wall detail -- koreatown

I took an early morning walk around the block the other day. The blocks here in Koreatown are quite large, and they’re crammed with apartment complexes. At first glance there isn’t much to see — just building next to building next to building…

But if you start to look closer, any number of interesting things begin to emerge…

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palm bark #2

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know one variety of palm tree from another. Some grow tall and slender, like a flag pole, with a tuft of leaves at the very top. They sway side to side at the slightest breeze, and one wonders how they stay standing. They look like you could push them over with your hands. Others are short and stout, thick in the trunk, and they look like you couldn’t knock them over with a truck.

Some have a basketweave trunk, others are smooth, with regular rings that I assume are growth rings that resemble the joints in bamboo stalks. These often have incredible abstract patterns in them that I find irresistible.

When I’m engrossed in these patterns I could care less about names or descriptions. I’m in a visual space where words and names mean nothing. These subjects reach out to me from a realm where words don’t apply. It’s a place I like to be.