jill bliss at my house saturday!

okay, so jill bliss will not be at my house on saturday, but she'll be right around the corner at reform school for a solo show titled "forest coral, new work by jill bliss" based on her recent visit to the great barrier reef.

miss bliss is one of my very favorite artistas. she grew up on a family farm in norcal where everything was hand built or cultivated. you can view her portfolio website here. we share the love of botanicals and she also often emphasizes native plants in her art.

"Not only is she a huge inspiration to other indie artists & crafters out there, for managing to make a living doing what she loves, but we especially admire her for her dedication to reusing, recycling & using sustainable materials in ALL of her work."

see you there!
saturday, april 14th 7-10pm

ReForm School
4014 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029

ugp growing up

phew, march has been a whirlwind. the lovelies kristy and aaron spent the beginning of the month with me and it was lovely as ever. they left el lay to continue forward to the east coast where they will wwoof it for the spring and summer (wwoof= world-wide opportunities on organic farms). i'm so excited (and i'll admit a wee bit jealous) for their adventures ahead.

as far as the urban greening project goes, i have some big changes in store for you over the next months. i'm really excited to share them with you as they develop. so stay tuned for more info yo.

in the meantime, the blog will continue to focus on el lay's urban permaculture scene with other sustainable design and art topics sprinkled in for inspiration.

image is by nyc street artista 'swoon' who just had an amazing show at the new image art gallery.

green machines

the machine project is a local non-profit dedicated to providing educational resources to artists working with technology. saturday the 20th they are hosting the fourth of eight monthly installments, in which ing reveals the origins the rainbow through an original creation myth. each of the performances explore a specific color and this saturday's color is G R E E N !!! it sounds like a fun event, and all viewers are asked to wear the specific color of the month. there is more information below and here on the machine project website.

Prescribed and improvised music, storytelling, movement, sculpture, and other media will be at hand as ing utilizes a different space within the gallery at a different time of day for each performance. Visitors wearing the color associated with the show they are attending will receive a free gift and are encouraged to attend multiple performances, as each show will reveal a new surprise in this epoch story of science, magic, and color.

machine project
1200 d north alvarado street
los angeles, ca 90026
213-483-8761

understanding nature

i was first introduced to stacy levy's work while studying landscape architecture at penn state university (she is the wife of my landscape ecology professor neil p. korostoff). stacy was a huge source of inspiration to me in her integration of art, science, and landscape ecology and her apt for creating visual metaphors for otherwise invisible processes. so i was very excited to see her featured on the cover of this month's sculpture magazine with a nice spread titled "stacy levy, understanding nature".

as a scientist and artist, stacy brings a fresh approach to land art through her visually seductive forms while incorporating environmental education and awareness. working with natural elements of water, wind, tides, pollution, decay and microorganisms, stacy designs her projects so to allow the sites and elements themselves to tell their stories of place and progression of natural processes.

"I am interested in showing the invisible aspects microorganisms and their complicated relationships of eating and being eaten, the spiraling hydrological patterns of a stream, the mosaic of growth in a vacant lot, the prevailing winds and their effects on vegetation, the flow of water through a living system. Often people think that nature ends where the city begins. But natural processes are always occurring in the city. I like to explore the idea of nature in the city and make it visible to people. I look for sites which give me the opportunity to bring the patterns and processes of the natural world into the built environment."

the following are examples of her work:

tide flowers


the hudson river rises twice a day with the eternal motion of the tides, connecting us in the urban fabric to the ocean, the moon, and natures' own daily schedule. emphasizing nature's constant hand in the urban environment, tide flowers is an installation of colorful flowers which "bloom" at high tide and close at low tide on the hudson river.


acid mine drainage & art, projects for vintondale


acid mine drainage (amd) pollutes hundreds of miles of streams in the coal mining country of pennsylvania. this issue is close to my heart, as my fifth-year capstone project for psu was the transformation of an 80 acre site intensely polluted by amd into a healthy community park.

collaborating with a landscape architect, a geologist, and a historian on acid mine drainage in vintondale, pennsylvania, levy explained the effect of coalmines on the environment, while creating a park and a passive water treatment facility to restore nature to its pre-industrial state. "the design of the water treatment wetlands brings the massive scale of the mining operation back to the site, with raised plinths of soil demarcating the footprints of the original mine buildings. the final rinse of the water is through the series of wetlands allowing the water to slowly seep back into the blacklick creek."


river eyelash


installed for the three rivers arts festival in my hometown, pittsburgh pa, stacy used 3,000 painted buoys to create strands of an eyelash for the city from the tip of point state park. "the eyelash floats where the concrete of the city meets the fluid edge of the water, engaging the great open surface of the three rivers." the floating strands constantly change in response to wind direction, speed of the currents and types of waves.

holy weekend batman!

ok kids, lots going on this weekend so here's the skinny:

tonight, friday, december 1st:


>>santa monica critical mass coming at ya at 6:30 pm.

"Come to a rolling celebration of bicycles, an organized coincidence that happens every 1st Friday at the Santa Monica Pier (Ocean Ave @ Colorado Ave.) Gather at 6 PM, depart at 6:30 PM."

tomorrow, saturday, december 2nd:

>>free intro to permaculture class from 10am-4pm at the audobon center at deb's park 4700 north griffin ave., 90031.

"We are living on a planet in crisis; often individuals feel powerless to effect change but Permaculture offers positive solutions to the problems facing the world; using ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, technology and community development, you can learn to create a self-sustaining environment, on a farm or in your urban backyard or apartment. The Permaculture Design Course is for anyone interested in gaining skills and perspective for sustainable living and productivity. A Permaculture Design Course is a way to share accumulated information with others. This Introduction to Permaculture Class is an outline of the science and art of Permaculture. It will define the term and its history, its founders, the curriculum of the design course certificate, its ethics and foundations. It will describe the benefits and show some of the most important work undertaken by permaculture designers. For More Information contact: David Kahn 323 667 1330 or info@susltainablehabitats.org www.sustainablehabitats.org"

>>join c.i.c.l.e.'s car-free hauliday toys & mittens ride to benefit the hollywood sunset free clinic and the homeless family christmas day luncheon. bring toys and warm clothes to share with families in need and deck out your bike for this festive ride! 12:30 pm meet at the vermont/sunset red line station (1500 n. vermont ave, la)

>>saturday evening, head over to equator books in venice (1103 abbot kinney) for the world changing book release party...el lay style. this one is also hosted by good magazine and more info can be found on their website. i'll definitely be at this one, so come out to meet other world changers and grab your copy of the book.

>>tales of wonder, tales of woe, a solo exhibition of work by darrah danielle will be hosted at one of my favorites...the transport gallery. the opening reception is...you guessed it...saturday! from 6-11 pm. this is the transport gallery's final exhibition so come out and support local artists. darrah's work is fantastical...

"Reminescent of a colorful cabinet of curiosities, the mixed media pieces in this collection draw you into an enchanted realm where fragments are transformed into petit fables that sing the heart."

>>and don't forget the the hive gallery and studios presents "dolls, dolls, dolls show" saturday from 8pm-12:30am. the featured artist for the night is myna sonou and the featured installation artist is none other than the talented miss jesse spears...daughter of shrine, and co-creator of the making love out of trash exhibit that i posted a while back.

phew!! hope to see some of you at these events...remember to walk, bike, public transport, and carpool!

it is green thinks nature, even in the dark

(via inhabitat)

back! from outer space

sorry for the gap in posts...i've been up to my ears in moving and working the past days. i have been clearing out the non-moving energies in the process and have found myself with a pile of stuff to hand over to the donation gods...

i have to say though that i'm loving the new digs...and for good reasons...it's a co-op!! yay, i love co-operative living! i haven't been in one since n-street up north, so i was stoked to come across such a sweet situation here in el lay. whereas n street was a grouping of 16 individual houses that broke down their fences to form a community, my new co-op is a 10 bedroom house and each roommate has their own room. there's a large communal living space and big front and back yards with a food garden :) we also have 1 chicken, 1 duck, and 1 piglet. the house gets together on tuesday evenings for meals and meetings and i have a weekly chore to keep up on. aside from that, i get a great room in a sweet house and an amazing support network of 9 other fabulous and conscious roommates...yay!

i took a walk around the new hood thursday night to check out my neighbors and get a bite to eat around the corner. on my way back home, low and behold, i ran into something that i have dreaded being sent to: reform school. i was relieved to discover that this reform school is a crafty little shop with a focus on indie artists who "reuse creatively." it's full of sustainable goodies. here you can find local art, recycled pencils and sketchbooks, re-used skateboard purses, and their children's section is a-dor-a-ble! the woman working told me that they had just opened the store about a month ago, so we welcomed each other into the neighborhood, and i assured her that i would be back to see them soon...and you should too!!

get edumacated at reform school:
4014 santa monica blvd. (@ sunset blvd. in silverLake)
los angeles, ca 90029
(323)906-8660

current exhibitions

not necessarily green in nature, these current exhibitions at the moca and lacma explore our perceptions of beauty, environment, and design...

parallel practices in fashion & architecture

This exhibition explores the common visual and intellectual principles that underlie both fashion and architecture. Both disciplines start with the human body and expand on ideas of space and movement, serving as outward expressions of personal, political, and cultural identity. Architects and fashion designers produce environments defined through spatial awareness—the structures they create are based on volume, function, proportion, and material. Presenting the work of international fashion designers and architects, the exhibition examines themes such as shelter, identity, tectonic strategies, creative process, and parallel stylistic tendencies including deconstruction and minimalism.
(via moca)

breaking the mode: contemporary fashion from the permanent collection

Creating clothing, for protection, profession, or spectacle, has undergone dramatic change over the past twenty-five years. A number of designers have introduced subversive elements into the fashion system, examining and deconstructing its entrenched conventions and changing the rules about what is aesthetically pleasing and fashionable. Breaking the Mode: Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection will present designers who found traditional criteria and solutions obsolete – designers who challenged the canons of the body’s fashionable silhouette, revolutionized methods of garment construction, rejected the formulaic use of materials and techniques, and exploited new technology in textile production.
(via lacma)

making love outta trash

OUR LOVE
installation by father daughter team
SHRINE and JESSE

10.14.06 - 11.18.06

Reception:
Saturday October 21, 2006
6:00pm to 10:00pm

my favorite moustached mischief maker...shrine, and his lovely daughter jesse have put so much heart into this show...don't miss it! our love is an installation of shrines and paintings by the duo...proving that you can make love out of trash. if you can't make the reception on saturday night, the show will be at the transport gallery through nov. 18th.

Los Angeles, CA - Transport Gallery in association with Forever's Ghost Riders present, OUR LOVE, an installation by father daughter team Shrine and Jesse Blue Spears. The exhibition will run from October 14, 2006 through November 18, 2006. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, October 21st from 6:00pm to 11:00pm.

Daughter father team, Jesse Blue Spears and Shrine combine forces to lift the veil to the other world. No mercy, full power, no holds barred paint off trash throw down. Come celebrate "our love" for you with this powerful installation.


Regarding the installation: 19 trucks full of forgotten debris collected and transformed into holy relic beauties for you to see and know the secrets of the future. Fingers with their own agenda are painting for pure joy. Transport Gallery has been dipped in special paint and on top of this special paint we hang the so-called art, we call it "Our Love". From the ceilings hang layer upon layer of exotic shrines - seeping down roots, cascading bones and wire. Crying birds will guide ye through secrets we do not understand. Now the journey has begun, constant flowing creation from; paint, trash, pom poms, wire, feathers, leaves, cardboard, glass and wood, everything falling in love over and over again.

Transport Gallery is located at 1308 Factory Place, Los Angeles CA 90013. The gallery is open by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, please call 310-956-5344. To learn more about the gallery and its past exhibitions, please visit the website.

Transport Gallery
1308 Factory Place
Los Angeles CA 90013

*photo by marsi of coachella shrine installation

events calendar

here are some events of the coming week that i hope to attend (and see you at!)

***current classes***

permaculture design certificate

today i had lunch with larry santoyo of earthflow design works. i took his permaculture design certificate course last year and it changed my life... he has a new el lay class starting up this coming weekend in santa monica and i fully recomend it (i'll be there on saturday). you can register for the full course, or drop in at a daily rate to check it out. for more information and to register click here!

***saturday, october 14***

treepeople's million trees initiative

Join TreePeople on Oct. 14 at the L.A. harbor and help fulfill Mayor Villaraigosa's vision to plant one million trees in L.A. We're helping plant 300,000 trees on city park lands over the next few years. Volunteer or learn more here.

el lay decom

el lay decomWELCOME HOME! The thrill of the playa rises again, this time on the streets of Los Angeles.
This is an annual event to bring the spirit of Burning Man alive in our community.

With the 2007 Burning Man theme being “the Green Man”, We are leaning toward a more conscious event. Expect incredible art work, beautiful art cars, and delightful music - with as much diversity as burners can provide. We’d like to remind you to please CONSERVE and CONSUME LESS for this event! It’s not necessary to use or waste resources such as inefficient lighting just to have fun with us ☺

Workshops will be from 3pm-9pm.
These are the topics we will be exploring:
Organic Architecture and Green Technologies (Geofry Collins)
A Panel Discussion on Sustainable living techniques in an Urban Environment (Sustainable LA, Santa Monica Sustainable Works, Green Drinks, Geoff)
Conscious Consumerism (Cater Green)
Permaculture (Joan)
Solar energy (EE solar)
Bio-diesel and veggie oil (Clean Fuel Caravan and Kalib)
Cob and permaculture within Burning Man (Ray Cirino)
Greening Burning Man/ Recycle Camp (Blue)
Eco Villages

from noon till midnight by blue bongo in downtown la, 1st st. under the 1st st. bridge. and don't forget about the after parties!!!

art is trash

this past weekend was the brewery's fall artwalk, and the original phil and i ventured downtown to check it out on saturday. if you aren't familiar, the brewery is housed in an old industrial pabst complex converted to the largest live-work artist collective in the world. the artist's open their studios twice a year to the public. the work was very inspiring...but even more so to me, is experiencing the living spaces of the artists. i came very close to moving into the brewery last year, but was working on the west side at the time and did not want to deal with the commute from downtown. it is definitely more tempting to move there now, although the poor air quality and lack of walkable things to do leaves me less inspired...

anyways, the brewery was alot of fun indeed, i even ran into some familiar faces such as steve samo and christian of tin foil man, blacksmith and sculptor extraordinaire...always a pleasure :) i was also fabulously inspired by artists such as annie terrazzo of art is trash. annie's work is raw and beautiful, and very green (as she creates her work from other people's trash). as she says on her site bio:

"I have no inspiration, I only have reaction and my work was born out of nothing but that and sheer poverty. Back in 2003, I didnt have the money to afford real materials so I was forced to improvise. Id find used canvases at thrift stores (that always had Cousin Emilys first oil paint lesson on it) and
rummage through clearance barrels for paint and glue at the cheap markets
to get the basics. After the first layer was done, Id take it apart, destroy
something, put it back together and then find some trash on the street
(perhaps yours?) and make art out of it. Now, its been a few years since I began working this trash and I can afford better materials, but I dont bother. There is something about the sad little abused canvases I find. They have a history, a prior life and a story to tell. Each one is a piece from someones past. Each had a use or was loved and lost or tossed aside."

i love the trash to treasure theme of annie's work. the brewery itself is a great example of adaptive reuse as well, as the complex could have surely been torn down to create brand new lofts like the ones going up all over downtown... but the brewery has history, it has character, and like annie's work, it is full of stories....

the brewery art walk is offered biannually, so add it to your spring calendar yo!