Memory Lane
Discover more from Arts and Climate Change with Nicole Kelner
Ok I finally have recovered enough to tell you about my SF and LA trip! Huzzah!
It was so great. I started off in LA walking down memory lane. I lived in Venice right on the beach for the year before Covid and loved it. As I walked by my old house, I had the surreal feeling of thinking about how much in my life (and the world) has changed since I last stepped foot there.
When I lived in LA I was happy to be on the beach, but deeply confused with what I wanted to do with my life. My company had just gotten acquired and I knew I wanted to work in climate. I just had no idea how to since I had no experience in the space.
I remember walking down the boardwalk from Venice to Santa Monica and listening to the My Climate Journey podcast. This trip I walked that same boardwalk to get lunch with Cody and Jenn from the MCJ team. It was a pretty trippy moment to say the least!
In SF I stayed with my climate bestie Lyn Stoler from Parachute.Earth. We spend every Monday virtually coworking and it was so nice to get to spend more IRL time together! She is filming a documentary about real world climate solutions across the US and I got to tag along with her to some shoots. We went to Charm Industrial and Gradient.
At Gradient the craziest thing happened. Lyn asked Vince, the CEO, to explain what their company does as if she was a 5 year old. He goes, I actually have a sticker that I love to explain this. He runs off to his office and comes back with MY sticker!! I lost it! We got it all on camera and it was absolutely one of the highlights of this year for me!
I organized climate meetups in both SF and LA. It was so fun to see old friends and new Twitter friends. Cooper Marcus from QuitCarbon wanted to gift me the coolest thing, a portable induction cooktop! Unfortunately I was flying with just a carryon so I couldn’t accept, but I have to say that was one of the most creative climate gifts I received! Thanks Cooper 😅
Other highlights included:
Eating the best sesame noodles I’ve ever had at Shan dong in Oakland with Lyn. I’m literally dreaming of these noodles. If anyone in NY has recs for sesame noodles like these PLEASE tell me.
Seeing one of my best friends Dulma (who inspired me to do my 100 days of watercolor challenge) and eating a Souvla. Also dreaming of the frozen greek yogurt with baklava and honey.
froyo and friends The immense amount of dog time I had. I stayed with friends who had dogs and got to see my friend Alice who has the sweetest of dogs
Mochi and I vibing Eating at Siamese Garden, my favorite Thai restaurant in LA
Life updates:
Creativity Circles for climate folks is gonna be a thing! I’m working on the curriculum and logistics now. If you are interested in that, fill out this form.
I’m still going hard on coloring pages! If you want to get notified when it’s ready for pre-orders, just fill out this form. I made some cutie characters this week!
Ways to support me:
📗 Buy my book! It’s a great coffee table book for yourself, your office, or your nerdy climate friend.
Photo by my friend Miriam Rachael Freed I’m open for contract work or commissions. Feel free to keep me in mind if you know of any climate startups, nonprofits, or organizations looking for illustrations/paintings like mine!
Ok that’s a wrap!
