ATM: Art, Tiles & Mosaics has had a good life

This blog is now in archived status. I am combining my blogs on art-related events with my One Good Life in Los Angeles blog.
Having these two separate blogs (as well as my Hot Out of the Kiln blog) was getting to be complicated as so much of my life revolves around art, architecture and photography that it was too difficult trying to decide which posts belonged in which blog.
However, the URL www.ArtTilesMosaics.com will remain active so people can continue to view the existing posts in perpetuity.
Thanks for your support!

Artists participating in the 17th Annual Culver City Art Group Holiday Show

Here is the list of artists participating in the 17th Annual Culver City Art Group Holiday Show 

• Frank Bodolai
• Eileen Brabender
• Diane Bulgatz
• Ray Chavez
• Claudia Dose
• Allison Foster
• Manfred Gerger
• Barbara Golbin
• Buena Johnson
• Maria Kurtz
• Rosa Odow
• Barbara Owens
• John Robinson, Jr.
• Richard Rownak
• Craig Schoenbaum
• Peter Shulman
• Young Summers
• Byrnes Vogel
• Pamela Jo Waddell
• Roslyn Wilkins

Come meet the artists!
Saturday, November 10 at CenterPointe Club in Playa Vista (across from the Home Depot near Lincoln and Jefferson).
For more info see my previous blog at:
http://arttilesmosaics.blogspot.com/2012/10/save-date-for-culver-city-art-group.html
Our website: www.culvercityartgroup.com

Siqueiros mural comes back to life on Olvera Street

Olvera Street (where our tour started) all decked out for El Dia de los Muertos.

David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was a Mexican artist known for his large murals portraying social conditions and was a contemporary of Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. In 1932 he completed América Tropical on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles.

The mural enjoyed a glitzy opening night with all the luminaries of LA and Hollywood in attendance. But its welcome was short-lived. Because the theme of the piece seemed to attack the United States as an imperialistic monster—well, Siqueiros was a card carrying member of the Communist Party—it was obliterated with whitewash soon after.

On the 80th birthday of the mural—October 9, 2012—it was once again unveiled to the public thanks mostly to the Getty Conservation Institute.

A few days later I was at Olvera Street with a tour group so I popped into the América Tropical Interpretive Center in the historic Sepulveda House. It is a nice museum with interactive stations and a full-scale photo of the mural. But I didn’t have the time to go upstairs to see the real thing.

But you know I wouldn’t let something like that slide, so on October 27 a friend and I joined the tour of East LA murals, Continuing the Siqueiros Legacy: A Mural Tour of Eastside L.A. led by Los Angeles artist Raoul de la Sota.

Siqueiros America Tropical mural from the viewing station.
Click on the image for a larger view.

We started out at the Interpretive Center with a viewing of the mural. There is a viewing station on the roof of the Sepulveda House directly opposite so you get a full-on look at the restored painting. It isn’t repainted, just cleaned up, conserved and protected. No-one is sure what the original colors were anyway.

Nice view of the Terminal Annex building nearby

Only twenty people are allowed on the roof per session so we had plenty of time to peruse the museum downstairs. Then we all piled on the bus. More about the actual tour in my next posting.

(Photos copyright Roslyn m wilkins).

Taking the bus to Ephesus by way of the Getty Villa

View of the entrance to the Getty Villa
from the bus stop across the street.
The building at the top of the hill is a private residence
and has nothing to do with the Getty.

It’s no secret that I am a Getty Villa addict. I love going there for any reason. This past Saturday there was a very good reason—a lecture entitled Living in Roman Luxury: Terrace House 2 in Ephesus. The lecturer, Sabine Ladstätter, is director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and excavation director at Ephesus in Turkey.


Excavation of a section of Terrace House 2 in Ephesus with frescoes and a mosaic floor.
Photo: OeAI-Vienna Niki Gail

On a Greek cruise several years ago I had the fortune to visit Ephesus. However, as Dr. Ladstätter mentioned, sadly we were one of those groups who raced through the tourist area in less than an hour. But afterwards we were given plenty of time to spend our money on souvenirs (I bought two refrigerator magnets, good thing as one of them broke!)

The Terrace House area is a separate admission from the other areas and because of time constraints, not many people get to visit this excavation.

Of course the main reason I attended the lecture (other than having been to Ephesus) was because of the above photo on the Getty website: a beautiful mosaic in excellent condition. Apparently, many mosaics were discovered in the Terrace House residences.

In the two and a half days we were in Turkey I was extremely impressed and hope some day to return for a longer period of time. Perhaps next time I will be able to stay in Ephesus long enough to explore it thoroughly.

I almost didn’t make it to the lecture. A friend who was going with me cancelled. And it looked like a big storm was coming in. I had planned to go by bus and didn’t want to get soaked, but after checking the weather forecast I decided to brave it.

It so happens October 20 was National Archaeology Day. I don’t know if that was part of the reason the museum was overflowing with visitors. I heard somebody say they were turning people away at the gate who didn’t have a reservation. And the lecture hall was standing room only. So one lucky person on standby got to take my friend’s seat. I was happy it didn’t go to waste.

Since the Metro Expo Line train station arrived in Culver City, the bus lines that cover my part of town (LA Metro, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Culver City Bus) have tweaked their bus routes to stop near the station. So now I am a short walk from the Line #534 Express bus stop that takes me all the way to the front gate of the Getty Villa via the Santa Monica Freeway. I used to have to take a bus several miles east to the bus center on Fairfax, change to the #534, then backtrack all the way west again. This made for a very long journey to the Villa. So, even more good fallout from the train!

Once you get to the Getty Villa, you show your entry ticket to the guard, then press the button for the shuttle to take you up to the museum. Unfortunately, there is no accommodation for visitors to walk up to the top of the hill. Personally, I think this was a huge oversight when they remodeled the museum in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Maybe there were insurance reasons, I don’t know, but there are plenty of stairs inside the complex so it makes no sense to me. It’s almost like they are discouraging public transportation as it can take longer to wait for the van as it would to walk up. Plus, leaving the museum it is a circuitous journey around the back of the compound and through the streets back to the gate.

View from bus stop on Pacific Coast Highway looking towards Malibu.

The bus stop for the homeward bound part of the trip is on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway. Two bus seats are perched precariously in the dirt at the top of a small slope above the beach.

View across Santa Monica Bay with Palos Verdes on horizon at right center.

But what a view! Even though it was a gloomy, cloudy day, the perspective looking out across the Santa Monica Bay to the south and Malibu to the north is astonishing. Must be one of the best bus stops in the world!

In case you are interested, the bus came at 4:00pm and I was walking through my front door at 4:55pm.  I could hardly make that kind of time in my car!

Please click on the photos so you can see tham at a decent size!

(Photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

 

 

 

Save the date for the Culver City Art Group 17th Annual Holiday Art Show

As a member of the Culver City Art Group I would like to invite you to the 17th Annual Culver City Art Group Holiday Art Show for 2012.
This year we have a new improved raffle for members and guests. We have some fabulous prizes and believe me, I am buying some tickets!
Because I have my fingers in so many pies I am doing my best to create some new artwork for the show. In the past year I've gone off in a new direction... and I only hope it's a good one!
But if my artwork doesn't turn you on, no worries! We have plenty of first-rate artists who work in a plethora of different styles and you will be sure to find something to your taste!



In order to download this flyer in PDF format, please go to this page on our website.
I will see you there!
(All photos and artwork copyright Culver City Art Group)

Culver City Art Group presents free art demo at Graphaids

The Culver City Art Group (CCAG) is once again holding our annual membership drive at Graphaids, 3030 S. La Cienega Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232 (just south of Washington Blvd.) Saturday, September, 15 from 11:00am until 2:00pm.

You can download a flyer here in PDF or JPG format.

This year our art demo artist is traditional naturalist painter Stephen D. West.

As I would like to paint some more ceramic tiles in my Wetlands series I am looking forward to picking up some useful tips.

All members of the public are invited to drop by to watch this free art demo with no obligation to become a member.

Chat with our members, enjoy some cookies and sodas.

If you should decide to become a member, you get a 40% discount on art supplies at Graphaids this day only. Normally the discount for CCAG members is 30%.

For more info about the Culver City Art Group, please check out our website at www.culvercityartgroup.com. Please note, we recently changed the web address, so if you already have us in your favorites under a different address, please bookmark this new URL so you can find us next time.

The Culver City Art Group is an organization of approximately 35 local amateur and professional artists meeting at different venues in the Culver City and Los Angeles area. We embrace all visual arts from traditional to digital, two-dimensional and three-dimensional.
For our members we have activities and special events such as painting/sketching afternoons, museum and gallery visits, group exhibits and artist demos.
Our excursions have included exploring Descanso Gardens and the Huntington Library, painting trips to Laguna Beach and Topanga Park, walking tours of the art galleries in Culver City and West Hollywood, and visits to museums such as Norton Simon and LACMA.
Although you must be a member to participate in our activities, anyone interested is invited to join us at our general meetings.

A visit to the Getty centered on flowers

Copyright J. Paul Getty Museum

Ten members of the Culver City Art Group visited the Getty Center this past Saturday in order to view Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line, the first exhibit solely dedicated to the drawings of Gustav Klimt who lived from 1862–1918.

I love Klimt’s magical masterpieces such as The Kiss, which I had the privilege of seeing at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art before it was kidnapped by a private collector.

Looking at the drawings and sketches that preceded his paintings made me realize how much hard work went into the final product. It’s easy to think of an artist just sitting down and painting and… voila… there is the finished piece. But there is a lot of groundwork that goes on beforehand.

There is a great video about why drawing was so important to Klimt. Click here to view it.

We all enjoyed a docent tour of the exhibit then walked through again on our own.

But it was such a gorgeous day that although there were other exhibits I would have liked to see, I could not stay inside the galleries.  

So I trotted on down to the central garden. I walked, sat, people watched and took photos.

As a regular visitor to the Getty Center I have a million photos of the place. So on this visit I decided to get some shots of flowers in the garden.

(Photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)