The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

Age Before Beauty — Duh!

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(Pic #1) Side panel of 1941 Mack Fire truck. Saticoy, California

Confession: I’m kind of a junkyard junkie.

Not sure that’s a thing — but I love the mix of rusting old metal, peeling paint, and layers of decay. I know, you really want to say, “Lon, get a life.”

Well, check out this formerly red, classic 1941 Mack pumper truck I found in Saticoy, California. It sits in a salvage yard I like to visit for artistic inspiration. (And often, I incorporate these discoveries into my creativity workshops for Fortune 500 executives.) Art is in fact everywhere, if you are willing to look beyond.

These colorful, textured images — with their own preordained compositions — represent 80 years of extreme Southern California heat, and perhaps unintended neglect. But weathering brings new life — in the form of unpredictable art. These abstractions are just as exciting to me as a Rothko or Rousseau — just as visually stimulating, and way more accessible.

Why Urban Decay Is My Jam

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Confession: I slam on the brakes and jump out of the car to capture the detritus of life.

It’s the dirty, weather-beaten, peeling surfaces of walls and structures in any large city. You typically won’t find these textures in the fancy parts of town, so that’s why I like to take detours and longer ways home. Some of these moments end up on canvas, some find their way onto the hand-painted jackets in our new “Urban Artwear” collection.

It might just be a simple combination of colors…sometimes it’s just erosion, but most of the time it inspires an idea — or series of ideas — for some funk-ass abstract art.

(Pic #2) Ventura, Cal.

(Pic #3) San Pedro, Cal.

(Pic #4) Los Angeles, Cal.

(Pic #5) Oxnard, Cal.

Fleeting Moments: Catch Them When You Can

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(Pic #1) Mukluk finds a fashionable moment with my blue bandana. Ten seconds later she was out the door.

Savor the seconds. Save the sentiment.

I’ve started relying on my iPhone for little visual bursts of joy. Whether it’s a goofy or graceful pose choreographed by our cat, one of our garden blooms reaching up toward the morning light, or a concrete wall sporting abstract patterns of smudges and cracks, I make sure to document the moment. (Pics #1,2,3)

(Pic #2) Okay, this pic was shot by Josh — but the point is the same — it’s all about capturing the moment — and it’s why he ALWAYS has his Fuji Camera in tow.

These flashes of beauty, art, and love can disappear in an instant. In nature, they can leave as quickly as they came into view. I’m making a point to cherish these ephemeral gifts, as long as they keep presenting themselves.

(Pic #3) A deteriorating exterior wall (with cool smudges) outside an old recording studio in San Pedro, Cal.