Tierra Mia

Tierra Mia is a new coffeehouse in the elegant Spanish style. Not only is it a great space, but the barristas  educate you about the coffee which they sell, and how to drink it! (Better without cream) My favorite is the Colombina, it's very flavorful, and I agree absolutely, no cream needed!
Here is my noon-time sketch.

Tierra Mia

Tierra Mía Coffee, downtown Oakland

Tierra Mía Cafe, dip pen and ink and watercolor,  9x12in

The new Tierra Mía Coffee is located at the corner of Broadway and 20th Street in the former Magnin Building. It's a perfect corner to sketch and have a good cup of their specialty coffee drinks.

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Everything for an adventure at Lux...a vintage leather pullman bag atop a zebra rug (that's the tail swishing up against the side) and Meiji period armor complete with face mask. I'm ready!

We rode our bicycles out to the end of the bike path along the new eastern span of the bay bridge so we could sketch the demolition of the old bridge. They have removed a middle section, and the ends of the bridge are hanging out in mid air as they take it apart. It thought at first they hadn't done much, and then I realized the whole upper deck of the bridge is gone.

In wish I'd put a bigger gap between the bridge and the horizon, to give more of the feeling of how surreal it all seemed, hanging out there in the void.

It's a little hard to tell from the sketch that this is the gap in the old bridge, until you look at the shadow. The new bridge curves around on the left.

Here's the gleaming white tower on the new bridge, with the bike path running alongside it. It was nicely designed with a separate pedestrian lane, but everyone ignored this, with pedestrians walking 8 abreast across the whole path and cyclists scooting into the walking lane to get around the pedestrians.

LUX Estate Services

 A warehouse full of great things to sketch including two giant  agave cuttings!

Parkpoint Health Club, Healdsburg

Nothing signifies the beginning of summer more than a hot day at the pool on Memorial weekend. Please pass the watermelon!

More from Lux

Something vaguely "Chucky-esque" about this doll in a plush chair in the middle of a warehouse full of estate sale treasures in Emeryville, just south of Berkeley.

Creepy or charming?  You be the judge.

A Visit to Lux Estate Liquidation

Cobra and mongoose in taxidermy

You never know what you'll find at Lux Estate Liquidation. I was drawn to something strangely wonderful.

Cobra and mongoose in taxidermy reminds me of the children’s classic: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi from The Jungle Book. Still in print after 100 years, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is Rudyard Kipling's story of post-colonial Indian society, illustrated in the struggle between the mongoose and the cobra.

See a video of the two creatures in action:

http://youtu.be/vdg9gkmWsEA

Margo Elberg's Miniatures at Lux Estate Liquidation

I enjoyed seeing Margo Elberg's miniatures together as they might  go separate ways after next weekend's sale. They are exquisite.

Margo Elberg Miniatures, 16x5in, pigment liner and watercolor.

Jack London State Park

Jack London is internationally famous for his books Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea Wolf (1904). Today the London estate is a public park which includes 1400 acres of trails, pristine vistas, and historic buildings demonstrating early 20th century life. I sketched the Stallion barn with the London’s cottage in the background surrounded by vineyards.

Lakeside Garden, Oakland

Lakeside Garden Center Asian garden

The Lakeside Park Demonstration Gardens near Lake Merritt are an urban oasis. There's a quiet and peaceful Asian garden and water feature behind the garden center building. The sound of the waterfall calms the mind.

A ten foot tall banana tree grows in the palm section, sprouting tiny green fruits below dry furled bracts. Bananas don't grow on trees but rather on pseudostems, according to Wikipedia, and the fruit grows from the ends of the flowers. 

pseudo botanical illustration 

SF Sketchers went to the Presidio yesterday to sketch two of the Andy Goldsworthy installations there.

I sometimes wonder whether it's a good idea to sketch someone else's art, whether that keeps me from responding fully to the scene in front of me because it's filtered through someone else's vision. But in this case the sketching was a great idea because it got me to sit down and really pay attention to his work and experience the scene fully. 

I think that if I hadn't been sketching I would have spent about two minutes looking at it,  thinking it was clever to have that line of downed trees snaking through the woods, and then would have moved on. But sketching it pushed me deeper into the experience, and I ended up excited and inspired.

Here's Goldsworthy's "Wood Line"

and "Tree Fall", a large tree trunk coated with cracked adobe, inside the Powder Magazine building.

And here's one of the group sitting on a broken cannon where she could get a little warmth from the old iron. It was so windy and cold that the Off-the-Grid picnic that I had planned didn't work out, but a hew hardy souls hung around to keep sketching anyway.

New Mexico on The iPad

Did some iPad drawings on a trip to New Mexico. Including an O"Keefee knock off.

Berkeley/Oakland Cafes

Just finished the last page of my first cafe sketchbook, working my way down the list of local cafes in the East Bay Express newspaper.  I'm only up to letter "I", so I'll be starting another book soon.

Highwire Coffee Roasters is bustling--situated within the Rockridge Market Hall,
an upscale food mart near the BART station.

On the terrace of the International House Cafe, U.C. Berkeley

how to run a niche blog

 

Here is what I overheard the other day in Davis.

 I guess success does come in many forms. 

 

Oliver, your visual flaneur

 www.visualflaneur.com

Alviso Slough

Alviso is a small, distinct community in the northern end of San  Jose.  I sketched where the  Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek converge into the Alviso and Mud Sloughs out into the SF Bay.

Historically, Alviso was the boating and shipping port of San Jose. Steamboats travelled between Alviso and San Francisco. Now elevated pathways with gated doors cross the sloughs for hikers and birdwatchers.

Fishermen visit the sloughs as well. (I got sketchier at the end of the day!)

Did Oakland inspire Star wars?

"That's a myth," Lucas said, politely but firmly."That's definitely a myth."

~Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

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Legend holds that the cranes of the Port of Oakland were the inspiration for the AT-AT walkers in Star wars. These structures have since turned into a symbol for Oakland and are frequently sported on t-shirts. I went there to have a look myself, made some drawings, listened to people and spice it all up with what George Lucas had to say on the matter (not to me, though).

 More on www.visualflaneur.com

Oliver, your visual flaneur

Snowballs In the Bay Area?

This little van is parked in my neighborhood. Skylite Snowballs, "its a baltimore thing", features shaved ice infused with seasonal flavors according to its website:  www.skylitesnowballs.com. The bottles at the window reflect a rainbow of colors and, I imagine, tastes. I hope to try one out sometime when this van is open for business. In the meantime, I'll content myself sketching it!

Sketching at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, CA.

Cathedral Omega WIndow

Many of us were inspired to sketch the 58' tall window above the altar of the Cathedral.  The image is based on a 12th century relief sculpture on the facade of Chartres Cathedral and is created when light enters 94,000 laser cut perforations on anodized aluminum panels.

At night, the image is visible on the exterior of the cathedral as well.

The Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, California

We spent a warm and beautiful May 1st evening sketching in the The Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.  Also called the Oakland Cathedral, it is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland. When we arrived someone was playing the organ and later the choir was practicing. The space filled with light and the voices in the incredible acoustics of the building made a perfect sketching day. The design of the building is by the architect Craig W. Hartman

Cathedral of Christ the Light, dip pen and ink and watercolor, 9x12in

Cathedral of Christ the Light, Tombow marker and waterbrush, 9x12in

Every Day in May 2014: Day One: Window (and Cat)

EDIM 2014 #1-Window. Ink, white Sharpie and watercolor, 5x7 in

May 1 means it's time for Every Day in May. Each year the Every Day Matters Group (Facebook) (Flickr) posts a list of cues and members commit to doing one drawing a day, all month long. Anyone can join and participate.

The cue for day one is "Window." My calico cat Fiona snoozing in her fuzzy bed, on a blanket, in a box from Costco, beneath the window in my home office, on a sunny (too hot) day was fun to draw.