Study of Clouds over the Sea, Brighton, oil on canvas by John Constable, 1822 Like my distant relative, the English landscape painter John Constable, I find myself increasingly looking skyward. Along the Sonoma Coast, the sky is alternately either clear blue or opaque gray for most of the year. But as winter approaches and the […]
Tag Archives: deep craft
Boatbuilding the Fish Sculptures
Boat-Building on the Stour, oil on canvas by John Constable, 1814-15 People who know me well are not surprised by my obsession with wooden boatbuilding. Though I’ve completed just one actual boat, each year I’m gripped with boat fever, especially during the winter months, when I scan plans and dream of the perfect cruise, surveying […]
Sunnyside Conservatory Opens
SF Mayor Gavin Newsom loves our Sunnyside Menagerie project (photo: Bill Wilson) Sunnyside Conservatory officially re-opened to the public over the weekend with a bang. People crowded into the conservatory’s historic, octagonal building, hundreds spilling onto the paths of the tiny, botanical jewel of a park. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom joined other state and […]
Ene’s Winter Garden 2
freshly picked Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana) from Ene’s Winter Garden I never notice our pineapple guava bush, which frames the back entry to our vegetable garden, until the ripe fruit drops from its branches. This morning I picked most of the feijoa, about 2 gallons, which we’ll make into salsa, smoothies and muffins. As always, […]
The Week in Bloom
Hachiya persimmon are ripening early this year The raccoons have commenced their furtive nighttime raids on the persimmon tree, whose fruits are prematurely ripe by a few weeks. We’re still trying to figure out how best to use the hundreds of Hachiya persimmon produced by our single tree each winter, and have been picking and […]
Russ Dotter Designs Houses with Gusto
recently framed Guest House in Marin County, designed by Russ Dotter My friend Russ Dotter designs houses that both anchor and enliven a site, as though the house and its surroundings grew up together through generations of mindful co-habitation. He has a gift for combining contemporary construction methods and a California modus vivendi with the […]
Wowhaus Interview
photo by Jenny Elia Pfeiffer for the December ’09 issue of San Francisco Magazine I’m already fielding inquiries for dining tables after the publication of an interview with Ene and me in the December issue of San Francisco Magazine, written by Joanne Furio. The interview is called ‘We Gather Together’ and it unpacks our approach […]