Journal to a Muse

Tourist or Pilgrim III -- or How did it get to be Thursday?

Mostly I have been touring. (See below). But my pilgrim self read a small but very powerful book this afternoon called Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. The fact that I was lounging in the sun by a quiet pool did not blunt the startling accuracy with which the authors identified many of the problems I have with art... and living. Here's a recommendation they made, which I should have tattooed where I can see it easily:

Ask your work what it needs, not what you need. Then set aside your fears and listen, the way a good parent listens to a child.

I know how to listen, and I know how to parent. I hope I can transfer those skills to my business, my art, my body and life in general. There's a pilgrim's journey.

Tuesday's touring started out at Java Station with a sublime Mint Mocha and cranberry muffin. Then I had a long conversation with a youngish man I'll call Micah... who was either extremely intelligent or crazy. Either way, I enjoyed the conversation and exchange of ideas --which ranged from the comparative design value of a 2-bladed vs. 3 bladed wind mill, to whether all/most ADHD children had experienced trauma, to whether Einstein lied about his findings because the truth was too hard to cope with, to whether lack of connectivity in the corpus collosum causes depression. I certainly did not think I understood everything he was saying... but neither of us seemed to mind much.

I went to look for Micheala's yarn and knitting establishment in Carpenteria. I found the address, but it was a residence and I bailed out. Apparently there quite a few people in the area selling yarn, but from home. I don't know if I'd want to go to somebody's house to buy yarn. Roving, maybe... retail yarn, not so much.

Then I saw a sign for Carpenteria Bluffs. I walked along the path, did some sketches, more walking and listened in vain for seals. I stumbled on an uneven patch of sandy path and could surely have squooshed the lizard I saw skittering away if I hadn't caught my balance. Fortunately, we both survived to tell the tale. The grasses were aromatic and thigh high. And at least in this one direction, it seemed as pristine as when the Chumash might have lived here.

Next, I found "Lower Coast Road" where the rest of Monecito's shopping and eating establishments are located. I sank into a slough of low esteem... All the people I noticed were tan, thin, and inordinately self-assured seeming. All I could muster was curiosity. It didn't seem enough.

Then I found a lovely gallery in which a woman slightly older than myself was trying on a beautiful earth toned hand-painted silk ruana sort of cape... over a tiered skirt, leather vest and silk blouse. She announced that she wanted to avoid paying California state tax (which is a sort of moderate 7.8%) by having it "sent home to Colorado." But when the shopkeeper calculated the cost ($20.) the patron backed out of the entire deal, insinuating that they made their money on shipping and handling, then huffing and puffing that it was unreasonable to pay that sort of charge for any item costing less than $400.... Well, in my eyes, postage and handling is postage and handling... and sometimes you just can avoid paying for what you get. It made me feel less awful about not having tons o' money to shop with. The shopkeeper was unphazed.

I drove the cross town Coast Route, still soaking up the smells of the lavender, sage, lemon groves and OCEAN... and then had a deep, hard nap before DH arrived home and took me to The Elephant Bar for dinner. I don't understand why they didn't stay open in Dallas... the food was still wonderful.

Yesterday I went to BB's Knits... and actually talked to BB herself. Thank goodness the store has a big sign, because the store itself is tiny. I told her that DD wanted to run a yarn store. BB has done so for 16 years and said to warn anyone with yarn shop aspirations, that once you are in business, you won't. have. time. to. knit. anymore. What a pity. She isn't in the posh down town area, but the yarn store that IS down there is apparently going out of business. I'd rather the store was out of the way, kept its overhead down and carried fabulous fibers.

While I was there I met SUSS... of Hollywood Knits fame. A lovely, friendly woman who was there representing her yarns and patterns. The only names she dropped were Neimans and Nortstroms. She seemed surprised that it was nearly (?) as profitable to sell patterns as finished garments. She had a shrug/cape pattern that she'd made of alpaca that was SO SOFT! She and BB were conspiring to recommend it for baby blankets, too. Lots of yarn to be sold.

Another coincidence was seeing Knitted Flowers within an hour of Darling Daughter saying she wanted to knit some flowers. BB's knits seemed to have EVERYTHING even though I don't think the public part of the shop was more than 400 square feet. Cascade, Fiesta, Greek Cotton, Silk, Noro, Rowan, Vittadini... she had great yarn and many binders of patterns which I didn't even start to browse through.

Next I sought out La Arcada which is a teensy arcade next to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. It was touted as having several galleries and restaurants. What was an unexpected delight were the bronze statues and flags of many nations wafting in the sea breeze. That's Ben Franklin sitting reading the paper. There was a mini-Mozart trio a bit farther down as well as a whale tail emerging from the tiles.

At Alcapulco, I had a Modelo Negro and fajitas while watching the turtles sun themselves in the fountain.

I debated about going through the SBMA... but decided against it. The feets were like bricks (again) and I really wanted to see craft/folk or outsider art rather than collected classics. So I paid to drive out on Stearns Wharf... definitely a tourist kind of thing to do... but partly pilgrm because I did it by myself. That may explain some of my fatigue. Initiating and completing these mini-adventures by myself.

DH and I went back down town to Paseo Nuevo. Who knows WHY there was this big box painted with the Lone Star State flag. I had to photograph it, right?

We took a gamble and ate at Pascucco's which, at first, was almost as noisy as the Cheesecake factory... but with more reasonably sized portions, excellent service and interesting recipes. We wandered towards Barnes and Noble after dinner, but were put off somewhat by the intermittent shrieks of a street person. Her cry was "Please... listen to me." Haunting.

Very little knitting progress to show... perhaps this evening... IF I don't fall asleep from the huge dose of sun I had while reading.

I leave you with this thought from Art and Fear:

Basically, those who continue to make art are those who have learned hot to continue -- or more precisely, have learned how to not quit.