There’s a pretty good chance that you’ve observed the temperate climate of Ojai and how it lends itself to a verdant and rich display of agriculture throughout the Valley. Citrus and avocado groves blanket much of the landscape and in the downtown streets Ojai central, a surprising number of yards also sport a variety of fruit-bearing trees, bushes and vines.

A number of the yard and publicly planted fruit trees hang over sidewalks and roadways drooping heavy at times with a bounty of unpicked fruit. This is where the guys at Fallen Fruit come in. Essentially a public art collaboration, originally conceived by David Burns, Matias Viegener and Austin Young, it began by mapping fruit trees growing on or over public property in Los Angeles and other cities. This fruit, they determined, was up for grabs by anyone who passes near or neath it on the sidewalk or street and dares to reach up and pick it. Oranges, lemons, loquats, grapes and pomegranates all make an appearance in Ojai’s downtown blocks their newest map reveals.

Lisa Casoni of the Porch Gallery 310 E. Matilija St. and co-founder, along with Chris Ritke and Uta Ritke, of the newly formed Ojai Art Festival noted in an email to me:

“We are working with Fallen Fruit from Los Angeles in two different ways.  One is a neighborhood infusion that will soon be distilled here in Ojai right before the festival begins on November 7, and the other is a map that they have produced of Ojai called Fallen Fruit of Ojai.  Here’s information about them on our website,” Casoni stated.

When Lisa gave me a copy of the map, it opened my eyes in a whole ‘nother way. Now on my bicycle rides and walks, heck even driving around, I’m suddenly more aware of the trees and peoples’ yards. Further as a progenitor of face-shaped Ojai art, its pretty cool to me that the map drawing looks like a head. I like that the maps by Fallen Fruit aren’t exhaustive, rather focusing on a few streets in a local neighborhood. Ojai’s new map is bordered by Shady Lane and Signal Street on the east and west and by Grand Avenue and Ojai Avenue on the north and south.

The kicker comes down Thursday evening Nov. 7, 2013 at the Ojai Art Festival’s opening at the Porch Gallery which will also include works from photographer Enrico Natali. Also featured at the gallery will be several artists who have been juried into the Ojai Art Festival. At this point we’ll all be able to handle paper copies of this map and get our thirsts all over this neighborhood infusion. My understanding is that it is some sort of rye and mulberry mixture Lisa dreamed up with Jorge at OBC. Can’t wait to get my kisser up close and personal with a few thimblefuls of that. MMMMM AHHHH.

Hello My Dear Suspicionists,

As you may have considered might potentially happen again, here we release this wonderful episode of the Don’t Look At Me podcast. We being me.

After a brief encounter, I met my guest Reed Fish again while on a glass cleansing gig recently. He and his wife Liz were there taking identically placed but differently lit triplicate photographs of this beach house that was to go on the market. I learned that some software stitches the photo’s together in a way that evens out the lighting, or some such Trompe L’oeil-ish technique that’s good for selling houses. We all visited for a bit. I’d already had a look through the couple’s website thefishesloveyou.com. Have a look, I like it.

We’d collectively been summoned to this Ventura keys vacant two-story by Lila Francese of Ojai Home. She is in the business of staging and prepping homes for sale on the market. Clean windows and quality photography are a part of that process. I asked Lila about the Fishes and she told me Reed had written a movie and it’s available to instant stream on Netflix. The movie is aptly titled “I’m Reed Fish,” and stars Jay Baruchel and Alexis Bledel. I enjoyed it. You may too.

Reed and Liz are new to the Ojai area and I feel they bring a fitting creative vibe to the region. I was happy to have Reed over to The Bar N and visit with me to record this episode. He also mentions that he and Liz joined the Ojai Valley Lions Club.

Oh and finally, I’ve just donated to Liz Fish’s Indiegogo campaign to go to Ukraine for Kiva.org. So check that out.

http://vimeo.com/72323073

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For the past few weeks, the Ojai Totes by Chris T. Wilson have been sold out at Rainbow Bridge. Some friends, Christie and Hajdeja came down from Fog City and helped dye up a bunch with me and the BooBoo.

I cracked open an indigo dye kit and we took our first dips into the world of the this most famous natural dye-stuff. Watch for a post on that process in the future. It was a cool experience on a hot day and offered fun, beautiful and stunning results. Let me suggest that if you have friends visiting, spending a day playing with color can be a most wonderful way to enjoy each other’s company.

I did this new Squeegeelution based design incorporating the King of POP Michael jackojai Jackson. Interestingly, Window Cleaning Resource dot com who recently signed a licensing deal to run with the Squeegeelution Design in building a decorated clothing, accessory and product brand.

Now they are trying to push other window cleaners to be creative designers too. I like that because it inspires me. Here’s a few of the designs I’ve dreamed up over the weekend.

So how would you redesign and create your own version of the Squeegeelution. If you come up with something, email it to me.

I saw on the Bart’s Book facebook page that there was this cool old Jazz At Ojai poster from 1984 that was super cool finger paint like simple drawing which I’ve just learned was by a jazz and art loving accountant Lyn Stewart.

So, I tagged this up a bit in photoshop, chopped, smudged and clone stamped my way to a new look for this old friend. Mister Ojai Face appears.

Well, this had to happen eventually. Saturday morning seems like a good time to make fresh Ojai Face design. Enjoy Edgar Allan POJAI.

A few months back, I was at a local watering hole with my friend Joe who you may know from Ojai Healing Movement and the advertising place mats you see in the restaurants around Ojai, and we’re sitting there yucking it up and there’s a handful of Ojai’s resident recording artists sitting a few tables away and among them is this adorable blonde smoking cigarettes and laughing and going on with these guys. And it came out that this young lady is known as Lissie.

I had not heard of her, which isn’t that surprising since there’s a lot going on these days and this little Valley is in a constant state of change. But I went home that night and googled her up and thus began my fascination with this rising musical superstar.

Fast forward to last week. I had made a few requests to our favorite ukulele strumming, surfing science teacher Jim Bailey, to get me with some podcast guests, and what do you know? Well, he hooked it up proper and put me in touch with Lissie and she said “Yes.”

So I went over to her place and we sat on the porch and visited for a few hours. Now, I could take hours to go through our two hour conversation and edit it down, but instead I just leave it as is in all of its glory to let you decide which parts to edit out, skip over. I suggest listening to the whole thing. Get inspired by this driven, confident young woman. We cover a lot of ground and the conversation bounces around a bit, but ultimately I really enjoyed this one a lot and I hope you do too.

Thanks for checking it out. You can hear Lissie perform when she hosts the Beachwood Rockers Society at the historical Deer Lodge roadhouse on April 6, 2013. Check the link for details.

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Since the mid oughts when I created my first Cafe Press store and brought the Ojai Face into existence, the desire to print, publish, fold, spindle and mutilate the word OJAI has driven me to the edges of prurient folly.

Recently, I’ve been taking iconic images from pop culture and esoteric symbology then skewing, warping, pasting, blurring and sharpening the Ojai Face onto them. Perhaps you saw the GONZOJAI tribute to Hunter S. Thompson.

I present to you the PSYCHOJAI. I love this. The whole concept of merging and recreating recognizable art from a themed word that in itself is unusual enough to form a recognizable face shape that can be plastered all over things. Obsessed much?

so then there’s the next one.

It’s a little corny to me to call this Baphomet Ojai or BAPHOJAI. It harkens to my love of the mysteries, the arcane, the magickal, occult and esoteric. This spirit is alive and simmering in Ojai, I’m sure. Betwixt the Theosophists and some of the more eccentric yogis, I’m sure there’s tens of people who’d smile at this design.

I’m putting them in the store.

My upper Ojai neighbor Rain Perry swings by the barn to folk things up a bit. We shoot it about family, songwriting, and Keanu Reeves. I heard Rain perform last year at the Ojai Art Center Jammin’ series. And its one of the few times in my life when live music actually got me misty eyed. It was something about her warm inviting accessible sound and then these simple poetic emotionally layered lyrical melodies. Truly amazing.

It’s good to get to know her better. I wash Rain’s windows and I’d like to wash yours too. Learn more about Rain on her website. And send her some dopamine bursts by retweeting her @rainperry and liking her facebook statuses. Here’s a link to her reverbnation.com page. You can hear all the songs that I play on the podcast here. I believe her version of Let’s Get It On is the best cover of that song EVER.

Enjoy the show.

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