Ellie Bogardus - Exterior/Interior Art

A lot of years ago, I saw a television biography about the physicist Richard Feynman, and remember how he and a friend researched and a planned a trip to a really obscure place in the then Soviet Union - Tannu Tuva. Other than just doing it, there was no reason for taking on this adventure. A pretty carefree perspective from a theoretical physicist who was once a member of the Rogers Commission that investigated the Challenger space shuttle failure.

Door bell cat 5275 Nottingham Drive

In an earlier blog, I mentioned a search for examples of art done by Ellie Bogardus - a cartoon background scenery artist who lived in Cambria. But all that I could turn up was that which remained on concrete skirts around man hole covers on Nottingham Drive in front of where her house once stood - street art. I had seen a few of her pieces in local galleries, so knew they existed, but no examples were unavailable on the Web, and I didn't know anyone who owned any pieces. I had even emailed the Seago Gallery that once sold her paintings, asking whether they had any remaining photographs of her art - but I didn't receive a reply. (1) Even though my quest was quite prosaic compared to that of a hard-to-reach foreign land and I am not a physical scientist (only had three biochemistry classes and only owned a physical chemistry book - never attempted master that kind of subject) - it was still a personal crusade, of sort - a contemporary art history quest.

Art on door header, residence art

We just returned from spending a few days of vacation in Cambria, and without even trying, I came across relics of Ellie Bogardus art to add to the previous on-line archive. First, the owners of the new house that replaced her cottage have expressions of the characters around the man holes routed into wood on a placard surrounding the door bell button, and on a header board above the front door. These folks obviously were aware of who once resided within the footprint of their new home whose backyard is the Pacific Ocean. I didn't notice these features last September when we were last in Cambria, but for whatever reason noticed them this trip. The second set of remembrances turned out to be in my brother and sister-in-law's home in the East Bay area. When they were visiting Cambria three years ago,

Three Ellie Bogardus originals - Private collection, Danville CA

an art sale was being held at a local restaurant with the proceeds going to benefit the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve. As it turned out, there were pieces of Ellie's art for sale, and they bought the three pieces shown above. These are poor photographic renditions, but at least give a fair impression of what her art looked like. While talking to Brian and Dana, they mentioned how they had looked on the Internet trying to find examples of Ellie's art, but to no success. Their gain was mine as well - my art quest moved forward a little.
____________________________
(1) We found out this same trip that the Seago Gallery is gone - replaced by the Moonstone Redwood Gallery.


Adding to information about Bogardus, a recent Letter to the Editor was posted in San Luis Obispo Tribune (July 29, 2011) that mentioned the artist:

Werner Koch, Cambria

Under Ellie’s influence there must be a few Cambrians who still resemble the charmed society paintings, the Snoopy film background designs, the many live cats, the ebullient personality and the near-rabid sense of humor which comprised Ellie Bogardus. Lucky were any visitors looking hungry or unfamiliar with our area if they encountered Ellie — they would be subject to her come-to-my-home hospitality syndrome. I found cause to practice that a few days ago. In the market I ran into two college-age Dutch men, just arrived in the U.S. via San Francisco and looking quite perplexed. When I asked if there was something they couldn’t find, the answer was “fruit syrup.” In Holland, it is mixed with water for a summer drink. After starting to give directions to Linn’s, I switched into “Ellie mode” and asked if they minded following me home, where I had a brand-new, unopened bottle of olallieberry syrup. A little later, happily settled on my deck, sipping away on their Cambria-grown and packed product, my young guests looked up with me, smiled, and thanked Ellie for her influence over this gathering. All too soon, they were off to the campground for the first night of a three-week, properly supplied, western U.S. journey.