"Tea by the Sea" Photo Booth

This was so whimsical and cute :) Again, using things we had. In the past, a theme had been princesses and so there was a large wooden castle prop. My aunt painted over this to make it resemble a sand castle. It was quite fun!

Cleaning the Clutter

Since we have moved up north I have been going over to my grandmother's house almost everyday, which has led to me helping her de-clutter her house. I have found some wonderfully nostalgic curiosities from my family's past generations.  I absolutely love it! We have a great history, my grandmother was a Chicago city-girl and my grandpa was a farm-boy who served with her brother during WWII  and that's how they met. They raised eleven kids on a ranch in California, my mom was the youngest. Can you imagine the kind of transition that must have been? The first time Grandma ever made bread was the first week she was married, and she did it in a wood burning stove. In Washington, in the winter. It came out so good, my Grandpa loved it and eventually bought a grain grinder so they could go even further in making it from scratch. I love it. And her bread really is amazing. This is just one of many stories I get to hear and see remnants of in boxes and closets as we go through them (the grinder is in the Shop).  

Barbie and her hand-made clothes

The typewriter Grandma used to write monthly update letters

My Grandpa in Pismo before he joined, I have an engagement photo on that pier!

Isn't she fabulous?!

Now she's 89, she doesn't exactly get around like she used to and she shouldn't be considering she is on blood thinners. So, I decided to help her with a very big project, The Shop. This is what it looked like:

My grandmother is on a fixed income, and we don't have much money to spare either, so getting crazy, elaborate storage make-over items was not an option. I was going to have to work with what I had. Fortunately, there were plenty of shelves already in there, they just weren't being utilized. So I went to the grocery store and asked if they had any extra boxes. I bought some packing tape, used some blank mailing labels my grandma had in bulk, and a permanent marker and worked my magic. It took a little while, what with it being 30 degrees and all, but I think in total over the span of a couple of weeks I put in about 15 hours? Maybe a little less. And now it looks like this:

The boxes on that table in front are empty! Yay consolidation!

I used the dresser drawers as extra storage too.

"Art After Dark" October Highlight: The Growing Grounds

On the 1st Friday of every month, ARTS Obispo coordinates with shops all over San Luis Obispo to host artists and their work in their shops for an event called "Art After Dark." This October there were 29 hosts, most of which offered food and beverage to its wandering patrons. The Growing Grounds garden shop was one such establishment that kept its doors open past closing hours. Nestled in the ally between the Adobe and Ja Nene Natural Body Products on Chorro, across from the Mission, it is a beautifully comfortable shop supplied by the Transitions Mental Health Association (TMHA)'s own farms in SLO and Santa Maria. This month is the last time they engage in the Art After Dark event until the spring, due to the establishment being out of doors.

The setting of the shop is intimate, nuzzled gently between two older buildings, the character of their siding lending to the atmosphere of the little garden shop. The owners make the most of the small space; plants and products are packed into every nook, yet it avoids feeling busy or cramped. In fact, the shop's organization has the opposite effect; instead it begs you to take your time and look about, to take it all in. Past the main selection of plants, Growing Grounds provides their customers with a unique selection of local or USA made products. The garden-related objects are often handmade, organic, or even vegan.

"I love Art After Dark," was one patron's exclamation, "it's wine, it's art, it's walking, does it get much better than this?" She is one of about 200 who stroll in and out throughout the evening, enjoying the relaxing decor of the backyard garden party. There is no rush as people chat over the donated Javadi wine and samples of produce fresh from the Growing Grounds farm. "These tomatoes are so good!" is heard again and again as people visit the table throughout the evening. 

Twinkle lights braided through the branches above and adobe brick-work below lend to the atmosphere. Food and wine in hand, they turn to the art work and artist to ask questions and to learn about all there is around them. "What's the process you use?" is an inquiry that induces a personal tour by the artist of his methods, throughout which we learn something of his values and his history. Suddenly his art gains deeper meaning for us too.

There are two artists tonight at Growing Grounds, author Anthony Taylor and photographer Barry Goyette. Taylor is a friendly man, chatting with inquisitive costumers as he signs his book, "The Sacred Sites Bible."




Goyette and his partner happily discuss their art as well, a method called "tintype". (Unfortunately, his website didn't display any of this form of his work). The work is beautiful and understandably attracts a lot of interested viewers.