Joshua Tree, Arizona and New Mexico Pt. 1: California

As a California girl, I love that I don't need to leave my state to experience mountains, sea and desert. This year marks the second year of a new annual tradition to head down to the desert during the holidays to decompress.

From December 26th through January 2, I visited Joshua Tree, Arizona and New Mexico. I had been working on my show at Seeing Things Gallery for months and preparing for the holiday season prior to leaving. I had been working non-stop and although it was good practice in self-discipline and creativity, I was literally giddy to be out on the open road and not cooped up inside.

It has taken me a few weeks to post about this amazing trip. In this time, I have thought about how I can create an environment at home that is similar to how I felt on vacation. I have also been working hard at getting organized this month so that I can have a more smooth year, especially since I have a lot of exciting things planned (see my New Year post).

Joshua Tree National Park

Pioneertown Motel exterior

We stayed at the Pioneertown Motel in Pioneertown. With a population of 350, the town resides up in the hills near Joshua Tree. The town itself was built as a set for Western movies and the hotel was where actors would stay. Can you imagine how I felt making this my home after months of chaotic work? 

The bathroom shelf.

The Barbara Stanwyck room. She actually stayed here! 

Pioneertown, a strip of old western buildings, some still in use as shops.

This was my third time altogether in Joshua Tree National Park. I love that cell phones lose service soon after you enter. That's when I know I'm in a good place. We climbed Ryan Mountain and were rewarded with 360 degree views of the park.

Ryan Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park

Bryan on Ryan Mountain, doing his best Ansel Adams

A panoramic view from Ryan Mountain

Peak hikes are my favorite. Such a good workout and always worth the climb.

The next day we hiked a small and lesser known trail in the park that was recommended by a ranger. It seemed like nothing special at first, but took us by surprise with its wild rock formations.

Cyclops eating a rock?

Channeling my inner Georgia O'Keeffe by sketching some rocks.

I'm so glad we found out about this "secret" trail. I found this near-perfect circle in nature.

Rose quartz in my hand from along the trail and quartz lined throughout the rock.

My backpack with patches from Costa Rica, Maine and New Mexico.

I finally made it to the Salton Sea! If you don't already know, it looks like an oasis in the desert: a large body of water sparkling in the middle of dry and dusty land. It was created at the turn of the century by diverting the Colorado River. Long story short, it is a heavily salinated body of water that causes a strange ecological environment. We were on the eastern side, at Bombay Beach.

Bombay Beach, Salton Sea, CA

Here are some of the obligatory fish photos that everyone takes when they visit the Salton Sea.

The Ski Inn, Bombay Beach, Salton Sea

The Ski Inn bartender on the left was a funny man. These two gentlemen could not have been more perfect in this old bar. I was so glad we visited since it's for sale and you never know the fate of these old places. The people here were so nice and quirky. One man, in his ATV gear, talked about how the area flooded in the 70's when he was a kid. He rowed his boat through houses looking for candy. Definitely an upcoming painting...

Graffiti in Bombay Beach

I didn't get too many photographs of the trailers and homes in town. I felt that I wanted to respect the local's privacy. Here's one example of the graffiti and artwork you see sprayed on buildings around town. Bombay Beach was so surreal. It definitely seemed like a place where people escape society and just live a little differently. I plan on returning to check out the west coast of the Salton Sea next year. Well, that was Pt. 1. I'll be posting the other half of my trip in Arizona and New Mexico next time. 

The New Year and the Unknown

I am so excited for a new year. Something about the roller coaster of 2013, climaxing with an insanely busy December and a desert road trip, made me feel the annual transition more than ever before.

I'll start with a quick recap of highlights of 2013. Early in 2013, I quit my day job. It wasn't that I was making a full-time living from my art, but I thought I had a part-time job in tandem with it, so I hastily put my two weeks in. However, I didn't get the part-time job. I sometimes pride myself on risk-taking, but this time, it became stressful after a few months. Still, soon after I quit, I was offered a solo art show at Delta Workshop in Sacramento, CA, decided to write a children's book and things just seemed like they were off to a good start.

My Etsy shop grew this year. I painted portraits of a couple of actors, a musician and his family and other wonderful people. I sold art prints to people prominent in their fields at KQED and HGTV Magazine. I also vended at a few events in great locations including the Bank of the West tennis tournament at Stanford and the Berkeley City Club.

Still, I was floating around in a sea of unknown. With each of the above events, I had periods of floundering between. Should I focus on portraits? Should I focus on handmade bags? Hand painted scarves? Design work? What should I paint? There was so much unknown and uncertainty.

Toward the end of the year, I returned to teaching part-time. The kids teach me so much about risk-taking, intuition and just having fun while making art. I painted many portraits for clients for holiday gifts. I also created a super fun hand illustrated band logo. And the highlight? I ended the year with a solo show at Seeing Things Gallery. It was well-attended and the feedback exceeded my expectations. This show taught me so much. I worked for long periods in isolation. In doing so, I utilized tons of determination, focus and discipline. I made work that was purely me. I dug deep into what bothers me, confuses me, amazes me, pleases me. 

And now I have a better understanding of what is most important to me, what feels best to make and do. I need to return to being outside more for inspiration and I need to use my intuition. When things are unsure, we get scared and make strange decisions. This year, I understood being in touch with my intuition more than ever. This is how we can embrace the unknown, when we let things reveal themselves and listen to our gut.

In this time, I realized I will continue to create textiles, in limited-release, small batches. However, I will be primarily focusing on original artwork and a variety of creative projects. Rather, than New Year's resolutions, I will list out some things I will be doing this year:

• A dual group exhibition at the Citadel and Works Gallery in April entitled Shelter
• Taking sailing lessons in early spring
• Moving my children's book from sketches to completed 
• Opening my own online shop (in addition to Etsy), where I will have original artwork available
• Finishing two new paintings that did not quite get finished for the Seeing Things show and revealing those within the month
• Painting a huge handful of ideas that came to me at the end of 2013
• Continuing hand illustrated design work
• Continue to teach children 10 hours a week
• Sitting and reading in my hammock
• Traveling, hopefully getting to a few more National Parks and possibly an overseas trip

Although I have this list, the direction can change at any time and I don't mind that.

What are you working on? What do you want to start or finish in this new year? Please leave a comment below.

From the peak of Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree National Park.

Note: I will be writing about my desert trip in a post next week!

Nevada City Craft Fair Weekend

I had been looking forward to spending the weekend in Nevada City, CA for some time now. The Nevada City Craft Fair was my purpose for heading up north, but exploring the area was what I was most excited by. I love Gold Country towns: Jamestown, Columbia, Grass Valley, Shingle Springs and more. I've never been to this area in the winter, with the exception of being on a train a couple years ago, passing by the picturesque, snow-covered towns. This was my first time doing an art or craft fair out of the Bay Area. It was an interesting new experience, but I must say the fair was 8 hours long and took a whole day away from adventure. That being said, I had a great time in this historic area. It looked like a movie set with the elaborate Christmas decorations and remnants of snow still in town.

We arrived at night, which worked out perfectly since it was all lit up with Christmas lights. It was really cold, but definitely invigorating since the air is so much better up here.

One of the many beautiful homes in Nevada City.

We made ourselves at home at the Outside Inn for the weekend. Each room is themed and we were in the River Room.
 

Seriously, it was like the North Pole here. This was the scene behind our hotel. A creek ran behind it and everything was decked out in lights.

Houses along the walk to downtown Nevada City
 

The National Hotel is said to be haunted. Of course we had to stop in.

The Mine Shaft, a very cool looking bar. We didn't stop in, but I'm sure it's great. We ventured around downtown and stopped at Matteo's for a glass of wine.

The morning was totally promising, crystal clear and just perfect out.

I was almost late to the craft fair because I had to have a waffle piled with strawberries, bananas and agave syrup from Cafe Mekka. On the second morning, we went to the South Pine Cafe, which I highly recommend.

Here's my booth setup at the Nevada City Craft Fair.

The day after the fair, we drove out to South Yuba State Park. Near the entrance, is the Bridgeport Bridge, the longest freestanding covered bridge.

Another view of the Bridgeport Bridge

A view of the visitor's center at the South Yuba River State Park. This area reminded me of the East Coast. I can't wait to come back in the summer.

Feels Like It's Getting Busy - Alamere Falls Part Two

Several weeks ago, I returned to Alamere Falls with some friends. I had been hiking in some beautiful places in the North Bay to prepare for backpacking the Skyline-to-Sea trail. This trip has been postponed for a few reasons, but that's okay. We'll do it soon. 

I've been doing some thinking this last week about just how much time art takes up in my life. While I absolutely love it, it turns most weeks into 6-7 work days. I love so many other things as well and it can be difficult to make the time for other things I like to do, especially when adventuring means traveling out of the area for a day or a weekend. This time of the year I get really busy, so I think I am just in the acceptance stage that summer is over, I have a lot of work lined up and deadlines are looming.

For now, I will be sharing Alamare Falls - Part Two. I invited some friends to hike the same trail I had done a couple weeks prior. It was an even prettier not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day.

Friends above the sea

Rope swingers were having a blast. There was a small hillside of my friends and a few strangers, including some nudists on the rope swing. Gotta love California!

This scene was way prettier in person. It felt like we were on a remote island. 

Lovely friends posing after we made it to the first part of the falls. 

Waterfall to the sea

We ate figs, dark chocolate covered coconut, garden vegetable sandwiches and reward beers in this perfect place.

Sunburst  

A classic California sunset on the walk back. 

Alright, back to work! 

Portola Valley Hike

I'm getting ready to hike the Skyline-to-Sea trail in September. I've been hiking a lot lately midst my busy schedule, which is definitely satisfying the lack of camping I've done this year. This hike was from last week in Portola Valley. I wanted to get into the studio for part of the day so we decided not to venture as far as we usually do.

Imagine if this was your work desk view. Lucky rangers!

The ranger station was full of great information about the area. 

Ah, the prices of yesteryear... 

The Coyote Ridge Trail, a fairly steep hike and a good workout.  

The beautiful view along the ridge. These slightly overcast days are always welcome when hiking uphill. 

I was overwhelmed by the yellow green of this drying fern against the layers of blue and green mountains.

Lightning took down some redwoods in this grove. I can't imagine watching this massive trunk fall.

You can't possibly come to this area without stopping at Alice's Restaurant! A classic biker and classic car meetup spot, Alice's has the best food. Do you like garlic fries? Buffalo burgers? Free range? Grass fed?  All the burgers are named after motorcycles and their dessert selection is something else. Oh yes, the staff? So friendly and fun. I've been coming here for years and it is consistently great.

Blackberry pie and black coffee. Agent Dale Cooper would be so proud.  Thank you Alice's for satisfying my appetite.