by Carolyn Blais
Photos by Nikki DeVries

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. Read the whole story »

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. Read the whole story »

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.
Read the whole story »

by Nancy Accomando

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, former 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 paintings “primitive abstract mixed-media” paintings (oil, water-based, and acrylic paints) by pouring colors from atop a jungle gym ladder onto canvases below. Read the whole story »

In 1890, William Jennings Bryan pontificated his way into historical relevance by proposing a monetary standard based on silver. Experts roundly condemned Bryan’s choice in precious metal as ridiculous, and further derided his selection of pocket-watches. “Brings out his stomach roll,” said one oft-quoted but rarely cited Yale scholar. Eighty years later, Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon decided he’d had it with gold, and promptly sent the treasury off into the vaguely mystical land of arbitrary value. Things seemed okay for a while. Read the whole story »