Giant fork in the Road in Pasadena - I am offical blogmeister for the fork

Those of you that know where I teach my watercolor classes (The Coffee Gallery in Altadena) might realize that the phenomenon of the "Giant Fork in the Road at the Fork in the Road" in Pasadena was a stunt cooked up by a quirky group of people that hang out and work at The Coffee Gallery.  Since I was not an actual builder of the sculpture of the fork, and have some computer skills, I have been asked to build and maintain the "official blog" of the Giant Fork in the Road.  So if you have a hankering to know what is going on with the Fork, just go to the Fork in the Road Blog.

Giant Fork in the Road in Pasadena

I have a varied life that includes more than just making art, and after you read this post, you will realize that I also have friends that are marginal wackos.  Just my kind of people.

You see, as a birthday prank for a friend, a group of artists and other locals with too much time on their hands worked hard to provide a fitting tribute for a 75th birthday party.  And since the birthday boy had wanted to see a fork in the road at the fork in the road where Pasadena Ave. divides into St. John and Pasadena Ave., that is exactly what they built (be careful, the split streets are one way, but Pasadena Ave. south of the split is 2-way).

All of 18 feet tall and set in over 400 pounds of concrete, we will find out if the city can live with it or will feel compelled to tear it down.

I will be talking a little bit about the fork this coming Saturday, November 7th 2009 on the Off Ramp Radio Show on KPCC.

John Rabe of the Off Ramp radio show has blogged about this, and will be including posts of new info as it occurs - there is supposed to be a video, but I haven't seen it yet. 

John Rabe's blog is at:  http://www.scpr.org/blogs/johnrabe/2009/11/02/jrblog-giantfork/


And Now for Something Completely Different:

Tonight is the last class of the last series of Watercolor Classes - next week I will be starting a new class and there is still room available, so you can still sign up.  We meet at the Coffee Gallery in Altadena.

Short Class before Christmas begins week of November 2nd

I will be having a short Class in November and December, starting the week of November 2nd. Since everyone is going crazy this time of the year, I decided to have the classes during this time be 5 weeks over a 6 week period. Both the Monday Evening Class and Wednesday Afternoon Class will be available on this schedule. We skip the week of Thanksgiving, and finish before Christmas. Since you are only signing up for 5 classes, the cost is lower than usual, just $105 for the series, and if by some miracle you don't miss any classes, I might charge you for the 6th class, or it might just be your Christmas present from me.

Get ready for new Watercolor Classes beginning September 26th, Saturday Afternoons

If you want to learn how to paint in watercolors in an intimate setting in Altadena, sign up for my new Saturday Afternoon class. We meet at 2:30-4PM in the conference room at the Coffee Gallery, located at 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena. Contact me at 626-791-0851 for info - or donna@barnesroberts.com - or my website

One of my students got in Watercolor West!

Congratulations, Terry Swanson who will be part of the Watercolor West show at the Riverside Art Museum. She is one of my Monday evening watercolor students.

"Sketching in the Garden for Beginners" at Smith and Hawken Pasadena

On July 11th at 11AM, I have been asked to lead a short workshop entitled "Sketching in the Garden for Beginners" at the Smith and Hawken store on South Lake in Pasadena.

We will be doing sketches with pen/ink, pencil and a variety of color media, to encourage people to really look at what is in their garden. And we will do it on postcards that you can send to your friends or even acquaintances. No pressure - just fun.

Saturday Watercolor Classes begin July 18th?

"Clam Bake" Original Watercolor by Jody Berges Painting Completed in Class with Donna Barnes-Roberts
Yep, yet again it is time to sign up for watercolor classes taught by me at the Coffee Gallery in Altadena. And you can see some of my student's work this month in the conference room.

Here is the scoop: I teach small (no more than 6 students per class) watercolor classes that teach you the nuts and bolts of watercolor and how to get it to behave for you. Plus other artistic issues like composition, exhibition issues, all the good stuff.

You don't have to know anything to start, and I can even provide materials for a small additional fee. That is one of the great advantages of a small class.

Each class meets for 8 weeks and costs $175 for the session. The Saturday afternoon class goes from 1:30-4PM and begins July 18th, or possibly later when I have enough people actually sign up to start. YOU can make this happen!

If you have any questions, please email me with your phone number and I will call you to discuss additional issues, how to sign up, etc. You can even pay using a credit card through PayPal.