14.8.08

The Lamp of Life|The Seven Lamps of Architecture



I believe
the right question to ask,
respecting all ornament,
is simply this:
Was it done with enjoyment--
was the carver
happy
while he was
about it?"


13.8.08

restoration



[now Whole House]
in
Palo Alto is

Click on the links above,
and you'll see what
Clear as a bell.













photo: weimar, summer.07



And Joan Vigliotta and Dr. Beverly Vaughn Hock...




















...I would also like to nominate to the Insight Hall of Fame...for without them, and their incredible abilities, there would be no Peter Sis interview (see artbookschildren.blogspot: there are more good moments to come, also, but our erstwhile film editor is back at work in UC Davis)...anyhow:

Joan Vigliotta has, I believe, pitch-perfect taste in illustration. She called me years ago, when running a children's book department in San Francisco, and told me that there was an illustrator coming to town whose work I would love, and she could get the books for me, and yes, it was Mr. Sis, and yes, she then kept up with his books, his writing and illustration, and hosted him, many more times, at the bookstore...always remarking, afterward, that he was simply wonderful, the most amazing gentleman (as you can see in the videos!). And Dr. Beverly Hock, who is the Director of the magnificent Reading the World program at the University of San Francisco, was instrumental in bringing the amazing Mr. Sis back to the Bay Area earlier this year to talk to all of us about "The Wall," amongst other things.

Bev and Joan are both forces of nature; their enthusiasm and knowledge are unparalleled, and they are both as wonderful and refreshing as...well, as the sweet waterfalls that Olafur Eliasson provided New York City with, this year, on those hot summer days.

For your own meritorious honorable-mention for insight, I couldn't suggest a better place to start than Reading the World 2009...a must for anyone who loves books or kids or illustration or San Francisco. Sure, you missed Peter Sis last year...but don't despair...rumor has it, for 2009, there's someone also wonderful and worth waiting for...see you at USF in in early '09!

10.8.08

Good Stuff from San Francisco: Cheap Girl Draws


This is a link to a wonderful blog: Cheap Girl Draws

Very Good Stuff. 
From San Francisco.


(Love San Francisco. Even the funny little corners of the Presidio, above.)