Dutchbaby

Dale Chihuly at the De Young Museum - Continued

2012-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

This post is a continuation of my previous post touring Dale Chihuly's exhibit at the De Young Museum during the summer of 2008.

My favorite part of the 12,000 square foot installation was the Boat Room, where two wooden boats were placed on highly reflective black glass.

One boat was filled with Nijima Floats, inspired by the small Japanese fishing floats Chihuly used to find on the shores of Puget Sound when he was a child.

The Ikebana Boat, was filled with glass floral forms.

_____

The Chandelier Room housed Chihuly's iconic designs.

I'd seen a chandelier in a Barcelona restaurant when I was traveling. There was a chandelier hanging at eye level over each table, because the room had a low ceiling. And it was really beautiful. I loved this idea of hanging a chandelier at eye level. It triggered something that said that now I could make a chandelier, because it doesn't have to be functional.

--Dale Chihuly

...The parts can be bulbous, long and twisted, short and spiraled, or even frog-toed. Hung together, the many pieces that make up each Chandelier create a unified, though complex, composition.

--Dale Chihuly

Orange Hornet Chandelier was installed in my old loft space in the Railway Building. One great story is that the color was so intense at night, with low voltage light on, we used to get calls because people thought the space was on fire. I always liked that one.

--Tracy Savage, Savage Fine Art, Portland, Oregon

The blue Urchin Chandelier provided a wonderful contrast in texture.

_____

The Macchia Forest looked like a prehistoric garden.

I pushed Billy Morris to make Macchia bigger and bigger and bigger. By the time we got done, we were making Macchias about three feet high and three feet wide. At the time, that was the largest glass I'd ever made, and some of the largest glass that had ever been made.

--Dale Chihuly

Pushing the envelope of the medium comes with risk and reward:

It's important that we lose pieces. You get there faster, I think, by losing pieces, because you're pushing yourself and you know how far to come back.

--Dale Chihuly

Yet Chihuly and his team never strayed from their artistry; they didn't create these just for the sake of their grand scale.

_____

I have a special affection for this red and black object, showcased on the Venetian Wall, because it looks like three-dimensional calligraphy.

Putti are these little characters, they're male, and they were used in Renaissance and Baroque times, and they were put up in the churches, or in the paintings--they were carved out of wood or made of plaster. And they were meant to make people feel good. And to get people together...and maybe they were a little mischievous. They were just meant to suggest a good time, and they looked good. And they probably made people think about youth and this was a great symbol.

--Dale Chihuly

_____

I felt like I was on an exotic snorkeling excursion when I walked under the Persian Ceiling

I caught myself spotting for Putti swimming among the aquatic forms.

Although Chihuly forms are essentially abstract, they seem nature-based. The undulating sides, swirling lips, and progressively spaced stripes suggest they may have been shaped by eddying water or gusts of wind. Though the scalloped edges are in fact stationary, their apparent fluidity hints at potential movement like the swaying of organisms responding to tidal changes.

--David Bourdon, "Chihuly, Climbing the Wall"
Art in in America, June, 1990

_____

Mille Fiori looks like it came directly from Lewis Carroll 's imagination. This grand glass garden rises out of a 12' x 56' reflective platform.

People have asked what inspired me to do the Mille Fiori. It wasn't so much trying to replicate plants as it was a way to work with all the techniques we've learned over the last thirty-five, forty years.

--Dale Chihuly

The idea of the Nijima Floats was not only to make them big, but to use a lot of color in different ways.

--Dale Chihuly

I have to say that it gives me great satisfaction that I am often able to bring members of the public into a museum, who don't normally go to museums, and that the membership increases. So a new type of person is brought in to see my work, and not only my work, whatever else is inthe museum at that time.

--Dale Chihuly

I dedicate these two posts to John Edward Buchanan, Jr. whose collaboration with Dale Chihuly brought 400,000 visitors to the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco. He lost is battle with cancer on December 30, 2011.

_____

All quotes from: Chihuly, Dale. Chihuly: 365 Days. New York: Abrams, 2008. Print.

Dale Chihuly at the De Young Museum

2012-01-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

After I watched "Chihuly: Fire & Light" on PBS last week, I wasinspired to dip into my photo archives to find the photos I took during the"Chihuly at the de Young" exhibit in the summer of2008.

Director John E. Buchanan Jr. expertly lured Dale Chihuly to come to San Francisco. He leveraged the excitement of the shiny new De Young Museum building and promised an astonishing 12,000 square feet of gallery space to showcase four decades of Chihuly’s illustrious career as a glass artist. The crowning glory was Buchanan’s sweeping gesture of granting full artistic license, which sparked Chihuly and his team of world-class glassblowers to create new pieces for this exhibit. The 400,000 visitors that viewed the show are a testament to the genius of this magical collaboration.

___

I still miss the 30-foot saffron neon sculpture that stood proudly in the Pool of Enchantment during the show. It was spectacular during the day and at night.

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Glass Forest #3 is one of the earliest pieces and has not been viewed in the US since 1972 [1]. This installment represents Chihuly’s early experiments with neon. The milk glass gives the appearance that the long tubes are white hot.

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My son’s favorite of the entire collection is Neodymium Reeds on Logs, 2004 with larger-than-life reeds rising dramatically like stalagmites from birch logs. The violet neon continues the soothing cave-like atmosphere. See the full scale of the installation here.

I made the first Reeds in 1995 at the Hackman factory, a small glassblowing shop in Nuutajarvi,k Finland. Unlike other factories, the Hackman facility had very high ceilings, which inspired me to make these elongated forms.[2]

--Dale Chihuly

___

Persian Wall, 2008 is a grand installation made especially for the De Young Museum.

The Persians – that’s one of the most difficult series to describe. It started off that they were geometric shapes. I think it was a search for new forms. We worked for a year doing only experimental Persians – at least a thousand or more...

Sometimes the Persians became very Seaform-like...

...or they became very geometric. [2]

--Dale Chihuly

See an image of the full wall here.

___

The Tabac Basket Room ’s dark lighting evoked the feeling of stepping into a smoke-filled teepee. Pendleton trade blankets covered one wall...

… and woven Indian baskets and their glass counterparts glowed on the opposite wall.

The center of the room showcased the pieces that retained the same organic palette and feeling...

...yet transcended the original basket shapes.

***

Though he has been creating cylinders for over thirty years, Chihuly hadn’t created any in black until the De Young exhibit.

Drawing inspiration from his extensive trade blanket collection, Chihuly “painted” woven images by fusing glass rods onto the cylindrical forms…

… which appear to glow against the black "canvas" and their bright interiors.

New CPR Procedure

2012-01-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

Here's to a happy healthy New Year!

New Year's at Hotel Monteleone

2011-12-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Whenever I visit New Orleans I love to stay at the Hotel Monteleone, not just because we are related to the owners, but because it exudes the essence of the city. It is easy to understand how it has earned the title of “Grande Dame of the French Quarter.” Its beaux-art architecture blends in beautifully with the rest of the Vieux Carre.

It is conveniently located on Royal Street (Rue Royale), home of some of the swankiest antique stores in New Orleans. A lobby display case features collectibles from Moss Antiques…

…showcasing colorful oyster plates…

…and fancy epaulettes in the original box.

Another display case boasts of the hotel’s rich literary history…

…including a letter written by Tennessee Williams.

The lobby flowers are always spectacular, but the lobby is at its finest in December, with the traditional Christmas tree…

…and the antique grandfather clock…

… all gussied up for the holidays.

I like to tag the spot in front of the clock where the years have worn a dip in the marble floor.

The decorative wood panels by the elevators add a flair of elegance.

***

One year ago, one hundred of our closest relatives converged upon the Hotel Monteleone for a family reunion. We decided that the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve was the perfect time to gather because all schools, universities, and many businesses are on holiday.

When my husband and I were getting ready for the reception in our room upstairs, I watched the sun set from our window. I held my breath as I watched a barge make the impossibly tight turn at the bend of the Mississippi.

The reunion gathering was in a downstairs meeting room overlooking Royal Street.

The hotel’s catering staff did a spectacular job preparing and serving a delicious and beautiful buffet of fruits…

… and crudités.

The soup buffet offered a choice oyster artichoke, white asparagus and brie, and seafood gumbo served in demitasse cups. I can attest that all three soups were fantastic.

I can also tell you that the martini glasses with grilled artichoke heart with lump crab and avocado brunoise with radish sprouts and lemon for garnish were scrumptious. As for the shooters with tomato, basil, and dilled watercress pana cotta - my goodness, they were delicious.

I forgot to take photos of the barbecue buffet and I didn’t have room for the sliders, but I did stop to admire the gorgeous jewel-toned floral arrangements by Perfect Presentations.

Most of all, though, I loved catching up with relatives I hadn’t seen in a long time and meeting new ones that I never knew existed.

***

Two nights later, on New Year’s Eve, my daughter, my sister and I had a cocktail the Carousel Bar, where you can literally feel the room spinning every fifteen minutes.

Earlier in the week, my father-in-law reminisced about his courtship with my mother-in-law when they used to listen to Liberace play here.

After weighing all our options, we chose to bring in 2011 in the comfort of our room upstairs, watching the fireworks across the Mississippi while sipping mango bellinis.

Here is a glimpse of the fireworks at Jackson Square about seven blocks away.

From the comfort of my home in Palo Alto, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a happy holiday season.

I snapped these photos when I had lunch with my mother and sister at the always-elegant Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto.

Even though it's not cold here this Christmas day, this duet by Norah Jones and Willie Nelson reflects the spirit of the season perfectly.

Endemic, Indigenous, Native, Migrant, and Introduced

2011-12-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki)

After four days in Quito, we flew to the Galápagos Islands for a week-long adventure on the Eclipse. Each night after dinner, the passengers gathered in the lounge where one of the naturalists on board briefed us on our excursion options for the next day, followed by an informative talk about the islands. On our first night, Naturalist Javier Cando explained ecological terms to describe how native a species is.

Endemic: The organism is unique to one geographic location and nowhere else in the world. An endemic species may have originated here, or evolved into a separate species, or subspecies, due to geographic isolation.

Indigenous (native): The organism occurs in the location naturally, without the aid of humans. These species are carried to the region by wind, water, or by another organism.

Migrant: The animal travelled long distances in search of a new habitat.

Introduced: The organism is either deliberately or accidentally brought to a new ecosystem by human activity.

We all laughed when Javier told us that he was endemic to the Galapagos Islands. I guess I can say that my sisters and I were introduced into the United States by our parents, who migrated here.

***

I was a bit timid about using the camera my brother-in-law loaned me for this trip. Even though it was a point-and-shoot, it was the fanciest camera I had ever used. It was during this afternoon on July 29th, 2007, that marked the beginning of my love affair with the camera, and for that, I owe a great debt to my brother-in-law.

***

For our first excursion, the Eclipse cruised to Las Bachas Beach , on the north end of Santa Cruz Island. As we came close to shore, we watched a flock Frigatebirds dive for supper.

Frigate Birds (Fregata)

I don’t know if they were the endemic Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificence) or the smaller, native Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor)...

Frigate Bird (Fregata)

…but I do know that both species of Frigatebirds are kleptoparasitic. These rogues love to mob flocks of Blue-footed Boobies and force them to regurgitate so that their catch can be intercepted.

Frigate Birds (Fregata) and Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii)

I was excited to explore the mossy boulders to see what I could discover. Javier told us to stay away from the moss, not only because it’s slippery, but because we are not to disturb any of the fauna or flora. Careful not to tread on any moss, I did manage to photograph this American Oystercatcher, endemic subspecies galapagensis. This uncommon resident has only around 200 pairs in the Galápagos Islands.

American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus galapagensis)

A Yellow Warbler hopped between the rocks picking insects off the moss.

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechial aureola)

Its race, aureola, is near-endemic and also known as the Mangrove Warbler.

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechial aureola)

Looking across the rocky shore, I occasionally saw orange dots scampering about.

The Sally Lightfoot Crab is the most common crab along the west coast of the Americas and native to the Galápagos Islands.

Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus grapsus)

John Steinbeck‘s entertaining observations about how the Sally Lightfoot Crab lives up to its name can be read here.

Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus grapsus)

We saw a solitary Galápagos Flamingo feeding on the far end of a saltwater lagoon when we joined Javier for brief walk. It is believed that the flamingo migrated from the Carribean and then evolved into an endemic subspecies here.

Galápagos Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber glyphorhynchus)

A Galápagos Mockingbird hopped around our small group, flitting back and forth between the sandy beach…

Galápagos mockingbird (Mimus parvulus)

…and the mangrove trees.

Galápagos mockingbird (Mimus parvulus)

***

It was the mockingbird, not finches, that first caught Charles Darwin’s eye when he visited the Galápagos Islands at age 26 in 1835:

“I have specimens from four of the larger islands…The specimens from Chatham and Albemarle Isd. appear to be the same; but the other two are different. In each Isld. each kind is exclusively found. “

Floreana Mockingbird or Charles Mockingbird
(Mimus trifasciatus)

San Cristobal Mockingbird or Chatham Mockingbird
(Mimus melanotis)

Sadly, many mockingbirds were driven to extinction, or near extinction, by rats introduced to the islands by buccaneers.

When Darwin returned to England, he used his mockingbird observation as the basis for concluding that the thirteen finches he observed in the Galápagos Islands all evolved separately due to the isolation of the islands.

***

Early during the walk, our 13-year-old son shared with Javier that his goal was to see a marine iguana on this trip. Javier smiled and told him that this could be arranged. Imagine my son’s excitement when he saw them on his very first excursion:

Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

Charles Darwin was not as enamored with them as my son was.

“The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.”

I have to agree with my son; what's not to love about this remarkable creature?

Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

Once he saw them on land, my son's next goal to was to see them swim in the ocean. They swam gracefully, swishing their tails in smooth back and forth waves.

Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

As an extra bonus, we saw a green turtle swimming nearby.

Galápagos green turtle (Chelonia mydas agassisi)

Galápagos green turtle (Chelonia mydas agassisi)

The Galápagos green turtle is a subspecies of the green sea turtle we see in Hawaii. The species is indigenous, but the subspecies is endemic to the Galápagos Islands .

The same holds true for the Brown Pelican, with the amusing subspecies name urinator.

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis urinator)

When we returned to the beach, we sat among the Galápagos sea lions.

Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki)

…and all cooed when we saw the baby sea lions nursing.

Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki)

This small beach was a great choice for our first excursion because it provided an intimate setting where the 47 passengers of the Eclipse had a chance to become acquainted with each other.

Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) and Homo Sapien

Even though we Homo Sapiens are an introduced species into the Galápagos Islands, it is my sincere hope that we will not have a negative impact to the abundance of this ecology.

***

Works Cited

"File:Mimus Melanotis.jpg." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mimus_melanotis.jpg>.

"File:Mimus Trifasciatus.jpg." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mimus_trifasciatus.jpg>.

"Grapsus Grapsus." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapsus_grapsus>.

"INaturalist.org · Galápagos, EC." INaturalist.org · A Community for Naturalists. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://www.inaturalist.org/places/12990>.

"Marine Iguana." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Iguana>.

Stewart, Paul. Galapagos: the Islands That Changed the World. New Haven, Connecticut, CT: Yale UP, 2007. Print.

Swash, Andy, Rob Still, and Ian Lewington. Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galápagos Islands: an Identification Guide. New Haven: Yale UP, 2005. Print.

Broiled Figs with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese

2011-11-17T13:03:00.001-08:00

We have an old fig tree in our back yard and this is one of my favorite ways to prepare them.

Broiled Figs with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese

With a paring knife, slice an "X" at the bottom of each fig.
Insert a dollop of soft cheese into the "X". Suggested cheeses: goat cheese, blue cheese (especially "Maytag Blue"), burrata, brie
Wrap a slice of Prosciutto di Parma around each fig.
Place under broiler until the edges of the prosciutto are crispy, around 5 minutes.
Serve warm as an appetizer.
Lick your fingers.

Innovative Quilts at Pacific International Quilt Festival XX

2011-11-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are a few of my favorite innovative quilts that competed at the Pacific International Quilt Festival XX last month. With over eight hundred works of textile art showing, it was difficult to choose.

The quilters drew inspiration from boundless sources. Roberta Deluz did not have to go far to let her imagination go wild. She designed It Came from Beneath the Sea as a tribute to her father who instilled a love for classic monster movies in her.

I will never be able to look at the clock of the San Francisco Ferry Building without wondering what might ooze up the tower from the bay below.

I can related to Janet Fogg's Magic in Times Square, her interpretation of her first cab ride in New York City .

Other quilters were inspired from faraway continents. Pat Rollie's thirty years of quilting experience is evidenced in her original design depicting a tender scene from the Serengeti. As I saw this quilt, I longed to go back to Africa and encounter a mother giraffe and her calf once again.

My 85-year-old mother made a small wall quilt for an Indian friend featuring the Taj Mahal...

...and exotic creatures.

Nancy S. Brown deservedly won the best hand workmanship ribbon for her wonderfully composed penguins of South Georgia in Antarctica.

It wasn't until I took a closer look that I noticed that the penguins were navigating between mounds of elephant seals.

In contrast to the cold of the South Pole, Hilda Koning-Bastiaan chose to depict the warm hues of a blooming desert.

Sherry Reynolds honored her beloved Wyoming with this cowboy quilt. She made five variations of the traditional Wyoming Valley block pattern in the upper right.

In another warm desert scene, Kathleen Malvern of Colorado celebrated the majestic saguaro cactus...

... while Kimberly Buzolich celebrated the Sierra Tiger Lily. I like how she produced the soft-focus feeling of the background with the pools of greens and the swirled quilting.

Pat Durbin used every scrap of her twenty years of quilting experience to render the larger-than-life interpretation of Begonia Picotee Lace...

,,, in exquisite detail.

While Pat Durbin zoomed in on her subject, Jo Bauer took a panoramic view in Reflections of Mt. Shuksan.

Other quilters turned to fine art for inspiration. Megan Farkas mimicked a Japanese woodblock print...

...and Kim Butterworth's Cherry Blossoms reminded me of Van Gogh's almond blossoms.

Ellen Wong embraced abstract art by piecing together strips of commercial fabrics...

...and quilting a grid pattern that gives the work a pleasing uniformity.

Kathleen Collins's fascination with 18th century European court paintings of women in headdresses inspired her to create original paintings on cotton cloth...

... which she then incorporated into a pair of elegant quilts.

Nancy S. Brown had productive year. In addition to the penguin and seal quilt above, she finished this poignant quilt of a grandmother at the San Francisco Zoo.

Sue Anthony found a wonderful way to preserve her grandmother's dress...

... and Giny Dixon showcased her father's silk ties...

... set in wool flannel pinstripe resulting in a true work of art.

Congratulations to all the quilters here. I am inspired by your creativity and sewing artistry.

Traditional Quilts of California at Pacific International Quilt Festival XX

2011-11-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

California quilters had a productive year this year. Here is a sampling of my favorite traditional quilts that were shown in the Pacific International Quilt Festival XX.

Geraldine Nall's miniature wall quilt stopped me in my tracks. I find it mind-boggling that she used 6,300 pieces of fabric to create a quilt that is a mere 23" square. Using only the pineapple blocks pattern, Nall created 140 tiny 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" squares. The result is a stunning, balanced interplay of black and white.

Diana Tatro belongs to a group of sixteen quilters that exchanges quilt blocks each year.

This year's red and white basket theme created the building blocks that produced a beautiful quilt with unity and rhythm.

Holly Casey drew inspiration for this striking blue and gold Dizzy Geese quilt from a book by L. Amanda Owens and Patricia Wilens. I like the trend-setting geese in the lower right corner.

Clem Buzick and Ann Helbling created "Maritime in Red"...

...with intricate quilt motifs.

Next time, the innovative quilts.

Stanford Pumpkins 2011

2011-11-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Stanford University art students turned in their homework last night. Their assignment was to carve a pumpkin that says "Boo".

Just when you thought you've seen every imaginable design, take a look at this one:

See previous years' Stanford Pumpkins here and here.

Halloween at Pacific International Quilt Fest XX

2011-10-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

For all you overachieving recyclers out there, I have a suggestion for what you can do with the Halloween candy wrappers your kids will be bringing home tomorrow night. You can follow in Charlotte Kruk & Carol Traumiller's footsteps and get a head start on next year's Halloween costume.

"Flam & Menco" by mother-daughter team: Charlotte Kruk & Carol Traumiller

Or you can be inspired by Flora Story and create an original Halloween quilt and ask June Hollister to do the long-arm quillting for you.

"Witches 'R' Us" by Flora Story and June Hollister

If don't have time to do either of these projects, perhaps you can buy a kit to make this whimsical wall quilt. The candy corns are buttons that may be purchased separately.

"Candy Corn Lane", Quilt pattern and kit by Holly Hill Quilt Designs

All three projects seen at the Pacific International Quilt Festival XX in Santa Clara, CA

Enjoy your Halloween!

Crochet Coral Reef Sculptures Explain Mathematics

2011-10-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Image from here.

My thanks to Patricia Powell Kessler for posting this TED video on the sidebar of her blog. This talk appeals to me on so many levels. Margaret Wertheim discusses marine biology, the mathematics of hyperbolic geometry, textiles, folk art, environmental activism, and the passion of spontaneous creativity.

Recycled materials at Symposium 2011

2011-10-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

The AIFD florists at Symposium 2011 proved that sustainablebusiness practices don’t have to be boring or dreary, but in fact can be playfuland beautiful.

These pallets were elevated to a new high as grouped callalilies, steel grass, hala leaves, and eremurus strike a pose reinforcing the geometric lines, while the orange roses and anthuriums provide a perfect accent.

Lois Hiranaga, AIFD used the whimsical Pinocchio rug as a youthful backdrop against sunflowers and crespedia.

I smiled when I saw this display of Chinese steam baskets...

...wafting with fresh flowers.

The next time you trim your birch tree, rather than fillingthe dump or burning the branches in your fireplace, follow Gerry Gregg’s leadand slice them into discs to create a unique, reusable, 100% naturalbase.

Who knew that plastic water and soda bottles...

...could look so great with phaleonopsis orchids and albino gloriosa lilies...

...and be illuminated into pillars for a green, urban look?

How great would it be to see these freesias and hala leaves springing from an urban landscape?

Taking these lessons to heart, Idecided to re purpose Tracy’s award-winning napkin decorations and add anorganic touch to the lampshades in our hotel room.

"America, Let It Shine" Quilt by Sherry Reynolds

2011-10-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took my mother to the Pacific International Quilt Festival XX in Santa Clara. If you are only going to see one quilt, I recommend you battle your way to the masterpiece "America, Let It Shine" by Sherry Reynolds. You may have to wait a bit before you can see it in its entirety.

In the mean time, you may start by reading the tag. You will understand that the use of graph paper explains how Reynolds achieved absolute precision and uniformity of symmetry.

You'll be impressed that she used a 20-year-old Bernina 1001 to create the free motion quilt design.

The quilt is steeped with symbolic meaning. The thirteen original colonies are represented in the border's blue rays and red triangles:

The 4,886 Swarovski crystals that embellish this quilt represent the sum of the 4,543 words of the Constituion, 312 words of the Star Spangled Banner, and 31 words of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Reynolds incorporated parts of American history by using parts of the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble of the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address.

You will know that her goal to create "a tribute to America, our foundations and values, with the hope that they will guide us to a brighter future" was achieved from top to bottom and front to back.

The show runs through Sunday at the Santa Clara Convention Center. More information here.

Willow Manor Ball 2011 - Isn't It Romantic?

2011-10-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Flickr

I have no doubt that this year's Willow Manor Ball of virtual fantasy will be every bit as fun as last year's. Time sneaked up on me this year and I feel a bit unprepared. I don't even have a date yet because Southern Gentleman Husband is traveling on business. Then there is the perpetual problem of not having a thing to wear. At least I can put on some lipstick while I search for a gown.

DrMacro

As luck would have it, Count Hubert de Givenchy happened to call for a chat. Not only did he offer me one of his vintage gowns, but he agreed to escort me to the ball.

Image from here

Since the ball is Black and White this year, it didn't take long for me to decide to wear the luscious gown he designed for Sabrina. Darling Hubert promptly brought the gown to me and I was pleased how well it fit my tiny figure. He also agreed to take my poodles to his salon for the evening. The boys were hesitant at first but I promised, if they were good, they would get a treat when we got there.

Image from here

I'm so glad that the gown has a black petticoat to protect against the Paris sidewalks. On my way out, I slipped my phone into my Guisseppe Zanotti's clutch. The black Swarovski crystals give just the right amount of sparkle.

Giuseppe Zanotti clutch

I always love coming to Hubert's elegant salon. We had just enough time for an aperitif while the boys devoured a tray of canine petit fours the chef always has on hand.

Hubert de Givenchy's Salon by Jeffrey Bailey

Now it's time to stroll to the ball.

and join the party...

Image from here

...decorated with black and white anemones at every table...

Image from here

...even the food tables were dotted with anemones.

We were delighted to see our favorite clips of Sabrina while Rod Stewart crooned.

Thank you, Willow, for hosting another splendid evening!

Apple Love

2011-10-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

My Southern Gentleman Husband and I were invited to dinner by our dear friends Dirk and Josine this weekend. I brought this meandering centerpiece, partially to honor Steve Jobs, but also because I know that Josine adores apples. The tulips are a nod to our hosts' Dutch roots and I chose acorns because Josine's maiden name means oak tree. The winter berries? Just because.

It was a wonderful evening catching up with each other over wine, a gourmet home-cooked meal, and thought-provoking conversation, Thank you Dirk and Josine, we cherish your friendship.

Tracy Wins Two Awards at 2011 AIFD Student Competition

2011-10-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the ultra-talented Tracy Lou, representing College of San Mateo, for winning not one, but two awards in the 2011 AIFD Student Design Competition.

Competing is a nerve-wracking experience. Each student is given materials they have not seen before they enter the venue. After a few minutes of planning and sketching, they are given approximately an hour to complete their design. They are judged on the strength of the design, the use of materials, and their workmanship.

In the Napkin Decor Design category, "the competitors are asked to make two identical napkin decorations with fresh floral/foliage accenting. Duplication accuracy is a part of the point structure for just this category"*. Tracy placed second with her napkin design featuring an intricate use of bear grass and deco wire:

...and third in Sweetheart Table Design:

College of San Mateo's capable coach was Wendy Pine AIFD, who won the top prize when she competed in the student competition.

Tracy did not win in the bouquet category, but I thought her entry was impressive. I loved the beautiful lines she created by wiring the equisetum and how the tiny spray roses sheltered by the ti leaf invited closer inspection:

Other College of San Mateo students turned in beautiful designs.

I thought Shannon's napkin design was beautifully balanced and airy:

Victor's dynamic, asymmetric bouquet was my favorite of his four entries:

...and I loved the dramatic lines in Kim's tall buffet design in monochromatic green:

There were other wonderful CSM student entries, but I regret that those photos did not turn out.

Over fifty students competed and fifteen awards were given this year. See all results here.
_________________

*Competition guidelines here.

Lavatory Levity

2011-09-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

You've seen the lobby florals of AIFD's 2011 Symposium, now you will see how the restroom decorations during the gala night gave new meaning to nature's call. This post is a bit out of sequence, but I had the urge to write this now.

Michelle Perry White, AIFD was the designer responsible for all the decor on the final night of the convention. Michelle tapped Susan Standerfer, AIFD and Susie Overton Ayala as the team to decorate the restrooms. They did a magnificent job interpreting the night's theme: Flourish!

They used mechanics that I always hesitated to use because I had no idea if they would be fool proof. Originally designed to stick on car windows for flower parades, the team chose Oasis suction cup holders to decorate the mirrors.

My new best friend Robert, learned that they proved to be easy to install...

...and failsafe...

...with gorgeous results.

The team went above the call of duty to beautify the otherwise stark room.

Every stall was decorated with a wreath.

When it came to decorating the sinks, they left no stone unturned...

...giving a rich, succulent look...

...with a nod to the night's theme.

As magnificent as the ladies' room looked, everyone was abuzz over the men's room. They outdid themselves in here...

...with florals flush against the wall.

I will refrain from making reference to the orbs hanging about the room.

If you read this post looking for real humor, I suggest you click here where Anderson Cooper looses all decorum when he shares over twenty bathroom puns in four minutes.

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-26T07:46:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Irene is threatening a full-force hit on the New York region. Low-lying areas like Coney Island are expected to be impacted the most. I hope the impact will be minimal and Nathan's will serve its famous original hot dogs soon...

...and the single-A minor league team, The Brooklyn Cyclones, can resume their normal schedule...

... in their beautiful stadium.

Wishing all the best to all who are evacuating, boarding up, and bracing for the storm.

AIFD Symposium 2011 - Lobby Flowers

2011-08-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

The day after my flower partner Tracy and I checked into the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Bloomster's capable crew installed the remaining lobby flowers. Wil Gonzalez, AIFD was responsible for the lobby flowers for the week of American Institute of Floral Design's 2011 Symposium. He wisely chose to collaborate with local florist Kren Rasmussen, AIFD. He brought the seeds of ideas to their first meeting several months prior to the event, and Kren turned them into an indoor Garden of Eden.

Guests arriving from the Fifth Street entrance walked down the ramp...

...flanked by tropical terrariums the team created inside the glass banisters.

Here is Kren moving a tall arrangement into place by the elevator bank, while his crew is waiting with the bamboo-pole armature...

...which brought these works of art to new heights.

We were plenty impressed with the two oversized spray arrangements of Eremerus...

... sago palm leaves, Asiatic lilies, orchids, kangaroo paws, and ruscus,

...but we were bowled over when an oasis of tropical flowers blossomed at their feet.

The glass containers by Accent Decor allowed the crew to easily refresh the florals throughout the week.

Bravo to Wil and Kren for taking the concept of lobby flowers to the next level.

Imagine - 2011 AIFD Symposium

2011-07-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Imagine stepping into the lobby of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis and seeing three of these spectacular murals at the registration desk.

I knew right away that this was going to be a great week. I chose to check in at the middle desk and confirmed that these are real anthurium flowers and monstera leaves.

No big surprise. After all, I was about to attend "Imagine", the 2011 Symposium for the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD). Wil Gonzalez, the AIFD Northwestern Region President, and Kren Rasmussen, AIFD of Bloomsters in San Jose collaborated on the lobby design for the event. All the flowers and foliage were provided by Greenpoint Nurseries. Stay tuned, this is only the tip of the iceberg, I will show you lots more in the coming weeks.

I have been super-duper busy all summer long and I'm desperately behind in responding to all your wonderful comments. I hope to catch up slowly, but I couldn't contain myself any longer, I just had to share a tiny bit of my wonderful week in San Francisco.

Birth Mandala

2011-07-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

It all began when the ultra-talented Ruth wrote a post about a beautiful stained-glass mandala by Stratoz. I wrote a comment telling her about the ten-centimeter birth mandala I was given when I was pregnant with my first child. I went on to say that I was about to give a birth mandala as a gift and would it not be great if she wrote a companion poem for it? I sent her the image of the mandala I downloaded from Mandala Coloring Pages and colored using PhotoShop, The blues and yellow are a nod to the expecting mother’s Swedish heritage.

***

A handful of e-mails later, Ruth delivered the most gloriously inspired poem I could ever imagine. Ruth used Koan-like questions to frame her poem. A Koan question or riddle is a Buddhist concept that is accessible through intuition. I learned about this Zen concept here. It is designed to:

“act as a catalyst to awaken our true, deep, pure nature... Koans are not rational questions with rational answers. Koans are NOT answered; that would engage the mind, which is our problem…A question like “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” can only be answered if you drop mind and body. The aim of a Koan is to free you from the prison of the mind and the five senses...to return to “the original face before you were born.”

I can not imagine a more apt form to inspire a young woman in labor. Thank you, dear Ruth, for sharing your considerable talents with the world.

Koan-like Questions of a Mother to her Unborn Child

Is there something quieter than sleep?
My whispers circle you like jasmine vine, the way
my arms want to, when my palm will cup your head,
my thumb in the shallow petal of your temple.
Terrace.
Where is the pocket in the nightshirt of early morning?
You didn’t notice just now that I turned over in bed, rolling
first onto my right side, then onto my left.
Leaves everywhere on blue-white cotton.
What shape are you?
In my teardrop body you sleep, sucking your thumb —
puzzle piece in the circle of your mouth.
Paisley baby, paisley thumb,
paisley me, paisley breast. Lace.
What is grace?
I pull myself up, like a camel, into a sitting position,
lean left, push off, grunt, rise, stand, and low into the sway
of this me, your cradle, creaking at my hips.
Caravanserai.
Do you remember it, that hymn from the old church
through the window as we slowly climbed the stair?
Holding the bedpost, carved like an altar,
my eyes closed, up from the organ
in my chest the music — unnamed song
through the vibrating reed of my watery throat.
Repeat.
Stained glass moon. Bosphorus.
Can you see me in the dark?
My hand rests on the olive of your shoulder,
or is that a heel? Hush, keep sleeping, don’t worry
about positions. You are touching everything
in any case.
Mountain magnolia blossom.

2011

Listen to a podcast of this poem here. (You can hear the birds outside Ruth's office window if you listen carefully.)
____________

Poem notes:

Caravanserai: the fortress-like hostelries for sojourners on the Silk Road.

Bosphorus: the body of water between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul; 'bosphorus' means 'throat' in Turkish; Ruth's daughter Lesley went to school on the European side, crossing the Bosphorus every morning and evening from and to her home on the Asian side.

***

I brought the poem and the mandala to the baby shower. MoMo, my book club sister and grandmother of the newborn, was in the labor room coaching all the way. Her e-mails to book club had us rooting for the mother-to-be throughout the difficult 38 hours of labor. Last Saturday we received the long-awaited e-mail:

"He is finally here! And my beautiful daughter is just absolutely amazing. I am in awe of her grace, calmness and determination. She has a warrior spirit and inner strength that helped her deliver a beautiful baby boy. It was truly awesome! I will send a few pics tomorrow but I am exhausted and heading for sleep. Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement for my daughter. We felt the power of this women-spirit!"

He arrived at 4:02 PM , weighing in at 7lbs 13 ounces, 20 inches long and healthy, alert, and absolutely beautiful! Would you not agree?

Welcome to the world!

Now this mandala has come full circle. Ruth made her grand announcement that she too will be joining the ranks of grandparenthood.

Congratulations Ruth!

Between Posts - Norwegian Museum of Cultural History

2011-07-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

Bygdøy Museum Center

Will return as soon as possible.

Sweet Baby Shower

2011-06-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

One of my book club sisters is going to be a grandma for the second time. Last Saturday she threw a beautiful shower for her daughter.

Michelle, The Roving Gourmet, dropped off the food before the guests arrived. The menu was perfect:: cold celery soup shooters, spinach salad, poached salmon, chicken salad, fruit salad. All delicious!

We ate outside in the back yard.

After lunch we were invited to decorate onesies and shirts with fabric paints.

Several guest thought that the baby would be stepping into Daddy's car-mechanic footsteps.

Then came the gifts, and there were many. The time moved swiftly because we played Baby Bingo with cards listing possible baby gifts. With every gift someone may ask "There wouldn't be a hooter-hider in that diaper bag, would there?" or "Could that be used as a pee-pee teepee?". You wouldn't believe the cheers when a night light was finally unwrapped.

The baby will be well dressed for the World-Series-Winning San Francisco Giants ballgames.

There will be no shortage of onesies and shirts.

Baby will even have one with his Facebook page.

The afternoon ended on a sweet note.

The tiny bundt cakes were from a place called Bundtini. Super yummy!

Next time I will share with you what I brought to the shower.

A Walk in the Forest on Whidbey Island

2011-06-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Back in April I visited my college friend David and his wife Victoria. They live on Whidbey Island, a quick ferry ride north of Seattle. One afternoon during our magical weekend, we took a brief hike in the forest...

...where the air is moist and the moss grows lush.

The undergrowth is a study in organic design.

We had to watch that we didn't step on anyone...

Banana slug (Genus Ariolimax)

...and that no one might step on us.

I had never seen so many varieties of fungi in less than an hour.

Update: possibly Bulgaria inquinans

I could not identify one of them...

... beyond the kingdom of Fungi.

Then I saw a mushroom similar to one that my buddy Ken-ichi identified for me last January. Hopefully Ken-ichi, impressive naturalist and co-founder/developer of iNaturalist.org, will confirm that this is of the genus Agaricus.

I recognized the morel mushroom from back in the days when I could eat mushrooms without getting a migraine headache.

Morel mushroom (Genus Morchella)

I have never eaten a salmonberry, but I bet it's delicious.

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

Maybe I have to return in the autumn so that I could taste them.

Who Needs a Smartphone?

2011-05-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

REMIND-O-METER, seen in a thrift shop on Whidbey Island.

Forgetfulness

BILLY COLLINS

The name of the author is the first to go

followed obediently by the title, the plot,

the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel

which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor

decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,

to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye

and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,

and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,

the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,

it is not poised on the tip of your tongue

or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river

whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall

well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those

who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night

to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.

No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted

out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

-- Billy Collins

Click here to hear Billy Collins read this poem.

Source:

"Forgetfulness by Billy Collins : Poetry Magazine [poem/magazine]." Poetry Foundation.

“Forgetfulness” from Questions About Angels.
Copyright © 1999 by Billy Collins.
Reprinted with the permission of University of Pittsburgh Press.

Inside The Getty

2011-05-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

I wrote about the architecture of The Getty Center in my last post and the stunning Rembrandts a couple of posts before that. Today I will feature a few more of my personal favorites from The Getty Museum.

Stepping backwards in time, I begin with the John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Thérése, countess Clary Aldringen. Sargent's life-sized portrait stands tall and proud in the gallery.

Source: The Getty

His quick brushstrokes express the compelling presence of his statuesque subject.

Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

According to a Getty article the countess is portrayed here after she's had three children. I'm consoling myself by believing that she paid Sargent handsomely to shrink her waistline into an impossibly small hourglass.

Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

Since my love affair with Paul Cézanne started last fall, I continue to be inspired to see his work. In stark contrast to the regal presence of the Sargent portrait, Cézanne's melancholy pose for this young Italian woman does not convey an ounce of vanity.

Young Italian Woman at a Table

Paul Cézanne, French, about 1895 - 1900

Oil on canvas, 36 1/8 x 28 7/8 in.

Description here.

I am in awe of Cézanne's commitment to understand the use of space on the canvas using the same familiar props over and over again. Above all, I was thrilled to see the budding spark of cubism in the background.

Still Life with Apples, Paul Cézanne (1893 - 1894), French
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in.
Description here.

While Cézanne used his props as a constant to explore the use of space, Claude Monet studied the effects of light on the same landscape. He painted these haystacks at least thirty times as the seasons changed . The light in this example is wondrous.

Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning, Claude Monet

French, Giverny, 1891

Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 39 1/4 in.

Description here.

A mere 75 kilometers away from Cézanne's Aix-en-Provence, Vincent Van Gogh painted Irises in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Each iris is captured as a portrait. One by one, each is expressed with its individual attitude, height, and angle. The strength of the explosive blues are given by the orange flowers in the background and the rust earth in the foreground. Can you imagine this painting without these essential reds? Of all the works of art I saw this day, the movement in this dynamic painting was the crescendo of the day.

Irises, Vincent van Gogh
Dutch, Saint-Rémy, France, 1889
Oil on canvas, 28 x 36 5/8 in.
Description here.

Stepping back more than one hundred years, I found Augustin Pajou's bust of an ideal female head. She is beautiful and demure with every hair in place. She was designed as a model to ornament a balcony in Versaille. To see the companion sculpture, click here.


Ideal Female Head, Augustin Pajou (1769 - 1770 ) French Terracotta on white marble socle Description here.

Albert Cuyp paintings always get my attention because he is a household name in Amsterdam with a street, outdoor market, and even a supermarket chain named after him. His paintings always convey the essence of the Dutch low countries.

A View of the Maas at Dordrecht, Aelbert Cuyp

Dutch, Dordrecht, about 1645 - 1646

Oil on panel, 19 3/4 x 42 1/4 in.

Description here.

I can understand why Frans Hals is my mother's favorite Dutch portrait artist. The Getty Center and the Rijksmuseum jointly conserved these 400-year-old paintings with beautiful results.

Lucas de Clercq and Feyna van Steenkiste

Frans Hals, the Elder (c. 1580 – 26 August 1666), after conservation

Description here.

The oldest piece I include here is the soft pink glass and gold-leaf Pilgrim Flask from Murano.

Unknown
Italian, Murano, late 1400s or early 1500s
Free-blown colorless (slightly pink) glass with gold leaf, enamel, and applied decoration
14 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.
Description here.

I'm hoping, by posting this, that I will return to that extraordinary island before long.

The Getty Center

2011-05-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

Perched on the crest of a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California is the Getty Center. The tram whisked my son and me from the street-level parking lot to the hilltop plaza. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the travertine staircase leading to a white undulating building. It was a blistering hot October day in Los Angeles. My son wished he packed a pair of sunglasses because the reflection cast off the bright surfaces of the buildings and plaza was blinding.

We chose to climb the stairs on the left side, where waterfall steps...

...emitted soothing sounds as sheets of water poured down each step...

… creating a visually cooling effect.

A lead sculpture called “Air” is precariously balanced midway up the steps.

"Air"
Aristide Maillol (French 1861-1944)
Designed 1938, cast 1962

I spoke about the lack of warning notices in my post about the Oslo Opera House, because here in California even sculptures get a warning tag.

***

Architect Richard Meier used 16,000 tons of beige Italian travertine stone to cover 1.2 million square feet of surface area …

… 40,000 panels of off-white enamel-clad aluminum …

… and vast quantities of glass. The view out of each window and door is picture perfect:

Water is another important and dynamic surface area in Meier’s design.

Meier allowed the qualities of the site to inform his design. He accentuated the steep terrain…

...defined the space of the campus on the naturally-occurring ridges of the hillside...

Cactus Garden

... used native drought-resistant plantings ...

...and took advantage of the panoramic views of downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.

The hour and a half we spent at the Getty Center was a great diversion from four days of non-stop college campus tours.

South African Giraffe and their Calves

2011-05-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

South African Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa)

Some of our fondest memories of our trip to Botswana in the summer of 2009 were the times we encountered the gentle South African Giraffe. I forget who in our Landcruiser spotted the chestnut-brown and buff fur through the trees of the African savanna on first morning at Stanley’s Camp.

Our guide, Poniso, immediately stopped the car and we quietly waited to see if this giraffe will reveal herself. Within a minute of motionless silence, this giraffe cow stepped out of the camouflage of the acacia tree into the open as if to admit defeat in a game of hide and seek. We were taken by her beauty and couldn’t believe our good fortune as we viewed her through our camera lenses. When our shutters stopped snapping, Poniso whispered to us that she was hiding a calf.

We all quickly scanned the landscape until we finally saw the rump of a small giraffe hidden behind the large tree trunk on the left, below the light spot where an elephant has stripped the bark bare. Click on the photo to see a hint To see this photo in original size click here.

We now understood why this mother stepped out of hiding so quickly; she placed herself in a vulnerable position to protect a calf.

***

Three days later, at Chief’s Camp, we stumbled upon another giraffe cow and calf.

We can’t assume that this is the calf’s mother because chances are good that this cow is watching several calves in a nursery herd while other giraffe cows browse for acacia leaves. The giraffe male does not assist in parental care because would be impossible to defend the vast terrain required to supply the large quantity of food he needs to stay healthy. Without a defined territory, he does not know which calves are his. Thus the female giraffes pool together their resources and form what amounts to a babysitting co-op.

The calf’s tawny brown spots are lighter than an adult’s, giving it an even more endearing appearance. I’m sure you can imagine our muffled squeals of delight when we got a close view of this curious calf.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers who bond together and form a village to raise their young.

South African (or Southern) Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) and Red-billed Oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus)

________

Resource:

"Introduction to the Social System of Giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis)." Biology @ Davidson. Web. 08 May 2011. <http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/Behavior/Spring2004/breedlove/parentalcare.html> .

Macro Monday - Rembrandt's "Girl Wearing Gold-Trimmed Cloak"

2011-05-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

Girl Wearing Gold-Trimmed Cloak (detail), 1632
Rembrandt van Rijn, (Dutch 1606-1669)

Last fall, my son and I went on a Southern California college tour. On our way from San Diego to Santa Barbara, we had time to visit The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. A lobby sign announced that there was a portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn on exhibit. I was unfamiliar with this portrait and looked forward to seeing her.

Girl Wearing Gold-Trimmed Cloak,, 1632
Rembrandt van Rijn, (Dutch 1606-1669)

When I was in the presence of this young girl, she took my breath away. My response reminded me of the time I was face to face with Rembrandt's portrait of his son Titus.

Portrait of a Boy in Fancy Dress aka Titus, 1655
Rembrandt van Rijn, (Dutch 1606-1669)

I marvel at Rembrandt's ability to capture the tenderness in the eyes of his subjects. Though his painting style evolved in the intervening twenty or so years, these portraits convey the trust his sitters have in him as he portrays not just their image, but also their spirit.

The young female in Girl Wearing Gold-Trimmed Cloak is believed by some to be Rembrandt's sister. It would explain the trust in her eyes and her frequent appearances in his paintings. One of Getty's prized paintings is Abduction of Europa, painted by Rembrandt in the same year.

The Abduction of Europa, 1632
Rembrandt van Rijn, (Dutch 1606-1669)
J. P. Getty Museum (61 x 78 cm)

It was a privilege to see the young girl's portrait hanging side by side with the masterpiece portraying her as Europa being abducted by Jupiter as a bull.

The Abduction of Europa (detail), 1632
Rembrandt van Rijn, (Dutch 1606-1669)
J. P. Getty Museum (61 x 78 cm)

Rembrandt used Ovid's telling of the myth as his inspiration:

“He moved among the cows, more beautiful than they or other bulls,
he strolled spring grasses, white as the snow untouched
by southern rains or footprint on the ground,
huge, silky muscles at his neck and silvered dewlaps hanging,
horns as white as if a sculptor’s hand had cut them out of pearl.
And no one feared his look, forehead and eye were gracefully benign…
Agenor’s daughter gazed at him in wonder.”
(Ovid, Metamorphoses II.849-59)

Centuries later, in 1975, the young girl was abducted once again. This time in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts, when two men stole Girl Wearing Gold-Trimmed Cloak at gunpoint. The following year, she was dramatically returned by a man in a ski mask. Law enforcement officials found her, wrapped in an old brown quilt, after they surrendered the keys to the trunk of their car to the masked man.

The painting was back on exhibit in Boston for another decade. In 1986, the owner, Robert Treat Paine II, decided to auction off the portrait before new capital gains tax laws would come into effect the following year. He bought the painting in 1929 for $125,000 from Prince Johannes II of Lichtenstein. I shudder to think what the tax bill would have been since the masterpiece brought the record price of $10.3 million. An anonymous New York collector has generously loaned the painting to the Getty Institute for an extended period of time.

Please visit Lisa at Lisa's Chaos for more Macro Monday images.
_________

Citations

"Philolog: Rembrandt and Ovid: The Abduction of Europa, 1632; Metamorphoses II.849-59 and the Myth Tradition." Metamedia at Stanford. Web. 02 May 2011.

Kennedy, Randy. "Portrait of a Girl Wearing a Gold-Trimmed Cloak - J. Paul Getty Museum - Art - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 02 May 2011. Web. 02 May 2011.

Royal Kiss

2011-04-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Image from here.

Congratulations to Prince William and ~~Princess Kate~~!

Update: Oops, she was not given the title of Princess because she was not born into the royal family, nor did she marry the heir to the throne. Prince Charles is next in line.

Congratulations to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge!

Oh my, they don't even sound married here - not very symmetric.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

But we're used to calling him Prince William, and this sounds like a demotion for him. Buckingham Palace stated "If people wanted to call Catherine 'Princess', they were welcome to do so." Well then:

Congratulations to Prince William and Princess Catherine!

I like the sound of that! Read more about their titles here.

Unabashed Tourists in London

2011-04-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

My daughter has a final exam during the royal wedding so she asked me to record it for her. We decided that we would have a small royal party when she comes home for summer in a couple of weeks. We will brew tea, assemble fingertip sandwiches, bake scones, and serve them with clotted cream and jam.

In the mean time, I will flood this space with photos I took in July 2009. We stayed a few days in London, breaking up the long flights that would take us on our African Safari. It was the first time in London for our kids and they longed to see all the iconic images. Without any attempt to see the hidden gems of London, we became unabashed tourists.

***

We walked to the British Museum...

...and were in awe of world-famous antiquities

We rode the impossibly-long escalators at the London Underground.

We minded the gap as we embarked...

... and disembarked at Trafalgar Square...

...guarded by imposing lions at its base.

We smiled when we saw the decorative tiles at literary addresses.

We boarded the Hop-On-Hop-Off double-decker bus

....where we had a great vantage point to admire the Regent architecture...

...in all its sweeping glory.

We confirmed that the London Bridge was not falling down...

We saw the British Parliament from across the Thames...

...and understood how the enormous Big Ben got its moniker.

We saw relatively new icons...

and those that have centuries of tradition.

My daughter and I will look for the Coade Lion at Westminster Bridge. It will probably have the best view of the royal watchers...

...as Kate and William will finally tie the knot in Westminster Abbey.

Macro Monday - Bouquets to Art 2011

2011-04-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

We saw it from across the room, drawn to the billowing spheres of baby's breath (gypsophila) puffing above the train. The cars rolling across the rust tracks...

... filled with exotic riches from around the world: leucadendron from Down Under, orchids from the Orient, roses from Europe, with purple artichokes, sunflowers (sans yellow petals), and fiddlehead ferns from our own West Coast.

Pico Soriano submitted yet another whimsical arrangement for Bouquets to Art 2011. See his 2010 entry here and the one from 2009 here.

***

While Pico's arrangement could be appreciated from afar, Fantasy Florals' understated piece invited closer attention...

...from all angles.

***

I was convinced that De Voy Designs was interpreting a tiny red portion of Richard Diebenkorn's Seawall...

...but Stephanie set me straight and told me that Kiwi DeVoy paired her pave arrangement with Jay DeFeo's Mountain No. 2

For all you Macro Monday lovers, here is a close-up of the red amaryllis, white odontoglossum orchids and black aeonium succulents.

***

It is difficult to decide whether Alena Jean Whiting's beautifully-proportioned abstract accessorizes Mark Rothko's Untitled (1949)...

...or whether it inhabits it. Remarkable.

***
Splash Events' decision to use spider orchids was stellar.

***
My mother's favorite entry was Pat Friday's rich interpretation of Surface of the Moon

The interplay of textures and the restrained palette had many of us in awe of Friday's work of art. See more of the impressive mechanics here.

***

Michael Daigian interpreted a crater here on Planet Earth, specifically Michael Light's Mono Craters 07.17.06 #10, taken near Yosemite National Park.

I sat next to Michael and his lovely wife on the shuttle bus. He told me that they had just returned from Hawaii and was inspired by the volcanic lava on the Big Island.

***

I will close with the newest work of art I covered in this mini-series of Bouquets to Art 2011. Peggy O'Neill did an admirable job extending Rupert Garcia's Obama from Douglass, 2010.

Please visit Lisa's Chaos to view many beautiful Macro Monday photos.

Bouquets to Art 2011 - Contemporary Art

2011-04-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Follow me downstairs to the Contemporary Art wing to view more Bouquets to Art submissions for 2011.

Judy Cochran Ward made a replica of Sono Osato's Meena with what I believe might be painted craftpaper with reclaimed objects wedged into the folds. Spring flowers and succulents burst as perfect counterpoints to the monochromatic diptych.

If you're wondering what these ladies are looking at...

... it is the back side of the arrangement.

Cochran dedicated her Bouquet to "the memory of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy, including my dear friend Lauren Grandcaulas, and represents the beauty and life of hope."

***

I have often been intrigued by Al Farrow's black miniature cathedral in the same room.

When Donnel Vicente chose it for Bouquet to Art this year, it commanded everyone's attention.

The unique box of nails and soft white ranunculus moved me to read the tag associated with the church.

The sculpture, named The Spine and Tooth of Santa Guerro, is a social commentary on war and religion . I had never noticed before that the church is made of bullets, pellets and deconstructed guns.The title tooth is encapsuled in the red reliquary above the transept door.

***

Cheryl McGuire of Flair complemented Sean Scully's Wall of Light Horizon with a reflection back to Josiah McElheny's Model for Total Reflective Abstraction.

***

While I appreciate the innovation and whimsy of the sculptural pieces in my previous post, Phoebe Kahl's and Diana Kennedy's dynamic contribution makes my heart sing.

They truly expressed the essence of Elmer Bischoff's Girl with Towel, 1960. I adore how the kangaroo paw branches float above the rust cymbidium and white phaleonopsis orchids, while a wave of orange ribbon and green broom branches dance upward to the sky. Kahl and Kennedy delivered the type of arrangement I long to see at Bouquets to Art.

***

Paul Robertson Floral design cooked up a big pot of florals for Robert Colescott's A Taste of Gumbo,

...seasoned with a minor hint Mardi Gras beads.

***

Regula's European Design created a three-dimensional version of Sam Francis' Helio...

...utilizing cobalt blue bottles, red netting, a sparse use of fresh calla lilies and gerbera daisies, with yellow plastic-covered wire dancing on a plexi-glass armature.

***

Katherine Zhang turned Rupert Garcia's Untitled for Eyellende on end with black ti leaves and colored foam...

...while Laurel Winzler took a vertical approach to interpret Garcia's work.

Stay tuned for another Bouquets to Art 2011 post in the coming days.

Macro Monday - Bouquets to Art 2011

2011-04-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous posts about Bouquets to Art at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, this year's exhibition one of my favorites. One reason is that several floral artists have selected works of art that I don't recall being chosen before.

I have always adored this pair of small paintings by Thomas Waterman Wood and was delighted that Market Woman was tapped.

Fleur de Vie floral designer Talin Tascian created a spectacular floral twin using the king protea's petals for her shawl and its silver flower heads in her shopping basket. Her apron was composed of woven flax (hala) leaves and her skirt black ti leaves.

***

I have walked by this beautiful fireplace mantel countless times and never noticed that the legs were carved dogs, until Grace Street Floral made it patently obvious.

I imagine that Rhonda Stoffel had a blast choosing the materials for this whimsical sculpture. Rust hypericum berries (St. John's Wort), white tallow berries, and succulents were great choices for the face. I will never look at the under side of a magnolia leaf again without thinking that it looks just like the velvety ear of a dog. In fact, I believe I will be hounded by this image.

Update - Rhonda Stoffel wrote me and shared this:

Yes he WAS super fun to make — I’ve been wanting to do something with those crazy-amazing dogs for AGES and was excited to finally have the opportunity to do so ( as usually the person who chooses that piece highlights something with the TOP part of the mantel - with more of the deer motif) — The dogs finally got their proper 15 minutes of fame!

***

The initial inspiration for David Regan's Cod Tureen dates all the way back to biblical times in the Gospel of James where the metaphor of big fish eating little fish was used to illustrate the rich exploiting the poor*. In the mid-sixteenth century, Pieter Breugel the Elder depicted this story in a painting. Pieter van der Heyden, in turn, created the companion engraving in 1557. David Regan formed the ceramic version in 1997.

Thierry Chantrel of La Follia created the most recent incarnation...

...nearly 400 years after tulip mania and using the marine currency of sand dollars .

***

Though it is refreshing to see new works of art interpreted, it is still exciting to visit the perennial favorites. Some of you may recall the 2009 interpretation of James Bard's The Steamship Syracuse. This year, College of San Mateo's C. Diana Vigil and floristry students did an admirable job echoing the Mississippi steamboat with blue delphiniums, white roses, and phaleonopsis orchids.

In 2009, the window of Job Lots Cheap was the emphasis. This year, this trompe l'oeil was enhanced by Nancy Liu Chin's literary contribution:

Sunshine Flowers and Event Design literally weighs the question: "Why compare apples and oranges?" on a vintage scale...

... in response to William Rickarby Miller's Still Life -- Study of Apples, 1862 and William Joseph McCloskey's Oranges in Tissue Paper, ca. 1890.

I hope that Marisse Newell's fantastic interpretation of Winter Festival conjures up images from the distant past for you...

...and that instead, you are looking out your window to newly sprung blossoms, like these arranged by Ikebana International.

Paradise Flowers' amaryllis blossoms are a great red-headed representation for Robert Henri's "The Lady in Black with Spanish Scarf", 1910.

Emil Yanos thought out of the box when he complemented The Blue Veil with a striking abstract sculpture.

See more Macro Monday images here and stay tuned for more stunning images from the 2011 Bouquets to Art in upcoming posts.
______
* Source: Wiki and The Met

Bouquets to Art 2011 - Upper Galleries

2011-03-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Now that you've enjoyed the delectable foods served at the Bouquets to Art Opening Night Preview Party, please come upstairs to view the works of art as interpreted by prominent floral designers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

At the top of the stairs, you are greeted with a cascade of white dendrobium orchids spilling into a luscious pool of blooming delights designed by the florists of Blooming Floral Design. Their arrangement adds a third dimension to the diptych "The Niagara River at the Cataract".

Wendy Morck's crescent design cradles the portrait of Maria Maytilda Winkler perfectly.

Mykell Newton of Botanic Gifts contributed a design that lives up to his company's name. The smoky-colored mushroom valley is an inspired idea.

Ron Morgan's architectural interpretation of the Navajo necklace gets the award for Most Ingenious Use of Materials. Two wreath bases serve as great spines for the "necklaces". At first glance, the bold red bromeliad leaves appear to be the only plant material used.

Closer observation, however, reveals other natural elements like eucalyptus knobs, iris fruit pods, black beans, and bisected gourds.

I enjoyed stepping into the botanical shrine Charlotte's Blossoms built for Penelope.

Svenja Brotz's larger-than-life dance partner for Karen LaMonte's Dress 3 was my sister's favorite.

I like the arrangements that work with the paintings as well as on their own, like Lavender Floral's entry for the Richard Mayhew's Rhapsody...

... and Laurelle Hartley-Thom's depiction of Martin Johnson Heade's Singing Beach, Manchester...

... demonstrating beautiful pave technique and great choice of monochromatic florals.

The team at Michael Daigian Design also used the pave technique for their entry. They extended the scene in John Vanderlyn's painting Caius Marius amid the Ruins of Charthage, 1807, with a large stem of sandblasted grapewood...

...and a wardrobe of red roses, amaranth, and succulents.

I've admired Sandow Birk's Fog over San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California (2001) ever since the museum acquired it because I used to live nearby the cove in the foreground of the painting. I was impressed with Kim Haworth's subtle references to the prison with the stone-wall container, the striped fabric and bamboo bars.

Florabella's design (top photo) reflects the lily-white skin and mane of red hair in George De Forest Brush's painting of A Celtic Huntress. The galax leaves formed the ideal fabric for the bodice and

the stalk of date palm fruit with a spritz of copper paint was the perfect choice for the red hair. I know many of you were wondering about that strange flower/fruit/creature. You are not alone; it stirred up quite a bit of conversation.

Please stay tuned for more Bouquets to Art creations in the coming days.

Bouquets to Art 2011 - Opening Night Preview Party

2011-03-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

While I'm editing the remaining photos of Bouquets to Art 2011, won't you take a few moments to enjoy the dazzling buffet brought to the De Young Museum by the talented crew of McCalls Catering for the Opening Night Preview Party?

Step into Wilsey Court and choose between the seafood or vegetarian paella, or a little of both.

Make sure to leave enough room on your plate for a helping of rack of spring lamb.

Of course, you must eat your vegetables. These are roasted to perfection.

Chase it with oyster gazpacho shooters, or three or four, like I did.

If you still have room, you can belly up to the carving station receive the world's friendliest service.

Now take a moment to admire the towering living sculpture created by Svenja Brotz of Chestnut & Vine (top photo). This arresting design took center stage in the Piazzoni Murals Room. The epiphytic roots of the dainty yellow phaleonopsis look right at home in the nooks and crannies of the bleached grapewood.

I know it's hard to ignore the buffet of desserts luring you. Will it be the strawberry cheesecake?

Or California berries in sabayone, with an optional dollop of whipped cream? Maybe with a meringue kiss?

Who could resist these profiteroles, either chocolate, vanilla, or coffee cream, served on a Tiffany blue plate? Go ahead grab the tongs and help yourself.

While you are digesting all this, I will be preparing the next few posts featuring the artistry of the Bay Area's best floral artists with their interpretations of the fine art inside the De Young Museum.

Bouquets to Art 2011 - Lobby

2011-03-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Since its inception 27 years ago, I have attend most of Bouquets to Art exhibits, a highly-celebrated spring ritual hosted by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. As impossible as it was to believe, the 150 floral artists who were invited to create a floral arrangement to complement the artwork in the M. H. De Young Museum found a way to step it up another notch this year. Click the "Categories" tab to view the fantastic entries of previous years' Bouquets to Arts.

***

Just inside the main entrance hangs the creation of Dominque Pfahl of Floreal, representational of Andy Goldsworthy's environmental art of found objects. The organic frame serves to hold the lenses through which one can view Goldsworthy's "Drawn Stone" sculptures in the entry courtyard. Previously named "Faultline", the installation is a creative expression of the seismic network that runs through California.

This is a good time to pause and remember the victims Japan's earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. My thoughts and prayers go to all those who are dealing with the aftermath of the disasters. If you haven't already made a donation to the relief efforts to aid the victims, I invite you to donate to Doctors Without Borders (Medicins Sans Frontieres), The Salvation Army, or an organization of your choice.

***

Sogetsu Ikebana artist Katsuko Thielke of Hunter-Lee Flowers created an astounding arrangement...

...to accompany Raúl Anguiano's "Untitled. (Seated Girl Holding an Apple)".

Untitled. (Seated Girl Holding an Apple), 1943 by Raúl Anguiano.
Image: Maulleigh at Flickr.

The pure white phaleonopsis orchids were the perfect choice to represent the white dress and the innocence of the girl. while the chrysanthems, hypericum berries, and cymbydium orchids provided the apple green element. My favorite elements of this arrangement, though, are the strands of bear grass intricately woven into braids, suggesting the inferred braid of the girl's hair...

... and the palm fronds whose profiles were completely altered by braiding the ends.

If I were to give out awards, I would have to give Thielke the Best Workmanship prize.

***

Urban Chateau's entry provided a great sneak peek for the upcoming Balenciaga and Spain Exhibition at the museum.

This floral sculpture of black satin with red and white roses shouts both Balenciaga and Spain.

Cristobal Balenciaga

***

Paige Benjamin, of Passiflora Designs, created a beautiful modern upright tapestry of colors and textures:

***

Hats off and thank you to Joy Kuhn and Patty Reed and other members of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Flower Committee for tirelessly volunteering every month to provide fresh flowers for the lobby, executive offices, and the museum's 13 bathrooms.

Stay tuned for more Bouquets to Art 2011 post in the near future.

Roy DeCarava – Shooting in Available Light

2011-03-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Roy DeCarava

"Woman Descending Stairs"

1951

Each week in my Beginning Photography class, our instructor Moshe Quinn introduced us to a new master photographer and assigned a mini research project each week. Though it was time-consuming, I loved learning about each photographer.

Roy De Carava was one of my favorite Photographers of the Week. I was thrilled to stumble upon this gentle photographer's interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross early in my research.

I was amazed to learn that he “accepts the lighting conditions, whatever they are”. He didn’t believe that you couldn’t take a photo just because there wasn’t enough light. He said “I would rather sacrifice the information, in terms of details and things like that, for a feeling of mood.” This was a revelation for me, because I am the first to bellyache about the lack of perfect light conditions and point to it as a reason for not capturing a great image.

In “Woman Descending Stairs”, he allowed our eyes to find the precious few swathes of white in the photo. First one see the woman’s hand as it elegantly bundles the excess volume of her coat. Then we are drawn to her legs that swished open her coat to reveal the light corner of the lining. Her natural grace would be the envy of any runway model.

In “Man Coming up Subway Stairs”, DeCarava conveys the man’s exhaustion by capturing the pull of the hand, just out of frame, and his posture slumped in his once-crisp shirt, now rumpled by a hard day’s work.

"Man coming up subway stairs"

1952

In an image from the book “The Sound I Saw”, DeCarava froze a moment of quietude that two jazz musicians found in an unadorned room back stage. It’s hard to decide whether this is quiet moment preceded or followed a lively jazz session on stage.

Roy DeCarava from "The Sound I Saw"
published by Phaidon Press in 2001

Here are some other images of DeCarava's I admire. The white shirts and the Lingerie shop signs are the stars of this image:

Roy DeCarava

Lingerie, New York

1950

Smithsonian American Art Museum

The tight embrace during a dance reveals just enough of the couple to imply the intimacy between them.

I love his fascination with stripes:

ROY DECARAVA
Man in Striped Shirt at Piano
Gelatin silver print. 1954/1981. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 481 3/2 in ink on the verso.
10 x 12 7/8in. (25.4 x 32.7cm.) Framed.

DeCarava photographed many Jazz musicians who performed in Harlem, like Coltrane and Elvin:

Roy De Carava, Coltrane and Elvin, 1960

... and Duke Elington

I dare you to sit still during this fabulous clip of the young Duke Ellington playing “Take the A Train”. The A Train is the very best way to get to “Sugarhill way up in Harlem… in a hurry, hurry, hurry…”

Segment from the film”Reveille with Beverly” from 1943; the song was composed in 1939 by Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974).

Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World

2011-03-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

During the week between Christmas and New Year, one hundred of our closest relatives descended upon New Orleans for a big family reunion. I learned during this trip that rather than taking down the Christmas tree and relegating to it to the sidewalk, a true New Orleanian simply replaces the Christmas ornaments with Mardi Gras beads. The tree's next incarnation is symbolic of the seamless transition from Christmas and New Year's straight into Mardi Gras season. It seemed à propos then, that George Schiaffino led a small group of his cousins to Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World.

Blaine Kern is the self-proclaimed "Mr. Mardi Gras" and biggest float manufacturer in the world. His warehouse is open to the public and showcases the larger-than-life props used on Mardi Gras parade floats.

A closer examination of the props reveals the foam interior of these sculptures.

Our tour guide explained that production begins with the sculptured blanks.

The vast majority of the blanks are made of polystyrene because it is economical and easily tailored with a small chainsaw.

Designers dress the sculpture using styrofoam sheets.

Next comes the layer of color. Sometimes texture is applied in sheets...

...but other times life is breathed into the characters with a masterful application of paint.

The characters are then installed into the float, complete with a throne for the guest of honor.

The warehouse has no shortage of float accessories to complete the look and also to hide the mechanics of the vehicle.

Floats are commissioned by Mardi Gras krewes. A krewe (pronounced "crew") is the organization that produces a parade and ball for the Carnival season. Historically, only the privileged were allowed to join a krewe. With a desire to serve the general populace, the Krewes of Endymion and Bacchus marked the dawn of a new era by dropping the requirement to be part of the New Orleans social elite. Blaine Kern rose to the occasion when Owen "Pip" Brennan, Jr., Captain of the Bacchus Krewe, told him: "We want the biggest. We want the best."

Today, the Kern family runs an empire that creates floats for parades all over the world...

...including this one for the Orpheus Krewe.

The Kerns work with the krewes, drawing inspiration from Hollywood pop culture...

...but also from the stories Blaine Kern heard in his childhood, like those from the Bible...

...ancient history...

...or Asian folklore.

This coming Tuesday will be Mardi Gras, followed by forty days of Lent. Lent is possibly the only time in New Orleans without a big celebration, but don't worry, everyone can look forward to the New Orleans Jazz Fest the weekend after Easter.

Source: Mardi Gras Unmasked

Favorite Beverages of the Winter 2011 Fancy Food Show

2011-02-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

Judging from the number of beverages Tracy and I chose to taste at the Winter Fancy Food Show, I must conclude that we must have been very thirsty. Here is a sampling of our favorites.

Vignette Wine Country Soda

If you are looking for a sophisticated alternative to sparkling cider, Vignette Wine Country Soda is an elegant solution. This non-alcoholic, sparkling soda is made with pinot noir or chardonnay wine grapes.

It has a clean, refreshing taste that is not overly carbonated and not too sweet. In fact, it has no added sugar and does not contain the dreaded high-fructose corn syrup.

The rosé has a gorgeous bright color and would be perfect to serve for a baby shower. The mother-to-be can still join in the fun and drink her "wine".

Beer Salt

Image from Twang

I remember the first time I was in Mexico, a local bartender instructed me to lick salt sprinkled on top of my closed fist before drinking a swig of beer and then finishing it off by biting into a wedge of lime. This trifecta comingled into a perfect burst of flavors. Twang has now offers tiny six-packs of lime-flavored salts designed to be sprinkled directly onto the neck of the beer bottle. No more sticky hands and lime pulp between the teeth.

They also carry a line of very attractive rimming salts. I would love to try the Sour Apple or the Bloody Mary Chili Lime sea salt flavors.

Republic of Tea

Mel and Patricia Ziegler didn't rest on their laurels after they sold The Banana Republic to The Gap. In fact, they decided to move mountains of tea leaves when they founded The Republic of Tea in 1992. The company's current Minister of Tea, Ron Rubin, continues to run the highly successful business in a socially and environmentally responsible fashion.

With close to 250 items in their product line, there is a tea to suit even the most selective tea lovers.

Sportastic Sports Drink

We didn't get a chance to taste the Sportastic sports drink, but Tracy and I are looking forward to recommending this attractive drink to a client for an upcoming bar mitzvah with a baseball theme. Fortified with B vitamins and with only 4 grams of sugar, instead of Gatorade's or Powerade's 35 grams, the parents should be pleased with this healthier alternative.

One Fresh Cup Coffee

One Fresh Cup is the ideal product for the any traveler to kick-start a morning with a great cup of coffee in the hotel room. The disposable, built-in filter makes it convenient to brew a cuppa from real ground coffee, which I'm sure will taste far superior to drinking dissolved instant coffee granules. I was most impressed that they offered my favorite coffee variety, Sumatra, along with my husband's favorite, French Roast. I can't wait to try my Sumatra sample on my next trip.

Now that I'm fully hydrated, I'm going to look for something to eat.

Great Egret's Lunch

2011-02-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

Great Egret ( Ardea alba)

Shared on Lisa Gordon's Creative Exchange here.

Macro Monday - Love One Another

2011-02-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

Love One Another

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart.
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

For other Macro Monday images, visit Lisa's Macro Monday.

Eye-Candy at the 2011 Winter Fancy Food Show

2011-02-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

Over 1,300 exhibitors from 35 countries convened to show off more than 80,000 food products at the 2011 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. For a more in-depth description of the Fancy Food Show, read my first post about the show here.

Though there was an abundance of delicious food to eat and beverages to drink, Tracy and I were also very impressed with all the gorgeous displays.

Woodland Foods spent four hours creating this beautiful mosaic of their specialty ingredients. They procure hard-to-find ingredients from 45 different countries ranging from mushrooms, specialty rices, exotic fruits, and pastas. This year’s catalog features no less than 13 kinds of sun-dried tomatoes.

Le Chef Bakery laid out a delectable spread:

The most unusual and hauntingly beautiful displays were in the HimalaSalt booth. The generous slabs and pillars of Himalayan salt created dramatic tablescapes, especially when they are backlit with low-voltage bulbs.

The Galaxy Desserts booth always has stunning displays; this year was no exception.

The frozen yoghurt craze has helped put mochi on the map. Bubbies’ made-in-Hawaii mochi ice cream is now also shipped to the mainland.

Tracy and I fell in love with the elegant liqueur bottles by Jacques Fisselier:

Especially the tiny single-serving bottles:

Because they offered no tastings, I can’t speak to the taste of Ulmer’s chocolates, but I can tell you that I have never seen such a large variety of attractive small-sized chocolates in my life. Here is a small sampling of their 3,000 different chocolate products.

I am particularly enamored with the pink and white rolls in the front right corner of this display. How great would they look floating on top of a coconut raspberry cake?

With 150 years of experience, this German-based company has become the premier supplier for many ice cream, cereal, and candy products around the world. Chances are good that you’ve tasted their products.

It would be sweet if I could get my hands on the small star- and heart-shaped chocolate toppings so that I can make this chocolate crepes recipe for Valentine’s Day.

Recipe and image source: Ulmer Schocolade

Bon Appetit!

Fancy Jelly Belly Art at the Fancy Food Show

2011-02-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

"Starry Night" by Kristen Cumings
Photo by Tracy Lou

"Mona Lisa" by Kristen Cumings
Photo by Tracy Lou

Jelly Belly art seen at the Fancy Food Show Winter 2011.

Also by Kristen Cumings:

"Cupcake" by Kristen Cumings
Photo from here

Here's some music to enjoy a cup of tea with a handful of Jelly Belly candies.

Have a sweet weekend!

Dutchbaby

Dale Chihuly at the De Young Museum - Continued

Dale Chihuly at the De Young Museum

New CPR Procedure

New Year's at Hotel Monteleone

Happy Holidays

Endemic, Indigenous, Native, Migrant, and Introduced

Broiled Figs with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese

Innovative Quilts at Pacific International Quilt Festival XX

Traditional Quilts of California at Pacific International Quilt Festival XX

Stanford Pumpkins 2011

Halloween at Pacific International Quilt Fest XX

Crochet Coral Reef Sculptures Explain Mathematics

Recycled materials at Symposium 2011

"America, Let It Shine" Quilt by Sherry Reynolds

Willow Manor Ball 2011 - Isn't It Romantic?

Apple Love

Tracy Wins Two Awards at 2011 AIFD Student Competition

Lavatory Levity

Hurricane Irene

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Bouquets to Art 2011 - Upper Galleries

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Roy DeCarava – Shooting in Available Light

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Favorite Beverages of the Winter 2011 Fancy Food Show

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Macro Monday - Love One Another

Eye-Candy at the 2011 Winter Fancy Food Show

Fancy Jelly Belly Art at the Fancy Food Show