Another View of the Mclaren Raven

I have not been feeling very inspired lately. It may just be that the beginning of the year is a time to get refueled for the next batch of inspiration. I mostly believe that. Occasionally I find myself thinking, "that's it, I'm done, I have no more art inside of me." But I know that is the voice of fear and this year I'm choosing to look at this time as a time of percolation and enjoy how nice an clean my studio is becoming.

Happy New Year!

Black-capped Chickadee

I'm reading Sy Montgomery's book "Birdology" and I am quite riveted. If you read "The Good, Good Pig" then you know Montgomery is a great writer and now she's written about one of my favorite topics - birds. Apparently, birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. In the chapter on the cassowary (which looks strikingly similar to a dinosaur), Montgomery writes, about the discovery of soft tissue in the femur of a Tyrannosaurus Rex by paleontologist Mary Schweitzer. The DNA was sequenced from the 68 million year old fossil and guess what living creature the DNA most closely resembled, a chicken!

I decided to post this image after reading the following: "the timid titmouse and fluffy chickadee, it turns out, are close relatives of the largest, most powerful carnivores that ever lived. Their direct ancestors were bipedal, meat eating dinosaurs, with three toes, air-filled bones, and wishbones like those from the Thanksgiving turkey."

This black-capped chickadee also happened to be a frequent feeder at Grammy Tunney's bird feeder in Long Island - from Jurassic Park to Long Island.

Persimmon

Today I walked by IXIA on Market Street and they have, as usual, two beautiful arrangements in the window. One of the wonders today featured persimmon branches filled with gorgeous ripe fruit. This post, is a nod to Gary Weiss, the proprietor, who makes art out of branches, leaves, and flowers, and offers us, the passers-by, a new arrangement every week or so through his dramatic window pieces.

I've only been eating persimmons for the last ten years or so and now they are such an essential part of my fall food habits. I usually begin collecting hachiyas in early November so I can turn the luscious soft fruit into persimmon pudding. But before that, if we are lucky, our fruit bowl is filled with crisp fuyus until they are no longer crunchy, but slightly soft and sugary.

Tea and Sunshine at Saint Mary's Park

December is starting with a bang with three great receptions to attend: the weekend begins with a great party at City Art Gallery on Friday December 3, then on Saturday, December 4, a fundraiser for Visual Aid entitled "Little Gems" at Underglass where the owner of the shop has donated the framing for all of the work, and finally on Sunday afternoon, the seventh anniversary party for Studio Gallery which is exhibiting their annual "Tiny" show. I have a good feeling about the weekend and about the year ending well. Also, if you happen to be up on Potrero Hill, my work is at Collage Gallery on 18th Street (just up from Plow, my new favorite place to have brunch). This is a great exclamation point to a good year!

Another Judge?

I was under the impression that Victoria Kolakowski won the Superior Court Judge seat in Alameda County, but I just learned she is up for a run-off election. I'm certainly rooting for her, I love that she is out as a trans woman and running for public office. This month is Kolakowski month for me.

Judge Kolakowski

I donated this lovely to Big Deal and was pretty excited when it was among the early pieces to get bought up. Visual Aid holds this wild, fixed price, silent and live auction every year and the proceeds go to help artists with life threatening illnesses continue to work. It's a great cause and a really fun event.