Though in decline in practice across the world, the patterns of seasonal subsistance still capture the imagination, evidenced in this image from the Sacramento River Delta, culled from the archives of the Department of Fish and Game. I’m interested in reviving this scale of self-sufficiency. * _uacct = “UA-4252294-1”; urchinTracker();
Category Archives: daily handwork
Empyreal Sea Glass
I delight as much in finding a piece of blue sea glass during a drizzly walk on Doran Beach as might an exogeologist upon discovering tektite in the cratered sands of the Sahara or the volcanic dusts of Venus.
Steady Hand of Chaos
There are rare times when I find myself aware of what I am doing or making as though I am watching myself and all else momentarily recedes. It is in this state that I am most attuned to the graceful and Steady Hand of Chaos.
Shop Shrine
I love my portable drawing cabinet, built by H. Gerstner & Sons in Dayton, Ohio about fifty years ago. It has developed into something of a Shop Shrine, a catch-all for small, meaningful, or valuable things- my treasures. I did not intend for this to happen, but now that I think of it I realize […]
Little Discoveries
We’ve had a stretch of unusually dry, balmy days, forcing the ‘flowering quince’ (Chaenomelles Japonica) to bloom early. As you may have noticed, our land was planted with many exotic species by the former owners, and there is always something in bloom, and usually something to pick and eat. I walk the grounds when I […]
What Makes a Good Day?
I saw this Purple Shore Crab yesterday (Hemigrapsus nudus) while I was Having A Good Day. Our projects overwhelm at times and it can be challenging to keep the perspective on their origins and intentions, the contour of individual days lost in a whir of activity. The conceptual underpinnings of my work and collaborations with […]
Rural Flaneur
I’m becoming a rural flaneur. Between projects I roam around meadows and forests, between the river and the beach, noticing things and making connections, looking for trends. The challenge will be to align my projects with these seasonal wanderings, to align my inner state with my surroundings, which I see as an ideal state […]