Saturday, October 31, 2015

Halloween 2015

I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but I really love Halloween. Many parts of it speak to my inner goth. I love the decorations. I love that some of the animals I really find to be awesome and interesting, including bats and rats, are socially acceptable at Halloween. I love that I can find awesome art supplies and things with these animals I enjoy. I like seeing people's creativity when it comes to decorating their homes and making costumes. And in the end, the funny part is that because I enjoy all the build up to Halloween, I actually don't even care if I do anything on Halloween itself! I'm still not sure if I'm doing anything tonight, but I have a bird costume I made from materials I had on hand for my work Halloween party earlier this week. We shall see!!

These photos were all shot in the time leading up to Halloween this year from Disneyland, stores, people's yard in the neighborhoods surrounding me in Toluca Lake, Burbank & North Hollywood. We also went to a large setup in someone's front yard called "Boney Island" in Sherman Oaks. So much Halloween! Hope you have a fantastic day!










at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland

















I felt a little weird about this. There was a sign above the garage spray painted that said "my wife cheated on me" and another a few feet away that says "don't call 911". Then on the lawn of this likely multi-million dollar house is a variety of "trash" and "redneck" things....























all that will be seen of my work Halloween party...


Boney Island


























Friday, October 30, 2015

Grand Ave Arts: All Access Part 2

Part 2 of the Grand Ave Arts: All Access event on October 24...





Xoyocote Azteca dance company






















Wandering around the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ....










Disney Hall and downtown buildings from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion











inside the Disney Hall....







#downtowndia #GrandAveArts

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Grand Park - Dia de los Muertos

I wasn't feeling well the last day or so, but luckily by this afternoon, I was feeling up to heading downtown for the free Grand Ave Arts event. Although there were a variety of performances, tours and other things going on, I most wanted to see the Dia de los Muertos displays in Grand Park and the Tim Hecker sound installation at the Broad courtyard. Luckily we were able to do both (as well as some other things), but I'll have to head back some other day to visit the Broad proper since it had a massive line (as did the MOCA, but I've been there a few times before.) There were so many awesome things to see, so I ended up taking a massive number of photos.

Over the years, I feel like I've developed an appreciation for dia de los muertos. I guess it's as life does it's thing and you have more people that are no longer able to be part of new parts of your life, you realize it's nice to be able to acknowledge them in some ways. Displays this year included not only remembrances of bicyclists but also performers, teachers, scientists (such as Jane Goodall's gorillas), family members, victims of violence, artists and pets.



Civic Center Metro station










This was the only part of the Dia de los Muertos art display that I had seen previously. I'm glad it was still up, but I must admit that I'm also really glad it was up last week for CicLAvia... without the other art around and with the CicLAvia event in progress and so many bicyclists biking around safely, I feel like it had a much greater impact and deeper meaning.

















The whole "couple in love" display was constructed of various reused materials. Here you can see a variety of plastic bottles, cups, twist ties and plastic utensils













All of these were decorated with various natural items like the pinecones, grains and seed.

























the altar in the foreground was for teachers












This altar was for animal friends. There were supplies on the table for people to add their own remembrances....





#downtowndia #GrandAveArts