Saturday, July 6, 2013

The Last Two Finished

The Last Two Finished

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Look for these bowls and others on our ETSY site:

The Mirromere...

The Last Two Bowls from the giant walnut beam are finished and
will be posted on our ETSY site.  Some of the most beautiful wood that
I have had the privilege to work with…

Friday, July 5, 2013

The Last Two

The Last Two
 
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Turning Burls, Figuring and Knots at my lathes is the ultimate expression of my art and muse.

The Atlas & Delta Lathes

I call the patterns that emerge, Gaia’s Fractal Tapestry, patterns woven in the secret dark that only the lathe can tell. In the lore of my Powhatan ancestors, everything is alive and has a spirit…Spirits that can be heard by listening with the right senses.
 

Bowls Ready for Turquoise Inlay
 
Locked away in the dark, waiting for the hand to unveil and convey their message.
Beauty…
Turquoise, fallen shard of the sky, embedded in a jewelers matrix in a place not expected.




Gaia's Fractal Tapestry
 
The two Walnut Burl bowls are the last ones from a giant beam that came from a wreck of an ancient barn…A Walnut 6 by 6, 12 feet long. Iron heavy, Only metal cutting band saw blades would cut it up…
Turned into 5 dozen bowls that never left more than one or two on our tables at a time…

Monday, June 24, 2013


Making and the Foundation Pyramid
 
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Every successful working artisan I have known conducts their business in surprisingly similar ways and that practice is what I call “The Foundation Pyramid”…
 Supplies
 
The Metaphor of the pyramid’s stable base is supported by more than one leg geometrically & whether its 3 or 4 sided, those aspects, when combined, add up to more than the sum of the parts…
 Result of the Muse...
 
A 3 sided pyramid suits my ideas of symmetry.
Making, Teaching & Selling Supplies keep me busy and constitute the example that I share with aspiring Artisans…
Classes for the Aspiring Artisan...

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Cosmic Irony: The Most Difficult Photo

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Just put my Geo Tags into Google Maps to zoom in on the location!
 
As a dedicated practitioner of Luminous Landscape style photography, long hours are spent sighting, framing, planning and travel for a photographic window that lasts for about 15 minutes at dawn and dusk

Photographic Hunting Ground...
 
The photo taken at mesa arch captures the holy grail of desert photography, Lemon, Orange and Purple in lurid grandeur… The 50 other photographers at the location that morning left the experience something less than satisfying.  38.388007,-109.864537
Mesa Arch at Mid Summer Sunrise
 
Best and favorite though are not the same. 37.937378,-107.811756…Humor in a photo, especially Irony is an exceptionally difficult assignment …I found what they hide in Telluride quite by accident…Neither gold, nor herbs, but a little dog next to a sign…Of the tens of thousands of photos taken over decades, this is one of my favorites.
Layers of Irony...
 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Natural History Study: Swallowtail Butterflies
Open the Pages of Wonder
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If you have a budding naturalist or want to create one, I know of no better way to start than with the Bronze Fennel Plant. I have kept them as Garden Sentinels for 3 decades
Hiding Among the Fronds
 
Their foliage alone deserves garden space, but they hold a secret treasure: They are an integral part of the metamorphosis cycle of the Swallowtail Butterfly.
 
Fennel & Butterflies...
The giant fliers lay their eggs on the fennel branches and the caterpillars will consume much of the plant in a good butterfly year. The plant always recovers from this service to Gaia in no time.
 
Intricate Fractal Patterns
The caterpillars grow with amazing speed then go off to hide to await the final transformation into the most amazing and beautiful butterfly.
 

The Moss Rose
 
Bronze Fennel is perennial and once started will spread by seed & are easy to dig and share with others
 
Rosa Mundi
Old World Own Root Roses, Garlic Chives & Bronze Fennel are the three primary legs of my Companion Garden Pyramid.

 
 
 
 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Ecology of the Honey Bee: Spring Nectar Flow
 
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The Hive is a dynamic living single organism made of up many parts. An ancient part of Gaia’s biosphere, they help multiply Gaia’s bounty through their tireless efforts…
Our most active Hive
 
We periodically open the hives for inspection to look for signs of trouble… 
Careful and Quiet Action
 
Queens in waiting…
 
New Royalty
 
A little sugar water and the bees forget about the big slow primates…
 
Looks OK
 
Lots and lots of very active bees and the supers are full of honey…
 
A Long Held Goal & One Shard of
a Dream Remembered...
 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Honey Bees at Oak Knoll Farm:
Brother Adam's Buckfast Bee from Jolly Old England

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Follow the progress of our introduction of the Buckfast Bee at Oak Knoll Farm.
Setting the Frame coming soon on our YT Channel
 
Nuclear Hives in the Bee Yard
 
Gentle and productive, the Buckfast Bee...
 
A Healthy Start
 
Brood and Nurse Bees and a Queen...
 
Into the New Home
 
Transfer from the Queening NUC or Nuclear Hive...
 
Transferring the Frames
 
We Like the 5 Frame Hive...To me it more closely emulates what the Bees
have in their natural habitat, a hollow log...
 
In the Bee Yard at Oak Knoll Farm
 
The 5 Frame Hive certainly has vigorous  inhabitants & the 5 Frames are easier to manage...We use a couple of fence posts for stability...