resplendent chaos

Wandering Through The Winter Garden

speckled debutant * stretches tentacles outward * drinking from the sun

reptilian spiral * unfolding fractal of spores * like tiny space ships

salamander lust * beneath the lily pad floor * eager for a turn

before I reveal * your top secret instructions * promise to listen

fallen angels rest * upon the dark forest floor * fusing with the earth

 

once you were my home * but I grew and expanded * now you fall away

I'll unfurl my cape * rippling chartreuse in the breeze *  my roots hold me strong

Location:  Berkeley Botanical Garden, January 2010

* * * Les Fleurs du Mal * * *

 

Droplet moistened mouth

agape with constant hunger

for juicy conquests

 

Industrial pods

electrical wires exposed

laugh at lost tourists

Succulent petal

slips deep into the fissure

down the rabbit hole

Liquid pink eyeballs

gaze through refracted lenses

at worlds we can't see

Bees dance among the

vermillion velvet petals

drunk with sweet pollen

  

Scarlet trumpet plays

a seductive melody

of fractal Buddhas

Silly furry clown

thinks I can't see him hiding

trickster in disguise

California Skies

Roiling thunderheads forming above an EAT sign near Palm Springs. 

 
A foggy San Francisco day as viewed through an iphone camera using the Hipstamatic app. 

Sunsets in Los Angeles are always obscured by silhouettes of power lines, palm trees and jail-bound starlets. 

This is what it looks like as you drive toward San Francisco during the Summer months. The city is quietly nestled under all that thick fog on most afternoons and keeps us shivering while the rest of the country boils. You may have unbearable heat, but we get slapped with quakes from time to time - so it all evens out.

Unaltered photograph of vermillion sunset seen outside my art studio window. 

Rainbow Poodle and The Pom-Poms

 

 

One of the hottest acts found along the sidewalks of San Francisco is the colorful canine spectacle, "Rainbow Poodle and the Pom-Poms".  Rainbow Poodle can't be missed with her vivid hued stylish mohawk and neon pink poofs atop finely manicured paws. The Pom-Poms are her two cohorts, a pair of interestingly dyed friendly pomeranians who follow a few steps behind. Rainbow Poodle is too well-behaved and glamorous to be seen wearing a leash (it would clash) so she always leads the pack.  People stop and stare in disbelief when they spot the colorful pageant heading toward them.  The best way to catch a glimpse of Rainbow Poodle and the Pom-Poms is to head over to the Polk Street neighborhood.

Human / Duck Gene Splicing A Resounding Success

Anaheim, CA May 2010 - A team of genetic engineers revealed today the results of their secret Human/Duck hybrid experiment.  Isolating the genes of a human volunteer plucked from an undisclosed all-you-can-eat buffet and incorporating them into the cells of a common pond duck via a transfer vector, the team created the world's first successful human genetically modified organism. Code named BOSCO 48, the organism promptly waddled out of the laboratory and over to the nearest sports bar to join the other, not so successful human hybrid subjects for a cold beer and some peanuts. Photo snapped inside Disneyland food court (where else?) by yours truly.

Carnivorous Plants Need Love Too

No matter where the pots were placed, they seemed to always gravitate toward each other. 

Springtime Unfurls and Twists Its Way Out of the Darkness

While tree squirrels keep an eye on the occasional wandering human...

Golden Gate Botanical Garden, San Francisco, March 2010.

Take a Walk With Me: Coastal Forest After The Rain

 

 

 

Unlike the rest of the country, we aren't feeling the cold snap here in San Francisco. Sure, it's 50 degrees out there and that's downright freezing to wimps like me, but not enough to keep me away from a muddy walk in the forest. 

A Tour of The Art Studio/Cabinet of Natural Curiosities

Aerial view showing top of small bookcase. Items include a framed Luna Moth, a small statue of Buddha, a barnacle-bedecked stone found at Half Moon Bay, a dried paddle of cactus found in the Arizona desert, and a lamp decorated with skeleton leaves found in a Washington forest, eucalyptus pods found in Ventura, CA, and seaweed. 

 

Included in this shot: A dried Buddha Hand citron, a small flower vase I made from driftwood and clay dug out from ocean cliffs then fired to hardness in front of a roaring bonfire on the beach, a small sculpture by artist Hobart Brown, and a hand-painted ceramic skull vase.

I find much inspiration in the work of some of my favorite artists, so I hang their art right above my drawing table and gaze upon it often:  Bald Beaver by Kipling West, Nick Nolte's DUI Mug Shot by Chris Crites, Fresh Tacos by Robert Hardgrave, Untitled by Olivia Brown.  I've also hung an old practice painting of Karl Lagerfeld (as well as several photos of him behind my easel) because I'm completely obsessed with the image he presents of himself.  I've been wanting to paint a life size, full bodied portrait of him for awhile but haven't had time. 2010 is the Year of The Giant Karl Painting.

There's so many trinkets stuffed on top of my bookcase that I fear it will topple over. Shown: Handmade clay lantern from Guatemala, handmade beaded deer from Africa, steel table lamp bought from a blacksmith in Northern CA, a scary painting of Keira Knightley.  

No work could be completed without the dedicated labor of my hard-working assistant. 
 

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