Hugh's Hands

Hugh's hands while he was waiting for me to finish dinner. I was attracted by the overlap of his hands and the layers--white, flesh, black.

Barracuda Bar

Dinner at Froggy's tonight. Love the neon sign in the bar!

EVOO

Kitchen art. This bottle of EVOO was a gift from oneof my Lebanese clients.

Mission Style Art Gallery

This building is a Mission style former riding school and stable near my house. A lot of people think it used to be an actual mission however a quick tour of the inside and you see the former horse stalls complete with hay racks. It's a cool building, though, and in the past 10 years or so has gone through several different personality changes as an art gallery. Right now it's the un-aptly named Chateau Hidden Gardens.

Sean at the Aquarium

My grandson, Sean, watching fish in my aquarium. We had a big family birthday party yesterday for both Sean and his dad. Here I am trying to distract Sean from noticing his parents aren't nearby.

Yucca or Maybe Palm Spears

I shot this photo several months ago at Santa Barbara Mission. I felt enchanted by the spears shooting out toward me and my camera. I also love the play of light on the slender leaves inside the plant. I'm unsure what type of flora this is. It appears to have a palm base however many hours of searching on internet palm sites have turned up nothing. The leaves look more yucca-like though they are spears not slender triangles. They mission grounds may have had this plant labeled somewhere nearby but it was a very hot day and I felt unwell in the heat so I failed to get the name. Anyone who knows what this is, please comment so I can change the title of this post. Thanks!

White on White

Kitchen Art. I loved the way the light from my kitchen window highlighted the texture on the paper towels.

Graffiti Windows

Window wall in an alley one block off Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA. Somewhere near The Laugh Factory. The G6 has a panorama stitch function allowing me to shoot sequential photos however PSE4 doesn't seem to know how to work with the photos to overlay them very well. Oh well, the odd overlay kind of adds to the strangeness of the wall.

Straw In Drinking Glass

My drinking glass with condensation and the refracted image of the straw.

Bought A House!

New house we bought in Portland, Oregon! Built 1933. I was meeting with the sellers while my husband took this shot.

Stair Rail and Art

The Bluebird Guesthouse was participating in Portland's monthly Art Walk when we arrived yesterday. Here is the beautiful, second story stair rail and art from that event. The artist is Elliot Wall, www.buckwheatandgrits.com. This work is Pink Snow.

Pocket Door Pulley

In Portland, OR, this week. We're staying at the Bluebird Guesthouse, a wonderful place that's kind of a cross between a B&B and a hostel. The Guesthouse is in a 1910 Arts and Crafts style home in the Hawthorne District. (www.bluebirdguesthouse.com, nightly rates $45-80) The house has a beautiful, vertical pocket door at the foot of the stairs. The door runs on this wheel with counter weight. The wheel is a beautiful architechtural element of the home that can be viewed from the second floor.

Playing Pawsies

Pure luck. Malibu, my Tabby, resists photo ops. Here she is playing pawsies in the bay window high above my head. I stand on tip toe , reach, aim, and click.

Table Lantern at Yamashiro

Last night Hugh's co-worker's took him for dinner Yamashiro restaurant in Hollywood. Stunning! This is one of the table lanterns in the bar. In very low light I was bracing the camera on the table then tipping it upward to take in as much of the lantern as possible.

Looking Toward Westwood

This is the view from the parking area at Yamashiro's Restaurant! It would have been a great time to have a better camera in my pocket! And a tripod. And an assistant. It was very windy and cold. Luckily I had a metal rail post to brace the camera on. You can still get a sense of how the Japanese garden of the restaurant overlooks an amazing view. What a place to enjoy a meal! That's LaBrea Blvd, I believe, stretching to the left. West Hollywood is in the near right. Westwood beyond.