Carved Slices Up Artistic Halloween Fun at Descanso Gardens

Posted on by Diversions LA

Carved at Descanso Gardens has created a gently haunted, transcendent Halloween-time experience this year, with a fresh route, hand-carved wooden spirit creatures created by Chainsaw Jenna, and more of the large, crazy-cool pumpkins visitors have come to know and love.

The garden setting is lovely and the lighting sets the mood for glowing, spooky fun.

The charming new Descanso Railroad is playfully aglow; Rhizome, an installation from Tom and Lien Dekyvere offers mesmerizing, futuristic beams of light.

And of course there are the ever changing – because they only last three days – carved pumpkins to delight young and old. The artists creating them are ready to chat about their unique designs from Beetlejuice to Pikachu.

Then there’s the delightfully haunting pumkin trail, where pumpkin sculptures offer a mix of toothy grins,  and fierce gazes.  There are pumpkin-headed scarecrows, and pumpkin families as well as a purple-lit, water based installation that depicts a storm tossed and tattered ghostly pirate ship, rainstorm periodically descending over it.

A pumpkin–filled mesh dragon shifts colors with cast light in another water spot; glowing red lanterns illuminate a tunnel in the Japanese Garden.

The garden’s tree forest features illuminated bases with touch pads that emanate spooky sounds when trod upon.

 

Wire figures of ghostly boys and girls are positioned eerily in the rose garden.

Even the parking lot attendant’s booth gets into the spirit of the event, with a jaunty skeleton ticket taker pointing the way to the entrance.

The whole event is original and delightful, and has grown exponentially in both size and charm since its first years. This is a don’t- miss for families and those who like their Halloween thrills compelling but not filled with jump-scares;  haunting in a mist-shrouded, purple-lit, leave-it-to-your imagination way.

There’s also a pumpkin house photos stop, a beer garden, snacks, coffee – and hot chocolate, and delicious cupcakes, cookies and pastries alluringly near the pumpkin carvers.

The event is open from now until October 30th. Ticket discounts for members. Non-members will pay a well-worth-it $35-45 for adults and $25-30 for kids.

Hours are 6-10 pm, with timed admissions at 6, 6:30 7, 7:30, 8, 8:30, and 9 p.m.

  • Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis and Jack Burke

Let There Be Light: Light Art That Is

Posted on by Diversions LA

From Bruce Munro’s elegant, haunting Sensorio Field of Light in Paso Robles to the variety of poetic light art exhibitions at Descanso Gardens to the wildlife-honoring glittering fun at GLAZA’s Zoo Lights, there’s a light exhibition to help you get your glow on.

Enchanted Forest of Light 

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At Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, a series of beautiful installations create moody, highly spiritual settings throughout the gardens come nightfall.

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Some offer interactive experiences – kids and adults alike can create musical notes and change colors at the Symphony of Trees, and adjust light colors by spinning at handle at lakefront Lightwaves section. Other areas are more quietly elegaic, beautifully alight set pieces that stir the imagination.

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Some resemble stained glass, as does Tom Fruin’s Camouflage House reflecting on Mulberry Pond; others offer a radiant new take on a public park space with illuminated benches and the Luminous Lawn by Jen Lewin that changes color as you walk its path.

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Strolling the Enchanted Forest is magical, slightly surreal, and yes, enchanting.

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The one-mile walk takes you past thousands of glowing, color shifting tulips…

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past HYBYCOZO’s delicate spinning art shapes casting patterned shadows in the Rose Garden…

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and through the Garden of Good Fortune, a lustrous, red-lantern-lit nighttime view of the Japanese Garden.

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There are ten enchanting exhibition sections in all; hot chocolate, churros, cocktails, and even full meals (with reservations) are available. The exhibition runs through January 5th. For tickets, click here.

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Sensorio Field of Light

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Located in a rolling field in Paso Robles, a 3.5 hour drive from LA, Bruce Munro’s lush 15-acre light show is absolutely captivating and well worth the journey. Pro-tip – arrive just before sunset if you can, to take in the transition from dusk to fully illuminated 1.5-mile loop trail.

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The installation is a sculptural composition as well as a light experience, with over 58,800 stemmed spheres lit by fiber-optics creating subtly realistic glowing blooms powered by solar energy.  A true artwork, the isolated setting – we saw stars and a rising moon – adds to the wonder.

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It’s a transcendent and dream-like experience; dark solitary trees stand like sentinels, and the lights are beautifully colored but muted in intensity, like real flowers infused with light.

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It’s a little like walking on another planet – or fully appreciating the beauty of this one, senses heightened.

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Food trucks offer tasty local eats and beverages including regional wines and beers; a picnic area separate from the light path allows dining and relaxing while live acoustic musicians play.

For tickets, click here; the exhibition closes in mid-January.

GLAZA Zoo Lights

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Lions and tigers and bears oh my! glowing ones in mosaic patterns; a light tunnel that dazzles and twists; thousands of tiny dancing green firefly light dots; an illuminated water show. Kids and adults alike enjoy the luminous, animal-themed displays.

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The exhibition has been delighting all ages since 2014, and each year a fresh new element appears. Santa, and the zoo’s antique carousel are, however, constants.

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Glowing and charming animals welcome visitors past large-scale illuminated snowflakes, a silver and purple disco ball forest, a herd of animated elephants, and the concluding attraction on a winding path through the main walkways of the zoo, a twinkling tunnel filled with glittering, crystaline color.

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Lavender and blue glowing butterflies and a stroll through the nocturnal reptile lair add to the joyful experience. A family New Year’s Eve event at Zoo Lights is offered this year, too. The event runs through January 6th, for tickets, click here.

So, which nighttime light art experience should you choose? The best answer is… all of them.

  • Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis; Jack Burke 

 

Get Enchanted

Posted on by Diversions LA

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Running through January 8th, Enchanted: Forest of Light turns Descanso Garden’s into a wildly wonderful fantasy land. Not specifically holiday themed, eight illuminated installations lead visitors through the dark, into a garden blossoming with light.

Timed entry keeps the event from getting too crowded; there are spots where visitors can simply stand for a moment and breathe in the chilly night air and the almost palpable sense of wonder. Kids love the colors and lights, adults are quietly mesmerized. The interactive nature of some exhibits adds to the visual poetry and the fun.

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Entering the exhibition, viewers first meet up with fields of multi-colored, ever changing beds of tulips, which dance with light as they color-shift.

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Next up: like a miniature version of the light columns at LAX,ccolor-changing columns in the Rainbow Sycamores section respond to touch; place a hand on the five blue columns and watch the colors shift into vibrant purple or pink.

Next, head toward the lake beneath arches of stars.

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At Lightwave Lake, push a button and change the spotlights shifting in ribbons of color across the water. When we visited a spooky mist blanketed the lake, creating a truly other-worldly experience.

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Thin streaks of light pulsate, part art, part alien.

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The Ancient Forest, all ferns and firs, dazzles with soft multi-colored light, an emergence into a fecund land that could be home to a myriad of alien creatures. Anyone remember the charming 90s era animated feature Ferngully? Or maybe Avatar? Both fit.

It’s fun to literally hop on wooden platforms in the Symphony of Oaks section, too, where the ancient oaks become the guardians of guests’ ability to sound chimes.

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On the Luminous Lawn, kids and adults alike hop again – onto lily pads which change colors and patterns in a touch-sensitive pond.

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A Japanese garden vibrates with red light, creating a surreal and beautiful finish to the show.

We took a leisurely just-under-two-hour stroll through the exhibition. The unlighted areas of the gardens that hover just out of sight add to the magical feeling – we are privy to a secret world, with perhaps other secrets tantalizingly just out of sight.

While a festive event for the season, Enchanted could easily run year ‘round; there are no overtly holiday themes here, just a link to the magic, wonder, and sweetness of the season.

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For now, make the drive to La Canada/Flintridge and have an enchanted experience through January 8th. For ticket info see https://www.descansogardens.org/programs-events/enchanted/

  • Genie Davis