Category Archives: artists

the thoroughly modern tilly

Mitch has been tagging along with Josh Rosen (the airplantman) to check out some of his custom installation work to get a sense of how Josh’s tillandsia-specific designs work in situ. In this home in the Pacific Palisades, the classic … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, inspire me, MB Maher, pots and containers | 5 Comments

James Griffith @Craig Krull Gallery

Never mind Halloween, it’s been a scary week, and overnight more fires erupted, many much closer to home. Checking the Los Angeles Times for the grim wildfire updates brought some unexpected and sorely needed happy news: “La Brea tar is … Continue reading

Posted in artists, climate, science | 3 Comments

channeling willy guhl

The firecracker plant (fountainbush, coral plant, among a plethora of common names) is an incredibly tough addition to a frost-free dry garden, attributes which also make it an excellent choice for flourishing in containers, which can be a rough life … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, pots and containers | 3 Comments

letter from sagehen creek field station

(Shirley Watts’ series of symposia entitled Natural Discourse, bringing scientists and artists into botanical gardens to make site-specific work, has taken on an even fiercer urgency seven years after its inception in 2012, as scientists and artists grapple with the … Continue reading

Posted in artists, climate, essay, MB Maher, photography, science | 4 Comments

a thing for us; Smithson’s Spiral Jetty

On a recent, intense, two-day trip to Park City, Utah, Mitch and I made an impromptu decision to include a visit to Robert Smithson’s work of land art known as the Spiral Jetty. Possibly not the methodical planning necessary to … Continue reading

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parachuting in on the airplantman

I asked Josh Rosen if Mitch could pay him a visit with his camera to see what he’s been up to, which turns out to be quite a lot.  The landscape architect, aka airplantman, is moving away from full-time landscape … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, MB Maher | 3 Comments

a quick visit with garden designer Kelly Kilpatrick of Floradora Garden Design

Mitch’s note to me: These are the images from Kelly’s house call — she’s such a delight — thank you for producing this! I was super early and drove by her place on my way to Market Hall for coffee … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | 7 Comments

that moment with the eremurus and smoke tree in the Shinn garden

I had a little moment with this smoke bush and eremurus in the Carol & Randall Shinn garden on the recent bloggers’ tour of Colorado gardens. Hitting notes bright and deep, still in that incipient sparkle stage, buds concentrated and … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, garden travel | 11 Comments

recycling; it takes more than a bottle village

After a hard-scrabble life of over 60 years, and after the roughshod course of a couple marriages and the tragic loss of most of her children, Tressa Prisbrey decided when she settled in Simi Valley with her third husband, Mr. … Continue reading

Posted in artists, MB Maher | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Digital Nature 2019

(More from MB Maher, far-flung AGO correspondent. Winter storms, family stuff, a host of things kept me from attending Natural Discourse‘s Digital Nature 2019 at the LA Arboretum this past February. So I’ve been pumping Mitch, who has worked with … Continue reading

Posted in artists, garden visit, MB Maher | 5 Comments