I’m keeping it short with this post because a lot of projects are swirling, but I wanted to share my most recent commission: a house portrait for my friend, Vi. This gorgeous San Francisco home was a joy to paint, and at 10 x 15 inches, it’s also the largest watercolor I’ve ever done. I thought I’d enjoy working on the various potted succulents the most, but as it turns out, the colorful brickwork was probably my favorite part to paint. I was excited to finally present it to her last month. I’ll be working on another piece for Vi next. Keep an eye out for that, and in the meantime, watch my socials for a series of posts showing timelapses of this painting as it came into existence. (psst… I’m on TikTok now!)

This week I finished a third commission for a friend of mine. I pondered a few different titles but decided on “Destination: Home.” The first two paintings I did for her were representational watercolors. One was of Campbell’s historic water tower, and the other was of her former home. This time, Jenny requested an abstract in the same vein as “Firsts and Beginnings,” a mixed-media painting I did when I returned to making art after a long break.

This one took me months to complete.

I remember “Firsts” taking long as well, but at the time I placed the blame on being out of the habit. I was rusty back in 2016 when I painted it. I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in over a decade, and while I had been studying graphic design on and off during those in-between years, I had to refresh my memory on the technical aspects of painting and on the construction of mixed-media art. I also just had to feel comfortable creating freely. There was no assignment; I was no longer in school. I only had an internal desire to represent where I came from and where I saw myself going in one painting.

I didn’t sketch or draw thumbnails in preparation for Firsts. I just went at it, which could have been another reason it took so long. I painted over every inch of the canvas a few times, layering and re-working until I felt the ease that only a sense of gestalt brings. 

For “Destination: Home,” I had notes from a conversation with Jenny about what she wanted. She loved the colors and abstract quality of Firsts, so I tried to keep those elements similar for her painting while integrating elements that were personal to her. As I explained in an earlier blog post, Jenny and her husband left California to purchase their dream home. Unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, their already-late honeymoon plans to visit Greece, Venice, and London were on hold indefinitely. Suddenly their new home became their honeymoon destination.

So for this painting, there was a sort of assignment. I referenced my notes to brainstorm concepts and sketched out several different compositions in the sketchbook I reserve for planning abstract pieces. I put together a mood board full of inspiration using Adobe InDesign, including colorful photographs from the places they had wanted to visit. I tried my best to visualize the piece before starting. I tested acrylic paint colors and collected various materials like fabric, watercolor paper, magazine clippings, and twine.

All of this didn’t save me any time once the paint started going down! I still found myself layering, scraping, removing, re-gessoing, and reworking as much as I had in Firsts, if not more. Yes, there was added pressure of making something for a client and not just for myself, but beyond that, I was reminded that sometimes art just takes time. To be clear, I wasn’t actively working on the painting for months; some days and weeks I allowed other projects to take priority, although I always had it visible on my workspace. I’d walk by it every day. Some days, looking at it made me frustrated. Other days, I’d get ideas while showering. It was always on my mind in some way.

I’m still relatively new to doing art as much as I am now, and I’m certain I’ll gain at least a little production speed in the years ahead, but I truly believe there’s value in experimentation and in taking enough time to get something right. For me, slapping paint onto canvas in under an hour, even with some personalized details thrown in, would be inauthentic. This is not to say that other artists can’t create incredible abstract work quickly; there are certainly many who can, and they’re among some of my favorite artists. But for me to attempt that would feel contrary to my personal style. I think the process of iterating and letting a piece evolve will always be something I do. I live for well thought-out detail. 

As a viewer, I love discovering the little Easter eggs artists leave in their pieces. My favorite work in the history of art comes out of the Northern Renaissance, when artists like Hieronymus Bosch and Jan van Eych filled giant altarpieces with mind-blowing detail. In school, we’d spend days studying a triptych like “The Garden of Earthly Delights” to cover the overall story the work depicts as well as each tiny symbol interspersed throughout the composition. We’d learn about the current debates on the artist’s intent and purpose for creating the piece. Back then, it probably would have been quite clear to viewers what the artist was saying. Today we can be as explicit or as guarded as we like in our art.

While I’m not aspiring to include nearly as much detail and symbolism as the old masters did, I do have reasons for making Big Ben peer out at the viewer through a semi-transparent green brick. I do have reasons for making a rock pile morph into the Santorini hillside. These reasons might be completely obvious or they might take a viewer a while to realize. Or they may never be apparent at all, which is okay too. I might make a choice based purely on design reasoning. Abstract art is fun that way. When you’re finally done, it can simultaneously be exciting and terrifying to show others the finished piece. Will they see what you intended them to see? Will they see something completely different that you didn’t anticipate at all? Will they see something better than what you had in mind? These are all possibilities, and you never really know until you put it out there. 

My hope is simply to produce work that is visually appealing but that also has the potential to get people thinking, wondering, and looking closely. The next time I embrace the challenge of another mixed-media abstract, I’ll remember not to expect a quick turnaround. I’m lucky Jenny was always flexible with the timeline and let me do what I had to do. She probably doesn’t know it, but she’s definitely helped contribute to my development as an artist, and I’m very grateful for that.

Shout out to my husband Van for making a beautiful walnut float frame for this piece. Thanks Van! 

Last year, a few of us from East Valley Artists’ plein air group ventured out to do some socially-distanced painting. We met at Nola’s Iris Garden located up Sierra Road in San Jose. The owners, Nola and Gary Prevost, have always been welcoming to artists; I’m told East Valley Artists has had art shows there in the past, before I was a member of the club. 

We were at Nola’s a bit too late in the season to see many flowers in bloom, but we did have an amazing view of the hills from the deck where we set up. I think this was only my second attempt at painting en plein air, so just like an antsy cat trying to find the perfect place to nap, it took me quite a few passes walking back and forth along the deck before settling down at my chosen spot. The much more experienced painters around me were already halfway through their paintings by the time I started, but that was okay. I was planning on finishing my piece at home anyway, so I made sure to take some good reference photos for later and then painted what I could. I didn’t put pressure on myself to finish anything; I was there to enjoy the day and the company of my friends. We chatted about art and cats and whatever else. We shared long moments of completely comfortable silence, totally absorbed in our work.

As the painting progressed, I fumbled and painted over some areas multiple times. Oil is a new medium for me, and I’m still getting used to it. I love it though. As someone whose painting experience has mostly been with watercolor, I find working with oil to be such a satisfying contrast. The rich color and viscosity is so fun to work with. For me, the biggest challenges with oil right now seem to be making the right color choices at the right times and getting comfortable with layering.

When I finally finished the painting, I chose to title it “Nola’s View.” Then, last month, when EVA’s Artist of the Month competition rolled around, I realized I hadn’t entered it previously, so I decided to submit it. To my surprise, it won second place!

I’m looking forward to doing more painting outside in the near future, especially while the weather is good. I have my sights set on Alum Rock Park next – it’s an East San Jose gem that is practically in my backyard. As California’s oldest municipal park, it also has a very interesting history, which I’ll explore in an upcoming blog post.  

Nola’s View is available for purchase here, and prints are coming soon! Join my mailing list for updates. 

I got my pins!

As a big fan of local history, I was excited to see The Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PAC*SJ) offer these pins commemorating many of the one-of-a-kind vintage neon signs we have here in San Jose. They’re available on the PAC*SJ website individually or in sets of 4.

These pins take me back to a walking tour and photo crawl I attended in 2015, organized by PAC*SJ and led by local photographer Josh Marcotte. Josh is the 4th generation of his family to live in San Jose, and he works under the creative alias Lost San Jose. (If you haven’t seen his stunning photography of all the gritty details of the city, I highly recommend checking out his work and supporting his effort to document our rapidly-changing landscape). The tour’s focus was a cluster of San Jose’s neon signs – all of which are likely well over half a century old. We toured Midtown, including stretches of Bascom Avenue, West San Carlos Street, and Lincoln Avenue. Tour attendees were encouraged to bring a camera, and I’m glad I did. Although I don’t consider myself much of a photographer, I jumped at the opportunity to capture images of each sign myself. There were so many – and several of them I’d never even noticed before. It was a satisfying experience to slow down, admire, and appreciate each example of skilled craftsmanship and design.

Ever since the tour, I’ve been wanting to dig a little deeper into the history of these signs and the long-standing businesses attached to them. That desire has strengthened now that I’ve witnessed several of them close permanently. Family-owned Western Appliance is a prime example. At the time of its closure in 2020, the company had been in business for 147 years. The beloved San Jose store opened its doors in the 1930s, and its sign dates from 1962. It is a crowning piece in the PAC*SJ pin collection. The giant sign originally had bright, blinking lights at the tip of each tine, but they were removed early on because they were too distracting for drivers passing by along Highway 17 (“Western Appliance History”).

Time Deli was another business with a fantastic neon sign. Unfortunately, they too have just closed permanently after having served the neighborhood for 67 years. An attorney known for filing thousands of ADA lawsuits sued the business for ADA violations in 2017. The owners decided the required renovations would be too costly for the business. (Pizarro, “Iconic”) For now, the clock still stands. It actually predates the business, which chose its name because of the sign (David).

During our walk, Josh pointed out that it may not be a total coincidence these signs are all within walking distance to one another. But in order to understand one of the possible explanations for their proximity, it’s worth looking back at San Jose’s history of rapid growth and its approach to annexation. After World War II, San Jose was in a rush to grow its tax base, as many American cities were (Guevarra). Anthony P. “Dutch” Hamann was appointed city manager in 1950 to take the lead on expansion. He shared the city’s desire to grow, and was motivated by his own vision of transforming San Jose into “the Los Angeles of the North.” Hamann’s strategy involved aggressively annexing areas that were the easiest first, regardless of whether or not they shared a border with the city. His effort to expand was so strong that the office dedicated to annexation was known as “Dutch's Panzer Division” – a reference to Hitler’s panzer tank divisions that rolled all over Europe during the war (Christensen).

One of the ways Hamann persuaded outside landowners who may not have wanted to join the city otherwise was by creating a sewage monopoly. San Jose was at the center of “The Valley of Heart’s Delight” because of its dominance in fruit canning, but by mid-century, it desperately needed a new sewage system that could handle all the waste from the canneries and support future growth. Hamann made that happen early in his career as city manager, and landowners realized they wouldn’t be able to build on their land without adequate sewage service. He also predicted where large shopping centers were likely to develop and annexed narrow strips of land along the major roads and intersections that led to those areas. This allowed the city to collect sales tax revenue from the businesses once they developed. Between 1950 and 1970, San Jose approved over a thousand applications for annexation. For context, only 47 annexations had occurred in the 100 years prior. (McKay, Creason-Valencia)

As a result of this unconventional expansion method, Santa Clara County wound up with hundreds of tiny, detached “urban islands” of land that were surrounded on all sides by San Jose. These unincorporated pockets have always been interesting to me. I grew up in one on the border of the Alum Rock and Berryessa neighborhoods (which seems to have been annexed sometime after I moved), and today I live in another one a few blocks away. Even though our address is written as “San Jose,” we don’t have the San Jose Police show up at our door if we call 911 – we get the county sheriff. Our trash is picked up by a different company than the one that services San Jose. And there are, of course, minor differences in ordinances between San Jose proper and Santa Clara County. Most people wouldn’t recognize that these pockets are different just by looking at them. In fact, some new residents don’t even realize until after moving in that their home isn’t technically in the city (Kifer).

The county didn’t keep records on these urban islands until the 1990s, when it decided the patchwork of pockets was becoming too much of a strain to service. They initiated an island annexation program with an aim to ease incorporation of the pockets into San Jose or neighboring cities like Campbell. If you refer to a current map of San Jose’s city boundaries, you’ll still see several urban islands. (Uncheck the General Plan 2040 layer and zoom out to see the city boundaries). As perforated as the map might appear today, one can only imagine what it looked like at the height of the expansion craze. As recently as 2005, there were still 180 separate islands. The effort to incorporate the remaining islands continues today, although it’s a cumbersome process, and at times there’s pushback from residents who want to keep their neighborhood’s unincorporated status. (Guevarra)

As San Jose’s boundaries started moving outward, the city began passing strict ordinances on the types of lighted signs that businesses could use. That change meant businesses within the San Jose city limits were forced to update. (Marcotte) Sadly, as trends change and as hand-crafted, labor-intensive works of art tend to do, these signs probably fell a bit out of fashion toward the end of the 20th century anyway, so many business owners likely didn’t resist when asked to trash their old-school neon signs – especially in cases where the owners were new and had no attachment to them. I’m sure many local historians would tell you that San Jose hasn’t had the best record of preservation throughout its history.

And yet, it wasn’t always desirable for businesses to update. As you may have put together by now, much of the Midtown area is unincorporated. Because city ordinances didn’t apply to businesses in unincorporated areas, many of the signs there remained intact. (Marcotte) Other businesses found workarounds to the ordinances. Western Appliance, which had its storefront within the city boundaries, is one. On first glance it looks like its huge neon sign is mounted to the roof. But if you’ve ever stepped inside the building, you might have noticed that the sign’s legs shoot straight through the ceiling and plant themselves directly into the ground. This was done intentionally to avoid San Jose’s 1960’s ordinance restricting rooftop signs (David). Other signs may remain because the business owners simply refused to comply with updated ordinances. In neighboring Campbell, for example, Paul De Grande stood his ground and wouldn’t take his sign down without compensation from the city. The sign stayed up until after his death when the family sold the business. (Marcotte)

One of my favorite stops on the walking tour was Westside Billiards. I love the star, the giant 8-ball, the irregular shape containing the text, the typeface and color choices. It’s not something you’d see a pool hall put up today. The sign is probably as old as the business, which dates to about 1947. The lights in the star blink when the sign is working, and the 8-ball is likely a later addition. (David) An image similar to the one I took above popped up in the San Jose History Facebook group of which I’m a member. The person who posted the image wanted to know more about the history of the hall. For one thing, it had tables for snooker – a different game than pool. A few people commented that the famous pool player “Fast Eddie” Pelkey played and worked there. Someone posted a screenshot from an SFGate article published at the time of Pelkey’s death, which states he was the inspiration for the “Fast Eddie” character played by Paul Newman in the film adaptation (and sequel) of the Walter Tevis book The Hustler. There’s debate about that assertion, however – apparently a few different men could have been the inspiration. Eddie Pelkey is certainly one possibility, but others claim the Newman character was based on another “Fast Eddie” – Eddie Parker, or other pool pros like Ronnie Allen or Ed Taylor (Dyer).

Luckily the hall was open while we were on our walk, so I got some great shots of the counter seats inside. When I took the photos, I thought the fun and colorful upholstery mirrored the mid-century look of the sign outside. I should have known by the great condition they were in, however, that they were not original or even very old. A couple of comments in that same Facebook post mentioned the hall was a film location for a 1989 Whoopi Goldberg movie called Kiss Shot. I looked it up, and sure enough, the made-for-tv movie was filmed in San Jose. You can see the inside of Westside Billiards in one of the early scenes. It’s clearly the same place, but the counter seat upholstery is different. (Kiss, 14:00 - 14:35)

Another fun sign I noticed as we walked down West San Carlos Street was for Y Not – an eye-catching design which dates to the mid-1960s. Originally made for a bar, it’s now a sex shop that rather cleverly took on the same name in order to continue use of the sign. It’s been altered slightly from its original form, but it was done in a way that preserves the essence of the sign. It once lit up in a three-phase loop to reveal a red martini glass at the center of the “Y.” Where it now says “open” at the top, it used to read “cocktails.” (David)

Whereas some businesses have been thoughtful in upkeep, renovation, and reuse of their signs, others along our walk unfortunately stood out as examples of how not to do it. Public Auto Wholesale seems like it missed an opportunity to give an incredibly fun lighted sign new life. I was actually a little sad when I looked at this one long enough to realize the original business name might have been framed by a more interesting irregular shape, just as the Westside Billiards and Y Not signs were. But the truth is, proper restoration and maintenance is not always feasible, especially for small businesses. Thinking back to the Western Appliance sign, although it’s one of the largest, it was still amazing to read that it would cost the business at least $5,000 per year, not including electricity, to maintain it (David).

One sign that we did not see on the tour, but that could stand on its own as a symbol of San Jose, is the one for Orchard Supply Hardware. Originating in 1931 as a co-op for farmers, the store grew to include hardware and housewares in addition to gardening supplies (David). I remember going to our local store on Alum Rock Avenue with my dad as a kid. Back in the dark ages before the internet, home improvement DIY-ers and gardeners like him relied on the expertise of employees working in stores like Orchard for tips and advice. I think he and many of his generation still lament the days when you could walk out of a hardware store with more knowledge than you had walking in. To many, however, Orchard was even more than that. In the decades prior to my dad and I ever having stepped foot in one, farmers relied on Orchard to provide them with everything they needed to produce the fruit that put San Jose on the map.

In 1947, one of the first Orchard Supply Hardware stores opened on West San Carlos Street. The store was not very visible from the main road because it sat right where West San Carlos begins its ascent over Los Gatos Creek and several sets of railroad tracks. Driving by, you might have missed it if it wasn’t for the colorful roadside sign, complete with a giant red arrow pointing down toward the building. Although Orchard would go on to open dozens of other stores, the neon sign at the West San Carlos location was the only one of its kind (David). 

After decades of success, sales slowed and a series of ownership changes followed. All Orchard Supply Hardware stores closed in November 2018 (“Orchard Supply Hardware”). After the West San Carlos location’s closing, its neon sign mysteriously and abruptly disappeared. Everyone who had been paying attention to preservation of these signs feared the worst (Pizarro, “Orchard”, del Castillo). I remember wondering to myself: Did someone take it down and trash it without realizing its historical significance? Or worse, did they just not care? Weeks went by, when finally local news outlets reported that the sign had been found! Apparently a misguided citizen tried to save the sign from destruction by taking it down himself. Amazingly, no arrests were made; it was determined that the person who took it did so with good intention. The sign sustained some damage during the botched rescue effort, so it went to San Jose’s History Park for repairs and eventual installation at its new home there. (Wadsworth)

Fast forward to the strange days of mid-pandemic lockdown last December, and the organizers San Jose’s annual Christmas in the Park tradition converted it to a drive-through event at History Park. I quietly experienced a moment of joy as we came to the end of the drive-through and I caught a glimpse of the original Orchard sign, all lit up to greet us near the exit.

Back on the walking tour, Josh also mentioned San Jose’s current General Plan and how it would likely affect the future of the remaining signs. You can read all about the upcoming changes to zoning in the Envision San Jose 2040 Plan. From the Plan:

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan sets forth a vision and a comprehensive road map to guide the City’s continued growth through the year 2040. The Plan includes land use policies to shape the transformation of strategically identified and historically underutilized Growth Areas into higher-density, mixed-use, urban districts or “Urban Villages” which can accommodate employment and housing growth and reduce the environmental impacts of that growth by promoting transit use and walkability. This land use strategy, in combination with progressive economic and environmental policies, will guide the City toward fulfillment of its future vision.

Within the Envision San Jose Plan, there is a General Plan Land Use Map that shows West San Carlos Street is slated for some big change over the coming years, including several of these new “Urban Villages” described above. The landscape will change dramatically as the new vision for neighborhoods like these begins to take shape.

So what will become of San Jose’s older businesses as fresh new development comes in around them? For those that still have them, what will be the fate of their quirky signs? These are important questions. The signs are valuable for a number of reasons. They give us a nostalgic feeling; they remind us of people we love and experiences we’ve had in the past. They’re also unique works of commercial art made specifically for each business. Most importantly though, they are stepping stones that lead us back to the time before we became Silicon Valley. We were known as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight” because of our dominance in the fruit packing industry. San Jose’s Orchard Supply provided farmers with the tools and materials they needed to produce the fruit that went to the canneries. Western Appliance served the many new residents who were flocking to the area. And where did the cannery workers likely unwind after their shifts? Perhaps at Westside Billiards to play snooker or at Y Not for a drink? What I’ve come to realize at the end of this short investigation is that these businesses and their signs are all valuable pieces of San Jose’s story. 

Luckily there is a strong effort going on right now to get many of these signs landmarked, which would keep them a part of San Jose’s skyline permanently. I finally became a member of PAC*SJ this month, something I should have done a long time ago. The nonprofit organization is actively working to educate the public and save our historic buildings (and signs). If you share my perspective on the importance of saving what we have left from our past, please consider supporting in whatever way you can – follow PAC*SJ and the San Jose Signs Project on social media, share posts and stories, attend events, become a member, donate. As San Jose enters a new phase of rapid growth and development, I think it’s in our best interest to preserve what is left so we can continue sharing our history with generations to come.

To see future posts on San Jose history, subscribe to my blog or join my mailing list.

Works Cited

Christensen, Terry. Interview with Tricia Creason-Valencia, Director/Producer. Changing Boundaries: The History of San Jose. Norman Kline Productions, 2015, [45:00].

Creason-Valencia, Tricia, Director/Producer. Changing Boundaries: The History of San Jose. Norman Kline Productions, 2015.

David, Heather. The San Jose Signs Project, A Guide to the Vintage Signage of San Jose. Preservation Action Council of San Jose, 2017.

Del Castillo, Amanda. “Beloved Orchard Supply Hardware sign disappears from oldest retail site in San Jose.” ABC7 News/KGO-TV, 7 Nov. 2018, www.abc7news.com/missing-orchard-supply-hardware-sign-stolen-san-jose-osh/4643986/.

Dyer, R. A. Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red, and America's Great Age of Pool. Muf Books, 2003.

Gafni, Matthias. “Serial ADA lawsuit filer striking Bay Area.” East Bay Times, Bay Area News Group, 10 Apr. 2016, www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/04/10/serial-ada-lawsuit-filer-striking-bay-area/.

Guevarra, Ericka Cruz. “Why Does San Jose Have So Many Urban Islands?” KQED, 2 Feb. 2017, www.kqed.org/news/10953849/whats-it-like-to-live-in-an-urban-island. 

Kifer, Cassie. Secret San Jose: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure. Reedy Press, 2020.

Kiss Shot. Jerry London, Director. CBS Television, 1989. YouTube, uploaded by reelblack, 24 Jul 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpStk9L9Muc. 

Marcotte, Josh. Interview. Conducted by Sarah JL Nguyen, 26 Apr. 2021. 

McKay, Leonard. “Dutch Hamann - Part One” San Jose Inside, 16 Jan, 2006, www.sanjoseinside.com/news/dutch_hamann/.

“Orchard Supply Hardware.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Apr. 2021, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard_Supply_Hardware.

Pizarro, Sal. “Iconic Time Deli to close in San Jose,” The Mercury News, Bay Area News Group, 11 July 2017, www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/11/iconic-time-deli-to-close-in-san-jose/.

Pizarro, Sal. “Orchard Supply Hardware’s vintage sign has disappeared from San Jose store.” The Mercury News, Bay Area News Group, 6 Nov. 2018, www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/06/orchard-supply-hardwares-vintage-sign-has-disappeared-from-san-jose-store/. 

Wadsworth, Jennifer. “Police Recover Missing OSH Sign.” San Jose Inside, 17 Jan 2019, www.sanjoseinside.com/news/police-recover-missing-osh-sign/. 

“Western Appliance History.” Western Appliance, www.westernappliance.com/our-history/. Accessed 15 Mar 2021.

“Western Appliance is Closing!” Western Appliance, www.westernappliance.com/western-appliance-is-closing/. Accessed 15 Mar 2021.

More Reading 

About PAC*SJ: https://www.preservation.org/about

Updates on neon sign preservation: https://www.preservation.org/neon

On urban islands:
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/Programs/Islands/Pages/UrbanIslands.aspx 

Argument to annex urban islands by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO):
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/DocsForms/Documents/UrbanIslands_MakingYourCityWhole.pdf 

2040 General Plan Land Use Map:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/citywide-planning/envision-san-jos-2040-general-plan/land-use-map 

2040 General Plan Diagrams:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/citywide-planning/envision-san-jos-2040-general-plan/special-diagrams 

2040 General Plan Planned Growth Areas Diagram:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument?id=22559

Addresses

Mr. T’s Liquor Locker (not shown): 900 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95126

San Jose Radiator: 665 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95126

Westside Billiards: 1050 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95126

OC McDonald: 1150 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95126

Western Appliance: 1976 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95128

Y Not: 1933 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95128

Time Deli: 349 S Bascom Ave, San Jose, CA 95128

Burbank Theater: 552 S Bascom Ave, San Jose, CA 95128

Orchard Supply Hardware: 720 West San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA 95126

History Park: 1650 Senter Rd, San Jose, CA 95112

All images copyright Sarah JL Nguyen, 2021.

Today I finished a commission for my good friends, Jenny and Art, who are moving out of state. They had many happy years in their Campbell apartment and wanted to remember it. The trees in front of the building were also significant to them, so we chose a composition that would feature them as well.

When I agreed to the commission, it was still winter and the trees were dormant. Jenny asked if I could possibly paint the trees in bloom – come springtime, their crowns would burst with bright white blossoms. I said I would try, knowing full well how much I rely on my reference photos to get all the details as close as possible to the real thing. My photos didn’t show a single flower or even a green leaf, but I figured I’d be able to come up with a solution somehow.

I mentioned the project to my friend and colleague, Julie Cline. She’s been a keen observer of all kinds of plants since she was young, so I thought she might be able to clue me in on what type of tree it was. Then I could look up images of the tree online to use for reference. I should have guessed that Julie would know EXACTLY what tree it was, even down to its interesting history. These were Bradford pear trees. They start off small, exhibiting cute lollipop shapes, which made them a favorite for city planners. As they age, however, they turn into giant monstrosities that can’t even support their own weight. You can see the tree on the right of my painting verging toward that fate – multiple heavy limbs are growing so large, they’re likely to break off eventually.

Sometime after my conversation with Julie, I found out it helped spur one of her own blog posts. In it, she writes all about these trees and goes on to discuss how our expectations for various things in life – trees, growing children, and even new electronics – are not always what we would like them to be. It’s a really great read, and I encourage you to check it out.

After learning about Bradford pear trees from Julie and after reading her post, I realized my friends’ attachment to the two trees in front of their apartment could also teach us something about expectations and imperfection. At first I thought Jenny and Art wanted to remember the trees for their beauty, for a pleasant scent, or for some other romantic reason. This was not the case at all. Jenny told me later that they had affectionately nicknamed them “the poop trees.” Guests were always instructed not to park under them because birds loved hanging out on their branches, snacking on the tiny fruit that these trees aren’t even supposed to produce (but often do). Maybe the trees’ irregular shape didn’t bother my friends, but the birds inside them sure did! And yet, it was one of those details worth remembering about the place they lived in for so many years. It was something that might have been quickly forgotten as they settled into their new home, in a new neighborhood, with plenty of space for parking.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to create this painting for my friends. They now have a way to remember the home where they entertained friends and family, where they watched their kids grow up. My hope is that it will help them remember it completely, imperfections and all.

Click above to play a time lapse showing how I painted Heritage Village Lane.

This month I have the pleasure of working on a two-painting commission for some friends of mine. I say pleasure because of the fun subjects, but really it’s bittersweet because these friends are moving out-of-state! They asked me to paint a couple of local spots to remember their home in Campbell, California. 

This is the first of the two paintings. It’s a street view of the Campbell Water Tower – a recognizable landmark to anyone who has taken a stroll through Downtown Campbell or driven by the small city on Highway 17. It stands on 1st Street at Orchard City Drive and can be seen clearly day or night. It’s well-maintained and well-lit at night – even lighting up in different colors for different occasions. Now empty, the tower exists today as a symbol of Campbell’s agricultural past. 

If you don’t already know this about me, I love learning about local landmarks and history, so I jumped at the chance to do a little digging and share what I found out about this tower and its significance to Campbell.

The Campbell Water Company was established in 1892 as the city’s first utility, serving Campbell’s residents and farmers with fresh water. It became increasingly important in the city’s early days of development. The tower site originally housed a much smaller, single tank, which was later replaced by a pair of wooden tanks.  The 1906 earthquake destroyed those two tanks, but within a matter of months, four 20,000-gallon tanks went up in their place. Only a few years later, a flood in 1911 damaged the four still-new tanks. Repairs saved them and they were used until 1928, when the Company invested in the current 75,000-gallon steel tank made by the Pittsburg-Des Moines Steel Company. Sitting on a tower at one hundred feet off the ground, it’s easy to see why it became Campbell’s landmark soon after it was erected. (Watson)

The Company also sold surplus water for irrigation, which was crucial for the farms that were starting to plant fruit trees in the area. As many San Jose and Campbell residents know, the Santa Clara Valley was a major producer of fruit from the late 19th century well into the 20th century. Campbell in particular became known as the “Orchard City” early on in its history, and for good reason. Fruit produced in Campbell could be distributed all over the state, country, and world thanks to its location along the railroad. (Watson)

Campbell was home to several fruit packing canneries during those early years, but from what I can gather, the major players at the start were J.C. Ainsley Packing Company and George E. Hyde and Company. The Hyde family cannery operated in a plant located right next to the water tower. Those buildings still stand today. If you’ve ever enjoyed watching videos of the inner workings of factories (I still remember Sesame Street’s classic clip about how crayons are made), you can read detailed descriptions of how the machinery worked in a 1921 issue of a publication called Canning Age. My favorite part was the description of the “syrup room”:

The syrup room is located directly over the syrup machines. There are two rooms used exclusively for storing sugar. The syrup room is located between these two rooms. Sugar is elevated to the storage rooms by means of an elevator built by the company, Rex chains being used in this construction. In the syrup room there are two round-bottom cooking tanks each having an open coil pipe 1 inch in diameter. Sixteen blending tanks are also located here, the syrup being delivered from these tanks to the syrupers by galvanized iron pipes. This room is sanitary throughout. The walls are painted white with ample facilities for natural light provided by wired glass windows extending along two sides of the room.

The Hyde plant processed many types of fruit grown in the valley, including peaches, pears, and apricots. Apricots in particular were a bit of a gamble to grow as they are particularly sensitive if the temperature dips below freezing. To combat this, farmers used smudging to help prevent loss during unexpected bouts of cold weather. This involved an alarm that would wake farmers and their wives when the temperature became dangerously low. Everyone would rush out to the rows of fruit trees and light small cans that had been previously filled with oil to bring the surrounding temperature up. (Watson)

The Hyde family canning business went under in the early 1930s (Bowdidge). In 1937, the plant was sold to Sunsweet, who used the space for warehousing its dried fruit (Packing Houses of Santa Clara County). That same year, Sunsweet also teamed up with fruit growers in the area to form the Campbell Cooperative Dryer. Campbell earned bragging rights when the co-op built the world’s largest dehydrator. (Watson) And so the old Hyde building stayed in use for dried fruit production until 1971, when the building was converted for retail (Donato-Weinstein). 

In addition to their involvement in the fruit canning industry, the Hyde Family also owned and operated the Campbell Water Company beginning in 1918 until it merged with the San Jose Water Company in the late 1970s. The San Jose Water Company transferred ownership of the tower property back to the city in 1994, at which point Campbell turned it into a park named for the Hyde family. (Vongsarath)

To learn more about the water tower and the golden age of canning in Campbell, including more great early photos, check out the reference material linked below. 

You can also subscribe to my blog or join my mailing list to stay current on my work and the research that sometimes comes with it. Next up: painting two of this commission – the front of the Campbell apartment my friends called home for many years. 

Works Cited

Watson, Jeanette. Campbell, the Orchard City. Campbell Historical Museum, 1989.

Vongsarath, Chris. “Historic water tower stands tall in Campbell.” The Mercury News. 26 March 2009.

“George E. Hyde & Company.” Packing Houses of Santa Clara County, 2020. https://vasonabranch.com/packing_houses/index.php?title=George_E._Hyde_%26_Company

Donato-Weinstein, Nathan. “Historic Campbell building changes hands.” Silicon Valley Business Journal. 4 September 2013.

Bowdidge, Robert. “How Much Is That Cannery II: Hyde Cannery.” Robert’s Vasona Branch Blog, 4 March 2013, http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-much-is-that-cannery-ii-hyde-cannery.html?m=1 

“Canning Peaches in the Santa Clara Valley: A Description of the Production Methods of the George E. Hyde Company at Campbell, California.” Canning Age 2, vol. 7, August 1921, 9-16.

Images

Office & Whse. [warehouse] #1, George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

1920, Canning Tables, George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Syruping Machines, 1920, George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

pears label: Standard, George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

peaches label: Second Standards Brite-sun (Forieng), George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

apricots label: Choice Grade all fruits, and stamped Sunnyside in all prune boxes 25#, George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

fruit salad label: [GEH Brand Fruit Salad label], George E. Hyde & Co. Canning Operations, 1915-1921, BANC PIC 1982.069--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

All other images copyright Sarah JL Nguyen, 2021.

I have a thing for lines. Power lines in particular have always been interesting to me. I find myself following the cables with my eyes and studying how sun-stained or vandalized the poles are. I see rusty old staples popping out of the weathered wood and wonder what the discarded sign someone once posted used to say. Growing up in East San Jose, power lines and poles were always part of the landscape. From my perspective, it was nearly impossible to view the golden hills that were right beside us without a pole or a cable dissecting them. Sometimes they’d slice up the view of the sky, depending where you were standing.

I’m still relatively new to the practice of doing art full-time, and so far I’ve been exploring two seemingly distinct styles. One has been very dark and abstract, with sharp, radiating lines that probably take some influence from my study of graphic design. In those pieces, I often incorporate segments of the cosmos: the milky way, far off nebulae, or simple starry night skies – segments that provide texture and an interesting pattern, but that also (I hope) provoke a bit of contemplation and wonder. The other style is in sharp contrast to the first: bright watercolors depicting recognizable street views in my neighborhood, and even some more traditional landscapes taken from county parks outside the city limits. These paintings are straightforward and exist to celebrate some of the lesser-known areas of the South Bay.

This year, I want to explore merging those two styles. Though they’re very different, one overlapping visual characteristic of each has been the use of lines and geometric shapes. Sometimes they’re only implied by sidewalk curbs or pathways in a landscape, but they’re always there, taking you somewhere. There are probably countless ways to push my local landscapes (and perhaps other realist subjects I like to paint) into the abstract. I’ve decided to start by introducing the various graphical elements and/or glimpses of the universe into the local landscapes and street scenes I’ve come to enjoy painting. Hopefully these new paintings will highlight the geometry that exists in the natural world around us in some interesting ways.

Here’s a little peek over my shoulder as I finished up the lines in this painting, titled Absence and Presence.

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I took a bit of time off in December. By “time off” I mean I didn’t paint, didn’t create content for my website, didn’t post to social media. But when you’re a creative person, you never really stop producing. My focus simply shifted from Crossing Light Studio to other projects, like drying orange slices, finishing a small knit throw I started years ago, and figuring out a lighting upgrade in my workspace. But the main project I tackled was a Christmas gift my husband Van and I made (er, semi-made) for our toddler – a new play kitchen.

BACKGROUND

I wasn’t raised in any church, so I’ve always celebrated Christmas in a secular way with a focus on family, friends, food, tradition, reflection, and creativity. That last one may seem unexpected to you, but if you think about it, most of us practice a bit of creativity at Christmas in some form. We find innovative ways to use up the last piece of wrapping paper, we bake and decorate cookies. We decorate a lot of things actually – from the tree to entire rooms and front yards. For me, creativity has always been a central part and one of the highlights of Christmas (or of any holiday, really). My mom, sister, and I have been known to spend almost as much thought on presentation of gifts as the gifts themselves, and we always try to produce handmade gifts when we have the time and energy.

I have a 2.5-year-old, and this is the first year he really seemed to get some of the concepts of what we do for the holidays. Well, mostly. He did tear into a present or two even after repeating verbally “we should wait until Christmas to open it,” but that just prompted me to keep the rest of his gifts hidden, which I had planned to do anyway. He’s also become quite interested in pretend play. He makes us coffee and scrambled eggs at a small plastic hand-me-down play kitchen that our friends gave us. So for his main gift from Mom and Dad this year, I decided he would probably be excited to receive an upgrade. Growing up, I know the play kitchen we had was one of our favorite toys for a long time. And to be honest, I’ve had a vision for DIY-ing a play kitchen since before he was born.

PLANNING

Pinterest – everyone’s favorite source for creative DIY inspiration – was naturally instrumental in helping me devise a plan for this play kitchen. Through many late-night browsing sessions I discovered that there was a whole world devoted to customizing the IKEA DUKTIG play kitchen. Some people redid it to match their real kitchens, others simply chose more palatable colors, and others still added wallpaper or custom decals purchased on Etsy (yes, there are shops that sell stickers and accessories specifically for changing up your IKEA DUKTIG play kitchen).

Originally I wanted to make this an upcycling project where we would find free hardwood furniture like an old tv hutch or two nightstands and transform them into a play kitchen. But after scouring Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor for several weeks without finding anything that seemed right, the DUKTIG solution became more and more appealing. If I could semi-DIY the actual kitchen, I’d have more time and energy to accessorize and fill it with goodies. So we purchased the IKEA kitchen and kept it in the box in the garage for a couple of weeks while I decided on paint colors.

DESIGN

I based my design heavily on one by Kandis Marino of Kandis Marino Photography, although we opted to keep the upper portion of the kitchen intact instead of converting it into a microwave with floating shelves. We also added a fridge made from the small BILLY bookcase with OXBERG door, similar to what Jamie Leigh Miller did on her blog. A complete list of all products I used in this project is at the bottom of this post in case you’re interested in replicating any or all of this.

I went with the same antique white paint that Kandis used; it looked nice and warm against the natural wood color. We used this for all the pieces below the counter and for the white pieces surrounding the microwave. We also sprayed and under-mounted the sink. Then we splurged and tried this gold paint, which I was quite happy with. In the past I’ve tried various gold spray paints and was never satisfied with how they came out. This one was just the right tone and sparkle – a relief since it was so expensive. We used the gold to paint the faucet, handles, and little hooks that came with the play kitchen. We gave all surfaces to be painted a good scrubbing with sandpaper and did 3 coats with sufficient dry time in between.

I loved the way Kandis used natural cane webbing on the inside of the microwave door, but I didn’t want to order a sheet of the stuff just for that. Instead, I found some woven placemats at a thrift store that looked similar enough and were the right color to match. Did you catch that? Yes, if you’ve read my previous blog posts, you’ll know I’ve been avoiding any trips to the thrift store even though I love it so. Thrifting during covid times is not an essential activity. But I made an exception for this project and took one trip to Goodwill to see what I could find. I knew one trip would be sufficient to find at least a few things at a good price. More on that below.

I ordered round knobs from Amazon to add to the stove (yes, I know there are only two burners, but four knobs look better!) and I also attached them to the sides of the kitchen and fridge for hanging baskets and an apron. I contemplated replacing the IKEA handles with wood ones, but I opted to stick with the existing ones and just spray them. If you’re trying this yourself and decide to change them, I did see in my research that you can swap them with another handle as long as the screws sit five inches apart. Just be sure to choose handles that are wide at the base; the kitchen has large countersunk holes that are pre-drilled to fit the stock handles.

In some examples I saw, DUKTIG renovators made a replacement countertop or placed a cutting board over the stove for a cleaner, all-wood look. I nearly went that route, but I knew my kid would love the light-up burners of the stove. I’m happy with my decision – so far, every time he uses the stove he remembers to turn it off when he’s done cooking, which I think is hilariously cute.

We didn’t do much to the BILLY + OXBERG combo besides adding a handle made from wood of the same color that we had lying around in the garage. The unit comes with three shelves. Had I given myself some more time for this portion of the project, I would have scrounged some metal racks to make it more fridge-like. But that’s okay. We refer to it as a fridge, but it also acts as a cabinet for storing extra plates and things.

ACCESSORIES

This project really became a team effort when my mom and sister asked what to get the little one for Christmas. I sent some ideas and they gifted some of the details that make the kitchen complete, including a set of wooden cooking utensils, a tea set, and plates made from recycled material. 

Did I mention yet how much I scored at the thrift store? I got a small stainless steel bowl, two woven wood salad bowls, the aforementioned placemats that I cut up and used for the microwave window, two small burnt orange dish towels that look super absorbent (I want to steal them for the real kitchen), and a bamboo container that neatly holds all of his new kitchen utensils. 

I sourced other things online, like a set of small white melamine plates from eBay that fit perfectly in the upper shelf, a stainless steel pitcher from IKEA, and the DUKTIG pots & pans play set, also from IKEA. I knew I wanted to hang some small baskets on the side to hold some felt fruit and vegetables I had made previously, and finding the right ones proved to be harder than I had anticipated. I ended up buying a set of used Longaberger handmade baskets from shopgoodwill.com. They cost me a whopping $15 for 3. (In case you didn’t know, Goodwill makes a bunch of their more desirable stuff available for sale online.) I strung some thick ribbon I already had through the gaps in the baskets and hung them on the side. I did have to wedge them in under the knobs a bit to keep them from falling off. A proper hook would have worked better.

So that’s about it for this project. It was the biggest thing I took on in December, and probably the most fun. It was almost as fun as watching the little guy react to it on Christmas morning.

Below are the items I used for this project. Please note some of the accessories were things we already had and may no longer be available. If I missed anything, leave a comment or send me an email. And if you create your own kitchen inspired by this one, please share! I’d love to see it.

PRODUCT LIST - kitchen

Kitchen – IKEA DUKTIG Play kitchen

Fridge – IKEA BILLY Bookcase and OXBERG Door with custom handle made from a 1x2” piece of scrap wood

White paint – Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultra Cover in Satin Heirloom White

Gold paint – Krylon Premium Metallic Spray Paint in 18K Gold

Material for microwave door – Woven plastic placemats found at Goodwill

Knobs for stove and hooks – Darice Unfinished Wood Ball Knob, Natural, 1-1/2-Inch

PRODUCT LIST - accessories

Apron – from Odin Parker Handmade Wooden Kitchen Tools set

Dish towels – found at Goodwill

Hanging baskets and round basket – Longaberger found at shopgoodwill.com

Play pots & pans – IKEA DUKTIG 5-piece toy cookware set

Play utensils – Odin Parker Handmade Wooden Kitchen Tools with apron

Rectangular basket – Target

Salt shaker – from Melissa & Doug Prepare & Serve Pasta Set

Stainless mixing bowl – found at Goodwill

Stainless pitcher – IKEA MÅTTLIG Milk-frothing jug

Tea set – Plan Toys Classic Tea Set

White melamine plates – set of 6 Laguna Melmac 6” plates found on eBay

Wooden canister for play utensils – found at Goodwill

Wooden coffee cups and milk carton – from Melissa & Doug Wooden Brew & Serve Coffee Set

Wooden fruit, cutting board, and knife – this was a gift, but there are similar sets on Amazon

Wooden mixer – Hape Mighty Mixer

Woven wood salad bowls – found at Goodwill

Just a quick note to say I made a thing.

If you’re like me, you’re practically counting the days left in 2020.

Celebrate the end of the worst year in recent memory while beginning to let go of the stress that’s built up over the previous eleven months with this bubble wrap countdown calendar!

This year has been trying for every single one of us, and a fresh start and some optimism are things we will definitely need for 2021.

Supplies are limited (and the post office is a mess) – order yours ASAP so you can start popping on December 1st!

I have to admit. I googled “what to write in your first blog post.” I probably have 50 ideas swirling around in my head for what to write about eventually. But what should be the focus of that First one? Does it matter? Will anyone read it anyway? Should I treat it like a more detailed version of my bio page where I reveal my life story and how I got here? (My gut told me “probably not” on that one). Or, should I just dive right in to my list of ideas and ignore the fact that it’s the First with a capital F? I had way too many questions. You can see why I resorted to googling.

“Write about the one thing you know more about than anything else.” That sounds good. I could do that. I recently led my first official watercolor demonstration online for East Valley Artists and it was a hit. But does that mean I know more about watercolor than anything else? I’m not sure I even know the criteria for determining what one knows BEST.

I’m interested in all sorts of art making, and my interests span music, design, DIY, and home decor too. I’m just getting started doing art professionally. And while I’ve studied painting on and off for most of my life – and my recent demo was a definite confidence boost – I’m not sure I even want to pin watercolor down as my #1 thing.

In fact, after a decade-long career preparing patent applications and responses for submission at the US Patent and Trademark Office, what I know more about than anything else might be calculating the due date to respond to an Advisory Action or tracking cited references in a spreadsheet. I’m pretty sure NO ONE visiting a creative blog wants to read about that.

“Start at the beginning of your progression story. If you’re going to blog about parenting, write your first posts about pregnancy,” I read elsewhere. This could work. I just need to start at the beginning. Sounds simple and logical.

But where is the beginning in my case? I reflected on my goals for this blog to see if that would reveal an answer.

1) to introduce my work to the world on my own platform, with unrestricted space to describe my processes in planning and executing creative projects

2) to encourage others to think and act creatively, inspiring them to find their unique style at home.

Both of these things are ongoing processes that involve building and practice. There is no real beginning or end.

Each visitor will come with a different level of experience in art and design, and each will have a different level of familiarity with my work. This is a good thing. I hope to take each visitor wherever they are – from an experienced artist to someone just discovering the color wheel – and show them things they may not have seen or thought about before. There is no chronological order in building creative muscle.

“Write about a common problem that your target audience might encounter.” I thought about questions I’ve been asked over the years. “How do I hang this painting?” “How do you find so many treasures at the thrift store?” “Who is your favorite artist?” “Where did you develop your decorating style?” These are all questions I’d like to address in this blog at some point. But none of them seem important enough to come First. It wouldn’t feel right to make my First Post about something random. Am I building it up too much?

In the end, I just started writing. Maybe relaying what I just went through would be interesting enough. Maybe it’s a lesson in problem-solving or brainstorming. Maybe I’m just rambling. Whatever it is, I’m glad I didn’t just blindly follow suggestions I found online.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure I could have made some or all of those suggestions work. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt this anecdote could set a tone for the blog overall. I went about it in a way that mirrors my method for creating in general. Do a little research, see what’s out there, see what others are doing, then find my own path.

I hope you’ll join me as I figure out the rest!