Berkeley: A Trip
.
I went tripping this weekend in Berkeley, CA.
I mean... I took a trip to Berkeley.
Back in my Navy days - the 1970's - I was off the coast of Vietnam in a destroyer while kids my age were stomping and smoking and doping and protesting at the University of California, Berkeley - Cal Berkeley. A "hotbed of liberalism", according to the conservative sages of the day. Yesterday, I found a quiet town, much of which has gone to seed - and not marijuana or poppy seed, either.
I was there not to dis the denizens, nor to drive over any hippy leftovers from the 60's and 70's in Big Ride (although come to think of it...). No, I was there to visit a premier art supply store. I bought canvas, paint brushes, acrylic and oil paints, etc. I have the urge to paint a couple of landscapes. The interesting thing now is the restricted space I have in the 5th wheel trailer. I got an odorless turpentine substitute, and a small jar of gesso (a material used to prepare a base coat on canvas), and other acknowledgements of the fact that I don't have a room to dedicate to this project! I also have orders from my sister and from a cousin, so my creative wheels are starting to churn!
Next, a mural on the side of the trailer? Nah, that would be too... Berkeley!
I went tripping this weekend in Berkeley, CA.
I mean... I took a trip to Berkeley.
Back in my Navy days - the 1970's - I was off the coast of Vietnam in a destroyer while kids my age were stomping and smoking and doping and protesting at the University of California, Berkeley - Cal Berkeley. A "hotbed of liberalism", according to the conservative sages of the day. Yesterday, I found a quiet town, much of which has gone to seed - and not marijuana or poppy seed, either.
I was there not to dis the denizens, nor to drive over any hippy leftovers from the 60's and 70's in Big Ride (although come to think of it...). No, I was there to visit a premier art supply store. I bought canvas, paint brushes, acrylic and oil paints, etc. I have the urge to paint a couple of landscapes. The interesting thing now is the restricted space I have in the 5th wheel trailer. I got an odorless turpentine substitute, and a small jar of gesso (a material used to prepare a base coat on canvas), and other acknowledgements of the fact that I don't have a room to dedicate to this project! I also have orders from my sister and from a cousin, so my creative wheels are starting to churn!
Next, a mural on the side of the trailer? Nah, that would be too... Berkeley!
posted by Greg Finnegan @ 4:19 PM
4 Comments:
At 6:59 PM,
kenju said…
I didn't know you were a painter! Can we see samples of your work?
At 8:19 PM,
Greg Finnegan said…
Kenju, I left my paintings at home in North Carolina, and I don't have any pictures of them on the computer out here. But, I will post some progress shots of the two landscapes I am going to do as I do them. (I want to make them Christmas gifts, so the pictures of the final paintings will have to wait until January!) Should be fun!
At 5:03 PM,
brendalove@gmail.com said…
hmmmm....what really happened in Berkely, Greg? You have all these trippy references.....
'fess up.
At 7:06 PM,
Greg Finnegan said…
The only controlled substance I got, Brenda, was the turpentine substitute. They called it "Liquid Meth" or something... Smells really great.
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