Esoteric Survey

Sori Yanagi, Sol Bloom and Gilbert Watrous

La Gardo Tackett

The Pasadena Convention Center was happening last weekend. The Los Angeles Pottery show and the California International Antiquarian Book Fair, all in one place. That's right, VIP at the book fair. This booth was the show stopper...McIntosh, Pond Farm, Prieto, Natzler, Beato, Conover, Lukens... Stacks of Harrison McIntosh pots.  They were all good ones too.  This was one of the two tables full of Claude Conover Glen Lukens Natzlers on the top and James Lovera on the bottom There was some nice ephemera with this Lovera- it's a winner.  There were some great pots at other booths too, like this big Clyde Burt. I'm not usually a Pillin fan, but this set of mini ones were kinda cool. Peter Voulkos The book fair had some great things as well. Although, the amount of design related books was on the light side, the people watching made up for it. Apparently, book prints are the hot item to wear in this circle. I saw de...

Table/bench, designed and manufactured by Henry Mittwer, Los Angeles, CA 1952 Henry Mittwer was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1918. His father was an American in the film industry, who first traveled to Japan in 1898 as a sailor in the Spanish-American War. His mother was a former geisha in Tokyo.  Henry's father left the family and returned to the US when he was 9. Henry moved back to the US and located his down and out father in 1940. After the attack on Peal Harbor and a raise in anti-Japanese sentiment, it was impossible for him to get a job.  In 1942, with few options, he was forced to enter into an internment camp. It was here where he met and married Sachiko. The couple had two of their three children while they were still in the camp. When the war ended, everyone in the family, except Henry, was released. He was being held due to his past refusal to fight in the war. Henry wasn't released until 1947 and not fully out of legal troubles until 1951. The fam...

Henry Mittwer table Mac McClain pot. More about Mac - here .  Cool stool and kitchen stuff

Roos house (1938) by John Ekin Dinwiddie  in San Franciso Dinwiddie studied under Eliel Saarinen  This is a pretty forward thinking design for 1938. I do think the hedge should be cut down some. It's blocking that cool little cantilever.  See So glad the utility wires are gone now. Source: Bay Area Houses, by Sally Woodbridge

Andy Goldsworthy, Sprire (2008) in the Presidio of San Francisco "The Presidio forest was planted by the U.S. Army over a short period in the late 19th and early 20th centuries based on a vision by Major William A. Jones in his Plan for the Cultivation of Trees upon the Presidio Reservation... The forest is comprised of long-lived eucalyptus as well as Monterey cypress and pine trees that are now reaching the end of their natural lifespans." "Aging Monterey cypress trees taken down to allow for young plantings were given new purpose in Goldsworthy’s Spire. The sculpture was constructed in 2008 in a beloved grove near the Arguello Gate. It is comprised of 35 large cypress trunks, fastened meticulously together. At its zenith, Spire reaches more than 90 feet to the sky. Even this great height will not keep Spire from experiencing the changes of time. Young trees growing at its base will slowly obscure the sculpture."  -  predidio.gov   "This work for me...