Top Ten Reasons to LOVE Where You Live

(in no particular order) 

1. Nextdoor leads nationwide experienced negative comments and discord on their community sites during political season......not us!  Nothin but love here, pat yourself on the back.

2. Recently I met a newcomer to Santa Barbara, moved from the Hamptons to have his daughter attend Santa Barbara High School for the Visual Arts and Design Academy. ( Nationwide there are only two programs like it....)  His hearts desire is to buy a home in San Roque with his two teenage kids, why?  He has met more friendly people in 4 months than he did in 10 years on the East Coast.

3. You guys are generous, recently I sponsored a small clothing drive to benefit Care Closet at the Fellowship Club.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of gently used warm clothing donated.  Thank you!

4. In October Nextdoor held a nationwide membership drive in each of their communities, there are over 1000, San Roque was a top performing neighborhood and we won $500  to throw ourselves a block party!  I will likely get this organized in the Spring stay tuned.

5. In a recent unscientific and informal conversation with a local police officer, CRIME Is DOWN for us in San Roque....most excellent news.

6. The city of Santa Barbara posted 39 recent building/improvement permits for the San Roque area, our neighbors are improving their homes and the neighborhood.

7. The Neighborhood Garden Exchange.  See the news feed for the latest gathering and share your garden's bounty.

8.  We have an outstanding sense of community.

9. San Roque has been voted the best neighborhood many times in the The Santa Barbara Independent.

10.  Local businesses are consistently voted the best in Santa Barbara too! Chaucers, Glenda's Party Cove, Skin Deep.  

How Blessed we are to live where we do. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my neighbors!

Cosmic Noise Meets The Canvas

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting our neighbor Sol Hill for a chat and to learn more about his work. You could say Sol is a photographer and you would be correct and you could say he is an artist and you would also be correct. Sol thinks of himself as a mix media artist. Imagine the  marriage of photography with cosmic noise stretched on a canvas then brushed with varnish.  The process of blending lens based digital imaging with the gesture of the hand physically brushing texture on canvas. Cosmic noise in this context means the result of false exposure on a digital sensor coming from the influence of heat, electrical current and other "cosmic energies".  What does that look like?......... It looks like unexpected beauty.

By removing the recognizable details of a photograph and replacing them with "lyrical textural detail" Sol has found a way to produce poignant and emotional images often mistaken for paintings. By getting away from the literal he creates contemporary multimedia works of art that are truly captivating.

Sol spent his childhood bouncing around between divorced parents in nine different states.  Both of his parents are artists.  His father is a sculptor and his mother works in pencil, mixed media and ceramics.  His parents founded Hill's Gallery in Santa Fe New Mexico, one of the first significant contemporary art galleries in Santa Fe.  He reflects back on those years as a gift that gave him an unusual perspective. One that has given him very a diverse sense of spirituality, culture, and economic convention. All of which drive him in his expression through art.

Sol and his wife Cleo came to Santa Barbara in 2007, He received his MFA from Brooks Instituted in 2010. When they came to Santa Barbara they were set to live on the Mesa, until they very fortunately discovered San Roque.  It was love at first sight and they were able to land a beautifully remodeled rental for a while and have since found a place to buy.  They have a 9 year old son Luca who is in 4th grade at Peabody Charter School.  Sol told me Luca runs out of pencils at school because he is a "doodler".  Perhaps there is an upcoming artist in the Hill family?  Cleo is from Sao Paulo Brazil and they often travel there to visit her family and enjoy the rich culture.

I asked Sol about his favorite not to be missed, place to enjoy art and was happy to learn it is in Santa Monica! http://www.bergamotstation.com    Check out the website, what a great way to spend a weekend immersed in the art nexus of Los Angeles.  Enjoy the galleries, the museum and have some lunch at the cafe.

You can see pieces of Sol's work locally at the Channing Peake Gallery at the Santa Barbara County Building on Anacapa, Also at the Santa Fe Pop up gallery Called Hill's Gallery Remix, if you are in Santa Fe and In Chicago at the SOFA Art & Design Show http://www.sofaexpo.com.  He also has a home studio here in San Roque and has an open studio sale coming up.  Sol offers fine art portrait commissions in his unique cosmic noise style. Check out Sol's website to view more of his incredible collection.  http://www.solhill.com/

Would you like to be profiled in the San Roque Spotlight? Let me know.