K’s Place

This is my daughter K’s property: the patches of dirt with roses in the foreground. Her neighbor has done what many Altadenans have done to get back on their land: brought in a home on wheels until the rebuild is complete. A few take the situation and hammer into their own hands to work on their plywood palaces.

Anyone familiar with Altadena might assume I’m facing north toward the San Gabriel Mountains. Not this time. This is a southwest view, and those are the San Rafael Hills above the Rose Bowl.

We now have views from Altadena we’ve never had in our lifetimes. I enjoy them, but I look forward to the day when the trees have grown back, regained their leaves and reclaimed their title of mountain hiders.

On the day I did this painting, I was at K’s place for an interview with a sociology professor at Pomona College who is studying the fire and its effect on our community.

By the time you turn your calendar to November, I expect to be picking those roses and putting them in a vase in K’s newly built home. Whether your home is new, old or in-between, I hope you’ll be filling it with pretty flowers too.

More art & info below (to come)