Beyond Beyond Well Being

I don't particularly care for twisting branches away from their original shape, but the goal of this exercise was to create a circular movement, which I did by bending these willow branches. Overall, looks nice, I like it. Do you?

Finally! A MYSTERY.

How that little gull was able to drag his little feet through the sand to arrive at this lovely pattern is beyond me. Perhaps the gull is actually an extraterritorial. That would explain things nicely.

Back when I was working on the airwaves, one of the sponsors requested that we make a "Making of the Louis Rich Turkey Bacon Spot" video. We thought that was a big effin hassle, but we did it anyway. What remains however is kind of fun to watch. Mostly as a sort of memory book of people I used to work with at Power 106 in Los Angeles.

Just a gull and a chopper, and a sunset. And some reverie.

So, there are some structures at Venice beach where spray painters (graffiti artists) are legally allowed to do their thing. There was a long time in which no permit was required, then that changed. So, they put up a sign saying that you need a permit to paint on the provided walls.

Thing is, the sign itself would naturally be a target for graffiti and it wouldn't take long for taggers to completely cover up the message. So, the friendly folks at Venice Beach did something really smart. The words on the sign pictured above are actually cut-outs. It is impossible to paint over this message. Although that didn't stop someone from painting the sign the same color as the surrounding sand rendering it almost invisible.

For more, see: VeniceArtWalls.com

Just a sunset with a coming storm, which ended up loudly drizzling on Santa Monica for about three minutes and that was it for us.

Nice arrangement featuring some late-summer, harvest season, thanksgiving, Sukkot stuff. Those are real peppers, though they're considered ornamental rather than culinary.

The piece above was the class project. This is one of the few Nageire (vertical) format arrangements that I've felt good about. Finally got my little spiral mirror candle holder into one of the shots.

Some unused flowers from today's class allowed me to really work with the shape of the rosemary. I deviated somewhat from the traditional arrangements here. I'm sure you'll find a way to cope.

These longer pieces are some sort of grain, like a wheat. The Virgin is associated with the late summer, early autumn as the grains are harvested.

Oh, this ikebana actually uses two kenzans, a first for me. The cluster on the right is not attached to the same base as the taller one on the left.

The Los Angeles chapter of the Sogestu Ikebana school put together this show which was inexplicably absent at the JANM's website. Shame on them for not publicizing this, but kudos for hosting it. Yin and yang. :)

The piece pictured above was my favorite at the show. Couldn't have been easy to get that tire all twisted up like that.

The above ikebana was actually attached to a larger pyramid below, for which you can only see the tip. Notice too, the taller piece in the background. There were quite a few of these size works. They rarely relied solely on fresh flowers, though.

If I named this piece, I'd call it the Dagwood. Probably too old of a reference, though. This was actually one of three stacks that were all positioned together. A stunning example of creativity that was the hallmark of this show. Quite amazing, really.