Hollywood always gets gardens wrong (I’m talking to you, Maze Runner)

.... They look like thrift store paintings, or the work left forgotten in the art department hallways after the school term has ended. Ghastly. The statues are always hyper-realistic, created perhaps by casting someone’s face, or modeling them in CG. The result is dang creepy, and not at all historically accurate. As far as sketching goes, drawing styles change over time. It’s really interesting, actually, the evolution of line. I can identify the ro...

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Saturday Tweets: Artichokes, Rants and Rare Bee Art

I heart artichokes. Recipe for marinated artichoke hearts here: http://t.co/sBQAkFojun #summer #canning #preserving pic.twitter.com/AtDHB1P5C9 — Kevin West (@savingtheseason) July 23, 2015 Tales From the Droughtside or THE DROUGHTPOCALYPSE!!! | Garden Rant http://t.co/5LGacH9cx4 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) July 24, 2015 The No-Water California Garden | Garden Rant http://t.co/JTCFPiZoFO — Root Simple (@rootsimple) July 24, 2015 What to do with al...

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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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