February 28, 2011- Black and White

It feels as if black and white photography has gone full circle and returned to the realm of artists. Digital photography has eliminated the color snapshot. The black and white snapshot all but disappeared during the 1970’s. There was a brief period when it was still less expensive to have black and white film developed, but by the 1980’s the average consumer started paying more for film and development of black and white.

I have an old photo album of my grandmothers that spans about 20 years from the 1930’s to 1950’s. It starts with a period of teenage photos and ends when my own mother was about 10 years old. The album acts as a great timepiece of popular fashion and car culture. It also spans about 20 years in consumer photography. Every few years a new camera was purchased with a new type of film and a new style of printing. Ironically these old black and white photos have held up remarkably well. Their condition is great. The color snapshots and polaroids of my own childhood have faded and discolored.

I used to experiment with 35mm black and white photography but never even came close to learning what I was doing. I never took that class and developed my own film. This morning I found these ten year old photos from my first trip to Death Valley and mixed them in with one my grandmother took in 1937 (so the date says). Now I have to sort through the hundreds of digital images taken last week in the desert.

February 27, 2011 – Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are the first thing I learned to cook. I can’t say exactly how old I was, about six or seven. I can still see myself standing in the old kitchen, in front of the 1970’s brown gas stove cooking away. I really do believe if you’re old enough to reach the stove, it’s time to start using it. And I still love scrambled eggs. I had them for breakfast this morning. I appreciate living in a city where the chickens can send their very fresh eggs direct to a farmer’s market a few blocks from my apartment. When you eat eggs in a simple form, good eggs make a difference. They do for baking as well.

When I was 17 I went as an exchange student to Sweden. The day after I arrived one of the brothers in the family asked me if I knew, “How to make these special and delicious eggs he had tried in America?” At first I couldn’t imagine what he meant. “Eggs Benedict?” I thought. Poaching is not something I have ever mastered. I end up with boiled scrambled eggs. It turned out he wanted to learn how to make scrambled eggs. I can add cultural ambassador to my resume.

February 26, 2011 – The Road Home

I love road trips and I love coming home. Today it was time for the drive back home to San Francisco. It was an eventful drive, as I had to deal with snow. I know if you live in a place with a real winter, you’re probably thinking, big deal. I do know how to drive in snow. I learned to drive in it. But California Freeways that rarely have freezing weather are another story altogether. I had sleet, hail, some falling snow and a bit of ice through two mountain passes on the way back from Southern California.

The reentry to San Francisco is something that has to be finessed. There is the time of the day vis-à-vis traffic question. I chose the southern route, coming in via the Pacheco Pass and San Jose. I’ll do what it takes to avoid the East Bay and the Bay Bridge on a Saturday afternoon. And then what happens when I pull up in front of my building. I don’t have a suburban driveway to pull the car into. A small miracle was finding a parking place across the street. Car unloaded and a few flights of stairs.

I actually have not owned a car for over 25 years. It saves so much money and stress. Fortunately I live in a city where it is possible. I rent for road trips. I love the folks at Avis. They take great care of locals and always treat me like a rock star. I get the special short line and am in and out in a jiffy. The Eurotourists gawk and try to figure out why I am so special. They should know, they really should.

Tomorrow it is back to the routine. It will start with a morning walk and a stop at the farmer’s market on the way home, art, coffee and more art.

February 25, 2011 – Bottle House

I can’t be within 100 miles of Rhyolite without making a visit to one of my favorite ghost towns. One of the highlights is Tom Kelly’s Bottle House. Built in 1906 with mortar and bottles, mostly beer bottles, instead of bricks. I am pleased that some effort is really being put in to preserving the structure. It really encompasses so many things I love in my own art – repurposing and recycling and loosely structured grid-like patterns with circles. And it sparkles out there in the desert.

Sadly, the old caretaker passed away about a year ago. He was right out of central casting as the gold miner with the big bushy beard. You’d barely be out of your car and he’d appear out of nowhere and begin to tell you the history of the house, etc.

This piece is more or less a study for some upcoming bottle house paintings.

February 24, 2011 - Road Trip Junk

You know you've been on a road trip for a few days when the back of the car starts to fill up with litter and wrappers. It’s all from the sort of food you only eat when you're on the road. Add a teenage nephew into the mix and there is an extra layer. But I can’t just blame him. I am just as guilty too of tossing bits of whatever behind the driver's seat.
While my nephew slept early this morning, I cleaned up the car in Lone Pine, California and found all sorts of colorful bits to use in today's piece. Happy Trails…

February 23, 2011 - Mosaic Canyon

Mosaic Canyon is a calming place. The crowd was particularly small today. Mosaic Canyon is rarely what one would call "crowded." The canyon has been washed and scoured by millennia of flash floods. There are places where veins of marble along the canyon wall have been polished into smooth waves. As one hikes, you make a few turns up into the canyon and it becomes quiet and still. Today was a cool winter day and the rock walls were cold in the shadows until you reached a higher point where the sun was still warming the canyon late in the afternoon.

Over the years I have found some unique spots in the desert. The energy is different and special in these magical places. Mosaic Canyon is one of those places. Don't ask me to explain why, it's just one of those things you know.

February 22, 2011 - Below Sea Level

Today’s experiment - Can I make art below sea level? 

Yes, I did. At 282 feet below sea level, salt encrusted, at Badwater in Death Valley. On the road and it's time to enjoy the desert. I can write when I get home in San Francisco.

Update: August 2026

All my pieces are protected with a non-toxic, water-based, acrylic varnish.  After 15 years, I discovered this one was yellowing. I assume it is a long-term reaction caused by the minerals at the bottom of Death Valley.