A Starling Murmuration in Downtown SF

This is amazingly beautiful! A murmuration is a flock of starlings flying around in sync. They create beautiful patterns and it is lovely to watch. I love that this beautiful natural phenomenon was captured happening in bustling downtown San Francisco.Here's an article in Wired about scientific explanations for these murmurations.

Chalk dots

Someone left the big chalk sticks outside in the rain. When they are wet they make brighter more saturated marks and that is fun.

Squirrel Tea Party in the Garden

Perspective sketch

Using pencil I redrew this sketch.

Rediscovering the fun of linocut

Making infused oils and salves with stuff from my garden.

One of the things I enjoy most from our garden in the spring is the chamomile. Fresh chamomile tea is NOTHING like the stuff you might get in a tea bag. This year I have made infused oils using chamomile flowers, comfrey, calendula, and lavender from my garden.My first experiment was to make a whipped coconut oil body butter using the recipe on The Nourished Life. I added in comfrey and chamomile. Whipping the coconut oil gives it a soft texture and you can scoop it out of a jar easily. It's quite nice but I wanted more.I tried my hand at making a salve. I sort of roughly followed this recipe from Ramblings of a Happy Homemaker. I used coconut oil, beeswax, and, calendula, lavender, comfrey, and chamomile oils, and also some vitamin E oil.For my next trick I will try with some grapeseed oil. In fact, I might start infusing grape seed oil instead of olive oil and incorporating some local honey would kind of rock too. Crunchy Betty has a nice sounding recipe that includes honey.I made the mistake of smearing some salve all over myself, forgetting that salve does NOT equal lotion. So yeah. The whipped coconut oil worked well as a lotion. it wqasnt too heavy or greasy and absorbed into my skin nicely. I might try a recipe similar to this one at To Come Full Circle with clove.  The following list is taken from http://www.natural-homeremedies-for-life.com.Coconut oil ~ Super moisturizing oil, a solid at room temperature but melts easily on the skin. Its consistency makes it very easy to mix and very useful in facial masks. Protects skin from the elements by forming a thin film which is not absorbed. Also useful as an after sun oil. Good cleansing properties and very mild.Comfrey – Contains allantoin, an ingredient that promotes healing, and is known for its regenerating and soothing properties. The extract of the Comfrey plant is anti-inflammatory, astringent and emollient. It can help the healing of open wounds, cuts, burns, and bruisesLavender ~ Soothes and calmes your skin, has antiviral, anti-fungal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Can relieve muscle tension, speeds healing and reduces scarring. Also works as anti depressant, stimulates circulation, is a mild sedative and reduces nervous tension.Chamomile ~ There are Roman and German chamomile. They are rejuvenating and relaxing and have soothing effect on burns and irritations. Are also slightly sedative.Beeswax ~ Beeswax locks in moisture, fosters cells and protects skin from damaging environmental factors. Honeygirlorganic.com reports beeswax effectively "softens your skin and creates a long-lasting protective coating against the elements. It also is a naturally nourishing moisturizer as well as being anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-allergenic and a germicidal antioxidant." According to Botanical.com, "Even after processing, beeswax still remains a biologically active product, retaining some anti-bacterial properties and also contains some vitamin A, which is necessary for normal cell development." The Mayo Clinic recommends lip balm made from beeswax for chapped lip care and prevention.Since beeswax does not clog pores, Dermaxime.com states, "When it is properly used, (beeswax) will not promote the formation of acne or pimples."

Watercolor - Bushtit

More Labyrinth pictures from around town

Sibley volcanic preserveThere's a tiny old one over by Lake Merritt. I can't find a picture of it right now.I know there is another labyrinth in Tilden somewhere but I haven't made it out there.Okay, this one is on Maui. I can dream it is about town.This is the labyrinth I talk about here and here.

At the Ranch

Basil in the Garden

Some drawings from burningman 2012

Temple 2012You can see photographs and read about the Temple construction here.Front Porch - Camp Carp - 2012

Gardens @ NIMBY - A Playground for Adults

About 5 years after NIMBY moved to a new location in East Oakland I finally made it over there for a fundraiser and got to check out the space. The first thing I noticed that there there were plants everywhere and I was really surprised. Thinking about it now I'm not surprised at all. who better to create gardens from cast off junk than the founder of the largest do-it-yourself industrial art space in the Bay Area? The second thing i noticed was that they have an old metals twisty slide from a Mcdonalds and I WANT IT! Like, really want it. It could totally fit in our side yard and would be awesome.BEHOLD:But, back to the gardens at NIMBY... one of the first containers of unexpected food were these old ducts filled with kale and then this pink bath tube with more food plants: Apparently it is very east to get cheap discarded hydroponic/pot grow house equipment like these huge trays:Love the tree house going up in the background. I saw that out on the playa about a month later. :)I counted about 5 big trays of food plants and many smaller pots scattered about. That's a lot of fresh veggies to share!And here are the beginnings of some aquaponics tanks. I think they could build a decent chicken coop on top of this that dogs would not be able to get in to. A sort of chicken condo, if you will. Then there was this huge tank filled with beautiful glass sculptures, fish and plants used to a be a huge gas tank. I think? I could be remembering wrong, but either way, it was very pretty and soothing!There were some great succulent gardens as well. I wish I had written down the name of the person who made this lovely wall sculpture with succulents:And outside, there were these great plastic pipes filled with succulents. I can see this working really well on a back porch or even front yard.Industrial junk being turned to good use, whether for art or to grow food or to make a playground is always beautiful and inspiring!

Fall leaves in watercolor

Every fall I get obsessed with the changing leaves. I love to paint them.I have only just discovered the joy that is a niji waterpen. This changes everything!I'm sketching in a Moleskine sketch, not a watercolor one. I know it doesn't take watercolor very well but it's the kind i like to carry with me. And there are tricks for making it work. As long as a do a prewash the sizing on the paper will become more receptive to absorbing your color.

Planometric/Isometric

I have just learned how to make quick planometric drawings by putting tracing paper over my plan views. How handy! And fun! Sorry for the less than stellar photos taken using Photobooth, if I get up to use the scanner in the other room my child will notice me and demand I spend time with him.Front yard, new paving/gateBackyard concept for a very tiny backyard in A.Second backyard conceptPossibly I shouldn't post my ugly quick unfinished sketches...