Venice Remembers Nipsey Hussle

The world lost a good one in Nipsey Hussle, and Los Angeles is in mourning as he is laid to rest today after a big Memorial at Staples Center, followed by a 25 mile procession through the city.

Venice had its own memorial on the Graffiti Walls, as someone tagged "RIP NIP" there in solidarity with the rest of L.A. Yet another senseless death because of guns and hatred, made worse by the fact that Hussle was a guy trying to make things better for his community, and the world.

He will not be forgotten. RIP NIP!

Love For The Weekend

The rain has passed by, the sun is out, and the weekend is upon us. With all that's going nuts in the global world at the moment, the fact remains that we MUST seek out the love that still remains.

There was a nice little reminder of that at the graffiti walls (By @lovecrew), that we would all do well to carry with us in our minds this weekend. There is the massive anti-gun March For Our Lives tomorrow where we all will proclaim #ENOUGH, and if you can't make it to your local march, there are plenty of ways to show your love and support for each other every day. There are SO many problems happening on a global scale, but if we can remember the love at the root of all of us, we can still persevere.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood ... and I send you all this love - unconditionally. Pass it on.

Venice Love For Prince

I'm sure people are going to get sick of me talking about Prince pretty soon, but I'm not all that concerned about it. Mainly because I still just can't believe it. I was thinking about it all again this morning walking along the beach, and my spirits were brightened by the graffiti walls.

Artists had remembered Prince here too. They should all go watch Graffiti Bridge now, and get out and do up every bridge around. Please? And thank you. To everyone really, for putting up with me on this. I guess I'm just happy I got to have the experiences I did ... but that sadness comes from knowing there will never be any more.

A friend of a friend posted a Christmas card he'd received from Prince years ago, where Prince had written (in purple ink, of course), "Peace and Be Wild". You now know my new motto.

Peace! And be WILD!!

Venice Graffstone - The Art and Jewelry Of Susan Rich

I've been trying to get together with Susan Rich for ages to talk about her supercool Venice Graffstone jewelry made from pieces of the Venice Art Walls (!), and we just finally had the chance to sit down and talk about it all. Rich was born in Vermont, and raised in Florida, with a stint in D.C. as a body builder (!) and 80's aerobics instructor (think leg warmers) and working at a credit union at the Pentagon, and all sorts of different adventures, before coming out west to attend Pepperdine. That was a springboard to get her to UCLA Film School, where she was top of her class, and soon working as a director's assistant.

A boyfriend got her to move up North, but that wasn't happening, and he said he'd only move back down to L.A. if they moved to Venice (my kind of dude), so that is where Rich has been ever since - even though she did think it was sketchy at first. It was. She lives in the same historical apartment (that they're trying to officially make historical so greedy developers don't ever get their mitts on it) near Windward Circle (but not with the same dude). "Venice takes you over and has a story for you to live out," said Rich by way of introducing her own Venice tales ... which included being a nude live model, a Dominatrix, and a graffiti artist (her tag was a big "S").

Once she started dating a graffiti artist, she began spending a whole lot of time down at the Venice Graffiti Walls at the beach. One day she turned the corner and saw all of this paint strata hanging off the ends, and had a light bulb moment. She could make graffiti art that was three dimensional - and permanent! Jewelry. Made from the years and years of paintings (an estimated 15,000 layers in one necklace!) done by artists from all over the world in the ultimate upcycling. A whole giant section had fallen off and was going to be tossed in a dumpster by the city ... unless ...

Rich took home some big chunks of fallen paint and began experimenting. She even flew to Chicago to learn from the woman that created "Fordite" - jewelry material made from the leftover paint in the automobile industry! The first piece she made was a "V" for Venice. Of course. She began making dog tags, and grew more excited every time she revealed some new, one of a kind pattern from all the swirls of paint. Rich often thinks of the person the piece is meant for as she's creating it, saying, "I'm a Shaman. They speak to me." (The Venice has definitely taken her over after her initial reluctance.) From the early dog tags, the line has grown to include necklaces, earrings, rings, and frameable art pieces. The rings are my favorite, because the setting that holds the graffstone is made from recycled skateboard decks! Now THAT is the ultimate Venice gift. Wearable art from the creative vortex and heart of our town. I love it.

An organization called STP (Setting The Pace) currently maintains the Venice Art Walls, and Rich told me that their Bruno Hernandez and Stash Maleski of ICU (In Creative Unity) before him are the reasons that the walls are still there. There is a donation button on the STP site to help make sure that they are preserved as a place for free artistic expression, and Rich would also like to give back to the walls that she loves (and that provide her with materials) by seeing these jewelry pieces of hers help sustain the walls through their sales.

"It's Family," answered Rich when I asked her what Venice meant to her. "I felt like discovering this way to honor the walls was becoming one of the family, and I want to give back to the family." That's right.

For now, you can help her do that by purchasing one of her one of a kind Venice treasures at Animal House, In Heroes We Trust, and Maui and Sons on Washington Boulevard. Venicegraffstone.com will soon go live, and then everyone everywhere can have their own little piece of Venice history.

I asked Rich if she had anything to say to the people in closing, and she replied, "I don't have anything else to say that the walls don't say better." With that, we took a stroll down to the Art Walls right at golden hour, greeting old friends all along the way, and stopped to watch new art being created at the Walls ... where today's statement will be tomorrow's memory - perhaps around your neck.

Get your Venice Graffstone, and carry a piece of Venice with you for always.

Now Available:

Animal House
In Heroes We Trust
Maui & Sons - Washington Blvd.
Susan Rich if you see her around town!

Postcards From The Edge

I guess I still have Thanksgiving stuck in my craw, because this morning as I took my walk on the beach, I was so overcome with gratitude I had tears in my eyes. It was one of the most beautiful mornings on this Earth, and one sight was lovelier than the next.

It felt pretty selfish to have all this all to myself, so I thought you might like to join me on my heart-swelling stroll. Blue skies and bright sunshine accompanied me every step of the way, and the only way you knew it was December was the big sand berms built for the winter swells.

Surfers were out in droves this morning on the glassy water, and every wave was a party wave.

 I've always thought it was weird that surfers and skaters had the rep of being slackers and ne'er do wells, when those guys and girls are the early birds, out there getting it before most worker drones have even gotten out of bed.

The graffiti walls were brightly painted, and where one side looked like a glazed-out Jesus watching the surfers ...

... the other side proclaimed that He rocks. On a day this gorgeous, it would be hard to disagree.

As I felt so much love inside for Venice as I walked around, it was reflected back at me everywhere I went. The ocean air, the palm trees, the colorful characters, past and present, (as I definitely felt the presence of some Venice ghosts this morning ... Bobby Brown - The World's Greatest Wino, Dr. Geek the rapper, and Dr. John the activist were all on my mind and profoundly felt), friends waving as you pass by, all the art, waves, the Skatepark, the mom and pop stores hanging in there ... I love it all so much. And I'll fight to keep it a place "Where the weather is warm, and the people are cool". And I'm not alone.

Heading back home in a hurry - as I'd spent a little too much time in reflection and appreciation mode - I got one more affirmation peeking through the trees.

I hope you've enjoyed your postcards from the Western edge even a fraction as much as I enjoyed living it in the moment.

We love you, Venice!



*It's now later in the afternoon. There was just another mass shooting in America, this time in California. After reading absolutely insane comments from people in other parts of the country about it all online, I want to add how EXTRA grateful I am to live in the Venice bubble. Where people tend to talk reasonably, be informed, keep an open mind, and practice tolerance and love with everyone from all walks of life. At least in my world. THANK YOU!

A Venice Easter Weekend

Easter weekend 2015 was all about family, friends, and family friends here in Venice. I had my dear Krsniks/Hendricksons here and we did all the usual L.A. tourist stuff (and had an Easter miracle finding a lost purse - with cash and everything still in it! - at Hollywood & Highland. Good humans.) which is always fun to do with people ... and then it was time to simply relax (after all the cooking was done).

First there was some worship and gratitude, then Easter Bake and Monkey Bread were consumed Sunday morning. That had to be followed by a brisk walked to the beach to digest. There we saw the Venice Easter Bunny, delighting kids and me alike.

Danny Samakow was out and about, making sure that everyone was having a good time, and keeping the holiday spirit pumped up - as he does for just about every holiday.

People were lounging about on the sand, and displaying their own Easter egg hunt treasures by the graffiti walls, also looking as if it was post-brunch laziness for them too.

As it was both Easter and Passover this weekend, there was a lot to observe. At the beach, even the Hare Krishnas made a strong showing on a Sunday they might otherwise have been overshadowed by.

Then it was time for another holiday meal with dear friends, followed by another Easter egg hunt, with still more candy to be found.

We kept saying, "It's just once a year" to justify all the sweets and over-stuffing ... but still. When you see little faces looking this happy over some candy in a plastic egg, you just laugh and hope for the best.

With Easter 2015 in the books, Sunday night was pretty much all about crashing for everyone I know. I hope your weekend was spent with your dear ones too, and that none of us see another Peep for an entire year. Thanks Easter Bunny! Bawk Bawk.

MLK Day In Venice

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is one of my favorite holidays ... and one of the most deserving people we've ever had to be commemorated with a "Day" of their own. Venice got into it down at the graffiti walls ...

And inspired me to do an MLK tag of my own - on a sweet potato pie.

The day was spent laughing with friends, celebrating freedom, equality and peace - and lots of good food. Just like all the very best holidays.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.