Parks, In My Esteemed Opinion (IMEO), are in close competition with rest areas. The problem is there's not a rest area on highway 25 between Coalinga and Anthony Chabot Regional Park.
I spent the first night, about 20 miles north of Coalinga, California on a turnout on Coalinga Road. It was late afternoon when I'd finally gotten out of town and just couldn't do the remaining twelve miles to the park.
In the morning I was greeted (in an aggressive tone) by Mike Baumgardner with "What're you doing?!" I rejoined with "Who wants to know?" a bit louder which got him tuh thinkin' 'bout his options. He claimed I was on HIS LAND!!!..."The easement is 30 feet from the centerline." I looked and thought he maybe had me by three feet. Always the gentleman, I gave him his choice of weapons, but once he learned I was enroute to the Matisse-Diebenkorn exhibit at SFMOMA he was all smiles and ready to talk art, cats and what to wear.
Pinnacles wasn't much better. Buggy, screaming children, hollering youths. It finally got quiet around midnight. Only $11.50 with the discount. No hot water at the sinks and those push-on faucets that automatically turn off after ten seconds.
It's all Mark Johnson's fault. If he'd just posted some of his paintings I could have gotten my art fix and avoided all this.
I actually got our the paper and brushes yesterday...only to discover I'm a little rusty. It's not like riding a bike, apparently :). I'll keep at it till something is worth showing. In the meantime, get your fix with a few gallery stops...you know, where real artists display their shit.
ReplyDeleteMark Johnson...Artiese en Abstentia
Glad to hear you're not gonna give up.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how many put their shit out there. I stop whenever whim strikes, but finding something of quality is tough. My most recent finds were in the Quemado, New Mexico, Gallery-Hair Salon. The stylist/artist said they were having a meeting that afternoon to decide whether to continue cuz she was the only one willing to staff it.
Did you make it to the Mattise Diebenkorn show, i hope you post some of it.
ReplyDeleteI/we did; I was disappointed.
DeletePerhaps it was the style of the day, but the colors in all the pieces were dark and muddy. The Matisses were small and uninteresting landscapes and a couple of portraits and the Diebenkorns, although large, were bland and inferior.
San Francisco was fun & lively. We took the ferry across The Bay and public transit (rail) and walked to the museum. It was a gorgeous day and everyone was in a good mood!