Maybe you haven’t heard (though judging by the throng of people cruising along Gallery Row November 12th, you probably have), but downtown L.A. is the place to be the second Thursday of every month. On this ever-so-special night, galleries are open later for people to peruse the latest exhibits and just generally get their culture on.

No matter what your artistic taste or preference, there was something for everyone to enjoy on Saturday, November 14th and Sunday, November 15th at the Santa Monica Fine Arts Studios. Once a year the studio opens its doors to the public for an open exhibit and silent auction, and this year Forth was lucky enough to be there and take part in the action.

It’s been a while since I’ve lost my mind in Venice Beach, but even longer since I had ridden along the entirety of the bike-path. Six years, to be exact. Back in those days, I was crashing at my brother’s boardwalk pad — a glaringly pink building in the dirty heart of it all. We were writing a screenplay about getting lost in Italy that never came to fruition – like so many other hopes and dreams before and since.

After the success of the 2008 HBO Emmy award-winning documentary, “The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale”, (which documented his slow and shaky rise back to the top of the art world) Connelly is being honored with a retrospective of his work.

I was walking down Main Street on the night of the November 12th Downtown LA Artwalk and came upon this show. The exhibit was at the Arty Gallery, 634 S. Main St. The artist featured was the Co-founder , past president and CEO of Aaron Brothers Art-Marts, Len Aaron. He usually sells his work between $500 and $5,000. This evening he was having a “Recession Sale” , some selling for as low as $50! He calls his paintins “primitive abstract mixed-media” paintings (oil, water-based, and acrylic paints) by pouring colors from atop a jungle gym ladder onto canvases below.