Writing from home again, my second and final night off. A Major League Sleep In this morn, til 11:30 (yowza!), and felt nice and rested as a result. Listened to the new Steven Wilson album, which is quite a bit different from his previous solo albums in that there are not a lot of instrumental passages, nor extra long songs, but what there is, is a lot of melody and hooks. The man can sure write himself some pop songs when he puts his mind to it, and he has done so here. On a related note, I scored a pair of tickets for SW's concert at The Wiltern. I will be going with my long time friend Ono (his FB alias). The concert isn't til next May! My goodness, is that enough advance notice for ya? :)
I think that if Tool ever announced a tour, it would be about fourteen years in advance.
You get it, right?
Tool? Fourteen years? SW once made a related joke in concert about their album releases, but anyhow......
"Okay, Ad, enough already. Don't forget you have church in the morning" : Me to self, and probably You to Me as well.
I got a slow start today but was out & about by 4pm. I went to Continental Art Supplies in Reseda, just below The Way Of Sherman, because as you may have seen on FB, they are going out of business. Continental was a the go-to store for artists all over the Valley for close to 50 years. I didn't know of it until the mid-90s when I was living in the Burton Street house. Dad used to go there, and then Mr. D started to go there. They were painting at Burton, and I, who had never painted before, became interested. Then I got hooked. Now, I must admit that I got most of my painting supplies at Home Depot. Yep. I bought house paints there, because Dad had a Willem de Kooning book that said he used house paint. And I bought particle board to paint on because it was cheap. I have no technical painting talent, but I had a blast painting for a couple of years, 1995-96. And I still have all my paintings, probably around 30 of em, stored right here in The Tiny. One hangs on my wall.....
But to get back to Continental Art Supplies, that is where Dad and Mr. D shopped, and mostly for drawing supplies. Sketch pads, pencils, pastels. Drawing, back then, was beyond my ambition. I can only paint in Abstract style, and as for technical drawing, I am a notch above Stick Figures. But I was inspired by what Dad and especially Mr. D could do, and eventually - a few years after they had both passed away - I decided to Do Some Sketchin' of my own. And now The Tiny Apartment is so overloaded with my drawings that I have to move them around and resituate them when I want to, say, make dinner or go to sleep.
I have mounted many of my drawings and have them leaning against bookcases, against walls, against the microwave.
Man, I have gotta get a bigger place to live. And soon.
At Continental Art today, there was not much left in the store. They will close for good in one week, and most of the stock was gone, which reminded me of the close-out I participated in as a cashier, of the great K-Mart store out by the Northridge Mall, which had their going out of business sale in November 2008. It lasted three months, and by the final week the store was nearly empty. Continental Art was like that today, just a handful of items left.
But I found a small sketch pad, with charcoal pencils included, for a little over four bucks. And this time, when I have time, I am really gonna work on my technique. I am gonna actually draw Something, an object, even if it sucks.
After leaving Continental I went to El Scorpion Park in West Hills, straight down Vanowen to Valley Circle, about 5 miles. There I had a very nice hike. I didn't go to the Cave Of Munitz this time, as there were many hikers in that area, so instead I ventured off toward the back of the park and took some pics of the trees. You can never go wrong when choosing trees.
After leaving El Scorpion at around 6pm, I drove straight back to Reseda for the Reseda Art Walk, once again on Sherman Way. Grimsley met me there at 7pm, and we strolled up and down the boulevard, checking out the various artist's booths and stands selling local 'Zines.
Remember 'Zines? Zines were big in the late 70s, written mostly by Punk Rockers who were also Artist Types. I guess Zines are back, or maybe they never left. There were a lot of Zines being sold at the Reseda Art Walk.
It was a lot of fun, and a great way to end my day in a Reseda type way, continuing the motif of art, begun at Continental. The vibe took me back to the 90s (at Burton), and to the late 70s (with the Zines), and it was nice to see that Reseda is still doing it, and doing it the DIY way, like me (only better).....
Making art, just for the sake of doing so, because Art Is Life. /////
See you in church in the morning. :):)
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