Skygazing

study of clouds

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 storms blow in from offshore, we’re treated to dramatic cloud formations, appearing in waves that modulate our rainy season and score my days of working in the studio. ????? ???? ????????

Though skyscapes remain subject to cultural interpretation, I’m drawn to them more for their timeless indifference. As perhaps the only remaining visual manifestation of wild nature, skies are the cause of human interaction and emotion more than the effect of the same (although this is likely changing). ??? ???? ????? ?? ???????? ?????? Studying the sky helps me to feel connected to past generations, contextualizing the effects of the built environment that is most often the subject/object of my work as a maker.

Ultimately, skygazing reminds me that nature does not distinguish between good and bad, and that all living things are subject to the same planetary forces. ????? ????

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Boatbuilding the Fish Sculptures

boat-building

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 piles of timber for hints of the unformed hull. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a respectable knowledge of traditional boatbuilding, having read everything from Howard Chapelle to Phil Bolger on the subject. It doesn’t really matter that I have yet to produce the boat of my dreams- I get as much satisfaction applying my knowledge in other ways, particularly in designing and making furniture and sculpture.

fish sculpture1traced sections from my 1/4 scale fish sculpture model to be lofted up to full scale

I recently carved 1/4 scale models of our 2 fish sculptures for the Ortega Branch of the San Francisco Public Library. To loft the models to full scale, I’ve borrowed a half-hull technique familiar to boat-builders, where the hand-shaped wooden form is cut into regular sections, from which lines are drawn. Next I will loft these sections to full scale and make templates that will be sent to a steel fabricator. The steel substrate for the fish sculptures will be built on a jig very much like a boat, with longitudinal ‘stringers’ welded to the steel sections, making the final shape, to be skinned in layers: steel lath, fiberglass-reinforced gypsum/epoxy, then ceramic tile mosaic.

I’m lucky to have developed a venue for my ideas that gives me an outlet for experimentation within tradition. In my experience, innovation in craft is often the result of hybridizing tools and techniques between disciplines.

fish sculpture2

To follow the story of Abundance, our fish sculptures commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission, please click here and scroll down.


Sunnyside Conservatory Opens

newsomSF 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 city officials in an uplifting dedication ceremony, making a heartfelt speech that drew special attention to our Sunnyside Menagerie project, a wowhaus public artwork commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission. Ene and I were honored that the mayor made the effort to single us out, taking the time to pose with one of our 24 bronze sculptures, installed throughout the park.

ene and newsom

Ene with Mayor Newsom and SF Arts Commission’s Judy Moran (photo: Bill Wilson)

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Mayor Newsom cuts the ribbon, officially opening Sunnyside Conservatory

trilogators2kids love playing with our Sunnyside Menagerie creatures, especially the ‘trilogators’

We were especially moved to see the neighborhood kids interact with the sculptures, and loved watching kids of all ages seek out and count the creatures, invent names, touch and play with them. I designed and made the creatures intending for them to become beloved icons for generations, hoping that they would be adopted by the community, developing their own folklore and patina from daily interaction. I was very proud to see them so well loved already.

sunnyside palms

To follow the backstory of Sunnyside Menagerie please click here and scroll down.


Ene’s Winter Garden 2

pineapple guavafreshly 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, I’m open to suggestion and would love to hear of any good recipes. 888 casino arab While gathering the feijoa I was struck by the misty morning light streaming across the meadow and into the garden, and thought to make a few photos of Ene’s Winter Garden, in response to numerous requests after my recent post.

collardsEne’s winter collards, kissed by morning dew Continue reading “Ene’s Winter Garden 2”

The Week in Bloom

persimmon1Hachiya 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 ripening the fruit before the raccoons strip the tree bare. The past few years we waited until the persimmon were dropping, soft and syrupy on the branches, and we’d slice them in half, freeze the halves and serve them as a deliciously slushy dessert with fresh lime between Christmas and the New Year. Still, we ate only a small percentage of the fruit, the rest fattened the raccoons, grosbeak and orioles. This year I plan to experiment with boiling down the ripened persimmon to make a sweet, colorful syrup, but remain open to any other suggestions.

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making wreathsmaking wreaths

Ene and Aili have been making wreaths this year with friends from our various holly trees, whose berries have also ripened early. It’s wonderful to see such value added to our annual prunings; the trees benefit while Ene sends beautiful homemade wreaths as gifts to family for Christmas. Making wreaths is a great model for the kind of nonchalant agriculture we seem well suited to practice, and we hope to continually develop the property by encouraging beneficial loops and a gift economy. Continue reading “The Week in Bloom”

Russ Dotter Designs Houses with Gusto

martinexterior1recently 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 classic ‘stick style’ vernacular of the Eastern Seaboard and its regional resonances. I’m honored to have the charge of outfitting the interior of a Russ Dotter-designed Guest House in Marin County, sited on the footprint of an old barn alongside a seasonal creek, downslope from the main house, which was designed by William Wurster in the 1930’s.

martininterior2roughed-out interior of the Guest House

While the main house undergoes extensive renovations, its interior designed by Wencke Solfjeld, Russ’s wife and partner in Dotter & Solfjeld Architects, the Guest House is framed up and I’ve begun to spend time on site, making final measurements for the built-in furniture and casework I designed last spring. I love getting a feel for the interior volumes during this raw phase, with framing exposed and rough openings for windows and doors. I know Russ devoted a lot of thought to maintaining a feeling of privacy while opening up to views. The little house rewards his efforts with many surprises both inside and out, with changes in level and shifts in scale and perspective as one negotiates the interior, which will eventually flow naturally to decks and stairs outside.

I see my charge for the design of the interior as adding nuance and detail to the narrative gesture Russ has articulated volumetric-ally. My furnishings and fittings will have a consistent hand, interpreting the site and its intended patterns of use through the language of woodcraft. The Guest House interior will make a contemporary spin on the rustic cabin retreat, mindful of the original barn and respectful of Wurster’s stripped-down, farmhouse austerity, but with added playfulness and a hint of eccentricity befitting the pedigree of the project.

To learn about the wood I’ll be using for the project, follow the thread by clicking here and scrolling down.


Wowhaus Interview

wowhausinterviewphoto 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 to the role of furniture in bringing people together, particularly around the holidays. ivermectina precio argentina If you live in the Bay Area, pick up a copy at the newsstands, or click on the link above. ivermectin for dog mange dose Ene and I are both very pleased with the article, and thank Joanne and Jenny for doing such a wonderful job. ivermectin dose for scabies in humans

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