Gullywasher.

Snails in rain, courtesy aliette via Etsy.

It has been raining like mad all day today, and I even heard thunder last night, which is a rarity in Los Angeles. (Although my upstairs neighbors might have been dropping bowling balls on the floor again, like they do sometimes in my dreams...)

I blame the rain for my sleeping in later than planned, and it also kept me from going farmers market-ing. Ah boo. But I did take a walk today...

A walk in the rain? Yes, a lot of a walk in a LOT of rain. Maybe it is corny, or eccentric, or sort of masochistic, but I love walking in the rain. In Los Angeles months and months pass with only the slightest changes of temperature, so something different, (whether a singing-in-the-rain kind of rainstorm, a sudden drop down to a chilly 58 degrees, or even a sudden heatwave when all I can stand to eat is frozen grapes and sparkling water...) um, it is something different, so something worth noting and experiencing.

I can't wait to live where there is real weather!

So I put on my ol' $8 goodwill trenchcoat, some boots that I swear used to be waterproof, and took my black-and-white polkadot umbrella down the road, over the fast-moving LA river, to the Village Bakery. I bought sourdough bread, coffee, and a cookie for later. It was a wonderful adventure 'til the wind picked up and started threatening my umbrella, and my boots became soggy inside. I swear, they were fine in the West Virginia snow, but couldn't cope with LA rain.

Lame.

The Fair!

Saturday was the 2nd Annual LA Printers Fair at the International Printing Museum in Carson, California. I was very glad to return as a vendor for this very well-organized event. I had another splendid day in the heat and the wind, showing and selling my work, making some contacts, and seeing some old friends.


I am making piles of books these days. I love it. I just want to spend my days making books, watching the muppet show, and eating chocolate-covered pretzels.



Want to see some more pictures?

Unique LA.

Unique LA is this weekend! Saturday and Sunday, 11-6 at the California Market Center in downtown.

Unique is the largest independent design show on the West Coast, with over 300 designers and artists. Admission is $10.00, with partial proceeds going to a local non-profit. Entry gets you an exclusive-to-the-show limited edition tote bag, a free drink ticket, unlimited re-entry for both days, and access to free workshops.

I hear there's a photobooth, too...

Come say hi to me at booth #4015.

Last Sunday, and the Future.

Hello!

I had a weird, wonderful Sunday last weekend, and I want to tell the world all about it.

It started at 3:00AM. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I tried til about 4, and then got up and started my day...

Around dawn I left my home and headed to the Hollywood Farmers Market, on Ivar & Selma Avenues, right between Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards for my non-California friends. That's part of why I like this farmers market I think: its in such a touristy, awful place, but at 7 AM its quiet and lovely, and I can walk-on-the-walk-of-fame with my colorful radishes and appreciate how Los Angeles indeed has its moments....













I also stopped by the new Los Feliz Farmers Market, which happens behind the Dresden. And I had a decadent breakfast at Figaro. It was early enough that the hipsters weren't cluttering up my neighborhood yet, so the place was nice and quiet. I sat outside and enjoyed life, and read, and wrote things down.



The rest of the day was spent drawing and binding books, so that ain't bad either.


So as to 'the future'...well, I was going to write about some of my forthcoming Michelle-things, but I've got a busy day before me, and I better get away from this damn computer....but in brief:

My students are starting the "Cal State Northridge Printmaking Society."

My students are having a show!

I'm teaching another bookbinding workshop at Surface Gallery in Bakersfield in November.

I'm applying to be a vendor at a couple of upcoming handmade sale/marketplace events.

I'm making books. Lots of books.

I'm making a halloween costume this year! That's really all I want to work on this weekend. sigh.

So all these happenings are well-and-good, but what I'm really obsessing about is my adventure to PENLAND (yep, going back for more, folks) in late October/early November. It's just about one month away.

next right now.

I put together another Etsy treasury this weekend. Check it out here before it goes away!



This has been a good weekend. I'm working on packing, and getting rid of a lot of stuff. I move in two weeks! So excited about my new place. I've needed this change.

I've finished a few little pieces this weekend, and if my scanner is cooperative, I may post some things tonight in my store.

Today was hot as blazes in LA. My solution is frozen grapes. And a lot of sparkling water.

More.

More about the puppets-in-need.

Bob Baker's Marionettes

Bob Baker's Marionettes
The following is copied from an "LA culture" email list thing that I get...usually there's nothing of interest in the emails. This makes my heart hurt.

Bob Baker's Marionettes is an amazing amazing puppet theater. I've only been there twice. Once as a little girl, once as a grown-up type girl. Both visits are still vivid in my mind.

Here are wooden spoons from delicious ice cream at Bob Baker's Marionettes, from a perfect day in 2006:



Legendary local artist in need
Posted by: "Seldis, Mark" mseldis@musiccenter.org markseldis
Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:29 am (PST)
For immediate release

November 13, 2008

WHAT: Emergency Campaign to generate funds to save The Bob Baker Marionette Theater from Foreclosure

DEADLINE: $29,000 needed by December 3 or Bob Baker's theater and home will be sold

LOS ANGELES- For more that sixty years, puppeteer Bob Baker has brought delight and amazement to children of all ages with his innovative marionette performances. Through shows at his Bob Baker Marionette Theater, located just west of downtown LA and his huge list of film and TV credits, he has entertained millions of people. Today Bob Baker's puppet theater continues to operate on a daily basis with a crew of young puppeteers trained by the master.

But unless you help, this magical theater will disappear in a matter of weeks. Bob Baker, a proud man and a humble artisan, has no choice but to reach out to his public for a lifeline. Two years ago, Bob Baker was the victim in an elaborate mortgage fraud
operation bent on stealing his theater and home. This outrageous mortgage, written under threatening and deliberately misleading conditions, has left him owing ever increasing payments that are beyond his ability to pay.

This week the situation has reached crisis point, and Bob quietly reached out for help. Many talented people have responded to his call. A plan for improving the theater's financial prospects is being formulated by the Valley Economic Development Center and many of Bob's friends and fans are working behind the scenes to protect Bob and his theater and home from the sharks. The theater has enormous potential, Bob wants
everyone to know that he is not going out of business.

But time is of the essence, and right now, Bob Baker needs your donations if he is going to be able to keep up with his mortgage payments long enough to get the loans modified. As of today, Bob needs $23,000 for past due mortgage payments on the theater, and $6,000 for past due mortgage payments on his home. The deadline for payment in December 3, or the buildings will be sold and Bob and his thousands of puppets will be homeless.

If you have been entertained by Bob Baker's Marionettes, if you love the spirit of old Hollywood creativity that he embodies, if you want to reach out and help someone wonderful who has been terribly wounded by the mortgage crisis and outright fraud, please open your heart and give to Bob Baker at this difficult time. The children of Los Angeles are not ready to be without this great entertainer, who has many more years of magic before him.

Tax deductible donations can be made to "The Academy of Puppetry and Allied Arts." Send your check to 1345 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 or call 213-250-9995 to make a donation by credit card.

Puppeteer Bob Baker is available for interviews. Contact Richard at bobbakerpuppetmaker @yahoo.com, or call 213-250-9995.