Day jobs, late nights, aquarium fish and burritos

I've been working on creating accordion books the last few nights. These images, taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are the ones I have been using:




I started out with five images at first but that left the last image exposed on the outside so I think I will stick with using only four. It's been a lot of trial and error with these, just as it was with the last ATC. One of the strategies I learned while attending grad school was to drink mochas in the evening to push me farther. It works but then I'm worn out the next day, with a slight feeling of queasiness. That's where I am right now after three late, late nights of matting, cutting, experimenting and such. This morning I asked M "Do you ever feel that Fridays are overkill?" He replied "Yeah, they're like the last quarter of the burrito. You ask yourself: Do I really need to eat this part too?"

Pictures from my trip to Portland, OR

The Japanese Garden



Yoko Ono's Wish Tree - My friend Georgia pointed out that the leaves resemble pot leaves on this plant, an interesting observation that I completely missed while lost in the process of trying to get a good composition out of this subject. I was glad that I was able to get enough of one of the 'wishes' for you to be able to read it here. Strangely enough, the message is somewhat related to Georgia's comment, although it sounds like this person's problem was much more extreme than a simple addiction to pot.




The Rose Garden

This was a small stage adjacent to the Rose Garden. I like the way the structure in the middle looks with the painting of the clouds and the big blue tarp flowing out unto the green lawn. I also like the various people and the different things going on with them there. At first I didn't want to take the picture because of the people walking in the scene, but I'm glad I did it anyway because now I see that it makes the image more interesting.




The Classical Chinese Garden


This is a path leading to the Celestial House of Permeating Fragrance. Other names for the garden areas include the Hall of Brocade Clouds, Knowing the Fish Pavilion, Painted Boat in Misty Rain, Moon-locking Pavilion, Tower of Cosmic Reflections and Half a Window Clustered in Green. They were all very beautiful and serene. The intention is to make each area an inviting place for thought and reflection.


This last one is slightly too soft for my taste but it still looks good as a print because of the colors. Other people who have seen it like it because it is soft. I tried a few different sizes on watercolor paper on my printer at home and that version seems to work out the best overall, although some of the intensity of the colors that you see in the glossy version are lost. One person has already purchased an 11x14 print of this image in the watercolor paper format. I have also printed some small cards which I intend to mail out to a few friends.