Beautiful Stranger - Rachel

I love plants and flowers, but I almost never know their names. They are like the people I see all the time in my neighborhood, or in the store, or at the park who I have but a nodding aquaintance with: I greet and acknowledge, but that's as far as the relationship goes.

This beautiful stranger was growing near a neighbor's porch and I asked if I could double back with my camera and photograph it. Like me, my neighbor doesn't know this plant by name but we both admire it's unique form and beauty.

Summoning Hestia~ Watercolor

Summoning Hestia~ Watercolor card Goddesses

Hestia was the virgin goddess of the hearth (both private and municipal) and the home. As the goddess of the family hearth she also presided over the cooking of bread and the preparation of the family meal. Hestia was also the goddess of the sacrificial flame and received a share of every sacrifice to the gods. The cooking of the communal feast of sacrificial meat was naturally a part of her domain.

Getting ready to watch our modern day Hestia do her thing and cook with the freshest ingredients and pour her love into a pot for over 200 this weekend and calling all her muses and goddess friends to help and celebrate. All in the name of public education!

Still Looking Down - Robin

Rachey, I did see that exhibit at Modernbook.  I have lots of cool sky shots. Maybe we should fly somewhere on a field trip. HA! Here are a couple of favorites:

Drawing~ Lori Singer

Note book Drawing
Lori Singer

A Darker View - Rachel

I took some interesting drive by photos I drove across the Bay Bridge on Tuesday, unfortunately my windows were FILTHY and the lighting was challenging (particularly while driving). I had one photo (see above) which held a strong skyline and some amazing clouds, and as I was cleaning it up in Photoshop I realized that I didn't actually want to clean it up at all, rather I wanted to do something completely different with it. Perhaps it's all those billboards for Tim Burton's spin on "Alice in Wonderland", or perhaps it's our crumbling state infrastructure and collapsing educational system, but I was drawn to elicit the darker view: A rusting bridge and skyline under an ominous sky.

Eggs - Rachel

Spring is coming and naturally my mind turns to new beginnings. I've been watching the trees blossom and listening to a new level of avian activity in my backyard. The weather is still winter (for California) with our spates of rain followed intermittently with rays of bright sunlight.

This morning as I made breakfast something about this pile of egg shells spoke to me. Is there something poetic about a pile of shells? There's certainly a visual interest in their cracks and lines, but I couldn't quite get them to sing as I thought that they might.

For lack of an indoor space to photograph them I took to the out of doors, photographing them in the grass. Take a look at the full-size image and let me know what you think.

Music Note

This was the background of a painting that I did for a music store down south. I smoked in the background using white, black, burnt sienna all mixed into various shades.