an outsiders inside view

Trailer by Liza Lou

It would have been around 1992 or 1993 that I met one of my favorite American artists, Liza Lou.

Her atelier was around the corner from where I worked.  She was crafting her now famous beaded kitchen and had recently moved from Los Angeles to San Diego.  I served up hot drinks and pastries at the Pannikin Coffee and Tea in Downtown San Diego located at 675 G street, (now Hessian Global Goods.) Upstairs from the coffee shop was an art gallery and bead workshop where Darcy Bergh created one of a kind jewelry and Bob Sinclair, the owner of the Pannikin, could display  his amazing ethnic arts and crafts collection.  (He had another address down the road at Café Moto for his array of Italian motorcycles).

I don’t recall what she used to order. Her husband (or boyfriend) would come and get coffee for her. Sometimes they came in together and stayed for a chat. Often it got philosophical, maybe everything gets philosophical if you drink enough double espressos. The impression that remained with me was her kindness, down to earth personality, and focus. At the time, for a malleable 20 something like I was then, it was inspirational to see a female artist doing her thing.

I remember downtown San Diego in 1992 as a diverse mélange of all things funky and urban; lots of artist studios (all in the vicinity of the Pannikin café)  great shops owned by young and independent movers and shakers (like the Catwalk and Behind the Post Office shops), local architecture and fashion businesses with national potential.  City kids (including myself), skaters, bankers, and businessmen would eat no frills sushi on Broadway at lunch time with 30 minutes left to stop by the immense public library and read the latest Interview magazine for free (featuring a frumpy but cool mousy brunette Gwyneth Paltrow) and check out pristine vinyl gems of everything from vanguard jazz to Lithuanian folk.

Most mornings, I opened the shop alone and greeted the long line of un-caffeinated customers with a floral vintage dress, Peruvian pipe tunes, and the aroma of fresh brewed Margogype.  Along with the days when television crews for locally filmed shows like Silk Stalkings and Renegade (aah Lorenzo Llamas you handsome devil) parked their busses out in front and ordered cappuccinos for the entire cast and crew-these were the moments that kept me on my toes.