Sunday, January 30, 2005


7 palms over -- the entire week
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7 palms over is a 7-panel piece i was recently commissioned to do. the final product, seven 8" X 10" images, was a retirement gift for someone who has a fascination with palm trees. the very small strip above shows the 7 panels arranged as the days of the week, from monday to sunday. below, each of the days is shown in detail as its own panel.

the color scheme is the spectrum of colors (remember ROYGBIV?), one color per day. little did i know it but the seven deadly sins not only have a constellation associated with each sin, but also a color. i then also included the one of seven wonders of the world in each day, the "monday's child" line for each day, the day of the week translated into gaelic and, for symmetry, one of tchaikovsky's symphonies. so, when all is said and done -- each day has all seven components nested somewhere into it.

for example, since monday is the first day, and since red is the first color of the spectrum, monday is red. red is associated with the sin of wrath, whose constellation is ursa major. the sphinx is the chosen wonder of the world, with tchaikovsky's first symphony piece in the trunk of the palm tree. monday's child, of course, is full of grace.

the idea to include a piece of each of tchaikovsky's symphonies was the brain-child of phil, the person who commissioned the work, and it was a stroke of genius. the piece is for leon.


7 palms over: sunday
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7 palms over: saturday
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7 palms over: friday
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7 palms over: thursday
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7 palms over: wednesday
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7 palms over: tuesday
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7 palms over: monday
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Wednesday, December 22, 2004


blue christmas/blue palm tree (for phil)
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blue christmas/blue palm tree goes all the way from san francisco to costa rica.

Sunday, December 19, 2004


church street getting darker before the rain
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this photograph is an altered rendition of the one which is the base image for daisies and saul on the way to damascus. the brewing rain storm can really be seen as it encroaches the downtown part of san francisco. i was just sitting on my stoop when i absent-mindedly snapped this photograph.

dolores park at dusk (for kaye)
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admittedly my favorite vista for photographs, dolores park at dusk (for kaye) just took form when i was fiddling with a new program that came with my external dvd writer/burner. the contrast between the cloud cover, the setting sun and the slow demise into sunset is rally striking, and fortunately, pretty regular an experience in my backyard.

church dome parallel to church street
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i have tried for ever to get some photos that capture this dome for this church, and sadly i have still yet to succeed. it is a striking, yet simple dome with very cool, seemingly cracking and disheveled tiles for its roofing. i'm not there yet in getting the dome right, however, this is getting closer to what i see in real life. church dome parallel to church street is a digital of mine taken pretty much from my favorite spot to take photos of downtown. this time, though, rather than shoot north-east (which would yield another dolores park at dusk (for kaye) shot, instead this is taken looking directly due east.

bloom poem #9 (foto of the detailed final piece)
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although not the most precise of photographs, this picture is what bloom poem #9 looks like after i have hand-detailed it and mounted it on canvas. this is a 10" X 14" reproduction of what is usually a 15" X 21" image. sorry about the unnecessary glare. the yellow border is just yellow masking tape -- when i was finishing up the corners, however, the blue ink kind of spilled and before i could stop the blue, it has created as small puddle as can be seen on the left hand side of the piece. i liked the puddle, painted the blue around the edges, scraped some of it off and before i knew it, i had a final version that was really striking. so i kept it as is.

bloom image #9 (for maria)
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if you scroll down about 22 images (to one posted 11/28), you can see how bloom image #9 (for maria) has been altered by my hand-detailing. while this image is usually a 9" X 12" piece, the rendition done here is 10" X 14." bloom image #9 (for maria) was made for a really great person who saw my art by way of americablog.com. all said and done, it is really quite amazing. the varnish i used to finalize the piece was actually plastic dip, a sort of liquid, fast-drying clear plastic that one uses on tool handles, etc. it makes for a great finish and also lets you touch the art with no fear of messing it up. this piece has a great home now in southern california!

Monday, December 13, 2004


six mini-golden gate bridges
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six mini-golden gate bridges is a fun 8 X 10 small rendition of the larger piece 6 different versions of the same bridge for jordan. the photograph from which i developed the image was a gift from my friend jordan who happens to be one of the most talented young photographers i have ever been lucky enough to be friends with. what attracted me to jordan's photo and which i intentionally emphasized in this piece (and its much larger parent) was the fog. it is almost as if it is eating or shrouding a specific part of the bridge. but i digress. i have pasted below most of the individual panels which make up the big parent piece.


one of the images for "six mini-golden gate bridges"
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each of the individual renditions of the golden gate bridge image is 8.5" X 11" so that when put together, they make for a 17" X 33" image (six different versions of the same bridge for jordan). this image and the next four are both details from this larger piece as well as free-standing images in their own right.

one of the images for "six mini-golden gate bridges"
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8.5" X 11"

one of the images for "six mini-golden gate bridges"
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8.5" X 11"

one of the images for "six mini-golden gate bridges"
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you guessed it... 8.5" X 11"

one of the images for "six mini-golden gate bridges"
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this is my favorite of the panels. i can't say exactly who or when, but this version reminds me of a very distinct california advertising style, very northern california to be as imprecise in my precision as possible. just as i think of currier & ives as winter and new england, whatever this style's name and whomever this style owes its look to, i always see it and think "berkeley, beat poet, san francisco, city lights, chez panisse." anyone know the style i am in homage to in this?