Stencils as Garden Art

...ers alerted me to the far more impressive stencils of San Francisco street artist Jeremy Novy: Photo by Dawn Endico. Green Roof Grower Bruce was inspired by Novy’s work to make his own koi stencils on the sidewalk in front of his house. Now if enough of us adorn these edge spaces (in a neighborly fashion, of course) perhaps we’ll be able to reclaim our streets from the distant bureaucrats who hassle us over our parkway gardens. It’s precisely the...

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Asphaltum as a Wood Stain

...the distance I could see the ongoing demolition of the LA County Museum of Art. As I said goodbye to the high 60s modernist art museum cafeteria my mom used to take me to, I scanned the park for asphaltum plumes. Thankfully, park employees facilitate hipster artisinal asphaltum collection thanks to cones marked “tar pits” to keep people from spreading their picnic blankets over the foul smelling, sticky stuff. I discovered one particularly prodigi...

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May Morris: Embroidery as Art

...s probably the best embroiderer the world has ever known. Her work is more like painting than stitching and she raised the craft to levels not seen since the late medieval period. May was a gifted designer and artist and worked in many mediums including fashion and jewelry. You can read her embroidery manual Decorative Needlework online. Are Root Simple readers also avid embroiderers? Leave a comment!...

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Picture Sundays: Best Van Art Ever

...This beautiful couple enjoys the eternal comforts of poetry and philosophy, along with an occasional fruit basket. There are what I think are golden psychic waves traveling between their heads, and the waves have small words floating among them. They are: soul, creativity, poetry, ideas, psyche, inspiration, express, concept, love, mind Photographed on Griffith Park Blvd. in Los Angeles. Save...

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The Fine Art of Determining Peach Ripeness

How do you know when your peaces are ready to pick? For home growers it’s all about color. According to the University of Georgia, Ground color is the best field indicator of peach maturity. . . The ground color of a peach approaching maturity is light green. A break in color toward yellow is the first definite indication of maturity. Brightening of the red over-color of the skin is another, though less reliable, index of maturity. Red color is t...

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