things to do and see tonight

It's that time of the month again, tonight is the December Downtown Art Walk. As always, lots to see and do. blogdowntown has a good rundown on what's going down, check it out if you want to plan out your evening.

As they mentioned, Raw Materials is hosting "Getting Your Sh*t Together" tonight during the Art Walk, an evening of workshops, Q&A's, and demonstrations of business software for artists of all kinds. Good times. Even if you don't need to get your art sh*t together, I hope you stop by the store and say hi.

I'm at the store now and will most likely be here most of the night. I am, however, taking a break to head next door for Metropolis Books' event. Frances Dinkelspiel will be reading from "Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California." Dinkelspiel's great-great-grandfather, Isaias Hellman, was the founder of the Farmers & Merchants Bank at 4th & Main, instrumental to the establishment of USC and the growth of downtown Los Angeles, and the financier who changed California forever. I am currently reading this book and it's been heaven for a history buff like me. I was reading about Hellman starting the Farmers & Merchants Bank while sitting at the entrance to the bank during the Old Bank District's Holiday Block Party this past weekend. I wonder what Hellman would've thought about our little community and the Downtown Art Walk. The reading starts at 7pm.

Brady Westwater just stopped by the store to let me know that the LA Times will be videotaping tonight's Art Walk. Hi Mom!

See you tonight!

a mime, a breakdancer and a trombone player walk into a bar...

My husband Jim and I were talking to our business partner/brother-in-law James Adams the other day about the July Downtown Art Walk and how we'd still like to participate despite our lack of dedicated gallery space (we'll be getting the space ready for our store's grand opening in August, and our two other exhibits at the PE Lofts come down on June 22nd and revert to other Phantom Gallery LA exhibits) .

I missed the past art walk where someone parked a truck, with art hanging inside, on the street during art walk where it functioned as a temporary gallery. Ideas like that were thrown around, but nothing appealed to us. Oh yeah, there was another problem - James (our jet-set curator) will be in Peru and Argentina during the entire month of July.

My solution? Performance art.

I don't mean Annie Sprinkle, more like Improv Everywhere.

We (Jim, James and I) don't let the each other live down forget that someone else ago, we were once a breakdancer, a trombone player, and a mime. You can guess what I once was, but I will neither confirm nor deny.

So the suggestion was made that the ex-breakdancer perform a set at the corner of 5th and Main during the July Art Walk. Then $100 was offered to the mime to perform the "walking into the wind" or the "can't get out of the box" bit between the hours of 6-9pm, right in front of Bert Green Fine Art or Pharmaka.

My husband, however, has other ideas. I don't think people realize just how funny Jim is.

Any suggestions?

i've been busy

You may have noticed I haven't been blogging lately. It's not that I don't miss you, it's just... I've been a little busy with this writing thing. And a million other things I don't want to bore you with. So what do I want to bore you with?

Jim and I have been working stealthily on something and now we're ready to let you know - we signed a lease on a retail space on Main Street and together with our partner James Adams, we will launch Raw Materials, an art and architectural supply store, in August 2008. Additionally, we are looking for gallery space to launch Winstead Adams Projects, dedicated to exhibiting contemporary art from emerging artists, in downtown Los Angeles.

Because we don't know any better, we're not letting the lack of a dedicated gallery space deter us. We're producing three art shows in three different gallery spaces downtown - the future home of Raw Materials at 436 S. Main Street, and two corner spaces in the PE Lofts (6th & Main and 6th & Los Angeles Streets):

Winstead Adams Projects presents FIRST | LAST, a group exhibition at Raw Materials in downtown Los Angeles

Winstead Adams Projects and Phantom Galleries Los Angeles present A Deeper Shade

Winstead Adams Projects and Phantom Galleries LA present The Stage, a World

I hope you can come by, check out our shows, say hi and give me some grief about not blogging.

busy days ahead

I haven't written much about what's really been going on with me, there's been so much "doing" rather than reflecting, and unfortunately the lack of activity on my blog shows that. As the WGA strike continues and we head into the holiday season, I'm afraid it's not going to get any easier.

Tonight is the Downtown Art Walk, which means Jim and I will take Wonton to The Lofty Dog for Yappy Hour. We've been taking Wonton on twice-daily walks and anytime we head north on Main or Spring past 4th Street, Wonton assumes he's headed for The Lofty Dog and damn near runs the whole way. I hope we'll have time to check out a few galleries and MOCA's Murakami exhibit, but I look at my pile of things to get done and I don't think it'll happen.

Every morning, I check Wonton's eyes, clean out any schmutz and apply the ointment that his veterinary opthalmologist gave us. Yes, our vet referred us to a specialist for Wonton's eye troubles. Yes, I realize this ups my ridiculousness rating considerably (as if it weren't high enough, what with Wonton blogging). At least I don't take him to a psychic or a therapist, but I'm getting off the subject. This morning, Wonton threw up on my comforter and his Hello Kitty blanket. Might have something to do with him trying to hoover up whatever he finds on our floors, or his eating the orchids off my orchid plant, or chewing the monkey sock slippers Jim's mom gave me last Christmas. I threw the bedding in the wash and Jim took Wonton out for his morning walk. He was probably trying to keep me from insisting on taking Wonton to the vet in a panic, like I did last time. Now he's napping (Wonton, not Jim), nestled inside the wooden basket that he normally tries to chew apart.



I was on a conference call with a WGA strike captain the other night. That, and some questions aimed at an entertainment attorney and a few producers, helped to clear up a few things as regards what I can and cannot do during the strike. I'll write about that in a separate post, it deserves more, um, reflection.

In other writing news, I'm working on a graphic novel. I'm in the outlining stage right now, but I do have a few panels written and have been lucky enough to get some sage advice from a friend and a seasoned pro in the field. I'll post more on my progress as work, um, progresses.

I've been meaning to check out one of those $15/hour foot massage places in San Gabriel, on Valley Boulevard. I'll probably need it after walking the picket line. Who wants to check it out with me? Anybody?

Oops, look at the time. If you're out Art Walking, stop by The Lofty Dog and say hi to me, Jim and Wonton (and other downtown dogs)!

downtown needs dance troopers

I'm looking forward to this month's Downtown Art Walk. Even though Wonton has been misbehaving, Jim and I will most likely wind up our art walking at the Lofty Dog's Yappy Hour. If you've never been to the Downtown Art Walk, it's kind of like this video, only with slightly less dancing:



And with different costumes.

great artwalk

This past Thursday, I packed up work early so I could hit the Downtown Art Walk. It had been a while for us, I think the last time we did was a few months ago when Huell Howser was hanging out in front of BGFA. We tried to ride the Artwalk DASH, but one was never around or going in the right direction when we needed one, so we just walked. I videotaped part of the walk and I'll post that shortly.

We started at the gallery around the corner, Art Murmur for Austin Young's "God Save the Queen", a solo exhibition of contemporary photography and film exploring androgyny and tranvestitism. Save for a few images, his work didn't really speak to me, but instead I kept wondering, "Is that Alexis Arquette?". Jim really liked the frames.

Next stop was Bert Green Fine Art at 5th and Main. I highly recommend you check out Elizabeth Tobias' work at BGFA. It is stunning and I found myself wishing I had an extra $24,000 handy to buy the piece titled, "Wall Wave 1/Gate Gate Paragate" (Cibachrome on Wood Panel
78 x 192”). Jim really liked Joel Hoyer's "The Yasawas" (Gold Leaf, Gesso, Fijian Masi on Wood, 61 x 42 x 2”), but he didn't have an extra $6,000. I really need to finish my screenplay so I can use my bonus to buy artwork and a Hello Kitty bike.

There was a band playing on the sidewalk outside Pharmaka, which really added to the street circus atmosphere. We didn't go inside since we've already seen that show. We walked up Main Street to the DLANC Outreach Center (next to the Regent Theater) to check out Benjamin Pezzillo's photography exhibit titled, "Close to Home: 31 Photographs of Downtown LA", and I am so glad we did. My favorites were #11 and #19, and they were very reasonably priced. Jim and I are currently painting our front entry, but we'll probably revisit his photography when we're done painting and ready to put up some artwork.

Alas, Niche L.A. was closed, so we turned away sadly from the Spring Arts Tower and went kitty-corner to Red Dot so I could use the facilities. That's when I ran into Jayson, someone I knew from way back when I was working for Chanel and he was working for Paula Dorf. I didn't recognize him at first (it was years ago), but thankfully he recognized me and stopped me to chat. Jayson moved into City Lofts earlier this year and loves living downtown. I'm so glad I'm getting even more fun, cool neighbors.

Out on 5th, we ran into Kitty and friends and our downstairs neighbors Sam and Winston. Sam and Winston just downed a couple of the free Grolsch beers from Pharmaka, Kitty & Co. just left Pete's, and they were all on their way to Gary Leonard's studio, then Seven Grand. We were on our way to Crewest to check out "Italian Masters", a group show featuring 22 graffiti artists from Milan with live painting in the alley behind the gallery, then dinner at LiliYa, but we made plans to meet up later. Yeah, I can't believe that Jim and I have yet to make it over to Seven Grand. Anyway, there was one piece at Crewest that both Jim and I were enamored of, but we didn't have $2,000 to spare. My production bonus is going to be earmarked in full by the time I get my grubby hands on it. We watched some of the graffiti artists painting for a while, but we left because we were hungry.

On the way to LiliYa, we stopped at MJ Higgins and fell in love again, this time with Dick Heimbold's "Hop Louie" (16x12, oil) and "Gin Ling Way". We dragged ourselves away, knowing we'd be returning later.

Part of why I like having dinner at LiliYa China Bistro is because of its location. We sit in a booth enjoying the awesome sesame chicken and watch the circus of clubgoers alighting their vehicles at valet and heading to Edison. It's a steady stream of hoochies, hipsters and trying-too-hard scenesters preening in the car one last time, adjusting their push-up bra/skinny jeans/retro duds, and doing one last "cool check" before they turn the corner and into the alley. It's perfect - dinner and a show.

After dinner, we were walking past The Lofty Dog on our way to 2nd Street Cigars & Art Gallery when Jim suggested we check out the pet store. I don't know how it happened, but next thing I know, we're checking out the three adorable Shih Tzu puppies upstairs. We left sans puppy, but Jim suggested that we purchase two puppies. I was actually the voice of reason for once.

We stopped at 2nd Street Cigars just long enough to check out their exhibit, "Cuba", featuring photography by Anthony Martin and Jason Zakrzewski. Just like the previous galleries, Jim and I found plenty that we liked. A quick look at the time meant we had to hotfoot it over to Seven Grand, but en route we received a twitter from Shannon - she was already on her way to my favorite supersecretlatenighthangout.

We said "screw it" to Seven Grand, changed direction, and walked over to find my supersecretlatenighthangout gearing up for another, um, late night. Shannon and Dave were already at the bar. I texted Kitty, she was on her way. Nic Cha Kim strolled in - it was so nice to catch up and hang out. Penelope got off work and made it over, and we had a nice little group of friends enjoying a chill night in a hot space. Old friend and new friends stopped by, the dance floor was packed, and it looked like Dave was drinking a Big Gulp Maker's Mark. Good times.

Finally, it was time to go home. We all said our goodnights, then Jim and I walked home down Main Street. There were still stragglers out on the streets and at Banquette, refusing to let the fun/night end. We waved goodnight to Monica, then continued down Main, enjoying the quiet walk home and our wonderful neighborhood.