PATTERNS AND TONES

February 9, 2013 Patterns and Tones was born Wowwie, two years already! How can it be? The little photo blog that could has been chugging its way into the world weekly now for two whole years. Sharing my vision with you has been an honor and a thrill. I have so many ideas and images in my arsenal, and I derive so much joy in presenting them to you and the world, that I can only see this developing into a life long adventure! I have been asked many times where the name of the blog came from. Patterns represent my Fine Art creations and Tones covers my love of photographing Rock n' Rollers. But the name actually originated from my a talent show my mother used to perform in as a member of her Glee Club when she attended Oakland Technical High School  from 1951-1955. The talent show was called Patterns in Tone.   I remember as a child going through her old scrapbooks and seeing the red cover of a Patterns in Tone program from 1954. The maracas, guitar, sax, trumpet and co...

My fascination with Adobe structures has lead me to seek out and photograph as many of them as I can. I have located over 44 Adobes just in the Los Angeles basin that I hope to capture in natural light over the next few years. This summer, I was fortunate enough to actually stay inside two amazing Adobes in Twentynine Palms:   The Hayes Adobe and Irene's Adobe at the 29 Palms Inn located on the west end of the 9,000 year old Oasis of Mara . I have always been intrigued with the history behind Irene's Adobe since the first time my husband and I stayed in the Bottle Room which is a part of the 29 Palms Inn . The Adobe was built in 1933 by The Stubb Brothers for Gerald Charlton, a landscape architect from British Columbia. Mr. Charlton originally dubbed the Adobe "La Querencia", which is Spanish for a place where one feels safe and at home, a place where you can truly be yourself. Mr. Charlton's second wife  Irene Zimmers Charlton  inherited the prope...

Twentynine Palms , 29 Palms or Twenty-Nine Palms. Any way you look at it, this city in the Mojave Desert in Southern California is indeed "A Beautiful Desert Oasis" and the northern gateway to Joshua Tree National Park.  Home to The King of Surf Rock -  Dick Dale  and Allie Wrubel who wrote the hit song  "The Lady of 29 Palms"  back in 1947, Twentynine Palms has always attracted artists, musicians and independent folks for generations. It's broad brush stokes of muted colors in coral, wheat and sage set the backdrop to its expansive, remote surroundings. It is truly an Oasis of tranquility and a study in light and form. My dear friend Karen Shelver turned me on to Twentynine Palms years ago. Stories of her Grandfather's homesteading adventures in the desert eventually turned into a visit when Karen lived out at the Adobe. Hand built back in 1936, it was if timed stopped when I entered the Adobe and the delicious, cool temperature (thanks to the swa...