Want to see Linda’s garden in Miramar? Click on the link to the quicktime movie below:
linda-m-patterson1003
Were You An El Granada Women’s Garden Club Member?
The EG Women’s Garden Club was most active in the 1960s. Yes, many of the members have moved or are gone. But something important has come up related to the club’s old accounts. If you were a member, please contact Judy at the El Granada Post Office.
(Photo by John Vonderlin)
Little Jose needs a home
Maddy, seen here with Jose at Kibbles & Gifts in Half Moon Bay, says the little guy broke his pelvis! But he loves to walk. Jose needs a home, can you help?
For info, call “Companions in Waiting: Rescue & Adoption” 650.328.0474
PO Box 213, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Scene at Flora Farm in HMB
Flora Farm Landscaping and Garden Shop is hidden away on Purisima Street, a delight to discover. The owners have created a world of their own. I wish there were more shops like this one in town.
click on image to see a bigger picture!
Sweet: The 1948 MG in Front of Us on 92
BTW: He turned off at Hwy 35.
Little Jose needs a home
Maddy, seen here with Jose, at Kibbles & Gifts in Half Moon Bay, says the little guy broke his pelvis. But he loves to walk and he needs a new home. Can you help?
For info: “Companions in Waiting, Rescue & Adoption” Call 650.328.0474
PO Box 213
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
“Hold on tight to your dreams”: Devil’s Slide Tunnel Cries Out For Music & Video
Really, do you want to drive through a long, boring, tunnel with nothing to see on the blanko walls? No stimulation? We, in the 21st century, are a strong visual culture.
I have said this before, we need art and video on the walls of the Devil’s Slide Tunnel.
MOVING images, perhaps of the Coastside’s “wonders” to come. The flowers, the beaches, the cliffs.
Who would sponsor it? How about Hewlett-Packard, Intel, etc., the “trusts” that have been buying up Coastside land, to save it from spiralling growth. With so many creative people on the Coastside, we can do it.
And I have found hope in the “Tunnel” commercial by Honda
Just what I imagine for the interior of the Devil’s Slide Tunnel—giant sunflowers on the walls, deer leaping about the walls, sunshine and the great Pacific Ocean. There’s music too: Hold On Tight by the Electric Light Orchestra.
Please check out the “Tunnel” commercial here
Happy Mother’s Day–More history than you thought
Cindy Holmboe of Half Moon Bay rightly reminds me that Mother’s Day was not originally a commercially-based event. Here’s a couple of links that give the history of Mother’s Day. Thank you, Cindy.
My dear Aunt Edith, who is in her late 90s, has been living by herself for many years–watched over by her married daughter, of course. Edith, a longtime widow, lived with her mother, my favorite grandmother, taking care of her until she passed away in the 1980s. On her own, Edith has done very well, but she has fallen a couple of times, striking her head. This is what she did the other day, and this time it looks like she won’t be able to live alone anymore. I’m telling you this because I am a great supporter of older folks who want to live on their own.
Here’s a photo of me, my grandmother and Aunt Edith, taken during happier times.
The Power of Art Comes From Her Garden: Enjoy Linda Montalto Patterson’s Compelling New Work at Moon News Bookstore, HMB
[Images above: “Spring Acrylic,” and “Kathleen,” partly inspired by the beauty of gardens.]
The new work of Miramar Beach artist Linda Montalto Patterson features pattern and movement that will please your eye palette–and look great on your walls. Ms. Montalto-Patterson’s latest paintings can be viewed and purchased at Moon News Bookstore, 315 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.
For Linda Montalto Patterson’s biography and artist statement, please read on.
Biography
Linda Montalto was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a youth, her visits to the Museum of Modern Art brought her in contact with Abstract Expressionism and the paintings of Mark Rothko. His work so moved her that she made the decision to dedicate her life to art and the pursuit of beauty.
She began her advanced studies in art on the East Coast but moved west, where she received a masters degree in art at San Jose State University under the direction of Frederick Spratt.
Ms. Montalto moved to the Mediterranean coast of Spain in 1976 with her husband, who was studying the Spanish classical guitar. There, by the sea, her palette turned brighter and she began to incorporate the vibrant use of color that remains a central characteristic of her current work. She continues to be inspired and profoundly affected by her love of nature. At her current home, a cottage on the Pacific Ocean in Northern California, Linda has created a resplendent garden that has been featured on television and in the print media. She is constantly working with the color in her garden and using these natural influences in her paintings.
Linda Montalto’s work has been shown in galleries throughout the San Francisco Bay area and group shows have taken Ms. Montalto’s paintings across the continent.
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Artist’s Statement
My abstract work is usually begun without preconceptions. I attempt to let the paintings evolve naturally. When I do begin with set intentions, the creative process usually overtakes them and the influences of my environment, the landscapes I see, my private dreams and emotions appear in the work as a kind of self-discovery.
These paintings use a process of layering, covering and then peeling away selected bits of color and information. There is movement of one color against another, a kind of force of motion that appears again and again in the work. At times, only an edge of previous color can be seen. I make choices to expose areas or veil them with washes of transparent color. The staining techniques create a richness of color and a lush quality resulting from the drips running over the canvas.
In this current series, amoeba like characters flit about the canvas expressing change, movement and the bounty of nature.
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Here’s a little interview I did with Linda last year, a walk through her beautiful garden in Miramar Beach. Click below
Remembering Bay Meadows Race Track
I wrote this story in 2000.
By June Morrall
(Photo by June Morrall.)
It was strangely silent during the off-season at Bay Meadows in the early years, the 1930’s, the ’40s,but the racetrack remained haunted with the rousing sounds of the “Sport of Kings.”
The memories saturated the air: “Here comes ‘Seabiscuit,’ the rags-to-riches people’s horse, the leading Thoroughbred all-time money winner, ridden by ‘Red’ Pollard, a one-eyed boxer turned jockey, thundering toward the finish line. In the quiet gloom, one could imagine the undulating deafening roar of the crowd from the grandstands.
The paddock was empty. The professional jockeys, remarkable athletes in miniature, wearing their colorful silk shirts, the trainers, an unpredictable lot, and their nervous equine wards, were no where to be seen. This was off-season, and they were elsewhere.
To the half-dozen kids in South San Mateo’s rural neighborhood in the 1940s, it was as if there wasn’t a soul around during off-season.
“And so Bay Meadows became our castle, our fort,” recalls Dorene Miller Pecoraro, who grew up near the racetrack founded by William (Bill) Patrick Kyne in 1934.
Describing herself as “tomboy,” Pecoraro and her friends used the racetrack as their fantasy playground.
“We pretended to hear the announcer say, ‘And they’re off’ as we dashed out of the starting gate.” When they got tired of chasing each other, the kids drifted toward the infield to watch the graceful swans skimming the ponds.
Surrounding the track were a few homes but many more flower nurseries.
“We were the only kids in the area, and we lived out in the country,” says Pecoraro, a longtime El Granada resident. “South San Mateo was definitely rural. People raised chickens in the background.”
Bay Meadows was not only a backdrop, the racetrack was an important part of Dorene Pecoraro’s eary childhood, a time fondly remembered. One of her neighbors was horse trainer Hack Ross, and her best friend’s father raced trotters and pacers. While walking through the stable area, she once encountered Johnny Longden, the legendary “millionaire jockey,” who in a later race at Bay Meadows guided home his 3000th winner, becoming the first rider in American turf history to claim that milestone.
But there was nothing rural or bucolic about Bill Kyne. His drive and ambition dominated Bay Meadows, and, he, too, entered Dorene’s life. She remembers that he was a busy man who had a nationally known racetrack to operate, but still made time for the neighbors and their kids.
While she was attending Baywood School, her mother wrote a letter to Kyne, voicing concern about the children’s safety when stepping off the yellow school bus, and crossing the street at a corner near the racetrack.
In response to the missive, “Mr. Kyne came to our house,” recalls Pecoraro. “He told my mother, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.’ And he did. One of his own men stood guard at the corner to make sure the children were safe.”
In 1954, the Manor Theater marquee’s lights announced the showing of the film, “Money From Home,” starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, the era’s sensational comedy team.
“It was a horse racing movie,” says Pecoraro, who was a teenager working at the local movie house. “I came up with the idea of doing a promotion, dressing up in authentic jockey shirts and caps.”
Dorene knew whom she could count on for help. “I called Bay Meadows and Mr. Kyne answered the phone himself,” she remembers. When ticket holders arrived for the Martin and Lewis show, young employees wearing jockey outfits greeted them.
Bay Meadows was a magnet for Hollywood’s biggest stars, and they often could be seen window shopping in downtown San Mateo.
“Betty Grable was my father’s cousin,” says Pecoraro, referring to the blonde bombshell pin-up girl with the million-dollar legs. Her marriage to Harry James, bandleader and trumpeter supreme, was one of show business’s biggest stories. A giant in the “Big Band” era, Harry James was an ardent racing fan, who owned Thoroughbreds.