I made it to The Great Wall of China!!!!! Avoided the massive tourist crowds by trekking out to one of the further sections of the wall at Mutianyu 慕田峪, which is one of the best-preserved, and oldest parts of the wall. There was a brief rainstorm, and the whole place cleared out completely. Hiked all the way to the top of the mountain, past old watchtowers and right through the rain. Can’t believe I finally made it here!!!
Usually this blog is all about art. But, as some of you may be aware, I got my start in journalism working as an editor and a writer for various magazines and newspapers before I moved into the art and design fields. But I’ve always kept up with my writing, taking on side projects over the years. Recently I’ve started to get more involved with writing again.
I launched the blog CULTUREVIXEN.com late last year, and we’re up and blogging strong with a small team of talented writers. CultureVixen is a stylish insider’s guide to the best of contemporary creative culture, covering art, food, travel, design, style, and entertainment. I also put together a full writer’s website showcasing my writing samples at GOGAYLE.com. I’m currently working on integrating all my sites together at the moment, but as you can imagine it’s been super busy, busy, busy!
Then yesterday, I was featured on CAKESPY.com, named a favorite food blog by Gourmet.com and Saveur Magazine, and featured in Sunset magazine. I’ve long had a passion for food, and a soft spot for desserts, so the article on the Danish bakery scene in Solvang, California was just up my alley! I hope you have a chance to check out the new article, and the new sites! Happy Friday!
-Gayle
Lights was so much fun last night! She’s a bundle of pop goodness, and she has a very cute personality—very cool in concert. Anyway she sounded great, and looked awesome playing her keytar and pink keyboard. For her final encore song, she played this acoustic version of “February Air”:
Wheatley_Lights1.jpg "LIGHTS! life")
Wheatley_Lights2.jpg "LIGHTS! life")
Wheatley_Lights3.jpg "LIGHTS! life")
Wheatley_Lights4.jpg "LIGHTS! life")
Wheatley_Lights5.jpg "LIGHTS! life")
Wheatley_Lights6.jpg "LIGHTS! life")
My Halloween illustration this year (see post below) was completely inspired by our halloween personas created for the Muse Halloween Costume Ball at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The ball was filled with elaborate, creative, clever costumes. My personal faves were a beekeeper with bees affixed to the outside of his bee suit, a venus fly trap whose plant parts encircled his head, Rainbow Brite, Clark Griswald with a squirrel on his back from Christmas Vacation, Green Lantern, Moses and the Golden Calf, and space travelers with full sized astronaut bubbles…I need to get one of those next year so I can recreate one of my paintings and have my floating goldfish inside around my face! Anyway, it was a blast! 
Spent a perfect Sunday afternoon in the park at the impromptu Vampire Weekend concert today. It was amazing!
I got to see Tori Amos live at the Greek last weekend for her Sinful Attraction Tour. She was amazing as usual. She performed a handful of songs from Abnormally Addicted to Sin, plus a slew of classics like China and Cornflake Girl, which was awesome! She’s so great in concert!!
photos via She Looks Like Eva‘s flickr site
I just got back from an amazing, mind-blowing, life-changing, fantastically incredible vacation in Iceland!!! I have always felt a strong pull to Iceland’s isolated strangeness, and have longed to travel there for quite some time. I finally decided to take the journey, and it ended up being one of the best trips of my life!!!
I love Icelandic art, from it’s stunning visual edginess to it’s bright modernness. I adore Icelandic artists and musicians, and was inspired by so many of the classical and contemporary artists working out of Reykjavík, as well as so many other things: stellar design, colorful architecture, fresh & sustainable food, animals that weren’t the slightest bit wary of humans, beautiful Icelandic horses & of course the people of Iceland.
And I was especially influenced by the many diverse landscapes I encountered! It all felt otherworldly, like I was exploring another planet at times. From bubbling geothermic mud pots, to the blue lagoon, to farms full of frolicking goats and sheep, to glacial lakes covered in jumbo icebergs, to black lava sand beaches, to quaint fishing villages located on fjords, to steaming volcanoes, to immense lava fields & craters, to the Arctic Ocean, to vast wildernesses of bouncy moss, to the thousands of waterfalls and rainbows– and of course the midnight sun that never set.
In short, Iceland inspired me. It changed me, charmed me, and recharged me. Artistically I’ve been flooded with new ideas and have been working on a couple of new series inspired by Icelandic landscapes and my experiences. This is the first piece in my series:
Iceland, Abstracted: #1
Watercolor on Paper
2009
Also I’ve got thousands of photographs to sort through still, but will post some soon once I get though them!
Skál!
(cheers in Icelandic)
I’m traveling around Iceland right now, and it’s truly AMAZING!!! I love it!! This is definitely one of my favorite destinations in the world. This shot was taken in Reykjavik at midnight! Lovin’ the arctic sun!
I drove up to Santa Barbara this afternoon and ended up getting evacuated because of the fire.
It moved in so fast, and all of a sudden the sky was black all around and above. When I was leaving, to my horror, you could see the whole city burning, right downtown and in the hills too, all engulfed in bright red flames upon the mountains and burning right on top of homes 
Strange purple clouds over a green ocean…
the glow of a fire sunset
Today is a beautiful day, and the sun is back after such a long night.
We did it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [gasp!]
And with that, we are a new America. Everything has changed. BARACK OBAMA is the president elect and for the first time ever we have a minority in the highest office! This is so incredible and for those of us with immigrant roots and minority backgrounds, it’s truly inspirational!! I am so happy and so excited for the great things to come!
Just returned from Sin City, from a lovely few days of luxurious indulgence. Afternoons were spent lounging poolside and succumbing to daily shopping frenzies. Food consisted of celebrity chef specialties, fancy cocktails, and beautiful sweet treats that made my stomach jut out unfavorably. Nights were glittery and magical, and I finally caught “O” which was mind-blowing. I had to keep reminding myself to close my mouth, which hung open in amazement practically the entire show! Here are a few images from the trip:
Out on the strip!
Chums posing by the Trevi fountain
swirls!
Oktoberfest @ Hofbräuhaus…Vegas!
T gets a birthday spanking
Cool bar at the Wynn
Chillin’ outside Bellagio
