that I had a blood disorder and had to beware of any kind of cuts when put on blood thinners, the beard was for me the best solution. It was bad enough shaving under my chin and neck!

Rod Stewarts shaggy cut

For awhile now, men have sported a two or three day unshaved look beard. It was popular everywhere ... movie stars, thugs and the average Joe on the street. I always thought it looked like you were too lazy to shave that day. When the clothing ads starting using models with that look it really took off. I remember reading an article written by some fashionista saying it was "sexy" and turned women and probably other men on too. I remember wondering if she had ever kissed a man with a 3 day beard. Like kissing sandpaper. I guess girlfriends and wives are good sports.

Hugh Jackman forgot to shave today

There were many, many styles in between. Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elvis Presley and the Fonz with their pompadours, the buzz cut and totally shaved heads especially favored by African-Americans, styles that faded sometimes and then suddenly returned. Remember the spiked Homer Simpson "does"?  With the likes of Justin Bieber ... hair piled on the top of his head and cut short on the sides the market was open again. The one good thing about these styles, if you had a head of hair to do it with, was that when a fashion died, you could always get another haircut.

What is so amazing to me is the need for men, who I guess spend as much now on certain grooming products as women, to follow a trend and yet within it be strive to be different, creating an element of individuality. This trend I believe started with tattoos. Tattoos could be individualized to the man but the fact you had them made you part of a group. I remember as a child only red neck, white trash ever had a tattoo. It was usually one or two on a bicep and usually 

Fashion elements combined - from the 50's to the 21st Century

covered by a t-shirt. Suddenly everyone had one. Many tattoos are undeniably beautiful in the here and now but give them 15 - 20 years when skin begins to sag. I remember my son being enamored with the huge eagle on the chest of our 80 year old neighbor who seemed to always be shirtless. However, one look and you knew the huge eagle on his chest had landed. 

While a tattoo is forever, mercifully haircuts seem to change like the weather. We live though in an era today where  our heads have elements of all past trends ... pompadour, military buzz cuts, beards of the Taliban and enough tattoos to please the Yakuza! The man shown here on the right has all these elements, even the rolled cuffs on his jeans ala James Dean! Where once this would have be been anathema to all regular people, it has become acceptable when movie stars such as Angelina Jolie and other stars sport such additions to their bodies. Why is it acceptable? Will the next generation continue this or will they, like the Boomers generally avoid doing this? 

These elements are conscious designs that we create for our lives seeking a kind of individuality within a carefully chosen group. I do have to wonder though, how many people wake up the next day and wonder why did I do that? This may not be a bad time to invest in laser tattoo removal!

Thank you for reading my blog. Please check out my other blogs that cover and whole range of comments on the designs that shape our lives!

Crazy Quilt Tissue Box

Step 1 - getting the design on the item

Trying to keep myself busy and my mind and hands active I decided that the plain wooden tissue box on a small table next to my chair needed something. I didn't want it too colorful or even a solid color or stained wood, I definitely wanted a little more character than a plain wooden box.

If you have never tried creating a crazy quilt design, try to pencil in what you would think fabric scraps might look like on an object. I have used this on birdhouses (my first series), wooden plates and now this tissue box. The drawn "fabrics" are all shapes and sizes depending on the item you are making. The secret of a good crazy quilt is that you use whatever is at hand ... cottons, velvet even suiting and tie materials.

Before doing anything though, I gave the item a light sanding feeling for rough edges and iffy sides. When I felt that it was smooth, I was ready. You might want to use a sealer for your next step making sure the wood was 100% dry before putting on the base coat. I was going for a more primitive look and usually like the look of paint getting soaked up by the wood.

Your next step is to pencil in the "Crazy Quilt" pattern. I had a dream about it and in that dream I had done each of the sides and the top in different color ways ... 

Step 2 - coloring the fabric base colors

blues, greens, reds, yellows and purples on top. It was an interesting idea. However, as I started painting I realized that "pieces" of fabric from the other sides needed to be brought in. This helped keep the palette in a kind of continuity with the two sides it was touching.

I tried to use a base color at least twice on each side. That way you didn't have to use too many colors (I used something like 35 as it was, WAY too many?). Yet, it seemed that I needed to use this many to keep the continuity I wanted where base colors blended into the next side. I started with the top using purples that would blend in with the four side colors of blue, yellow, red and green. Finished, I think it worked.

Step 3 - flat base fabrics of paint completed

While painstaking, it is important to follow these steps and see where the colors take you. It is not always easy and I repainted more than one fabric scrap to make it's color fit especially as it would creep around the side into the next color way.

Once the entire surface is painted (No, I didn't seal the box first as many would do because I didn't care whether the paints soaked into the wood or not. However if you are having problems stop painting and seal the wood. You can always continue painting when the sealer is dry.) Then comes the real decision making time. What designs do I give my painted "fabrics?"

As you can see from Step 3, on the left, the base of flat fabrics is often ragged and complicated. It seemed right to me to do this because of the variety of scraps I have seen leftover from a sewing project. It would have been easier to make more or less squares but then, where's the challenge? Here you can also see the red, yellow and purple sides. Notice how they tend to invade each others spaces. I believe that it makes for a better continuity.

Step 4 - adding fabric design on base colors

Now for the designs. For me, this is never easy. While I am using gel and Sharpie pens for designs, this is not a smooth paper surface and lines don't always go as straight as you would like. The same goes using even liner brushes with paint on them. Probably I don't have the steadiest of hands but more than once I feel thwarted by the surface as I draw or paint a line, circle or square. If you wanted a more perfect surface then probably a coat of sealer well sanded would give you a smoother surface. I wanted to have a kind of hand-drawn feel. I didn't want it perfect. What's the fun of that?

As you can see here, on the blue, green and purple sides, (right) the fabric designs are being added on. I often used the same design giving it a different color way as I went around the sides. In the end it would be changed the minute I started to "antique" it making the patterns and sides become far more unified and making individual differences less noticeable. That was my goal from the beginning. The solid flat colors can be jarring (look at Step 3 again) and even with the fabrics in place a bit much. I say this loving color!

Step 5  - The finished, antiqued box

However, when all is in place, the base colors and fabric designs,  I think that there needs to be a process that makes it all work together. For me it is the antiquing, a wash of brown heaviest on the edges and washed inward. That's why I usually use DecoArts Traditional Raw Umber rather than black because with age things go brownish not blackish. It is a matter of preference. I believe you could use any color you wanted depending on the look you wanted. I have tried other colors but for aging something I find that dark browns seem to work the best.

As you can see in Step 5 the antiquing has given the box and instant antique look, a look where after years of use the box has achieved a patina of old age just like you might find on something old around grandma's house.

The last step, for me at least, is to take a gold pen, or one that will write on the acrylic and put in the stitching that would be used to hold the fabrics in place. That's right, each and every piece of "fabric" is "sewn" in place with golden thread. As daunting as that sounds, it can be done in about an hour. After all that has already taken place ... putting on the base coat, then the fabric designs what's another hour? When you are looking at it or holding it, it gives the entire piece a very finished look.

If you are a crafter, get out some object and give it a try. I am going to try a wooden photo frame next and possibly teach it to my class of seniors. This is something they can easily do and have something they can be proud of. Add a photo and they have a wonderful memory of family or friends using a piece of art they created themselves.

If interested in buying this small treasure, contact me in comments where we can reach a deal.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Comments are always welcome. Please check out my earlier blogs as they range from a wide variety of comments on design and how it affects our lives!

Finishing the Seniors Second Craft

Successful senior crafters

Despite a rough start for me, today was a kind of triumph for my crafters. A new member came and after finding another pot, had her start though there wasn't a chance she would get done today.

For those that were here last week, they had pretty much painted the stripes, dots and pot lip on their plastic pots. 

The finished pot

Today we finished the pots by putting the daisies, I had planned for four, on the sides. After a bit of practice and time spent showing them together and again personally, I had them work on their daisies. One interesting senior, who doesn't speak a word of English, who pretty much does her own thing, painted Chinese characters instead of daisies. I have to admit that it looked very nice. Since I can't or read write Chinese, it was a pretty nifty twist.

Recreated Flower Pot In Chinese

Once the pots were finished, painted and hopefully dry, I pressed floral foam into each pot and had each person pick their own artificial flowers. Once they were pressed in, we then kept it "authentically "real" by using real moss. I must admit they looked pretty nice. In fact they were all very proud and I encouraged them to take them to their rooms but bring them back for the next class. I would coat the paint with a varnish because unless that extra clear coat is there, the paint scratches off the plastic pot quite easily. 

While I am sure each of these crafters learned something new and had their horizons stretched, I have to admit that I learned a a great many new things too. When I think of an idea for a project I assume that it will be followed as closely as possible. I mean, after going to four or five Las Vegas Painting Conventions and one Society of Decorative Painters (SDP) convention that was the point! You left with a near perfect item.

Another variation of a design

We say we go to these conventions to learn, hopefully, new techniques but we slavishly copy what the teacher has already created. At the SDP, as I recounted in an earlier blog,  one teacher encouraged us to "do our own Rosemaling thing" and that got us in trouble. As she taught what she had already created I realized my "winging" it was trouble. Completely unable to follow what she was doing, I realized what I had done didn't follow her design at all. I packed up and was all ready to leave when she came over, asked why I was leaving and after explaining she asked the class how many others had done the same thing. A whole bunch raised their hands. So much for doing your own thing.

This, however, is also an example of how I was going to teach my crafty seniors and fought their impulse to stray. When one senior really did her own thing I realized, what I had done had no meaning to her. She was happy with what she had created and to be honest, the sides of the birdhouse where she used her own, ugh, design, impressed me! It was amazing in fact. I put her birdhouse away so it wouldn't disappear.

Today, as I was teaching daisies she had other things on her mind and the pot above is what she created using Chinese. Once the flower she picked and the moss was in place she broke into song. It was in Chinese but she was so proud. We all stopped what we were doing and let her hold up her pot and sing. It was a defining moment for me. The photo on the right is a rendition of my design but done in her own way. Is it any less? She was very happy and proud. Who am I to criticize? It dawned on me that this is what artists do all the time. They may go to school, do their teachers bidding but when the time comes they must make their own way. They must create their own vision and not use someone else's. 

Teaching these seniors has been ultimately a wonderful experience. They can see what I have done, after all the sample is sitting there in front of them but unlike all the classmates at every convention I've been too, they are willing to take a chance and do what they want! I don't think a teacher can ask for anything less.

Brown Is The New Green: Living In the Drought of California

Dead lawn in Alhambra, CA

Taking my morning walk early to avoid the unrelenting heat of the past week, I noticed one lawn after another looked like the one shown here (left).

I am sure the entire world knows that California is in the midst of the worst drought in its recorded history. How did this happen?

It wasn't all that long ago that having a lawn that looked like this, lets say as soon as last year, you would get a citation for failing to maintain your property. Now, its a badge of pride. You are conserving water. 

The same was done when a property in another San Gabriel Valley city took out their lawn and used Astro Turf instead. The city was quick to issue a citation about that too. Now, as you can see in this 

Astro Tuff vs. a dead lawn.

photo, many cities are encouraging homeowners to do this exact same thing. It looks good year around, saves using smog producing lawn mowers and all it takes to keep clean is a blower! How nice is that?

Growing up in Oregon, water was rarely an issue. In fact you usually had too much. Still though, dams manage most of the rivers creating electricity and water management. 

The thing that has always amazed me, and I have lived in Southern California since 1970, is how poorly the state has managed its water. Rain water just ran down to the sewers and out to sea. Really? They were all for building huge dams, 100's of miles of aqueducts and other grandiose projects. However, simple things like saving the rainwater that fell on the streets seemed beneath the planners of the Department of Water Resources. The liberal north has been begging the DWR to dismantle the Hetch Hechy dam east of San Francisco, their main source of water. Those people must have found something else to agitate about as not a word has been said about tearing the damn down the past year. 

Evaporation Saving Black Balls

The Sunday Los Angeles Times had a big article on how the state was going to plan for the next drought. I guess there is nothing they can do about it now except having Gov. Brown asking all of us to use 25% less water. He is asking a state that is the most efficient state using water in the union to use even less. It looks like it is working. However, we are already using 25% less water than we did 20 years ago.

Locally, the city reservoirs have been adding black floating balls to literally cover the open water saving millions of gallons of water from evaporating. Black seems like a strange color but as a spokesman said, "we want to save the water, we don't care if its warm or not." Millions have been purchased at a cost of 36¢ each yet are supposed to last 10 years and can be recycled. It will be interesting to see if it works.

A Familiar Site on California's Freeways.

In a region that is naturally more desert than not, the idea of having vast green lawns will have to change. Some homeowners, knowing that they will pay through the nose for water, tore out lawns and planted desert landscaping instead. The idea caught on! The state has had two state sponsored rebates to help pay for the removal of your lawn and replacing it with rocks and desert loving plants.

The Times article talks about DWR's future. There will be more sewage treatment plants, recharge basins and desalination  facilities. They are looking for high efficiency projects in steps rather than grand projects like more dams, aqueducts and such. Steps like reducing thinning overgrown forests something Native

The drought is closer to home that we know!

Americans knew 200 years ago, fixing leaky delivery systems, gathering more data on water usage and encouraging more efficient use of water. Finally they are retooling their flood control systems to capture rain runoff and funnel it to underground storage. The cost of this and other measures will be $500 million but already, they say it is paying off. Locally developed water development is up 50% and imported water down 40%

There was a fascinating broadcast on "60 Minutes" where Leslie Stahl interviewed a water treatment plant manager. He said when they are through with waste water it is purer than what you would get out of your tap. He wolfed down a glass while Stahl after demurring finally drank her water. She had to admit it tasted good and you would never know that awhile ago it came from homes and had who knows what was in it. We could cut water usage down quite a lot using recycled water. It seems to work on the space station!

Agriculture was slow to use more efficient methods.

Agriculture, historically has been the biggest user of water in California. Some of the crops really have no right to be grown here. They have huge water demands that would be better grown where water is more plentiful.

50% of urban water usage currently goes to landscaping ... or did. However, the state and water company rebates and some very talented landscapers have created beautiful yards that actually offer more than a boring old lawn. The challenge is changing the habits and minds of Californians. After all we are a state of transplants. Many come from colder climes yet for half of the year they have rain and flowers and the time to mow their yards. Having the

Drought tolerant sustainable yard

greenest yard is a badge of honor. As New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and now California have discovered, this vision wasted untold amounts of water and wasn't sustainable. This drought probably wouldn't have been as bad if many of the proposed policies were already in place. Americans are reactive and rarely look far ahead for potential problems. The DWR says it has learned its lesson and is planning for the next 100 years. With a forecast of 50 million Californians in the near future, they better be. As we have discovered there is only so much water to go around.

The irony is that there has been more rain storms in Southern California this summer than in recent memory, certainly since the 70's. Where did the water go? Storm drains that kiss the Pacific Ocean.

Oroville Lake in Northern California

As you can see above, yards do not have to be gravel and a spindly cactus. Many of the best are

beautiful and offer far more interest than a green lawn with the added demand of less care and maintenance. Its win-win for all concerned.

However, as you can see on the right, not following the new proposals will make lakes like that created behind Oroville Dam look like this. Every one. It is shocking but when you realize that 50% of the water was sucked to water lawns and who knows what else, something has to be done. There are rumors we will have an El Niño of epic proportions. Will we? The experts say that even if we do, it will not end the drought. It is time to maximize the collection of those rains and while it may not end the drought, it can certainly give us a lot of water that in past years would have flowed to the sea.

If you think California is alone, think again. I read a book several years ago that said wars would be fought over, guess what? Water, yes, water. With 7 billion people on earth, clean drinkable water might well be more valuable than gold. It is showing us the effects here first. We can only hope the lessons we learn here can be used around the world. You would think with 70% of this world covered in water there would be enough. The issue, and one that could well be fought over, is there isn't enough palatable water, at least yet. California can yet again lead the way!

Thank you for visiting my blog. Please read a wide selection of earlier blogs that address the issues of design in all its myriad forms.

The Museum of Bad Art: Celebrating Bad Art Since 1993!

Unknown, Lucy In The Field with Flowers.
Rescued from the trash, 1993

One of the apps that I have on my iPad and iPhone is called Flipboard. You can select topics and the news or magazine items that feed into them. I have news, technology, business and museums. There have been some interesting museum articles of late but the one that caught my eye (cross-eyed?) was the article and paintings in The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). I truly believe that art created by anyone for any reason is the artist's attempt to express themselves but even I had to admit these were pretty bad.

The article stresses the museum has "exacting standards." Director Louise Sacco notes that "when considering new acquisitions MOBA looks for artworks with that special quality that sets them apart in one way or another from the merely incompetent." They scour flea markets, thrift stores and curbside trash to find striking pieces worthy of the MOBA spotlight. However, even doing this can produce amazing finds. The Jackson Pollack that a woman found in a yard sale in Covina, CA. Purchased for $50, she insisted after many tries that this was a genuine Pollack. A forensic specialist finally found fingerprints in the paint that were his. He neglected to sign it. The value? It started at around $5 million. Not bad for junking it. However, it should also be noted that finds such as this are very, very rare. She was one lucky lady.

Anonymous, Blue Tango purchased at a thrift shop
Indiana, 2014

The article notes that word has spread and that they received "donations" from around the world. Now even trash collection companies call the museum with tips on especially bad finds. In fact you can submit a painting to www.museumofbadart.org. I'm sure they will appreciate checking it out!

I don't know about you, but I could have sent a few of my failed paintings and recounted one such event not long after starting this blog. I wanted to paint five persimmons yet no matter what I did I couldn't get it right. Sick with a cold I tried again after a nap. Not even looking at the first failed attempt I was able to start all over from scratch on a new canvas creating a charming painting complete with a newly added checkered tablecloth the persimmons were sitting on. It took me two hours. Guess where the original went? I could have submitted that. 

What were these artists trying to say, to create? Dancing dogs, Really? Every time we pick up a brush and put paint on canvas, well, you just never know. Looking at the photos in the article you just have to wonder. What was the artist thinking of?

The museum's beginnings date back to 1993 when antique dealer Scott Wilson spotted an oil painting 

The Better To See You, My Dear
Acquired in a barter

in the trash, his infamous "Lucy In The Field With Flowers," found in 1993. Friends encouraged him to start a collection that was shown first in his home. Attendance grew so much that he had to find a more permanent home first in the basement of the community theatre then finally he found a permanent home in Somerville, MA, another theatre. Can you believe this?  They also operate two branch galleries ... in Brookline and South Weymouth near Boston. Regular artists must cringe.

The collection is home to over 600 works with approximately 60 shown at any given time. Everyone is an original but cannot be on velvet, paint by numbers or well-known kitschy works. The museum's slogan is "art too bad to be ignored." I guess!

Jack Owen, He Was A Friend of Mine

The MOBA museum works long and hard at building the finest bad art museum in the entire world.

They take their mission very seriously. They are often shocked and indignant at derisive comments and innuendos. I mean, how else would you take a collection such as this? Now really.

"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso

Going a step further though, have you ever been to MOMA in New York City or MOCA in Los Angeles and looked at the art there? These are modern art museums and you definitely will not find any Impressionists there. Isn't some of it, well, a bit different? Over and over again you hear patrons, usually in their older years, that find what they are looking at is strange, even crude. Hitler sure did. They wonder at why it is even there. It isn't even art, or what they think of as art. Many of Picasso's later pieces are strange to the untrained eye. That these MOBA artists are not there to explain and define themselves in some ways adds to the mystery. I look at these pieces and wonder, "What is their story?" What are they trying to say to us? There are plenty of revered modern artists whose work clearly upset their audiences. Duchamp's "Nude Descending A Staircase" caused riots in Paris. Many famous artists that we love and revere today were not loved and revered in their own time. Maybe familiarity does not breed contempt. Showing a single Van Gogh painting for the very first time to patrons in Dresden, 15 years after his death, changed German art forever.

For a much wider selection of MOBA's collection go to Google, select Images and type in Museum of Bad Art. Trust me it is there in all its glory. If its bad art you seek, you will not be disappointed. Looking at them I find that some aren't quite so bad finding that many famous artist's styles were imitated. You see Van Gogh, Seurat, Matisse, Da Vinci, even attempts at Picasso and Chagall. It's literally a smorgasbord of styles and art.

Take heart, it appears there is a museum for the rest of us!!!

Thank you for visiting my blog. Please check out some of my other posts. I find that everything in the world is designed therefore subject to scrutiny.  Comments are always welcome.

(Street) Art Is All Around Us

In my mind, there is a vast difference between a gang tagging their territories like a dog peeing on a light pole, fire hydrant or fence marking his space, and elaborate, often thoughtful graffiti art found on freeway walls, railroad cars and other places where the artist(s) hope their vision will be seen. Along the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles scenes greet us all the way into the city center. You gotta love those retaining walls -spaces just begging for inspiration!

I remember the huge and last remaining wall as we drove from Berlin to Prague that had been spared until the construction project behind it was finished. Every inch of that wall, the wall that separated East and West Berlin, was covered with what at the time I called graffiti. but am beginning to accept as modern art. We even stopped and I took pictures.

It's rare that art makes leaps such as this until we started seeing elaborate and often amazing work that taken seriously and carefully could be considered a step beyond abstract art with added highlights of fantasy. The Long Beach Museum of Art just opened a show entirely devoted to street art except it is now on their interior walls.

Just as Turner's later paintings influenced the now loved art of

Smugone from Lord of the Rings movie

Impressionism, much of this "new" art, graffiti to many, could easily be influenced by computer games that are awash with fantastical creatures and images that couldn't but help influence these artists. It might not be a bad idea to look into the artists making the printed and computer art that is almost as real as life itself. The transition from games to the big screen has been amazing. Some artist, obviously a Tolkien fan, created an amazing image from the films on a blank and cracked wall. These artists are original in their use of images and surfaces. Some are very serious and others are funny. 

Paint isn't the only media used. I am sure many of you have seen chalk images either in person or at various fairs, contests or on the Internet. They are incredibly detailed and create ephemeral worlds that will soon be gone with the next rain. Every Father's Day weekend at the Paseo

Street Chalk Art

Colorado in Pasadena, California, the entire mall is given over to chalk artists who have about two days to create their own personal worlds. Many are beautiful and you almost cry at the thought they are here today and certainly will be gone tomorrow!

Look closely at this cave. Would you dare walk over it? Doesn't it look real? Even more than real. You notice passersby avoid the chance!

However, some art is not in places where great numbers of people will see them. Some, like the painting on the right, done by an artist on a sidewalk, differ from what they create in their studio because they are small images done on the street, locally. Here a little gremlin is helping sweep up the leaves of autumn. Simple, funny and elegant in its minimal design. Don't we all wish for our own minion? When you consider, think of all the time and effort it has taken to think about then create these scenes. Is it any different than creating a painting? Any less work?

Wall art in Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain

I think that the time for sneering is over. The body of work decorating walls along freeways, office buildings, homes even schools IS art and should be recognized for what it is. The tragedy is that it will soon be gone. It cannot be preserved and being subject to the elements is certain to fade and disappear. I can think of several amazing scenes, one, the famous scene of the ocean lapping at the coast of Arizona, a freeway ramp all that is left of what was California. The last time I saw it, it had faded so much you could barely see its details.

This painting on the wall of an apartment in Spain is literally a work of art. Reminiscent of Southwest Art here in the United States, it recalls Native American elements plus those of Mexico and the great Southwest. Who wouldn't be proud to come home to a place decorated such as this? It is like living in a museums painting!

Look around. We are inundated with art all the time and don't even realize it. Is it all good? Heavens no. Much of it though, is and deserves the kind of recognition that we reserve for famous artists. If we can be convince them to paint on more permanent media, they will have a legacy that will last and rival the artists we revere today!

Thank you for reading my blog. Please check other articles I've written. ALL are considerations of the designs of life and what we do with them.

Preparing For The Second Seniors Crafting Class

The first crafting class I taught at the assisted living home last month was, to put it kindly, a learning experience for me as this was my first time being the teacher. Considering that none of them had ever done paint crafting, especially with Pennsylvania Dutch designs, I learned a lot. Besides age, hands in your 70's and 80's can be very shaky. At 69 there are times I can't do what I did even 10 years ago. So there is no shame in that. I stressed and showed each student how to hold their projects to minimize the shaking. Realizing that I set the bar too high for a neophyte crowd, I quickly decided the next project would be much, much simpler.

Beginning pot, first design and the final design

I was given a bunch of plastic flower pots, pots that once housed orchids, to use. Mostly in a dark chocolate color, I created a plaid design in three colors with one of the colors used for the lip on top of the pot. For a bit of color I added a bright green dot in each plaid square to compliment the cream and red stripes. Four white daisies were added on top of the plaid for a bit more design.

The more I looked at it, I realized that while they might be able to do the vertical stripes, going around the entire pot horizontally would be a challenge. Heavens, it was a challenge for me! I didn't worry about the daisies as we had practiced, and would again practice, the press, drag and lift of the petals. They all more or less mastered that when I taught them last month. I felt this design was still too hard. So I thought it over again sketching ideas on paper before grabbing a pot to paint.

The Second Crafting Project

I created the final design with 8 simple stripes that could all be the same color or alternated, a series of dots doing down each row in either single or double pairs using the end of their brush and then painting the top lip. Once that had dried I would mark the circles for the daisies would go in. When finished they would have a cute pot they could keep or give as a gift.

If they wanted to continue, once the painting was done, dried and probably varnished so the paint would not easily scratch off, we could push in florist foam, add a fake flower and clean that up with  moss. Again they would have a wonderful room decoration or have created a gift for a loved one.

Actually the sample in the photo above and to the right as well is the third sample. The second one was taken from the activity room! I guess they liked it and didn't want to wait to create their own.

I used rather "bright" colors and plan to encourage my class to do the same thing. Other than using a color that will stand out from the dark background, they can use any colors they like. This will make it a lot more personal, something that I want to encourage. We will see how it goes in a few days!

If you are looking for something to decorate for a gift and have a spouse or friend with a green thumb, you might find pots the they discard are suitable. If not, they are easy to find at most stores that sell gardening supplies and even crafting stores sell pots. Clay pots especially have to be very clean and dry before using.

If you use a clay pot, I would recommend an acrylic sealer to hold and keep the paint on the pot. DecoArt, Plaid and other companies sell what they call "patio paints" that are acrylic with easy water clean up of brushes and hands. I don't know if they are really any better than standard acrylics paints. I would think using a sealer and finishing with a coat or two of acrylic varnish, any acrylic paint would do just fine. The secret is to make sure each coat is dry before moving on. Sealer, let it dry, decoration acrylic make sure it is very dry and finally varnish, make sure that is dry. If you are using a pot for real plants an extra coat of varnish can't hurt.

Thank you for reading my blog. There are many more and I encourage you to check them as well. Comments are always welcome and ideas for new ones entertained.