The Mossletter 33

Hello Friends,

After a long hiatus, I'm back in the studio, and I'm also back in the e-saddle (giddy-up)! 🏇

Kick your shoes off, set a spell — this one's going to be a longer entry (& I don't want to bury the lede here ...)

I've got new artwork to share! 🎨

🌞 The City Of Angles

I moved down to Los Angeles in 2009, and after sixteen years (!) of living in this sprawling mecca of diversity, art, entertainment, cuisine, sports, music and culture — I finally feel like I have some perspective on one of the greatest cities on earth*. (*On that note — congratulations to the LA Dodgers for securing back-to-back World Series titles!) ⚾️

To be honest, it's been years (too long, really) since I've stood beside a trusty (and now a bit rusty?) easel, pouring my heart out and swishing around my guts with a paintbrush ... But alas, this is where I returned. And the last time I did this, well, to quote Billy Joel, "... when I wore a younger man's clothes ..." I did indeed see the world differently back then ... I saw people differently ... I saw art differently. I am now a husband and a father ... I'm not going to go into detail about where I began, but rather more where I am now.

Maybe it was getting laid-off from my software job at the time ... maybe I just missed the high of creating things, where anything and everything can (and probably will) go wrong ... maybe I just had to get these images out of my head and onto a surface (in reality, it's probably some combination of the three) — nevertheless I decided to take on a little mini-series of paintings in honor of some of my favorite things about Los Angeles and some distinct memories I've had here — and I call it The City of Angles (see what I did there? 😉) I think that title works on multiple levels; people come to L.A. not just for the warm weather, hiking and theme parks — but lest we forget, Los Angeles is a city of dreamers ... a city of builders ... a city of artists ... a city of doers ... Heck, you might even say that everyone here ... has an angle? 📐

So my angle with this series was to return to simplicity. After all, if you asked some luminaries what they thought of simplicity?

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci

or perhaps

“Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” — Steve Jobs

So what did that mean for my paintings? Some questions I had to ask myself:

• How can I do "more with less"?
• How can I restrict the number of colors that I use in my palette?
• How can I simplify compositions to the point where shapes and lines and elements are balanced and interesting enough to "do the talking" (instead of filling the composition with needless complexity)?
• How can I leverage "negative space"?
• How can I "suggest" things in a painting (instead of just spelling it out)?

So that's where my head was when I painted this series, and here’s where I landed ...

🌴 Sunset Palms

Sunsets in L.A. just hit different. While they may not happen everyday — Angelos are often treated to a kaleidoscope of sherbet-like colors in the sky as they drive home from work or play. Chances are pretty decent they also may be cruising down a street that happens to be lined with the silhouettes of tall, elegant palm trees. When both of these are viewed together? It’s a bit of magic.

One fun thing I did with this mini-series (and I plan to do more of this moving forward) was to "document my process" ... On their respective pages, I go in-depth into the inspiration behind each piece, and I tried to take pictures at pivotal stages of the artwork's development. You'll see how I worked analog > digital > and back to analog again (and I guess, now that they're scanned, they're back to digital again?) in my weird-o process. 🤓

If you'd like to glimpse the "behind the scenes", click the button below each painting (like this one):

🌈 Rainbow Cart

Hard-working street vendors of every stripe & background are the lifeblood of Los Angeles. You can find them in cozy neighborhoods, busy intersections, or at just about every park, concert or sporting event across the Southland. While many are good — the colorful fruit stands might just be my favorite (if you ask an Angelino what words pop into their minds when they see one, some might say “fruteros”, some say “mango carts”, some may say “rainbow carts”, others think of “pico de gallo”, etc.) On a trip to one of these glorious institutions, I fell in love with the shapes, the colors and the patterns — & I wondered what it would look like if I tried to deconstruct elements of this experience* … (*Side note — is it even possible to be in a bad mood while you’re eating freshly chopped fruit slathered in chamoy & Tajín? Spoiler alert: I don’t think so.) To this day, even if I don’t pull over & stop to have one of these sweet, salty refreshing treats on a sunny day — merely driving by these vibrant carts never fails to put a smile on my face.

🍸 Poolside Martinis

This one is dedicated to my lovely wife, Grace. During our first year of dating, on a typical warm summer day in L.A. — we decided to hang out at the pool in her apartment complex. I thought, “You know what would make this absolutely perfect? Lychee martinis …” So I gathered the ingredients, mixed the drinks & sure enough, on that typical warm sunny afternoon — while our bank accounts may have been next to nothing — we certainly felt like a million bucks (& fyi, the drinks turned out quite well, thank you). So well, in fact, that a couple of years later — we served that same drink at our wedding reception. Salud!

🎼 Ascending Melodies

Have you ever experienced a concert at “The Hollywood Bowl”? Yes, the parking is abysmal (pro tip 1: just take the shuttle) and yes I know, the concessions are pricey (pro tip 2: bring your own picnic & wine if permitted for that show). However, when you finally get there (& you take it all in), you realize the place is pretty incredible. We’re blessed to have seen many shows there: from The Roots to Stevie Wonder — the venue definitely attracts top-tier talent. But to me, the real magic happens out in the open air … LA is one of those places where you can hold outdoor events (pretty much) year-round, and it’s kind of hard to put a finger on it — but there’s just … something … about that bandshell under the stars … I wanted to capture a unique relationship: the one taking place in real-time between the musicians & the crowd & the heavenly bodies — there’s a different kind of energy brewing, & it takes all three groups to build a brand new celestial body — one that exists only for fleeting moments — and then dissipates into the night sky ...

📝 New Website / Blog

If you haven’t yet clicked through to any particular painting pages, I’ve also got a brand new website + blog (all-in-one)! My site is still at micahmoss.com — but it’s been moved over to Ghost (I did this for several reasons, including supporting a bootstrapped / open-source project, etc — but the end result is that now my blog, email newsletter and website are at all the same place.) 🆒

🖼️ New Print Shop

On that note ... did I mention I also now have an online "print shop"? If you'd like to own reproductions of any of the above pieces, you can now order high-resolution prints of them (in many different formats and sizes here):

🌱 Giving Back

If you visited my print shop, you may have noticed a small detail (that is very important to me):

The name of the company is “The Good API”, & they plant trees in Kenya on our behalf. They even provide real-world verification of trees planted by sharing certificates every month.

In my shop you’ll see badges like these for every item (& if you click the little “i” button, you can learn more about how it works):

So why partner with a service that plants trees? Well, this is for many reasons …

1. I feel like this is a cause every human can get behind (or at least they should)! Not to get too preachy here, but we only have one chance with this planet … let’s each do our part, shall we? 🌎
2. Trees have a lot of personal significance for me:
   1. I was fortunate enough to grow up in The Redwoods of Northern California / Southern Oregon 🌲
   2. Fun fact: after high school, I spent a summer working for the U.S. Forest Service (Can confirm: Smokey is still working hard to this very day! 🫡 🐻)
   3. I proposed to my then-girlfriend (now-wife) at the majestic General Sherman Tree* (*the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth!) 💍

So yeah — trees rule!

(... and you rule for reading all the way to the bottom!) 👑

I'll see you in the next one! ✌️

🖋 Parting Words

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction. — E. F. Schumacher