Photographia

So I know a little while back I said this was not a photography blog, but Quinn let me play with his camera today.
This is Alex pretending to be a photographer:




















I have a few more but I think I'll save those and whip them out on you when you least expect it. or when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to write anything... whichever comes first.

Just a Quickie

Everyone loves a quickie right?
Here's a twofer for you. Flowers and some art!
It's not the greatest photo ever, but you get the picture (no pun intended).

Flowers: Roses, lilac, sweetpeas, anemones and antherium.
Art: Silver frame from the flea market, ink on velum over parchment and b+w photos from an old shoebox.

Wish me luck! I'm off to a night at a local club called "Whiskey Dick". 10 cent whiskey shots! Hopefully I will be able to find my way back home and you'll all hear from me again.

Artistic Denial Disorder

I was hanging out in my little back yard with Quinn and our friend Nikolai a few nights ago. The Santa Anna winds were blowing in that warm night air so we decided to drink wine and eat cheese and pretend to be members of the European Union. In my imagination we were in France but I'm quite sure Quinn was in Italy and Nikolai was in Prague. We discussed our generation and what we are bringing to our culture as a whole (I know, we're such pompous, pedantic little art kids). I seem to be on the more cynical side of the viewpoint, wondering when our revolution will begin.

Now that I'm trying to recall the specifics of the conversation it's all a haze. I know that Quinn was discussing his art (music), and then Nikolai turned to me and said, "What about you Alex, as a visual artist, are you.....". I immediately became uncomfortable. Me? a visual artist? In fact, this was my response,
"I don't know. I'm still struggling to be comfortable with the title of visual artist. I'm not convinced that I am one."
Nikolai and Quinn both agreed that that is what I am and that they are both perfectly comfortable with giving me that title, and I think to myself, "How did I fool them?". And then comes the guilt of having pulled one over on my friends and fear of being discovered as a fraud. Both of these feelings are of course, absurd. My friends came to their own conclusions based on what they have witnessed first hand, not on anything I have told them. Yet those feelings of being a fraud somehow remain.

Why is it that I have such a hard time believing something that everyone else seems to be comfortable titling me as? I know I'm not alone in this feeling. I've met several people who seem to have these same symptoms. We all seem to have what I'm enjoying calling, Artistic Denial Disorder. Perhaps we should start a group therapy session.
This blog is a perfect example. This blog is supposed to be about my exploration as an artist beyond flowers, yet I'm five posts in and it seems to all be about flowers (and some silly little photos of freaks in L.A.). I haven't had the nerve to post a single creation that isn't flowers.

Well, my darlings, this will change today! Here is a piece in charcoal and ink on cardboard. The white is ash from a fire mixed with water to make a kind of paint.
Also, the image of the tree at the top of this blog is an original of mine. Acrylic and dried hydrangea flowers on handmade paper.
So, while I'm still not comfortable calling myself an "artist" I think I'm going to work on not feeling guilty when someone else decides to give me that noble title.

Flowers!

It's been a busy few days but when your job is to make art with flowers you can't really complain. At least not without sounding totally ridiculous.

In addition to the work, two dear friends of mine got married! These are the first of my friends to get married, which makes perfect sense if you know them. I hear they start to fall like dominoes after this.
Here's a photo of Sonny's bouquet:






So I know I'm late to the party on this one, but I just discovered this awesome website, etsy.com.
I know most of you are probably wondering where the hell I've been on this one, but on the off chance that some of you don't know, Etsy is like ebay for handmade items, and I'm all over that shit! I've got some salable items in the works, just you wait!

Morning!

I love the way the sun streams in through the little window of my bed nook.To do today:
1. Laundry (the pile has become ridiculous and I've been doing the sniff test for a while now.)
2. Organize the overflowing art supply drawer.
3. Transplant sweet pea sprouts
4. Clean back yard
5. Plant succulents
6. Trader Joes run
7. Paint!

I mean really, look at that list! Do I not have the most fabulous Tuesday in the history of Tuesdays? The laundry is a bit of a downer, but I did this to myself.

Come back later! I'll have an update on the sweet peas and succulents and some photos of the progress of my new painting!

Only in L.A.

Hello everyone!
It feels quite odd to say hello "everyone" as I have absolutely no indication that there is even an "anyone" out there reading this thing. Don't get me wrong, I realize that this is only my first day blogging and I do not expect anybody to really be listening yet.
Anyway....

I want to start a series of photos chronicling all the oddities that are daily life in this strange city of angels. So far I have three which I would like to share with you today. Now, I hope you will pardon me for not being one of those super cool bloggers who always seems to have a ridiculously awesome camera on them at all times in order to catch those tiny instances that are just perfect for posting to their super artsy blog. Ahem.
No, usually I have but my phone on me, with which to capture said moments. This is not a photography blog people.
And now without further ado, I present to you the first of the first three photos in my forthcoming series:
I like to call this one "A Night to Forget".
This was taken around the corner from my home. In this photo, if you can't quite tell, is a broken green bottle, two broken egg shells, an empty pill pack, a bottle of pills, and a chicken bone with a spattering of crushed pastilles.
I can't tell if this was an amazing night of booze, drugs and debauchery or the remnants of some strange L.A. version of Santeria.
This next one I have dubbed, "The Nap".
Yes, this man is sleeping inside of a box on top of an abandoned couch out on the street corner. Perhaps this man is a result of the previous picture?
This picture was taken at around 10am while on my way to the local coffee shop. Rough night, I suppose.
The next photo is something you rarely see any place other than near the cross streets of Hollywood blvd and Highland in L.A..

This man was on his way up to the Walk of Fame. That famous area on Hollywood blvd where you can see all the stars on the sidewalk and the location of Mann's Chinese Theatre (the theatre with all the hand prints).
In this area exists "The Impersonators". These people dress up like various characters from various movies throughout the ages. There is consistently a Marilyn Monroe, a Charlie Chaplin, and in recent years a Jack Sparrow, among many others. These people are there to "entertain" tourist. They take photos with tourists in exchange for a small tip, normally a dollar or two. Now, there are two distinct types of impersonators, the fairly normal, clean looking folks who are just making their living doing what they do best and they do a pretty good job. Then, there are the obviously off their rocker, possibly homeless impersonators. Our friend in the above photo is of the later. His suit looked as though it doubled as a large blanket for those cold nights sleeping off the booze in the doorway of some office building. When Quinn and I caught up with him at the Walk of Fame, he had his Barney head on but he also still had on the old sweaty t-shirt over the suit, and was shouting about how he was the best Barney in all the world. o_O

Well ladies and gentlemen, there you have it, the beginning of my "Only in L.A." series.

Cast of Characters

If you're going to be reading this blog with any frequency, it would be good to know some of the recurring characters in my life.

Let's begin at the beginning shall we?
This is me:And this is Lucy:She's the kind of dog that chases her tail when she's really excited. She is also the love of my life. Well, so far anyway.

This is Quinn:
He's my neighbor, business partner, and best friend. You may see him frequently on this blog.