Hopefully those will have you feeling alright with the world

Bye for now

Thought maybe I needed a little yellow on the page, so . . . .

a few flowers from the garden for you
- it's all just an experiment after all -








enjoy!

Rakusan Tsuchiya
Japanese Painter, Woodblock Print Artist, and Printer
1896 - 1976

Other names: Tsuchiya Kouzou, Tsuchiya Rakuzan, Rakuzan Koushisei, Koushisei, Rakusan, Rakuzan




This is one of my favorite Japanese artists. His works, from his fans to his cards and paintings are all breathtaking. Take a look.












You can find his work and his story here:
http://www.rakusan.net/index.html

What can I say, this guy's a surf stud (if you don't believe me, just ask him). This was a great day with glassy surf and perfect mid-sized waves. Bob Schuster, a friend and life-long surfer, was to meet us at the beach, but was already out when we got there, as he saw what we saw, prefect 3-4 feet swells with long shoulders and NO ONE OUT. As the morning wore on, the waves just kept getting better and better, with long ride times and a chance to get to the nose. Ended up naming this trip the Lil' Orphan Alley Magic Surf Trip, because magic it was.

I put this video together using Adobe Premiere & After Effects, although I can't really call it a video, because it was created using only still photos.

Ah what a gorgeous sunset last night. I'm lucky to have a beach that takes quite a strenuous hike to get to. That’s great for two reasons: my nearly daily hikes down to the beach keep me fit, and when I get there, I’m nearly always alone. This evening the reflection on the water was amazing.



I followed this Great Egret (Ardea alba) back and forth along the sand trying to get the sun in just the right place to illuminate the sand but not over expose the photograph. In addition, of course, I had to see that the bird was correctly exposed. He was a bit nervous at first, but shortly went back to his job of catching a meal, and allowed me to get this photo.

On the other hand this much smaller bird, a Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), didn’t really like me photographing him at all, so I just grabbed this one photo and left him to his dinner. Kind of know how he felt. The photo's a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea I think. We were the only three animals on the beach that night.

I've been collecting and enjoying Japanese digital art for quite a few years now and have amassed an enormous gallery of great images, which I'll share with you here from time to time. Hopefully you'll come to enjoy this art form as much as I do.

Most of the images in my collection are from perhaps two or three hundred years ago, but some of them are contemporary. When I know the artist information, I'll post it for you and also links to their work if available. In this group of paintings, the colors are what catch my eye the most.

The attention to detail and composition is striking, but those colors . . . . . they really seem to transport me to another place.

I won’t bore you with my interpretations, but instead just leave them up for you to decide. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I've recently added a couple of lizards to my animal family, mostly to keep my cat Musashi company, but I find myself laying down in front of the enclosure with them watching them in equal fascination as the little guys move about finding good spots to sleep and grabbing a bite to eat now and then. Neither of them were over an inch long when I collected them, so very young, I’m sure. They’re learning about me, Musashi and our world as I learn about them. They’re really mesmerizing little guys.

I made an enclosure out of an old mid-sized fish tank and filled it with a similar environment to where I caught them. I’d actually created the miniature ecosystem a few years back with the originally thought of doing this, but never went through with it, so now the bio-system is fully mature and looks surprisingly realistic. It basically looks like a diminutive canyon from the Mediterranean area (which is what our climate and vegetation type here is called). My cat now spends nearly all his waking hours lying near the enclosure watching his new friends. I will, of course, return my new little friends back to nature soon, so that they can live out their lives as intended, but with a memory of something extraordinary that happened early in their young lives, something few of their peers will be able to comprehend. They’ll probably both be thought of as just a little eccentric.

Having spent a portion of my adult life either living in Asia or involved in the Asian community in some way, I've found myself increasingly attracted to Asian art. From time to time, I'll put up some of the best in Asian art for you to learn about and enjoy.

Kayak Fishin'

My new hobby; not only for the pleasure of getting out on the ocean off the coast of La Jolla, California, but for the great workout it gives me. You'd have to feel the joy of sliding along on a glass surface, with the underwater world going on just below you to know what I'm talking about. I started by just spending time paddling a sit-inside kayak, but then got into kayak fishing, on a sit-on-top kayak. I'm not a fisherman by nature, really don't much like the idea of pulling little animals out of their natural habitat, but there's just something about kayak fishing that seems so natural. You have to find and catch the small bait that you will eventually use to catch the larger fish. There are no motors, nothing, just you and the ocean, and a bunch of smart fish that don't want to be your dinner. Something very primordal about it. I was a vegetarian for nearly all my life, and still don't buy meat from a supermarket, but catching a fish to feed myself is a rightous thing and I always give a prayer for the life that I take.