Quiet....before the storm

I am savoring a few moments of quiet in the gallery.

We are about to start the installation of our new show SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE: A THREE PART AFFAIR. Check back next week for our new show at Shibumi. The opening is Friday, February 6th 6-10pm. Check the gallery events page for more info.

Happy Owlidays!

© 2007 Jim Fenton

I love owls. Such magical, fine creatures. This owl is brought to you by goldenrod.org a wonderful foundation who's goal is to conserve and protect coastal habitat. I walk every morning down at the Berkeley Marina, and it's owl season for the ground owls.

I am not so traditional for the holidays, so I thought I'd wish you a HAPPY OWLIDAYS! May you have much magic in your holidays....

Shibumi Gallery is open extra hours before Christmas:
Saturday & Sunday 11-6pm
Monday & Tuesday 11-5pm

Thankgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! My husband & I just returned from the country after spending a wonderful thanksgiving with his family. I really loved this bug eaten leaf we found along the side of the road.

Speaking of holiday season......today started the Berkeley Artisan's Open Studios. We had a good day with a lot of traffic. People seem to be really interested in shopping locally or buying work that is made by an Artisan. I think this recession, if that is what we are having, has made people more thoughtful of their purchases.

Warm wishes for your holidays! We encourage quality not quantity!

Peonies!

These have got to be my favorite flower! I look forward to them every spring/summer.
Yes even though they are pink. Go figure?

yuko - baby!

Here is my other perrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect chat........miss yuko, my first, the original beauty.

She needs Jaguar! They are our babies & bonus; live sculptures.
If you ever think about getting a wedge-head Siamese, I recommend it.
But they are not like ordinary cats. They are very interactive and chatty!
They think that you understand every meow. They'll have you trained in no time. *wink.
My Eric even, get this, warms up their food. He says they like it better?
OK, well I let her sleep under the covers...so I'm no saint either.

The things we do for our beautiful animals we love?

Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Beauty...

This is my little Jaguar.
He always finds the sunny spot!
We rescued him from a cat shelter.
He had a rough life before.
But he is doing prrrrrfect!
What a beauty & a clown.
He matches our other Wedgehead Siamese, Yuko,
who I will post photos of some other time.
I mean how much beauty can one take in a day?

A bit cliche, but sunsets still do the trick...

Yesterday, a weekday, I escaped! A trip to the sea, Bodega Bay, with my friend Cecile Moochnek. We went to see the sky, smell the air & walk in the sand. Why am I doing a blog about subtle beauty when nature is leading the way? Remember to take that day drive outside of your world! It was our pre-birthday celebrations. Why yes, I am born in April and I've always had a thing with skies!

The mind in its natural state can be compared to the sky. Covered by layers of cloud which hide its true nature....Kalu Rinpoche

K U R O S A W A ' S : Red Beard

I just saw Kurosawa's film from 1965 Red Beard. Truly amazing, what incredible lighting, compositions and drama. Each set is like a moving painting you want to keep looking at. Mifune who plays Red Beard is incredible and the camera just loves his intensity. It's a long, slow film so make sure you have some time to soak up all the beauty, time and space.

"I had something special in mind when I made this film ... I wanted to make something that my audience would want to see, something so magnificent that people would just have to see it."

Happy Easter, meet my beautiful egg!

This beautiful tea-stained egg inspired me to start a blog on "subtle beauty." Things that are just too beautiful not to share.

Yesterday I went to get some cherry blossoms for the gallery and my flower lady, Jean had made these for Easter. I just was crazy for it, so she gave it to me for a gift. The recipe is as follows: hard boil egg half way done (about 5 minutes), remove & roll around so it cracks, return to pot and add your favorite black tea and anise, continue to boil until hard boiled....cool & eat! Now, I haven't actually eaten one but they sure are lovely to look at. I sure hope she doesn't ask me how it tasted. Then I'll have to tell her I just took it home for a photo & spent the day looking at it.