Nourish The Spirit » nature art

Charlie Starbuck’s Green Thumb

Vera — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:52:01 +0000

SF volunteer’s commitment brings trees to the city’s urban landscape

For all our eco-awareness here in the Bay Area, our standard-bearing city of San Francisco is remarkably short on trees. Shady, life-giving greenery covers a mere 12% of the city – and chances are, if you pass by one of these precious trees, Charlie Starbuck had a hand in putting it there.

Starbuck, a former tax lawyer and member of the San Francisco city planning commission, began volunteering with the city’s Friends of the Urban Forest organization (FUF) back when it first took to the streets to plant trees in 1981. Since then, he’s dedicated unpaid hours each week, in all weather (quite a feat in some our chillier seasons!) to planting trees with loving, expert care. In reference to his work with FUF, Starbuck (quoted in the Christian Science Monitor) says “it’s easy to be obsessed with it because of the whole transformation that occurs. You change so much [by planting tress] in one morning. It’s an emotional high for me.”

Get inspired by a Starbuck that has nothing to do with mass produced coffee products: if you live in the city, plant a tree – or better yet, reach out and get involved with Friends of the Urban Forest yourself. Visit www.fuf.net for more info.

Contributed by Lauren Westerfield

Marine mammal conservation art hopes to make an impact

Vera — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:05:06 +0000

It’s impressive the lengths some photographers will go to to capture the right shot. I just ran into an amazing collection of life-sized whale shots in time for Earth Day. They’re taken in high resolution by photographer-diver Bryant Austin and take hours to capture. Austin builds a certain intimacy with the giant animals, often zooming right into the whale’s eye.

Through his organization Marine Mammal Conservation through the Arts, Austin hopes to create peaceful change throughout countries that currently continue to hunt whales. Each image takes hundreds of hours to piece together digitally for display.

The exhibit shows in Norway next, with plans for Tokyo. This video shows a glimpse of Austin’s awesome work.

Trailer: In the Eye of the Whale from MMCTA on Vimeo.

Creatively organic

Vera — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:57:44 +0000

Earlier this week I had a chance to check out Ari Derfel’s new project: Terrain Restaurant, due to open in early December. Ari’s been busy running an organic catering company and outdoor company for several years. And now his new restaurant in downtown Berkeley is due to open in December in the new David Brower Center, featuring three organic meals a day.

Its interior is being built with reclaimed wood and as much recycled material as you can imagine. Even the lamps will be hanging inside old organic vodka bottles! Terrain will include a full bar for night time, as well as a cafe. Its menu will feature a great brunch and an omnivore-friendly menu with plenty of choices for both vegans and conscious carnivores.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Ari also saved his trash for a year as part of a self-experiment that helped him build awareness on wasteful, consumer habits. This collection of garbage and recycling was finally transformed into an amazing art installation titled “Finding Away” by a man named Kuros Zahedi and will be coming to SF Greenfest mid November. Ari and Kuros will be speaking on Sunday at 4pm on the main stage.

Beach Art

Vera — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:05:24 +0000

I’m not sure where I first saw Andres Amador’s Earthscapes, but the ingenious landscape designs have captivated me. It’s hard to say my favorite: Cracks II: where links between rocks indicate some sort of communication; Connection: a ying-and-yang-like form between two people; or the simpler, beautiful Currents.

This weekend I got the chance to meet the artist and see one of the Playa Paintings up close. It was a gorgeous day out in Ocean Beach, San Francisco and Andres was basking in the sun in a yoga pose when I found him. We carried his rakes back to his truck and he explained some of his process and workshops. Often in his own geometrical designs ropes help get accurate measurements. But workshops are more about letting people express themselves and find a commonality in a final design that weaves everything together.

“In these explorations I seek geometric relationships that speak to forces in nature. I create large-scale works on the beach, creating a focus of contemplative thought energy, and then watch how people respond, how they interact with the formations. Done between tides, the designs are gone within several hours, and often begin eroding immediately after finishing them, gone without any trace like the sand paintings of cultures around the world.”

I would love to see Andres come down to Black’s Beach by Torrey Pines and have him make a Playa Painting under a full moon! That would be quite magical.

Check out his art at http://www.andresamador.net/ Get yourself or someone you love one of his prints.