Up the PCH

Pacific Palisades, 6266

Yesterday we went up to Pasadena to check out the Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery.
Andrew had previously seen the works of Michael Hussar and Mark Ryden there, so we think it a good place to see contemporary artists. This time the show was drawings by Ed Ruscha and Robert Williams, two southern California artists of renown in their respective realms. The show was quite good, showing the early breadth Ruscha, while allowing the viewer into Williams' conceptual character building process.
I struck up a conversation with the gallery owners about photography and ended up showing my portfolio there, although that was not the intention. They basically promised me a show there if we can come to an agreement on the content and the number of images to be shown. I'll keep this in mind for later in the year, like October perhaps. Done in Pasadena we rolled down the hill to Santa Monica and went looking for Bergamot Station, which we found after awhile. There are very many galleries there dealing mostly in up and coming artists it looks like. Unfortunately they were all closed.

From there we made our way to Pacific Palisades to stay with Andrew's family, Bob and Sally Breech. After frolicking in the jacuzzi and pool we were fed well and had great dinner conversation. With a belly full of steak and ice cream The thing really works!
Right now we are about to eat breakfast with Sally. The house here is really big and there are lots of original Frederic Remington sculptures about the house. In its own right it's a place to peruse some art. This is where we will begin our trek up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, California 1). After seeing Bob off to his physical checkup (at 87 he still drives his Crown Vic and is quite cheerful about it) we said goodbye to Sally and turned North.


Big Sur, 6276

The scenery out here on the coast is amazing as usual. So are the gas prices, they are well above the projected price in our fuel budget, but we're not complaining. We made a short stop at Oceano Dunes and flew the kite for a while and then went for a cruise on the bikes down on the waterline. Further up the coast, once you get past San Simeon (kingdom of William Randolph Hearst) the terrain rises abruptly out of the sea and the coast fog literally comes creeping up the cliffs, hillsides and roadway in tendrils as cinematic as they come. No special effects needed here.
Later on we tried to find camping, but only had so-so luck with that. There was an incredible place to camp on top of a cliff with tall trees around forming a pretty dense canopy that made you feel as though you were in a cathedral looking out over the Pacific. This site was occupied, and so we moved on.

The next one was full too, but the third one was ours after a brief but annoying mix-up about claiming the actual campsite. It was more like musical campfires. We ended up sharing the camp with a couple, but we never really saw them.



MOVIE CLIPS:

Flying the kite

Wish you were here

Oceano Dunes

THE GOODS:

Mendenhall Sobieski