On Connectivity: Welcome to the VORTEX
We made it through 2020 but the next chapter still feels far away. For the moment you’re here, in the VORTEX.
That’s what they call Ojai, you know. As far as I can tell, the whole “spiritual vortex” thing started around 2014 with an article in Conde Nast Traveler titled “The Calming Vortex of Ojai.” Please correct me if I’m wrong; it’s hard to fact check such a thing. On lists of spiritual vortices, I find Macchu Pichu, Sedona, and Stonehenge, but not Ojai.
Here’s what was up in Ojai in 2014 according to Traveler:
“Whether for the storied electromagnetic forces or just the killer views, solace seekers of every sort have been drawn to this California valley since the 1920s. But lately a new wave of transplants have moved in, opening farm-to-table biker bars, small inns, and pop-up crafts fairs, cementing Ojai’s reputation as a nouveau hippie utopia. Hugh Garvey feels the vibe.”
Ojai is definitely a vortex, spiritual, or not. I’ll prove it:
Some seventeen years before Garvey wrote about our vortex, Travel & Leisure sent a writer and photographer to cover Ojai for a similar piece. Francine Gealer, aka Fran — the artist currently known in my phone as “SP” — flew from New York to shoot Ojai Valley Inn and Beatrice Wood in the last year of her life. On the way, she happened upon the studio of Carmen Abelleira. When Fran returned years later — to live — on one of her very first outings (at Farmer and the Cook), she saw Carmen, who recognized her. (People with great memories are like wizards to me.) Now Fran works for Beato Chocolates, making their famous Moon Faces from Wood’s ceramic molds.
See?
Not that there has to be anything supernatural about it, though, right? Ojai is one of those places that draws people into itself. Small town.
The New York Times Magazine recently ran “The Social Life of Forests” which tells the story of a paradigm shift in scientific thinking about the natural world pioneered by professor Suzanne Simard:
“By analyzing the DNA in root tips and tracing the movement of molecules through underground conduits, Simard has discovered that fungal threads link nearly every tree in a forest — even trees of different species. Carbon, water, nutrients, alarm signals and hormones can pass from tree to tree through these subterranean circuits. Resources tend to flow from the oldest and biggest trees to the youngest and smallest. Chemical alarm signals generated by one tree prepare nearby trees for danger. Seedlings severed from the forest’s underground lifelines are much more likely to die than their networked counterparts. And if a tree is on the brink of death, it sometimes bequeaths a substantial share of its carbon to its neighbors.
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Connectivity in a small town is as vital as our groundwater and similarly scarce a resource these days. The essay continues by drawing parallels between a healthy forest and a healthy society. The goal of VORTEX is to map Ojai’s mycorrhizal networks.
In Winter 2021:
Our Muse is Carmen Abelleira
A pop of much-needed color in this dark, COVID-struck winter, Carmen’s art is a reminder that Ojai isn’t always minimalist or earthy. In Welcome to the Jumble, Cassandra C. Jones, tells us Carmen’s life story from her home/studio in The Pleiades. The beautiful photography of Carmen is by Marc Alt.
Culture
We cover Gallery shows and other happenings (as they come and go) from December to March.
Proximity to LA means Ojai is full of filmmakers. Support them! Currently streaming online is Public Trust for Patagonia Films, directed by David Byars.
Style
Wild Style, photographed by Ari Becker. Diana Ortega and Jimena Vazquez of Me Gusta Gourmet Tamales are styled by mother-daughter duo Sandy and Amelia Arellanes of enid and edgar Vintage in Meiners Oaks. Hair and makeup are by Emily Stoltz of Studio 33 Salon in Oak View. The inspiration? The recurring characters found in Carmen Abelleira’s work.
Food Quiz
Find out where to eat by taking our Quiz!
Shopping
Liz Fish celebrates the opening of Plant Based, a new shop from Mike and Rachel Graves with a fun stop motion animation. Plant Based carries gorgeous plants — obviously — but also home goods from Duo Luto and art prints from Real Fun Wow! Sister store Shop Summer Camp can frame those for you, btw.
Hikes
We hiked Piedra Blanca with Fashion Photographer Ari Becker.
“She calls the oldest, largest, and most interconnected trees in a forest “mother trees” — a phrase meant to evoke their capacity to nurture those around them, even when they aren’t literally their parents.”
My return to Ojai after a 10-year absence is thanks to my own mother tree, Fanny Penny. The cover image for this issue is one of her ceramic “Geo Chains.” Recently teaming up with husband Nicholas Ali of The Strange Altar to create Duo Luto, she welcomed Francine Gealer to her home studio to capture their family at work and play.
To stay in the VORTEX, please sign up for our newsletter, at the right. We will let you know when Spring is out.
See you in 2021.
XXX
Jules
