On my first day back at the studio this January, I enjoyed a visit from a denizen of Northeast LA’s artistic hippie past, “Captain Flash”. A multitalented artist, writer, and street performer, Capt. Flash went to Otis in the early 70s and lived in NELA for years after. In town for the holidays, Capt. Flash was making rounds of the neighborhood, searching for a spot along York Blvd. where he had lived in his hippie heyday, a space then known as The Copper Witch. It had been 23 years since he’d seen the space.
“…then I saw it. There was a parking space in front. I pulled in and looked. It said, ”Namaste –recognize the God within you– Highland Park“. I was amazed and had to say hello.”
Captain Flash in front of the Copper Witch in the 70’s
During his visit, Capt. Flash revealed some fascinating details about **Namaste Highland Park**’s former life as The Copper Witch:
“It was a second-hand antiques store run by Ed Dudley and his brother. His brother had half the place and called it Tall Corn. Ed would buy estates, especially oak furniture. He would dis-assemble the furniture and throw it in a vat full of paint stripper. There was a bank of four fans to exhaust the fumes out of the space. It was in the shed as you entered from the rear. I think it was totally covered in morning glories. We entered in the back from the post office parking lot…”
Ed Dudley in front of The Copper Witch.
Ed and Capt. Flash were best friends in the 60’s and 70s, bonding over the fact that they were local business owners in Highland Park and Mt. Washington. Flash and his wife owned a beauty salon on Monte Vista St. called Last Chance. Said Flash, “Our motto was ‘If you can’t be helped here, you can’t be helped.’ ”
A close-up of the Copper Witch signage, painted by Capt. Flash.
Capt. Flash also gave some insight into the architecture and vibe of the space, itself:
“Back then the back wall of the front space [now the Gallery space] was further back. The door was on the left which I believe led to the open space. I believe there is a wall now that used to be open to Tall Corn [the adjacent shop now Pernament Records].”
“The sunken place [now the Sanctuary space] was the living room. It opened onto the open space where Ed grew pot. It was never a formal place with membership cards and meetings. Over ten years, players came and went…energy ebbed and flowed. It was very funky but became the center of social gravity for hippies. There was a lot of sex and drugs happening there. Much energy.”
“I went to Otis and once out of school (in '72), lived in Highland Park from 1970-1980. Fresh out of art school, I was in my abstract phase. I had been influenced by subliminals…the effects of colors. I eventually convinced Ed to let me paint the building orange. This caused a major power struggle between him and his wife…they almost killed each other over the exact shade. After that was done, I convinced him to let me do the patterns on the wall.”
Detail of Capt Flash’s painted patterns on the Copper Witch exterior.
“Tony Mafia [a noted Native American artist] stayed there occasionally. Ed lived in the back with his wife for a while and later on, became devoted to chanting (in the Nichiren Buddhism tradition). I had a studio on Ave. 52 and Monte Vista St. It was just around the corner from artist Richard Duardo’s studio. I became semi-famous as a street performance artist. I do something called the "Last Hippie”. I dress up like someone who did too much acid in '68. I have a placard that says: 2 + 2 = 7. I stand still and pretend I’m a statue til someone gets close then I make a sudden movement and scare them.“
Flash was back in LA this time specifically to see his mentor/painting instructor from his college years, Sam Clayberger. Though now in his 80’s, Sam still holds drawing workshops at his Glassell Park studio every Tuesday evening, as he has for years.
Capt. Flash had a colorful history as a student, hippie, and street performance artist in Los Angeles during the 70s. On Easter Sunday 1976, Flash experienced a moment of what he calls "intuitive Feng Shui”. Leaving his home and ridding himself of all worldly possessions, he purchased a boat on which he lived and travelled for the next 18 years.
“If life is fluid and nothing but change, what better way to live than on a boat, flowing with the waves? I decided to live the pure life of an artist after being a landlord and having lots of stuff. I gave it up and realized the difference between what I need and what I want. Tony Mafia had a quote: Stuff is an anchor on your ass that keeps you from floating.”
So it seems the roots of Namaste’s community/artistic connection and spiritual energy run deeper than we ever knew - from its original life as a hippie commune to the space’s incarnation today, as our beloved yoga studio! It must be karma.
Many thanks to Captain Flash for stopping in and taking the time to scan these slides and share with us his recollections and images of York Blvd. and the Namaste space during the 1970's! Check out Capt. Flash’s blog and artwork.
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