Artists and Astronauts: Stuff I Like Looking At

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As an artist I am always looking, and always surprised by what interests my eye. I have walked by the same patterns, and the same plants for multiple seasons and am still drawn to look at certain things. Now that I have an iPhone, I have been documenting these weekly reminders of form and pattern for my work. Even if they never physically make it into a painting, the act of photographing them (albeit through an amateur lens), solidifies the images for me in the archive of my art brain.

In my neighborhood I go for walks often, on uphill sidewalks and along mostly partially-cared-for gardens. If my neighborhood was slightly wealthier, the gardens would be homogenized plant life presentations landscaped by professionals. However, here the local and store-bought plants mingle with weeds and sunlight-loving lounging cats. If the neighborhood was worse (and I have lived in those as well), there would be no gardens at all, and instead disheveled concrete plots with the occasional determined weed, leaving me longing for beauty so badly that I might go slightly insane from the lack of stimulus. No, I much prefer my working-class streets and their attempts at order and style, which is the perfect complement to each yard's unique arrangement of natural disorder. I never get tired of looking at these gardens because the combinations of color and exotic plants mixed with ordinary blooms create a constant treasure hunt for me as the visual huntress.

Lucky for me, in addition to these garden-lined streets are artsy stores on Piedmont Ave. and the amazing Chapel of the Chimes mausoleum, designed by architect Julia Morgan. With all of these things, plus the cemetery, (more on that later!), I never run out of things to get inspired by.

Pink and burgundy

Little cup flowers remind me of being a kid and imagining stuff like where fairies would live

Thorny, repeated shapes and the fire-like ombre of these flower colors

Great pattern ideas for my headdresses

Love the black, the symmetry, and the sculpture element

Inside the Chapel of the Chimes- so many amazing tile patterns

Flowers, patterns, and a glistening pool

Passion flower vines are a beautiful shape, and these fuchsia flowers are unusual

Weirdly enough, this image jumped out at me even though it's kind of banal. I used the same idea of green geranium leaves and just a small amount of red flowers in my latest painting.

So many colors and textures, including the weird gray blue of a succulent

This candelabra would make a good headdress

Some ranunculus flowers at Whole Foods

Love the little white daisies and red tulips at the cemetery, like a valentine

Old patterned cement at the cemetery

I like the combination of the black gate and trailing pink pointy jasmine buds

I don't go into Starbucks very often, but every time I do, in every bathroom is this same light fixture and it always reminds me of an awesome pope hat headdress