Today my son Tony, DIL Gretchen, and grandsons Henry and Fritz and I went on a Grandma Field Trip to downtown Los Angeles and the Brewery Art Walk. We had breakfast at a place I had never heard of before, but is near Tony's former office: Bottega Louie. It's in the former Brooks Brothers historic landmark building called the Brockman Building at 700 S. Grand.
I was really impressed with this restaurant and all of downtown. So much is going on there now and the city is ultra clean. Construction on what is to be the tallest building in L.A. was just a few doors down from the Brockman Building. It will be The Wilshire Grand Tower, a hotel and office tower, 73 stories and 1,100 feet (335 m) in height. Once completed in 2017, it will surpass the U.S. Bank Tower to become the tallest building in the United States, west of Chicago.
My grandson Henry took this photo of me at the entrance to the Brewery Art Walk--a must see, twice yearly open studio show, right past China Town. It's near the San Antonio Winery and the neighborhood of my former husband's grandmother. Tony dropped off the freeway early because of traffic and it was so much fun to see the places I often visited when I worked in downtown L.A. Two different movies were shooting and that was a pain in the butt.
We visited several studios but here are photos from a few of my favorite ones today. Below is one Andre Miripolsky's paintings. Three years ago Tony and Gretchen bought me a print of Miripolsky's that hangs in my living room.
Another studio I really liked was Winifred Johnson Brewer's. I took a photo of her near a few of her paintings. She was so generous in discussing her mediums and some of the transfer techniques she uses. She has a bee series she is creating and her card says, "If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years.--Albert Einstein"
This is a photo of my grandson Henry in front of some gears. There were lots of heavy metal sculpture and areas especially appealing to kids like The Steam Carnival. Check their link for a big event they are hosting at the Port of Los Angeles in October.
Richard Ankrom's studio was kind of startling with a lot of political art. His website describes the kind of work that he does, but his 198 star American flag really intrigued me. This image is from his website.
Komy's Artworks Kustom also had a lot of interesting work, but this digital art really jumped out at me. Komy was a real character. Below that is an ancient, weather-worn motorcycle which is an art form unto itself.
Now, who would have thought that cooking classes and cooking art would have a studio. But HipCooks did and I loved this chandelier made out of colanders. Now why didn't I think of that?
I am so extremely grateful to live in California and in the L.A. area. I love it here!
