wonders of science.

I received two books last week that came bundled with white, cotton string from my brilliant photographer friend, billy phelps. The modest cover couldn’t have prepared me for what lay inside—page after page of beautifully illustrated scientific drawings. The drawings explain the mechanics of nature, science and life in such fantastic detail and with skillful perspective. Here are a few of my favorite pages. Inscribed on the inside cover is the address of Ada, San Antonio, Texas. 1944.

fine weather above the raincloud.

the wonderful way the brain works.

the story of the ship from dug-out to liner.

how plants go to sleep at night-time….an x-ray photograph of the little sea-horse.

what happens when we taste things…what happens when we smell a rose.

inside our ear and inside a telephone.

work table.

got this new worktable off of craigslist on friday.  has a few paint splotches which I actually like. i always wanted a table with saw horse supports. you can never have enough surface space.

blocks.

january crackers.

I headed down to the bungalow in early january to meet up with my pal, amber and her mom, barbara.  We set aside this particular weekend to start refurbishing a mini portion of barb’s nutcracker collection.  This past winter she restored darling Wendell into a vision of sheer beauty. Amber and I arrived on a Friday evening…the Christmas decorations were still up and a bevy of gifts awaited me much to my delight.

For the next two days straight, we didn’t really leave the table except to take one trip to A Company of Angels thrift store in Millville where I found these treasures which I polished to perfection.

Nelson kept us well fed all weekend with his pancake breakfast, chicken wings and venison steak dinner.

I cleaned my plate. Nelson’s venison is always super tender and delicious!

Nelson’s sauce made our nose hairs sting.  Buggy and Molly hung around in hopes of something hitting the floor.

Amber sanding the nutcrackers…

throwing another log in the stove…man, I love a good fire.

working late into the night…

this guy had extensive termite damage…we got to use some of that expanding spray insulation to fill the hole. fun!

winter succulents. robin bird keeps watch

morning muffins…

tea while we paint and sand…

amber’s floral & feather handiwork…

coming up with new names for the ‘crackers…

discussing the course of action for this fellow…

off with its head…

lips & lashes and a new lease on life…there is still a lot of work to do before next Christmas, but I had a really nice time getting these nutcrackers ready for wardrobe.  I always love my weekends at the bungalow. sunny.

sweet little you.

My pal, Shelley, who manages the  Oceana Santa Monica asked me to design this little Valentine’s Day card to accompany  the cookies they left in each guest’s room today.  Hope everyone had a sweet day. Happy Valentine’s Day. xo

moons over my hammy.

tonite we caught the lunar eclipse. mel and i have been staying up until 3 every nite trying to polish off the last of our edits before Christmas…so staying up tonite for the lunar eclipse was no biggie.  We ran up to the rooftop to catch a glimpse with the point and shoot and some red wine which failed to stave off the frigid temps.  Once there was a sliver of light left, we raced back down to the apt. to set up the tripod with the long lens. Mel shot this photo of the moon at the last stages…just a sliver of light left.  It was so beautiful! what a great nite.  We cannot stop looking at this moon.  Blows my mind that planets aligned, that the earth creates this shadow.  What a phenomenon.

new painting.

I painted this today from a photo taken by Corey Arnold from his ‘Arcticness’ series.  I’ve always loved this photo.  I also made it snow on my blog today, so hopefully you’ll really feel like you’re in this painting as you look at it.