When you step in the same river twice, different souls come out.

Met up with Randall and family at his house on Friday evening. We had some coffee and cake and caught up on the last few years. I think it's been about four or five years since we last saw each other, so lots of ground to cover. Randall and I met when he ran the shop at SCI-Arc, although he did way more than that. He was one of the best teachers there, he expanded people's imaginations and broke through the reality barrier in a way that was rare for the school. Now Randy's teaching at Art Center and Otis, but no longer at SCI-Arc. Their loss.

Randall's house is quintessential LA: one story wood house, backing to the Marina Freeway. I remember when he bought it, when I still lived in LA. We were looking at the house and the work that needed to be done. Standing in the back yard you could hear cars whizzing by on the freeway on the other side of the barrier wall. In true Randall-fashion, with a grin he said "Listen to that. It sounds like the ocean."

After coffee, we went into his studio at the back of the house, a small irregular space filled with work and life. We looked at some of his recent paintings and objects. I've always liked Randy's work - it's simple, confident and totally unique. Sometimes it's joyful and sometimes it's dark, but it's pure Randall, with no allusion and no aspiration to the art world. To me this is real art. Out of the blue, Randall said "I've got a present for you." and pulled a small bronze piece off of the shelf: a running figure with three legs. "He's running so fast he needs three legs." Wow. I'll upload a photo of it soon. We agreed to meet the next morning for breakfast, and I headed back to my hotel. The last few days were catching up with me, and I need some rest.

Update: here's a pic of Randall's sculpture, shot in the Canadian Rockies, overlooking the town of Osoyoos. This guy is getting around!