Month: March 2014

The concept of “The Art Of War” was to match the poetry, prose, and songs of war veterans with visual art created by the Hi-Desert’s local artists. Included were sculptures, paintings, photography and collage and the writings were mounted on the wall next to the art. The spoken word event consisted of veterans, family members and friends of veterans who read their work and made the show even that much more profound and significant. Artists included Bobby Furst, Jacobine Van Der Meer, Tami Wood, Kit Brooks, Brian Leatart, to name a few. The veterans ranged from the Viet Nam War to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict. There were also readings by family members of World War 2 veterans.

The presentation at Chaffey College was sponsored by Mil-Tree, the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, and One Book One College Program and was very well attended by students, faculty, friends and Chaffey’s own veterans club. Two members of the club joined the Mil-Tree family; David Valdivia exhibited his photography and Lin Thompson read his short essay. The event ended with the drawing of names resulting in five winners of exquisite Ehren Tool mugs. Altogether there were at least 50 audience members. It was a very moving experience for all.

Artist Nick Bahula says, “I think that people overvalue money…I think the experience [of finding a free art piece] is more important.” Bahula takes photographs, or paintings, that he’s created, transfers them onto wooden blocks, and then hides them in Redlands, Yucaipa, and the surrounding areas. This medium came from the need of having creative control over his work–ensuring that each reproduced piece becomes an original. For him what art does is change lives and make things better. What free art does is create a mystery that those who find his blocks want to solve, and thus begins a dialogue about the who/why of art.

Inspired by Bahula, Willis Salomon (aka Garden Gorilla) entered the free arts scene just recently. His medium: plants; specifically succulents (plants that don’t need much water). For Salomon, the creative process itself, rather than the finished product, is one of the most crucial aspects. He explains, “[Art] is all about the hands on thing, and it becomes subjective after that…after that it’s for the public, for whatever they choose to do with it, in their minds or in their hands.” Perhaps this is why he associates the importance of art with the ability to create something from nothing. Artist as creator; in the whole sense of the word. In Salomon’s case, he works with living art, and encourages us to go green–and to not forget to transplant, lest the artwork die.

So, if you’re in the San Bernardino area, and you have stumbled upon small succulents in interesting planters, in places where succulents should not be–in front of a business or sitting on the sidewalk–hoping you will take them home and love them, or have come across colorful wooden blocks in an alley way or in front a small business daring you to take them, take them. They were left there for you.

If you’d like more information about the free arts movement or to find out more about Nick Bahula and Willis Salomon follow them on Instagram: @bahula, @freeartsmovement, @gardengorilla.

“I started writing this story after I did an interview with a couple in Wonder Valley, about thirty miles from Joshua Tree, CA,” Lederman says. “They live with no cell phone service or computers. I kept leaving messages on their answering machine and waiting days for a response. I wondered how a modern kid might function this way because all my friends’ kids are permanently attached to their phones. The result is a story that’s like Real Housewives of Beverly Hills meets Little House on The Prairie.”

Lederman’s character, Edna, is in trouble at her private school. Ineffective therapy leads her parents to come up with an alternative cure: Edna will spend the summer with her grandparents.

“Naturally she’s not going to take it, so she runs away. Anyone who spends time in the desert knows this is very dangerous. She’s terrified, and completely unconnected for the first time in her life. Later she tries to get to know a boy without the help of messaging or social media. It seems impossible.”

Lederman’s work in film and TV is what first brought her to the Mojave Desert and, writing for The Sun Runner magazine, she got to know the region. “There are a lot of survivalists in the desert who want nothing to do with the outside world. They don’t know what Facebook or Twitter is. On the other end of the spectrum, some city kids are so sophisticated, every moment of their life is documented, tracked and planned. It’s an interesting clash in the same society. I know teachers who say their students don’t think they have to learn anything anymore because they can look everything up on their phones. I wanted to take a kid like that and see how she fares without technology, and then combine it with the calming effect of the Mojave’s mysterious landscape.”

EDNA IN THE DESERT debuted as a short story in Desert Stories, an annual spoken word event at The Hi-Desert Playhouse in Joshua Tree in 2009.

“Everyone wanted to know what was going to happen to Edna and so did I, so I decided to write the book. It’s about the widening gap between generations and how technology is changing our culture. There’s a lot of books about technology in the near future and I’m a dystopia fan, but in many ways this contemporary, realistic story is more eerie than a fantasy.”

EDNA IN THE DESERT was released in Sept. 2013 by Electio Publishing.

http://www.maddylederman.com/news/projectnews/

http://www.maddylederman.com/portfolio/edna-in-the-desert/

Surviving tech-free: EDNA IN THE DESERT

Edna is a precocious trouble-maker wreaking havoc at her Beverly Hills school. Her therapist advocates medication, but her parents come up with an alternative cure: Edna will spend the summer in the desert with her grandparents. Their remote cabin is cut off from cell phone service, Internet and television. Edna’s determined to rebel until she meets an older local boy and falls in love for the first time. How can she get to know him from the edge of nowhere?

Maddy Lederman works in the art department for films and TV shows, recently on Darren Aronofsky’s Noah and The Amazing Spiderman 2. Her writing has appeared in The Huffington Post and The Los Angeles Times and The Sun Runner, a magazine about California deserts. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. EDNA IN THE DESERT was released Sept. 2013 by Electio Publishing, Little Elm Texas.

Esther: Tell me a little bit about your background.

Carol: I teach at Cal State San Bernardino; I’ve been there 10 years teaching in the Theatre Arts department. While I’m full time there, I am also a director, playwright and actor. I’ve done scene design, sound design, costume design. So theatre consumes me.

Esther: I understand you’re doing your MFA low residency; where and in what?

Carol: It’s at UCR. So yeah, I have my bachelors in theatre. I have my masters in communication studies, with a focus on performance studies, and then my MFA is in writing for the performing arts.

Esther: You’ve done two original plays. Is writing something that you see yourself transitioning into, away from directing? Or are you interested in a combination of the both?

Carol: I think it’s a combination of the two. I used to only want to act, but I’ve always had a desire to write. It’s kind of funny. My mom always used to tell me that I was a good writer, but I never really believed her. And then I just decided that I would give it a shot and I wrote a play based on Edgar Allan Poe. It’s called the “The Twists and Turns of Edgar Allan Poe” and luckily it was produced and had a fully realized production at Cal State, San Bernardino which is how I was accepted into the Dramatist Guild. Recently, I wrote an original play about Jackie Robinson, which is still touring. We have our last tour date tomorrow. We’ve been working on this show since November of last year. I do love to write and because my MFA is in writing for the performing arts, I am concentrating on my writing at the moment. .

Esther: I’ve noticed many arts programs and events in San Bernardino County are rooted in or associated with Cal State San Bernardino. Could you talk a little bit about this?

Carol: We are the only public university in the county and we have a huge outreach program when it comes to art, theatre, music, and dance. So many times we take theatre, dance, music, or art programs out into the community and make sure that it’s very important for teachers to have the ability to bring arts to the students. Unfortunately with budget cuts it’s very challenging sometimes. So I’m a teacher leader with the California Arts project, which means that I teach teachers how to bring drama and theatre into their programs. We actually physically go into the schools and bring theatre to the students, because many don’t get a chance to see any theatre and they deserve the chance to have an art class, be involved with music, learn an instrument, and hopefully have the ability to dance or witness a dance recital. So I think Cal State San Bernardino is really an important aspect to keeping culture alive in San Bernardino.

Esther: So in terms of the play, what interested you in directing “Is He Dead”?

Carol: I love Mark Twain; he is one of my favorite writers. This is a little gem that he actually wrote in the 1800’s and it was passed on. He was a man who most people know as one of the most prolific American writers of all time, but he’s also a writer who went through some hard times, and owed quite a few debts. So he had to travel around the world to go on speaking engagements to pay back his creditors. And so he thought it would be interesting to write about a famous man who is a very talented person, but who ends up owing a lot of money, and that’s how this play came about. But it was passed on; people weren’t interested in it at the time so it was kind of forgotten. Then in the mid-2000’s there was a dramaturg and historian who found the play and she brought it to David Ives, who is a very famous playwright in his own right, and he was very interested and adapted it and then it ended up going to Broadway in 2007 and people were very excited. So it is new to many audiences. People will say, “‘Is he dead?’ What’s that?’ ‘it’s a new play by Mark Twain’ and they say ‘How can it be a new play by Mark Twain he’s been dead for a long time.’” Well it is new because it was just within the last 10 years that it has been discovered, and because very few people have seen it- unless you were lucky enough to see it on Broadway a few years ago.

Esther: What would you describe as the essence or core theme of the play that Ives tried to retain in the adaptation?

Carol: I think that the essence is that love conquers all, and friendship is an important aspect of life, and if you don’t have friends then you have nothing. The main character has three wonderful friends who no matter what, through thick or thin, they are going to make sure they figure out how to help him and how to help others. So it’s the basics of life – love and friends.

Esther: So is this what modern audiences will take away?

Carol: I think so. Why it resonates with today’s modern audiences is that it follows what modern dramatic literature is built on, conflict. And in a perfect world, in the world of farce, if you’re a good person, good things will happen to you..

Esther: What is your relationship with Redlands Footlighters Theatre?

Carol: I actually performed on this stage, but I haven’t been back for 20 years. They hired me based on my reputation, which is lovely. I know a few people in the cast who I have directed in shows before and my stage manager is one of my former students from Cal State. But the rest of the cast is new to me; they are all delightful, hardworking people, very talented, and it is because of them that this is going to be a great show.

Esther: Redlands Footlighters Theatre began in 1945 and has remained a strong supporter of cultural productions and theatre in San Bernardino County. Do you think “Is he Dead” is unique in terms of the Redlands Footlighters Theatre’s normal programming?

Carol: I think that this theatre is very well rounded and they take a lot of chances. They like to bring classics but they also like to have a nice variety for their audience. I think this play fits very nicely into what they usually build their season on. I think that it’s exciting that they are bringing a show that I’ve never seen in this area; so I think RFL has that history of taking a chance on a show that they know the story is solid and they know they can get the talent to pull it off.

Esther: Is there anything else you’d like to say about yourself?

Carol: Oh gosh… you know the last thing that I’d just like to say is that I’m very, very blessed I get to do something I really care about every single day of my life. And my whole world, except for my family, involves theatre. And I’m very lucky, and I don’t take that lightly. No matter what I do in my free time it is always about theatre. Whether it’s about bringing theatre into a child’s life or making sure that there’s good theatre locally. And if I can have a hand in it, if I can be a part of it, then that’s where I’ll be.

“Is He Dead” is playing at the Redlands Footlighters Theatre from March 6 to March 23.

More details can be found at their website: http://redlandsfootlighters.org/

Bev, known for her intricate paintings of nature and the American West, said her art changed in 1973 when she and Jay left their jobs at a Los Angeles advertising agency and spent a year traveling through Canada and the western United States. Bev, who always loved anything western, was deeply influenced by Native Americans – their philosophy and their connection to the earth. She photographed Indian artifacts in every museum they visited, and is still using those photographs as reference for her work.

The camouflage element in Bev’s art is a tool to coax the eye away from the obvious and draw the viewer deeper into the picture. It’s used to tell a story. There are suggested images in clouds, shadows, logs. “It’s not a new idea. It’s just something that evolved,” Bev said, describing this evolution of her work as something that has made her more aware of Mother Nature.

What people respond to in her work, Bev hopes, is what inspired her to paint in the first place – a deep love and appreciation of nature. In the mid-1980‘s, Bev signed with The Greenwich Workshops in Connecticut, a publisher of limited edition prints and became acclaimed as a print artist. With her career taking off, the Doolittles purchased 10 acres of what they lovingly call “The rock pile” from Jay’s father. They decided to build their dream home. “We loved the feeling of the water, desert and the oasis. We wanted to recreate that, and have the same feeling in our house,” Bev said.

Inspired by Indian Cove and Indian Canyon, the Doolittles decided to look for an architect that could design the house they wanted. While searching through trade magazines they discovered Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, an architect renowned for his organic designs — including many of the Chart House restaurants, and the 1981 Yen residence in La Jolla. They loved his work. Not sure if he would take on their project, the Doolittles took pictures of the “rock pile” at different times of the day and sent them to Kellogg. He agreed and after three months, and much research, Kellogg chose a particular ridge of boulders near the park for the placement of the house. It turned out to be the same section the Doolittles had chosen.

“The Doolittles were unusual clients.” Kellogg said. “We had discussions, and they said, ‘you do what you think’.”

The Joshua Tree house was started in 1986 and proceeded slowly. Workers used a golf cart, and a small Kubota tractor to haul building materials along the path too narrow for conventional equipment. The crews remained small, less than 20 workers at any one time. “A lot of the time, that was too many,” said Bev. The Doolittles, who lived down the street while the house was being built, were involved with the entire process, but had to wait nearly 15 years to move in. “We’re artists,” she said. “We didn’t know anything about pouring cement. It was all hand-built bucket by bucket.”

Master craftsman, John Vugrin, who had worked for Kellogg since he was a teenager was hired to design and build the interior of the house. He made the first etched-glass door, and the Doolittles knew he was the right person for the job. “He understood all the lines of the house,” Bev said.

It takes a particular mindset for a house like this and Vugrin — a quiet, unassuming man, has both the eye and craftsmanship of a master artisan. Doors, door handles, floor grates, light switch plates, chairs and cabinets are made with precision and excellence. Every piece is unique, and nothing is duplicated. Details of fossils, shells or abstract designs are embedded into cabinet tops, handles, and doors. The gate-like front door has a cut-out design with tiny semi-precious stones placed strategically on the pointed copper pieces. Inside, the metal is covered in gold leaf. Wood grains are pieced together to create surfaces worthy of European churches. Marble cabinets with delicate, hand-carved organic designs look more like sculptures than furniture. Vugrin, who, during the building of the house, spent time in Carrera, Italy, made many of the pieces there and sent them back to California. Honduras mahogany was brought in and cured for 10 years to prepare it to withstand the dryness of the desert. There are etched designs on all the eleven doors and many windows. Because of the irregular stone floors, Vugrin designed and built three legged wood chairs, with stylized, carvings on the edges and backs. Currently, he is completing the construction of a glass bottom hot tub that will be inserted into the center of what was the pool. It will become a lush area with plants and a waterfall that spills over the edge of the floor through an opening in the bottom of the glass window, and down the side of the house before it is recirculated.

A soil engineer came to the house to test the stability of the boulders. Some of the rocks were stable, and some were not. The entire structure was reinforced with rebar and steel. There are 26 freestanding cement wings that make up the perimeter walls, and 900 panes of 1/2 inch glass between the columns with thinner glass in the ceiling.

“You could take anyone of those wings, and set it out in the park like a piece of sculpture,” Bev said.

When the Doolittles wanted a fence Kellogg knew it would have to be a work of art. Most fences follow property lines, not this one. Vertical strips of steel undulates around the property giving it the appearance of the backbone of a dinosaur. The fence, made with steel stock, rolls back and forth at different angels, vertical and horizontal, longitudinal and latitudinal.

Vugrin said the fence was built to stop the bus loads of people that came to view the house.

“It rolls with the landscape,” said Kellogg. “That’s the organic way.”

There are two gates, one to get in and one to get out. And the gates, made with titanium balls, swing back and forth so easily you can open it with your little finger.

When asked about the inspiration to build a house like this, Bev said, “For both my husband, Jay, and I, the natural world has been our artistic inspiration.” They created a home and a life that celebrates that ascetic.

The Doolittles are selling the house because they feel they are getting too old for all the steps. Although, it was hard to leave, they have a new home in Southern Utah, and Beverly has a new studio with a view of red rock cliffs. The changing light fascinates her and fills her days with delight as it had in the Joshua Tree house. She is painting and looking forward to sculpting. “There are 30 pounds of clay here with my name on it,” she said.

Jay at seventy-one has decided to give writing fiction a try. “My life has been involved with the visual arts, so this change is a kind of fountain of youth,” he said. “I wake up each morning with the enthusiasm I remember at eighteen.”

When Bev was asked why art was important to her, she said, “I love the process of learning, exploring, and growing as a person (and artist). Every drawing and painting, good or bad, is a new learning experience. And hopefully, if I live to be ninety, I will still be trying to learn, improve my art skills, and explore new mediums with which to express my ideas.”