True Colors?

Pruitt






Pruitt's choice







The new Pruitt

Bali: Tea Time

Bali: Black and White Clouds

Ramadan in Dhaka

The curtains are up so that no one can tell what is going on at the tea stand during this month of fasting.





The proprietor of this tea cart just down the road approaches Ramadan a bit differently.

Bali: Still Life on a Black Sand Beach

Nothing like water on stones . . .





This little beauty of driftwood is dramatically framed by black sand and black rocks. It now sits in my living room on top of a picture book of India.





Here is the leaf image that I promised to post. It kind of reminds me of when I used to take electronics apart and there was this mysterious green board with solder pimples all over it and a road map of silver lines.




Being a potter I think one of my most beautiful finds was these tile pieces that the ocean has had her way with. Look at those rounded edges and the soft white underglaze lines. I want to spend a month at that beach and then make a big mosaic with all of my tile finds.





Blue coral washed up on black sand.





These little net weights were another beautiful piece of ceramic that aged quite well in the sea. I couldn't figure out what it was when one washed up but then when I looked at all the fishing boats I discovered this. The blues add a perfect complement of color.





And here is the catch . . . Sardines?

Bali: Green

The last blog entry was all about colors. Many flashy vibrant colors! I am now going to go more or less monochromatic on you all. The color is 'green' and a little bit of stuff that used to be green. "Green" has become a catchword among people and has gained much political and economic mileage. Green first fascinated me with it's magical appearance when mixing yellow and blue paint. As a young boy reading the most exciting book of the Bible I saw the phrase, "our bed is verdant" and after a quick visit to the dictionary discovered that "verdant" meant "green". Then of course there are all the green veggies and even eggs and possibly the ham. Of course as a son of the United States I had to know what the "Green Stuff" was if not how to spend it. Then as I grew older and the times changed and people realized that the earth could one day not be as green as it now is, it became a personal passion for many and eventually a political issue. Now the word packs a political punch and it permeates advertising and defines a "new" lifestyle. All that being said, while we were in Bali the "greens" were amazing. The "greens" of Bali are definitely worth saving. While the colors of the flowers were sanguine and in our face, the greens held back content to be in the background or rather to "be" the background, adding texture and stability to the canvas.






Palm tree trunk





Palm tree trunk gradient . . . okay, I've given you some yellow.





Pointy, prickly, poky against the fluffy fleeting.





Oh, yeah, this is what I'm talkin' 'bout. The greens of dreams!





These little green alien beggars blew me away with their persistent hilarity.





Aha, transparency . . . look at how brilliant these undersides are backlit by the sun. Look at the difference in color between leaves from the same bush. Look at the top of the leaf versus the bottom of the leaf on the right. Could you give me a box of forty-eight different colors of green crayons please?





Merry Christmas! Move over holly and poinsettias, we have a contender. I could hardly believe my eyes. Someone had to have painted them . . . oh yeah . . . someone did.





I love these green vines busy living in spite of the history of past vines behind them telling a disheartening tale.





Bordering on yellow again.





Considering the lily . . . pad. Visually the edge is what makes it what it is, kind of like a pancake (I like it buttery and crispy). Unlike a pancake this lily pad reveals a hint of the life within it with all of the veins spiderwebbing out from it's belly button (its an inny).





Okay, it used to be green and there is still a hint on the left. Speaking of veins, the sun has highlighted them quite nicely on this leaf. I would almost call this an exoskeletal leaf. I just remembered an image I should have posted with these. It is a leaf that almost all that is left of it is veins, the rest having been consumed by hungry salt water. Sorry to leave you hanging, but it will come.





Monochromatic fireworks in slow motion.

Bali: The Beauty of Color (for Shannon)

One of the most fantastic things about Bali is it's natural color, especially as displayed in the flowers all over the island. This little collection is a sampling after sorting through 100's. I am remembering Shannon Wenger as I type this post. Her death has given me pause and I recall all of the color that she added to my life. She truly was a beautiful and rare flower whose life seemed so short and yet she lived it to it's fullest...without pretense. Right now she is enjoying a beauty I can only imagine, but will continue to look for in the people around me and in the good things that God has created.






This reminded me of when I would visit Science Museums and the mad scientist would ask for a volunteer to stick their hand on the electric ball. It also reminds me of fireworks. The frizzled and "burnt out" blossoms are an interesting contrast to the carefree lightness of the "one" in full bloom.







A spectacular colorful mushroom forest on the inside of a flower.







spinning teacups







Outrageous colors bundled together in an outrageous form.







This blossom doesn't actually grow in the water but look just fine there. The colors are so subtle that it looks like they were Photoshopped to get a muted restrained effect. You know it's bad when you look at nature and wonder if it's been Photoshopped! I guess it just proves the point that God can make whatever makes him happy. . . and has!







Consider the lily. It looks like a whole bunch of white-headed yellow worms are at a green table sharing ten cups of golden tea enshrouded by curtains of dreamlike pinks.







Soaking up the sun! The petal-less stems look like microphones at a press conference which I guess would make the flowers little satellite dishes.







She loves me!







One of those uncanny colors that are rare in nature and look best if they stay there in my opinion.







I love it when awkward-looking, knobby-kneed, sparsely-leaved trees burst into unlikely exuberant bloom.

Bali: The Journey Part II

Air Asia. New planes. Clean. Cheap. Safe. Pay for the frills you want. I had Nasi Lamak and Chicken Biriani. In Kuala Lumpur we stayed one night on our stopover at their no frills hotel and the beds were amazing. I wanted to take one home with me. The beds were the only thing that fit in the room but what else do you really need? We booked it all online beforehand and were glad because they were full the night we were there. I guess a bunch of people spent the night in the coffee shop. I guess Air Asia built their own airport called the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) and a lot of reviews I read online were complaining about it. I found it to be perfect, they had a few fast food and coffee shops and then within a little walk there was a Malaysian style food court where I had the best Nasi Goreng of my whole trip (I like my fried rice smoky tasting). The only thing missing is a huge playroom for the kids but we played card games to pass the time (Bohnanza is our favorite right now).







The sky as we left Kuala Lumpur. Nothing more to say.







I took this picture as we were approaching Bali, Indonesia. After I took the picture I zoomed in and noticed the volcanoes. It was surreal and awe-inducing.

Bali: The Journey Part I

Flying out of Dhaka I realized how much I was in need of a break. Looking out the airplane window and the skyscape above Bangladesh almost made me weep with it's sheer beauty. This much beauty unseen most of the time by most people. . . I had the childlike wondering if perhaps one day I would be able to fly and jump from cloud to cloud until I reach my destination and plop down on the sand of a tropical island. As I came to my adult senses I realized that Air Asia would have to do for now with glimpses through grubby, double-paned glass. I did end up plopping down on a tropical island though. . . The sky, as you may see in future blogs was every bit as spectacular in Bali and it never ceased to capture my imagination.

Process

I haven't blogged for a good little while. I took this shot at Sacred Mark's production facility. It is the screen, the ink and the screen print for one of the labels I designed for their line of soap. I love screen printing and walking into their multi-purpose studio was almost as exciting for me as the smell of ink was intoxicating.






This wooden spoon is for every lover of things handmade. I could not stop handling it and snapping photos of it. Of course the true beauty in it for me is when I actually see it being used functionally to make a batch of soap. It has no tangible relation to the screenprint below it except for the symmetry it added to the composition. An ephemeral artifact to highlight the heartiness and heart of this handmade tool.







I love the primary colors on this packaging for coconut oil. I am intrigued by the little Milton Bradley logo at the bottom left. The scratches add their own sizzle to the design. I am open to suggestion on what things I can make out of these tins. Lamps, purses, puzzles...the sky used to be the limit.