The Weekend in Photos

To say this weekend was eventful would be a huge understatement. I usually don’t like to plan more than one major outing during a weekend because I love the downtime and just hanging out with Scott. For some reason, this weekend started out with only one thing calendered, and snowballed from there!

Friday night we headed downtown (again!) as I had scheduled a tour & tasting at Lost Spirits Distillery. We have already visited two other distilleries in the area, Greenbar & The Spirit Guild, but I had read that Lost Spirits has a very unusual tour, and we were curious.

Unusual is another understatement, and while it was a little kitschy, we had a blast. Think, a cross between Willy Wonka, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise & the Tiki Room. I’m not kidding. Housed in an industrial building, that looks quite small from the outside, you are taken on a tour that begins with a tasting of their bespoke rum, and then guided into a boat which delivers you to the still room. The story of their origins is fascinating, and they get 1000% for creativity and enthusiasm. As if the boat ride wasn’t enough, you are shuttled onto a floating carousel (see above) which delivers you to another stop in the production chain. It was very well done, and we had so much fun! Unfortunately, it is kept very dark, so photos are difficult. If you happen to live in the Los Angeles area and up for something unusual, I highly recommend this experience!

With no plans on Saturday, we found ourselves driving to the Getty Museum in mid-morning traffic, something I’ve been wanting to do for ages! In addition to street art, I’m a total museum junkie. I’m that person that has to stop at almost painting, read almost every description, get up close and personal with almost every piece of art. I’m intrigued with the brush strokes, the use of color and the composition. I’m also that person that often photographs art so I can remember it later, because it almost always evokes a feeling in me, often causing so much emotion I have been known to cry. (true story, ask my husband)

There was a great exhibit of some lesser known Rembrandt drawings and his India inspirations as well as a great exhibit of early American photography. And the gardens – no expense is spared, it is breathtaking and it was a gorgeous day to boot!

Sunday was Earth Day, and Metro Bike Share was celebrating with free rides. There are several bike stations in Venice, so we headed there and rode around the Venice Canals. In all my years of living in Los Angeles, I’ve not been there! This is definitely on the Be a Tourist in your Hometown list. The Venice Canals are an area of man-made canals built in 1905 by Abbot Kinney in an attempt to recreate the appearance and feel of Venice, Italy. It’s an adorable area, and hard to believe that the hustle and bustle of Venice Beach is so close, not to mention Los Angeles and all its’ traffic. There are little bungalows dotted between modern architectural dreams, with footbridges and one-way auto bridges on a few streets. It’s so beautiful, and even with the remodeled homes has a certain charm that is unfound anywhere else in Los Angeles.

The weather this weekend was perfect for all these excursions! We finished the afternoon Sunday at The Rose Cafe in Venice where we indulged in a little day drinking and people watching. It couldn’t have been better. 

Downtown LA Street Art Tour

A little-known fact: I love street art. Not the gangsta graffiti that litters the freeway, but actual art. Where an exterior wall is commissioned and painted in a downtown or city area. Whenever we’re driving or walking around, I almost always have my iPhone handy to shoot the street scenes and there’s no place more abundant in street art than Downtown Los Angeles. It turns out, there’s a tour for that – LA Art Tours provides guided, private and group tours of the downtown areas with an emphasis in several different categories: The Brewery Art Complex Tour, DTLA Graffiti/Mural Tour, Urban Art & Craft Beer Tour, Alley Adventure Graffiti Bike Tour, and the Santa Fe Art Colony Tour.

Last Sunday, we took the DTLA Graffiti/Mural Tour and it was so much fun. It’s a 2-hour walking tour in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District (one of our favorite places to hang out and explore), and it was led by a local guide, who is also a street artist. What I loved so much about the tour (besides getting up close to the art) was hearing the history of street art and the techniques that different artists use. Did you know, they don’t usually outline the art before they begin – no pencil, no chalk. They just go in and start layering – almost all of it is done with spray paint, using different nozzles to achieve different stroke looks and blending. It was mind-boggling, the talent!

We also learned that every artist has their own unique style; with graffiti, the style is their signature. Many of the large-scale murals that are found Downtown are the product of street art groups, and they are usually commissioned for a few months to a year. After that, it gets painted over so another street artist can come in to do their work.

This is a very fun local adventure (be a tourist in your town!) and the perfect activity for out-of-town guests, and very inexpensive – our Graffiti/Mural tour was just $12 per person. There are several different time slots that you can schedule, but I would suggest early on Sunday before the crowds and cars make it difficult to see (and photograph!) the art. Afterward, head over to 3rd Street & Traction and grab a bite at Wurstkuche or Arts District Brewery and check out the free gallery at Hauser & Wirth.

Above all, don’t forget to wander!

Architectural Tour: Schindler House Los Angeles

I love going into the city when time permits, not just for the urban adventure that it is, but there’s such an amazing concentration of cultural icons around almost every corner. Being a design junkie, I especially love stumbling upon something special.

This happened recently when my husband & I were in the city visiting my son & his friend in West Hollywood. We were walking to brunch, down Kings Road just north of Melrose Boulevard, when I saw a tiny little sign for Schindler House. I was not hugely familiar with R.M. Schindler, but I did know the name as a pioneer in the modernism era. After brunch, on our way back, we stopped in and toured this historic house.

What  struck me first was that you would never know a historic home is located on this quiet and beautiful tree-lined street in bustling West Hollywood. The street is mainly apartment houses and condominiums, and Schindler House is set back from the street behind a fully mature bamboo hedge. There is just a small sign proclaiming its’ existence.

Schindler House Los Angeles, or the Kings Road House, as it is commonly known, was built in 1922 and was actually considered to be one of Schindler’s most important works. It is considered by many to be the first house built in the modern style, and was experimentally built for communal living, housing another couple besides the Schindlers.

The lot was divided into seven sections; four of them were assigned to each of the four inhabitants of the home to express their own individuality and there was a shared kitchen and outdoor sleeping areas (on the rooftop deck!). The structure draws upon European modern architecture (Schindler was Austrian) and, like many European buildings of that time, incorporated concrete, glass and wood in the construction of the home. This had become a popular trend in Europe thanks to Mies van der Rohe’s work in experimental concrete buildings in the 1920’s.

The only reason I remotely know this is because this house reminded me of my husbands late uncle, architect William Alexander, who designed and built the Hangover House for Richard Halliburton in 1938.

The residence was used for political, social and cultural events during the time they lived there, and was also used as housing for visiting artists, architects and writers (Frank Lloyd Wright and his son, Lloyd Wright, were frequent visitors). I can only imagine how astounding the guest list must have been during those days. The Schindlers eventually divorced, but the house continued to be a meeting place for left-wing political radicals in Los Angeles.

Today, the house is maintained and funded by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture Los Angeles at Schindler House. There are year-round events and exhibitions and programs geared toward the creative arts. When we were there, we were lucky to be treated to small Eames exhibit.

Schindler House is located at 835 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069. It is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm, and admission is $7.00.

It’s well worth the visit.

Top photo via The MAK Center for Art and Architecture L.A. All other photos my own.