The landscaping at the Getty Museum gardens is just as much a work of art as the buildings and their contents.   The picture above is of the run-off culvert and bridges, with Los Angeles city in the distance.  The Getty website page about the landscape says:

Landscaping the Getty Center has been a collaborative effort involving a number of distinguished landscape architects, consultants and craftspeople through the years. Emmet Wemple, landscape architect for the Getty Villa in Malibu, began the project and conceived preliminary designs. Richard Meier conceived the master plan, which called for developing 19 of 24 acres as landscape or gardens. Dennis Hickok of Richard Meier & Partners served as liaison and for design and development of the works for the architects and landscape architects. Laurie Olin and the Olin Partnership, Philadelphia, PA, joined the team in 1992, and have remained through the project’s completion. Fong and Associates of Orange County and Raymond Hansen assisted in plant selection, procurement, and administration. Daniel Urban Kiley consulted on the project beginning in 1990. The landscaping would not have been possible without the work of numerous other consultants, contractors and craftspeople who helped create this impressive environment.

I love the tracery cast by the shadows of tree branches especially in the non-leafy seasons.  Here, Joyce is walking down the stairs and  path in front of me:

And here I am taking a picture of someone taking a picture…ya think this place inspires?

Again, successful use of elements of design:  rhythm, repetition, line, contrast (trees are organic, walls and stones are rectilinear), depth and dimension…..sigh….. I want to make art every time I look at these pictures! The next photo is one I think, with some tweaking in Photoshop, could make be used to make a great screen for printing onto cloth…..

Here is a view of the lower gardens:

On the way, you pass this stunning building-view:

And a cropped version that I may turn into a quilt for a Frayed Edges project:

Hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of my trip to the Getty…clearly way more than a day’s worth of   inspiration in just one visit!  more down the line…

You can tell from the just-leafing-out buds of green that I was at the Getty Museum (Los Angeles)  in Spring.  I love the gnarliness of these trees, and how the bark picks up the white of the buildings and the shadows and darkness in the windows, and how the contorted shapes of the branches contrast with the square blocks of stone, the perfectly smooth straight and curved lines of the architecture.  A perfect lesson in design:  line, contrast, shape, form, repetition…..

Another lesson in design, form and shape is the tables and chairs in the courtyard.  There are (if I remember correctly) five main buildings with galleries at the top of the hill that form a rough circle.  In the center of the circle are the fountains (seen in the photos in my first blogpost) and seating areas, like this one.  The way the buildings cluster mean that you don’t have to walk miles to get from one to another… again, smart planning and design in what might have been a challenging site:  a fairly steep hillside.

Oh how I love those crisp shadows……And the good design extended to inside, even in the cafeteria.  Here, environmentally friendly bamboo was the material for the condiments items… a nice composition even in the the cafeteria!  Remember…there is inspiration EVERYwhere!

The end grain of the wood for the floors made another pattern in squares that echoes the stone squares that clad the walls, inside and out:

And an angled view of the wall, to show the rough surface of the stone facings, what amazing texture and line and movement:

We sat outside under a pergola for lunch, Joyce, Susan and I:

It was while sitting here that I got a call from Paul and learned the very nice size of my Jan-March royalty check and realized my book had sold through the first printing already…whooooohoooo!  Back to the architecture…look at those lines on the exterior stairs!!!!!

And the undulating waves of the buildings and the shadows cast by the slats (I’m guessing they are position to help block the sun from damaging artwork inside but still permit maximum natural light):

Another, cropped, shot of those patio tables and chairs and lines and shadows that I clearly adore:

And one of the vistas around the end of the buildings…wow:

More to come…….

When I told my beloved sister in law, Joyce, that I would be able to come for a long weekend, she asked what I wanted to do!  Well, most of all I wanted to be with Joyce and meet her friends, but I thought…hmmm…How about the Getty?   I’ve been inspired by photos of the Getty on my friend Deborah’s blog (see here for her pics) and some photos of the Getty in Lura Schwarz Smith’s fabulous book, Secrets of Digital Quilting, From Camera to Quilt (click here to go to Lura’s website, the title links to the book on Amazon or buy an autographed copy from Lura here).  Well…get ready folks.   I seriously shortened my list of photos…and I still have over 30 to share!  So I’m going to break this up into several posts….

The photo above is walking up to the top of the hill to the galleries from the main entrance.   To back up a bit, admission is free, but parking isn’t.  You must park at the bottom of this tall hill that looks out to the Pacific Ocean, then take one of the frequent trams up the hillside. The sheltered-from-the-elements space is carefully designed to move MANY people efficiently.  Here, the maze of waiting lines:

I loved this view of the blue skies through the trees…even the leftover bits from the ivy or clinging vine on the wall seems like art…

And on the tram (blurred the faces since I have NO idea who these people are and can’t ask permission to include their faces!)

Then you see this incredible statue of a swimmer by Aristide Maillol (one of my FAVORITE European sculptors…late 19th c.):

Here is Joyce at the start of our time (before we got pooped and sore feet!) on the way to see the Leonardo exhibit:

The buildings themselves, by architect Richard Meier, are a work of art, and the landscape is another work of art (more on that in a future post).  My breath is simply taken away by the stunning lines, curves, shapes, the subtle play of the smooth- and rough-faced stone, the perfect pairing of the color of the stone with the blue of the sky and the green of the trees:

And a better photo (tho gives less of a feel for the grounds):

And more:

Even the white interior balconies, railings and skylights were stunning in their simplicity and line:

And of course the color and contrast in the tables outside–you could buy food there or bring your own and eat in the shade of the umbrellas–love the lines and circles and stripes and shadows and the one blue bottle cap on the chair seat….

WOW!  Wait till you see the next photos….

The Leonardo Exhibit, by the way, was phenomenal.  Because these works were on loan, photography was not allowed, but I saw ACTUAL journal pages, in sepia ink by the master himself and…drumroll..one was of a DRAGON!   He liked dragons, too!!!!!!   To think, those pages are over 500 years old, and the lines made were made by Leonardo himself…. utterly mind-blowing!

When noodling around the internet, the hubster found (or already knew about) Sunset Crater, which is a volcanic ash field between Flagstaff and Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah border.   While I was in Flagstaff waiting for Paul and the boys to arrive, I noodled around on the internet and found out about the Wupatki Ruins (in a subsequent post).  As luck would have it, both Sunset Crater AND the Wupatki Ruins are on the same loop road off the main highway from Flagstaff to Monument Valley.  SO, on the way back to Flagstaff, guess where we went?

This is a different view of Arizona than what typically comes to mind (the saguaro cactus and desserts):  mountainous, cooler, still dry air, snow even in April, skiing in the San Francisco mountains behind (north of) Flagstaff.  And it is GORGEOUS!

There was a nice trail (thanks to the National Park Service and the cash-strapped Arizona State Park system) to follow–look at all of the black volcanic ash as ground:

There were several downed trees, and we wondered about the spiraling grain/growth pattern.  Before too long there was a sign that explained that trees with spiraling grain sway better in the wind, and so stand a better chance of surviving the windy storms.  Fascinating! Plus the bark makes really cool patterns…again, thinking quilting designs:

And volcanic rock:

And SCREAMING BLUE skies:

The requisite “if it is Sarah taking the pictures, there must be a photo looking through tree branches”–again, fodder for quilting designs:

And more fodder in the gnarly roots and bug-nibbled wood:

It turned out we had a bit of extra time that day.   MANY folks had told us how wonderful Sedona is, and we hadn’t realized it is a short half hour south and smidge west of Flagstaff.  So down we went.  Hmmm…   the surrounding area was gorgeous, and I’ll bet if you went out of town, it would be wonderful (Red Rocks is near there).  But the town itself?  Ick.   Serious tourist schlock and stores and junk wall-to-wall on the main streets.  All four of us took one look, said let’s eat lunch and leave!   At least the drive down was nice:

Besides my husband and sons, my most favorite family member and dear friend and soul-sister is my sister in law, Joyce.

She was married for eons to my older half-brother, who is now up in heaven cracking jokes with our other brother and daddi-o-o-o.  Joyce and I talk often, e-mail even more often, and despite the fact that she is 17 years older than I, well…we could be sisters, and not having one, I am just amazed that the she feels the same way.  But, I hadn’t been to her house (near Los Angeles) to visit since Paul and I were engaged, in late December 1982. Yep, EIGHTY-two.   As hubby was making reservations to travel to Arizona for the family trip that followed my teaching engagement, he realized the best connections were through Los Angeles, and he could overnight there and he and the boys could visit Joyce.  That got ME to thinking that *I* needed some sister-time, too.   So I booked my extra days at the end of the family trip so I wouldn’t be stressing about the teaching.   Oh what a JOYFUL STAY!

In the picture above, we are sitting in her wonderful garden, sipping wine and enjoying her doggie on the first evening (remember, this is LA, land of perpetual spring weather).  Her house is several blocks back from the Los Angeles bay and has this awesome view:

And nearby, she and her friends go for breakfast on weekends at Cafe Milan, a local coffee house that serves some food, and is their home away from home. It was such a treat…I’ve been hearing about Inge and Susan and Judy and Frances for years, and got to meet all but Judy…. What a wonderful bunch of fun and vibrant women!

There were a few entertaining signs in this little mini-mall / enclave… I don’t think they were intended to be quite this hilarious, but I had to share.  First, from the dentist’s office:

and the multi-purpose medical (?) care clinic on ground level:

And I just have to share one of my favorite things from Joyce’s house…I’m not sure if this stove was original to the house, but I SO want one just like it!   She and my brother had it fixed up, it works like new, and OH it has a soul!  Whooda thunk it, I have kitchen-range-envy!