Number One Son

When he was age two we took him to his first Chinese restaurant named "The Golden Dragon". After the meal, he enthusiastically proclaimed "Yum. This was so good, it must be dragon!" Ever since he has been intrigued by all things Asian. Always a curious and independent boy, his undergraduate engineering research project was designing and making a wave machine.

Soon after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, he was off to the Far East, and has not looked back since. First there was a master's degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; this was followed by a stint on a Chinese research vessel in the South China Sea, and then a summer as a computer support engineer at a remote scientific base in Antarctica.

He currently resides in Shanghai, and works across Asia in the weather and water monitoring fields.

You may have guessed where I'm going with this. A few days ago, the telephone rang here at 4:30 in the morning. It was Mark. He spoke to my husband saying "Do Not let Mom turn on the television until I speak with you first!" He was, and is, in Tokyo, Japan. He had just gotten off a train, and was standing in a parking lot when the earth began to tremble. He went down on his knees until it ceased, and then walked 4 hours back to his hotel. He keeps emailing me that he is okay, but he fears most for some of his Japanese colleagues.

I pray for my brave boy, and all the brave sons, daughters, moms and dads of that beautiful country.

Please bring them all home safely,
Marjorie

Norwegian Arts and Crafts Book Papers

One day many years ago, while visiting Norway, I wandered into a small bookshop in the old part of Oslo. There on a long table were stacks of patterned papers. I soon learned that these were from the workshop of the famous Norwegian bookbinder and book artist H.M. Refsum.

Refsum worked in Kristiania (later called Oslo) from the mid 19th to the early 20th century. A master bookbinder in leather, but he really seemed to excel at decorating paper, which he used as endpapers, and also to cover books.

He employed a number of familiar paper printing techniques, such as

Marbling,

Woodblock or Linoleum Printing,

and Stencilling.

But he also experimented with texture,

Combing,

Finger Painting,

and other techniques to manipulate the paints and ink on the surface of the paper.
His color palette and aesthetic seem to have been greatly influenced by the natural history of his native country, for example Reindeer Moss, the fjords, mountains, and the

Marine Environment - coral, sea urchins and jelly fish.

In the field of Book Arts, H.M. Refsum might be to Norway, what William Morris was to Great Britain.

A hundred years later his decorative papers still look fresh and modern.

Loving Refsum's turn-of-the-century take on sixties' tie-dye,
Marjorie

A Day In One Children's Garden

"Sing a Song of a Garden"

Welcome Earthlings to the Small Planet Garden (est. 1997) at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District facility in Marina, California.

Children and adults learn about waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.

Outdoor Learning Area and Greenhouse

Classes "en plein air"

Compost Demonstration Area

Organic Gardening

Garden Elements from Recylced and...

Salvaged Materials

Everything's "Just Ducky" in the Garden!

Just one of many children's gardens on this beautiful planet!

Digging it,
Marjorie

Cupids on the Ferris Wheel of Love

They say: "Love Makes the World Go Round!"

Happy Valentine's Day 2011!
Marjorie

Paris Ballet Sketches

Paris, je t'aime!

I love the Ballet, and these sketches of Parisian ballerinas.

They are the work of the American artist Rufus Dryer (b. 1880 in Rochester, New York). In 1901 Dryer studied in New York City with the artist Robert Henri, and in 1908, went with him to paint in Europe.

Dryer settled in Paris in 1910. He had his studio there for twenty years. He studied at the Academie Julian, and exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and Salon des Independents. These sketches must date from that time.

The three sketches above seem to show the influence of Degas' sculpture "La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze" (Little Dancer of Fourteen Years) of 1881.

Rufus Dryer returned to his native Upstate New York in 1930. He and his sister, Leora (also a gifted artist) maintained a studio at their home Highacres, in Geneva, NY. When he passed away in 1937, the Geneva Historical Society was gifted with a monumental Aubusson carpet which had once hung in his Paris studio, an impressive collection of his paintings, and a death mask of the artist. I first encountered this artist, and his work, when I visited the Museum as a young graduate student. I was looking for a subject for a final project, and I became fascinated by the story of Rufus Dryer. It was thrilling years later to unearth these sketches in a little antiques shop in New York State.

Here is a bouquet from me to three of my favourite Ballet kindred spirits, who appear regularly in the blogsphere: Catherine from A Thousand Clapping Hands and Boxes and other Structures , and Anita from Castles Crowns and Cottages, and of course, Ballet News .

Reverence,
Marjorie

Aqua Vitae - Monterey Bay

Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a glimpse of what lies beneath.

Mysterious,

Ethereal,

and Gossamer

Sea Sprites perform

a Hypnotic Ballet.

Teeming with Life,

Grace,

and Endurance,

...They dance and swim against a backdrop, as ornate as a 19th century Victorian fish bowl.

Meanwhile life on the top of the Bay goes on...

Still Riding the Waves,

Marjorie

The White Deer of the Senecas

Driving down Rt 96A in Upstate New York, along the 24 miles of chain link fence of the old Seneca Army Depot, you might get lucky and see a white deer.

The Depot, now retired, was a storage site for weapons from WWII to the Gulf War. The mysterious white deer were first spotted in 1949. Growing up, we kids imagined the deer's colorless fur was due to exposure to some nasty chemical compound. Actually, the deer are not albinos, they do not have red eyes. They are a recessive form of white-tailed deer. The Seneca herd which numbers about 200 animals, is the largest of its kind in the world.

White deer are part of Native American oral tradition, and were known as "Ghost Deer". I prefer to think of them as "Snow Deer", roaming the wintry landscape.

"It has long been predicted that there would come a time when a white male and female deer would be seen together, and that this would be a sign to the people to come together." Lenape Indian Prophesy

Hoping this prophecy comes true,
Marjorie

P.S. If you would like to read more about the white deer, click here.