ALTADENA — An aspiration for Altadena is all there, painted on a 60-foot-by-15-foot wall, next to a parking lot off Woodbury Road: The parrot couple lovingly consoles each other, perched on a charred tree branch. A bed of California poppies blooms in a stunning orange hue. Butterflies flutter against the backdrop of a clear blue sky and trees, basking in a bright crystal-esque sun.
And there was Rose Drew, sitting crosslegged on the black pavement, with her paintbrush and paint, in Zen-like fashion putting the finishing touches on a mural that day by day over two weeks has brought a big dose of color in the middle of a town pummeled by the Eaton fire.
As she dabs some shade of orange on a poppy, it’s a moment of pure focus. Cathartic. A respite from the loss, from dealing with the insurance issues of a lost home. The hard work of rebuilding. But also, it was a giving moment, even for a woman who lost the home she was living in with her parents, in a town they all loved.
“Words are hard for me sometimes,” she said, reflecting on the devastation and the recovery. “Between all of the responsibilities I have as an adult and everything that’s going on, it’s very much nice to get away and take a break and work on something that is beautiful and can be enjoyed by all.”
Welcome to 409 East Woodbury Road, and the side of Samera Arkel’s event space business.
It’s exterior wall has become a stucco canvass that has brought together the Eaton fire’s survivors, young and old, artists, musicians and others.
Amid the ruins, they are putting some color and some hope back into a community awash in the din of debris removal, big trucks, uncertainty over the future.
For weeks since the Eaton fire, the spot has become a kind of gathering place — where a mix of art and conversation has buoyed a community where so many have lost so much.
Gradually, Arkel — not content to sit by and do nothing to help — has found herself collaborating on various…
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