Art Trips
NCSFA Sponsored
Here are some photos and highlights of our recent trip:
Sam Maloof Historic Residence in Alta Loma
and the Huntington in San Marino
 |
 |
|
| Sam Maloof Rocker Without Stretcher |
Betty Davenport Ford's Raging Boar |
Jane Genet, beside a kinetic sculpture |
|
 |
 |
| Kathy Mehaffey, on the path from the garden area |
Ann Mitchell, taking on the stance of Dan Romero's sculpture, Indian Girls |
Sue Ames, in Maloof's Woodshed |
The suggestion of a bus tour to the Sam Maloof Historic Residence and Garden in Alta Loma and the Huntington's "The House That Sam Built" exhibit, struck a respondent chord with 41 participants who sallied forth at eight in the morning and returned around seven in the evening. Their appreciative comments included "being at Sam and Alfreda Maloof's home at the relocated property was the highlight of the day for me. I loved the place and felt the spirit and soul of the creative and extraordinary people that created it".
Sam Maloof was unusual in his creation of furniture in that he was the designer and the producer. He and 2 or 3 employees fulfilled the, at most, 50 commissions a year. He rarely drew a picture, although his pictorial skills were proven. The picture was mental. If the commission were 8 chairs, he'd do the first, make changes if needed and the rest would fall into place.
When he first started making rocking chairs, he used the traditional stretcher, as seen in the rocker with the under seat addition for supposed strength.
Realizing a way to eliminate that distracting line without diminishing its integrity resulted in a cleaner look. The rocker's back and forth sway can go on for as long as four minutes.
No matter how many times we visit the Huntington, we are never disappointed. There is always serendipity around the corner. "The House That Sam Built" entailed 81 works by Sam Maloof's artist friends. One of them, Betty Davenport Ford, now 88 years of age, still working and doing demonstrations of her method, has 2 of her works shown. Another is Harrison McIntosh, now 97. McIntosh is known for his spiraling, geometric, mishima lines. Mishima means grooving out a line and filling it with a different color. He, with Maloof, George Nakashima, Charles and Ray Eames were part of the "California Look". Thinking of Millard Sheets' evaluation of Maloof as "unpretentious", he might have used that term for McIntosh and other California artists in that post-2nd World War era. |
 |
| Sam Maloof Rocker With Stretcher |
| Click here for Sam Maloof Residence Website |
 |
Previous Trips:
March 12, 2011 NCSFA Sponsored Bus trip to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, viewing three exhibits:
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - IN SEARCH OF A BETTER WORLD -
Intriguing facts about one of our Founding Fathers, with dozens of hands-on activities
AMERICAN QUILTS
- 200 YEARS OF TRADITION - more than 30 quilts dating from 1770 with graphic explanations, such as
use of long-arm quilting machine and
GEMSTONE CARVINGS - THE MASTERWORKS OF HAROLD
VAN PELT - the illustration above is a carved agate drinking vessel with a gold-capped nose, one of many
detailed carvings that have to be seen to be believed.
| Bus Art Tour: Pasadena:
Bungalows and Mansions: Our November 2008 art educational trip was to Pasadena.
Bungalow Heaven's version of Craftsman bungalows. Bob Kneisel guided us on an interior tour of his home. Bob was instrumental in getting Landmark status for the area of 800 bungalows dating from 1890 to the 1930s placed on the National Register of Historic Places. His reason for doing this was outrage that a developer could demolish a Craftsman bungalow to put up a tacky apartment building. Our hearts warm to a group that could change zoning and work towards keeping their heritage. See more at bungalowheaven.org. |
 |
 |
Jackie Steinmann and Cyndi Ponath
pause at the Norton Simon Garden Café
on the Pasadena bus tour |
 |
The Norton Simon is always heaven and on this visit had the added "A Lady Writing", on loan from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
Links:
http://www.bungalowheaven.org
http://nortonsimon.org
http://pasadenahistory.org |