Wonder Wall
Morning, noon and night, the halls of the Armory are abuzz with creativity as locals of all ages take advantage of the Center’s extraordinary art class offerings – from studio photography to Photoshop, collage making to animation, letterpress printing to drawing, painting and ceramics. These classes are in fact so synonymous with the institution that... More
Altadena Shangri-La
To transform her Altadena yard into a restorative garden retreat, writer Annie Retamal called upon Melinda Joy Miller, a permaculture expert, feng shui master and healer who is the author of a new book, Shamanic Gardening: Timeless Techniques for the Modern Sustainable Garden (Process Media). Miller and her daughter Kim Colwell, also a feng shui... More
Citizen Jane
As a child in London, Jane Goodall carried a torch for Tarzan and dreamed of becoming a female Dr. Doolittle, so it’s fitting that another children’s adventure story – Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go! – will provide the theme for this year’s Rose Parade, starring Dr. Goodall as Grand Marshal. The world’s most... More
Eye Spy
For Paola Russo, style is all about the mix. “I like to mix culture, art, fashion, different textures…” says the Tunisian-born, French-bred, Los Angeles-based retailer who made her name as a buyer for cutting edge West Hollywood retailer Maxfield and is now the visionary force behind Just One Eye, L.A.’s current cult fashion obsession. An... More
Bag Lady
How do you make simple things interesting and chic? This is the question bag designer Clare Vivier asks herself each time she sits down to create a new piece, and it has guided the evolution of her line since she first fashioned her own leather laptop case, finding no stylish options available. Since launching in... More
Seeing Stars
Since it was built in 1904, astronomers and scientists have been documenting the mysteries of the cosmos at Mount Wilson Observatory. It was here, in the Angeles National Forest at an elevation of 5,700 feet, that famed astronomer Edmund Hubble first observed that the universe was expanding and that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is... More
Coming Clean
It might be tempting to dismiss detoxing as just the latest health fad or a California cliché that’s easy to poke fun at, but the truth is, in this age when the air we breathe and the water we drink are contaminated with dangerous chemicals – to say nothing of the processed foods we eat... More
Desert By Design
Some architects want their work to be admired; John Lautner wanted his to be experienced. “He designed from the inside out,” says interior designer and hotelier Tracy Beckmann. “He wanted you to feel.” Beckmann and her partner Ryan Trowbridge opened the Hotel Lautner, a small boutique property in Desert Hot Springs, last September after a... More
Food For Thought
Steve Rudicel grew up at the historic Zane Grey Estate, a rambling 18,000 square foot Mediterranean-style mansion in Altadena, the former home of the famed Western novelist. When his father died in 2004, Rudicel, a restaurateur who owns The Press in Pomona, and his girlfriend Gloria Putnam, a trained physicist who works for Kodak, moved... More
This Side of Paradise
A secluded hillside haven just above Sunset Boulevard, Bel Air is one of the world’s most prestigious – and private – communities. It’s a place populated by movie moguls and former presidents, where property values only go up, never down. Like its namesake, the iconic Hotel Bel-Air also wears its luster more discreetly than its... More
Hot Child in the City
I owned the 45 of “Hot Child in the City” in 1979, when I was 12 years old. I played this record, Nick Gilder’s one hit song, on my Panasonic stereo, in my room with the shag rug and the big headphones that I also listened to AM radio on into the wee hours. I... More
Our Cinderella Moment
Last Saturday night, my dear friend (and very talented artist) Bettina Hubby and I found ourselves riding a shuttle bus up to the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, which previously I’d only seen in that absolutely mad bowling scene in “There Will Be Blood.” This black tie “Ball of Artists” was LAXART’s closing event for... More