Coincidences of High Summer

It’s been a bumper year for wild plums, and our few trees, bent to capacity with ripe fruit, have been feeding the birds, raccoons and a solitary bobcat, who harvests from our rooftop at night. We’re eating our share as well, and Ene has already prepared a few gallons of ‘plum brandy’ that should be […]

Holly Meets the Sea

I typically paint or wax the ends of green logs/slabs to ensure a slow and even curing. I’ve begun to harvest some of the holly trees on our property in anticipation of making small bowls, spoons, candlesticks and other tableware for our inaugural Secret Dinner scheduled for this fall. The trees were probably planted about […]

In Praise of Ruins

The Occidental Yacht Club in 2009, before it began to seriously buckle Maybe the Occidental Yacht Club was not such a great idea to begin with. At six hundred feet above sea level, the town of Occidental is a dozen winding miles down to the cliffs and breaks of Sonoma’s unforgiving shores. While I have […]

Deep Deck for Shadowshop

I photographed my new Deep Deck overlooking Tomales Bay on my way to SFMOMA I delivered the first in a series of Deep Deck skateboards to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art yesterday, where they will be on display as part of Stephanie Syjoco’s Shadowshop project, opening on Novemver 20 through May 1, 2011. […]

An Exploratory Paddle down the Estero

Idyllic launch where Estero Americano meanders along ranches below Valley Ford Over the weekend I made an exploratory paddle down Estero Americano to the coast. The tides are in a similar phase as the dates of our planned Expedition, so I wanted to make a trial run to see what the CCA students might expect […]

Micro-Expedition, Session 6

Estero Americano meanders westward towards Bodega Bay from Valley Ford. I’m proud of the progress the students have made in constructing their craft in anticipation of our voyage on Estero Americano. They’ve been working like a true Atelier, dutifully helping each other cut, mill and shape their stock, and the little boats are nearly ready […]

House of Tree Progress

House of Tree is right at home among the redwoods, catching October’s afternoon sun Ene and I stopped by the site of my House of Tree Project on our way to Occidental’s farmer’s market. Richard and Tom had left for the day, but we climbed up and were excited to see the building’s exterior envelope […]