palos verdes 11.7.10

These colors and perspectives can only begin to describe the scene Sunday afternoon at Bluff Cove in Palos Verdes... a super low tide uncovered thousands of creatures creeping around the rocks. The hike lit up by constantly changing light from the approaching sunset - you can even see the colors starting to change in the panoramic I snapped on my phone. Surfers paddling in as the last sunlit wave rolls into the cove. Dogs running around off leash - in particular one adorable floppy-eared (a must) dobe. I have to bring a sketchbook here next time. And a beverage. 

...the pink and blue clouds may require 3D glasses, no?

Pano - Santa Monica/Venice are wayyyy off to the right on the horizon, the cove is to the left, and see if you can find the hiker...ok it's not that hard actually.

-L

guess who

The beginnings of a small portrait - I kind of don't want to finish it... More to come.

-LK

DC

Aerospace Museum / meeting FDR / Smithsonian Hirshhorn Art Museum / sculpture at the Hirshhorn / WWII Memorial.

DC was very different from what I remembered it to be like. The weather was amazing, and walking the mall, museums, monuments and downtown felt like being in Europe in the summer time. I didn't realize that buildings aren't allowed to exceed the height of the capital, giving the city a very Parisian-like feel. At the same time though, everything down to the subway entrances has a massive, monument-like quality that seems appropriate for a nation's capital, but is a funny out-of-scale type of feeling when walking around the city. It's similar to how you feel driving through the mountains - aware of how small you really are.

We spent some time at the WWII Monument, which I really enjoyed - one I don't remember from my days as a young tourist.. The Lincoln Memorial is definitely still my favorite. We were also lucky enough to tour the West Wing with our own private insider ;) Sunday we ventured over to the Eastern Market, which felt like a completely different city. I'll be back!

Oh, and best meal: Bistro du Coin in Dupont Circle

Breakform Does A Bar

We completed this project a couple of months ago, but I just got around to posting this video of the process. A couple months went into the planning of this: logistics of fitting the equipment behind the bar, field measuring, laser-cutting and labeling each steel tile, detailing the footrest, bar top, backlighting, etc etc etc. It was fun to project manage, and a very intense week of nonstop fabrication, day and night. Needless to say, every time I blew my nose at the end of the day (well, is 2:00 am is the end of the day? beginning of the morning?) it was black. Nothing like metal work in an air-tight bar at night.

The video spans only a few days. Near the end you can see the construction lights go red for the soft opening, and then the bar in its final state at the very end (Tom's Shoes private party with celebrity guests Charlize Theron, Heather Graham and Jessica Alba..omg!).

Cheers!

Lately...

Rainbows, sunsets, Bill Murray, purple paint.. October is feeling productive. Dark purples seem to be a theme lately. I'm investigating with this striped painting series - feeling out a surrealist/graphic/landscape that I'm figuring out how to translate...

In other news, I'm glad to be feeling a somewhat fall-ish weather out here. It has by no means been brutally hot this summer by the ocean, but there is something I love about the fall and winter that makes you want to get home at the end of the day and hammer out some creative work. (And I may also have loved wearing my rain gear for the first time out here..even IF it was only a mist..) 

...More Lakes

Moving to the ocean....makes you travel hours to get to lakes?

My trip to Oregon took me to Buck Lake in the Mt Hood National Forest. The conditions were pretty much perfect:
       Other people encountered: 0
       Salamanders encountered: 3
       Bears encountered: 0
       Water clarity: 100%
       Flotation devices: 3

 *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Last weekend KT and I took an impromptu day-trip to Big Bear Lake. More of a tourist town than I had anticipated (perhaps jaded by the preserved nature that was Oregon the week before...). The mountain driving turned out to be the more enjoyable part of the trip for me, as I got to test out my manual skills on the terrain in a new vehicle!

And, in an effort to get back to the REAL purpose of this blog (keeping you up to date with any and all creations Le Kamp) this last photo hints at another project I am in the early stages of... enjoy!

-L

Lake Cachuma

Camping in Lake Cachuma was surreal. and hot. 

The campsite was full, but we decided to head up on Saturday morning anyway and take our chances.. (and I had been preparing the menu, and I wanted to eat my marinated lamb and corn on the cob grilled over a campfire! We don't have a grill..). Luckily they had some available spots once we arrived. We moved to a spot with a huge tree for shade from the intense sun, and we soon realized tree = tree + the twenty ground squirrels living in tunnels below it. Luckily they weren't scavengers like I thought they would be (brought flashbacks of the baby squirrel we rescued from a tree who chased us until we had to stand on our picnic table for safety...I think he thought we were his human foster parents?). 

Squirrel fears aside, we could move onto more gooey fears, like nightcrawlers on hooks.. Fishing turned out to be a bust, although still fun and relaxing. In one of the coves we saw some huge bass (maybe), but they were definitely uninterested in our tasty bait. I think the summer sun was killing their appetite. It's a good thing we weren't fishing for survival, because I definitely still had MY appetite. KT did manage to catch one, but we threw him back. He was only 12" or so - hadn't seen the world yet.

The morning we got there, a Jersey Shore "Situation" doppleganger and friends was leaving the campsite next to us (backing into a baby tree as he left) and some less annoying people came for Saturday night. They had their camping down to a science and were in and out faster than Kenny and I could catch a fish. Made me wonder how we could camp without bringing all the stuff we brought. A challenge for next time. 

We grabbed a bite to eat in Santa Barbara on the way out of town to wait for the Sunday night traffic to subside. That city is great. Next time our excuse to go up there will be wine tasting. 

-L

Cooking?

Somehow we manage to cook in this tiny kitchen....I'm not sure how, but something glorious was made a couple nights ago. Gluten-free and 1/2 dairy free. That's right...saved some for the lactard (term of affection, I promise).

Sticking to Gluten-free has been tough and I bail out a lot, but it's really forced me to think about cooking things ahead of time (since you're so limited when you go on a coffee run and realize you can't eat anything..). I made some Quinoa Chocolate Chip breakfast bars a couple days ago to freeze and eat throughout the week. Pop one in the fridge the night before, and it's ready to go in the morning! (My recipe source should really pay me for the advertising shout-out..).

Grassy Knoll Knees

Animated gifs are SOOOOO annoying, but still kinda fun....
HAPPY FOURTH!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

Case Study #22

Case Study #22 / Stahl House

This was the first Case Study House I've been able to experience in person. It was amazing to see the Pierre Koenig house (famously photographed by Julius Shulman), and even more amazing to be able to do work on the house. Everything is remarkably in tact and original, down to the finishes in the kitchen and the light fixtures in the living room.

The fog gradually burned off and downtown emerged in the distance off to the left. The view extended all the way to the coast on the right. Interestingly the house is oriented to the grid below - a detail you can't appreciate until you stand in front of the pool looking down and realize you are staring down an axis (a similar feeling to standing atop the arc d'triomphe, staring down the long avenues).

Santa Barbara

Finally, checking things off the list - our first day-trip to explore some of the amazing places in Cali. Driving up the PCH, we saw a lot of good surf spots and a million precarious looking houses hanging onto the hillsides. Santa Barbara was our first destination. Next time it will be longer than a day trip, and we won't make the mistake of renting cruisers to go on this bike route. We did get some great shots though (I need to steal some from KT's SLR), but here are a few of my snapshots. Stopped at Brophy Brother's in the Harbor for some amazing seafood and a great view looking back on the city nestled in the hills. 

Patterns

A little preview of what's to come - working on a suite. Starting small with 4"x4"s and 11"x11"s. Stay tuned!

Lost and found

I just ran across these old negatives from circa September 2009 - an adventure with Ms Goebel to Starved Rock. Destination: Tonti Canyon. Light was low in the canyons, but made for some ethereal photos. Wish some others had turned out. I guess you'll just have to go see for yourself ;)