Einstein's hood

Yesterday I left late on purpose to capture the evening light. The theme of my painting had to be "Streets of Pasadena" for an upcoming contest. I drove around a while and realized that Pasadena is place ill-suited for the narrative larger-scale landscape. The only big perspectives that haven't been painted to death (say, the Colorado Bridge or City Hall) consist of long rows of trees filtering the light. Heavenly but too abstract a subject. Because even the business district of Pasadena is too "prettyfied" , I am convinced Pasadena's best paintings are to be found in private backyards but I am usually taken by a hobo while I scout around nosily so invitations haven't been forthcoming. ha ha.

In the process of searching I stumbled upon what I thought could have been Einstein's house. A reward for my exploratory ways? The guys at Cal-Tech corrected me. Einstein lived in 707 South Oakland in 1931, not this house. Darn.

Picture from the Einstein's Papers Project website. Reproduced without permission.

I finally settled the corner of Oakdale and Meridith close to Cal Tech. I'll post the results soon. This is Einstein's bungalow:

Donna's garden

Two weeks ago I painted two scenes in one sitting each. Donna Wolff was moving out of her house so she allowed me to paint from inside her very steep property in Mt. Washington. Her garden was somewhat "gaudi-esque" full of nooks and crannies.

This was a quick sketch from the street. Lovely row of trash cans made a good impression.

Jose's Art Journal Inaugural Post

One step a time, or like grandma used to say:
"From lillypad to lillypad, the frog crosses the lake".