When weather comes to LA

We never have thunderstorms in LA. When it does rain, the sky slowly clouds over, it rains for hours and hours, then it slowly peters away. It's all rather vague. Not like a real thunderstorm with the big ol' cumulonimbus clouds, dramatic change in air pressure and winds. Until today. I was sitting at my desk, when I started hearing the window behind me creaking. I'm on the 8th floor, so it creaks often. But this time, the noises were a little too loud and kind of scary. I looked up and the sky was roiling in big, dark grey clouds racing across the sky. The trees down below were swaying wildly and all kinds of loose, lightweight things (leaves, plastic bags) started circling up into the sky. One of the big windows was actually pulsing. Oddly, there was not a lot of rain. And not a lot of thunder actually either.

The local news is going to milk this for hours. They just love being on Storm Watch!

The photo is by Lori Shepler of the LA Times.

Tim Hawkinson

Tim Hawkinson is a local LA artist. Last year, he had a retrospective at LACMA, which is where I discovered this amazing, crazy, wonderful artist. The pieces on display at LACMA included works in almost every possible medium (and some you didn't think possible). Currently he has an exhibit of new works at the Getty Center. This show is much, much smaller than the LACMA show, but includes some great pieces. Hawkinson's work is hard to categorize, but you could say it tends to be of two types. The first type is where he uses photos of his own body to create a piece. In the Getty show, the octopus is an example of this. I love the fact that the 'suckers' on the tentacle are actually his mouth. The second type is where he uses everyday objects to make a piece of art. Here, the bat is an example, using Radio Shack plastic bags and twist ties. The things that he will use to create art are really rather amazing. There is a level at which you can appreciate the art just for the technical details. Then, if you choose, you can go deeper to find meaning in that process. And above all, I feel a sense of joy in the works, even if they are not all 'happy' works.

Movin' on up

I was promoted to Manager.