The Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River, map 6/15, Army Corps of Engineers, 1944, Harold Fisk, chief cartographer Documenting the seasonal cycles over the past few months (see my Week in Bloom postings) has me thinking a lot about bioregions and watersheds as the most appropriate scale for human interaction with the natural world […]
Category Archives: studio process
Shanty Boats and Scow Schooners
the scow schooner Annie L, built in 1900 by Emil Munder, unloading hay in San Francisco As hay bales begin to dot the fields I’m reminded how little the landscape of West Sonoma County has changed since the late 19th century, when scow schooners still sailed down the rivers to deliver cargoes of hay, timber […]
Making Hay
The road from Valley Ford to Two Rock is flanked by furrowed fields of freshly mowed hay, ready for baling. Pretty soon the barns will be stocked to the rafters with sweet hay, elucidating their proportional relationship to the fields they occupy. Craftwork begins with the localization of supply and demand; contentment begins with their […]
Mowing the Meadow
mowing the high meadow grasses One of my favorite tools is our hand-pushed, mulching mower. As with all of my favorite tools, I like the physical activity and related mental state associated with using it as much if not more than the end result. Mowing the Meadow is a great excuse for taking a long […]
Oakland Installation Dispatch
Oakland’s main tidal outwash to the Bay I’ve had less time to explore lower Oakland on bike as we bear down on the installation of Oakland Fusion, but have made a few early morning tours of the Embarcadero in search of waterways connecting Lake Merritt and the Bay. I find that a bicycle is the […]
Oakland Installation Dispatch
Despite ongoing gentrification, the warehouse district surrounding Oakland’s Jack London Square remains a muscular commercial hub. Nestled between a major highway and the bustling Port of Oakland, the waterfront district is a town within a town, an island of urban opportunity appealing to anyone who values the authentic remnants of a working city- barges and […]
Grove of Old Trees
I’ve always been drawn to old trees. We live on the edge of a redwood forest (Sequoia sempervirens), an ancient species that still dominates the coast of Northern California, despite relentless logging over the past 150 years. We have about 60 second growth redwood trees on our property, some already reaching a height exceeding 200 […]