All Over the Place

“The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.”
Pablo Picasso 1881-1973

And this spider's web made the lawn sculpture a little more charming. Kiss, kiss.

The Laws of Proportion

“Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size”
Mark Twain 1835-1910

Another way of saying that everything is relative. This doll was not really lost but was an item for sale in my wife’s consignment store, as was the chair. Both the doll and the chair are long gone now.

About a Lamb

"Pipe a song about a Lamb!"
So I piped with merry cheer.
"Piper, pipe that song again;"
So I piped: he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
Sing thy songs of happy cheer:"
So I sung the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.

from Songs of Innocence, 
William Blake 1757-1827


It's was hard to resist this sweet little lamb with a smiley face back. We called her Lucy.

Happy Christmas to All

"…and too all a good night!"
Clement Clarke Moore 1779 - 1863

Be careful out there.

The Struggle

“I enjoy the struggle, because the outcome is always better when there is a struggle.”
Mian Situ

This ice plant has found a way to survive among the lichen covered rocks of Monterey.

A Bridge Over

“Life is a bridge over the sea of changes. Do not build a house on it.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba 1926-2011

This is the Bixby Creek Bridge on California’s Big Sur coast. There are no houses on it except the mobile kind.

Space

“Space is the breath of art.”
Frank Lloyd Wright 1867-1959

Rainbow Run

“May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.”
Irish Blessing

Those Irish know how to bless.

Not Passing Wind

“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”
Latin Proverb

The wind was not serving on this calm evening at the Altamont Pass Wind Farm near Livermore, California. I doubt oars would help much here. The Altamont Pass Wind Farm is the largest concentration of wind turbines in the world but it does have kind of a funny name.

House Paint

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.”
Twyla Tharp

And sometimes the art is the home. The owners of this shabby chic place like to paint colorfully but not too often.

Nature Gives

“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own.”
Charles Dickens 1812-1870

This is an early morning view of the rocky Big Sur coast.

The Creation

“Some advice: Do not paint too much after nature; art is an abstraction, derive this abstraction from nature while dreaming before it, and think more of the creation which will result than of nature.”
Paul Gauguin 1848-1903

Do you agree?

Strong Light

“There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.”
Charles Dickens 1812-1870

A new day begins in the Arizona desert. Just like the old days.

What To Wear

“When in doubt wear red.”
Bill Blass 1922-2002

I’m not sure who did this sculpture  but it did get my attention. I came across it
outside a gallery in Taos, New Mexico.

Later, Dude

"Surf now, apocalypse later"
beachside graffiti in California.

Or maybe photograph now, blog later.

Working

“What no wife of a writer understands is that a writer is working
when he's staring out the window.”
Burton Rascoe 1892-1957

And I’m "working" when I’m staring in.

Step By Step

“A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down
the stairs a step at a time.”
Mark Twain 1835-1910

I don’t know about you but I need a color fix just about every day.

Restless

“We are restless because of incessant change, but we would be
frightened if change were stopped”
Lyman Lloyd Bryson 1888-1959


This is an area off the coast of Monterey called the Restless Sea.
Conflicting currents and submerged rocks keep it constantly agitated.

Happy To Be Bitten

“And would the dream pear not
come gladly
once it knew this was you
wanting to take it in?”

The dream pear chose reality,
wanting your mouth as I did -

Honestly, it was happy to be bitten.”
Brenda Hillman

Happy Thanksgiving to all you USAers. And may the rest of the world be grateful too!

Good Hearts

“You may depend upon it that they are as good hearts
to serve men in palaces as in cottages.”
Robert Owen 1771-1858

A women with a pink parasol walks past the Imperial Palace in Bangkok.

Babble Not

"They only babble who practice not reflection."
Edward Young 1681-1765

This is a photo of a babble free zone in Norway.

Just Thinking

“Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!”
Dr. Seuss 1904-1991

Think high
Think low
This is what
I have to show

The Situation

“Where you stand depends on where you sit.”
Nelson Mandela

And why would I want to sit here?

Without Measure

"All things, and man as well, should be like nature, without measure."
Hans Jean Arp 1886-1966

The Cause of Peace

“We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.”
Albert Einstein 1879-1955

November 11 is Veterans Day in the US, a day to honor military veterans. This is a photograph of a section of the Crosses of Lafayette, a controversial war memorial that began as a protest of the Iraq war but is also meant to honor those who have died.

Keep Your Distance

“Love your neighbor as yourself; but don't take down the fence.”
Carl Sandburg 1878-1967

Of course, this is just one man’s perspective.

Not Safe

“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”
William Shakespeare 1564-1616

Homeland security in Tucson, Arizona.

Stretch

“In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential”
Suze Orman

At first I couldn’t tell whether this surfer was welcoming the ocean or confronting it. It turns out that he was just loosening up before he played with it. Anyway, I liked his stance as well as how the sea was blending into the foggy sky.

Warning! Text and texture are seeping into my photos. The purity of my art is in jeopardy but I do have a cure. To see the unblemished photo just hover the cursor over the bottom half of the photo.

Five or Forever

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever”
Chinese Proverb

And what is your question?

Abundance

“If you tickle the earth with a
hoe she laughs with a harvest.”
Douglas William Jerrold 1803-1857

Plenty of pumpkins to go around.... happy Halloween!

Pattern

“Art is pattern informed by sensibility.”
Sir Herbert Read 1893-1968

I don’t know if it’s art or sensible but I found this design in eastern Norway.

The Only Gold

“Love is the only gold.”
Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809-1892

If this is true, there’s a lot of love at the Imperial Palace in Bangkok.

Spirit Space

“What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.”
John Updike 1932-2009

Inhale, exhale........inhale, exhale.

Returning Home

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
Nelson Mandela

Nine rowers race the sun to home port after a day on San Francisco Bay.

Harvest Time

“The true harvest of my life is intangible - a little star dust caught,
a portion of the rainbow I have clutched”
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862

It’s time to gather the grapes in the vineyards of Northern California.
Rain is not wanted but a rainbow couldn’t hurt.

Visual Talk

“People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749-1832

I am trying to say "turban squash".

The Stupid Tree

“He fell out of the Stupid Tree and hit every branch on the way down”
The Urban Dictionary

 

Upon Reflection

“It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors”
Oscar Wilde 1854-1900

And as Dennis Miller once said “There's nothing wrong with being shallow as
long as you're insightful about it.”

Tree Hugger

“Friendship is a sheltering tree.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834

This is called the Giant Tree. It is the largest coast redwood in America
and has a circumference of over 53 feet.

For the Birds

“I have wished a bird would fly away,
And not sing by my house all day....”
Robert Frost 1874-1963

It was getting a little noisy around this birdhouse near Ferndale, California.

 

Island Efficiency

“But to be quite oneself one must first waste a little time.”
Elizabeth Bowen 1899-1973

We All Share

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."
Steve Jobs 1955-2011

This quote is from the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005.
It is called How to Live Before You Die.

Pelekunu Valley

“Nature is imagination itself.”
William Blake 1757-1827

This is a view of the ridges above Pelekunu Valley on Molokai. When we first reached this view point all we saw was a whiteout of cloud, fog and mist. But as we waited the clouds lifted and the beautiful valley was revealed.

Ineffective Tide Suppression

“Sticking your head in the sand does not prevent the tide from coming in”
Proverb

If Size Mattered

“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”
Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008

Did you know that the Pacific Ocean is larger than all of the countries
of the world put together?

Patience

“Patience is the key to paradise”
Turkish Proverb

The sun set and we waited. After about twenty minutes the sky
turned into this beautiful hue.

For more sunsets, go over to Scott’s blog- Just Used Pixels. He posts beautiful sunsets every Sunday.

Conditional Spirit

“Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.”
Henri Frederic Amiel 1821-1881

Getting the Shade

“One generation plants the trees, and another gets the shade”
Chinese Proverb

Salt Water

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea”
Karen Blixen 1885-1962

And if you are willing to hike a bit, you can get your salt for free on Molokai.

On the Beach

“Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyway.”
Mary C. Crowley 1915-1987

This is how we began our evenings on Molokai…sipping wine, watching the sun set. Very habit forming.

Check out Scott’s blog- Just Used Pixels. He posts beautiful sunsets every Sunday.