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The Island

A sloop rode astride disparate shades of blue, the ocean looking as if Gauguin had paletted every tone of that color available in the universe. The lone boat sheered through, cutting the briefest of white swaths, which were deftly consumed by azure strokes of the artist’s brush. Wind sung in the lines, with slap of bow and gurgle of wake, a pleasant serenade. There is a vitality that seems to exist at the Equator. Astride the foredeck, with one hand grasping a stainless steel stay, it’s smooth gnurling carried the feel of the wind’s energy, that traveled as a throbbing

Mother’s Day?

Mothers are one of the most under appreciated things, because society at large, seems to have no understanding that they are templated off of God Himself. Therein lies the quandry. God being neither male or female has made humanity in his image. So the female is the other part, which imparts the nature of God in this world. In ancient Hebrew there are many names which help communicate God to the tribe. The female, and particularly the concept of Mother, exists in the name Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides. I have always been deeply humbled by what a mother

Hybrid Vigor

n. Increased vigor or other superior qualities arising from the crossbreeding of genetically different plants or animals. Also called heterosis. Typically the term is reserved for describing the increased performance of a species. But in Ventura California we have been seeing our fair share of the above described noun more in the form of a verb. Verbs denote action. When a person and in turn a community, becomes insular, the processes of growth cease. Of course growth has many forms. But the one we all ought to be after, is sustainable personal and community growth. This sort provides a stable

Deep

Some of us may have thought that it was an oxymoron to call our locally produced little magazine, Deep. I mean as paper publishing began to spiral, here were a bunch of us doing a locally based magazine called Deep. It had seemed a little bit ironic. The publication was based on one begun in Goleta originally and called Wetsand Magazine. It was soon absorbed by the News Press and was called Blue Edge. As the News Press version tailspun in response to business issues, Deep sprung up, and many if not all of the contributors began to throw in

Small Town, Big World

I get a global look at things through my photography business, which has web strands anchored to many countries. I see something first hand, that many do not have the personal luxury of acquiring: a broad economic and cultural perspective. This country is in the single greatest period of change and challenge since the Great Depression. So what to do, as assets dwindle and fiscal potential narrows? For the answer, look to the past. About a year ago, a group of people met in my little town. There were a series of meetings actually. No official city committee was involved.

Sacred Craft 2010: A Cultural Backmarker

This morning I woke up from a nightmare-dream at 3:30 am. In the dream I was glossing boards, and had lost the hot batch of finishing resin. I found it in the nick of time, and was just completing the last board as it went off. I even had the acrid smell of an over catalyzed hot batch in my nostrils as I hopped out of bed and felt my feet hit cool wood floor in the blackness. Yeesh, surfboard subliminals. I built surfboards for about 20 years. They have been on my mind a lot lately, obviously. What makes

Song of the Chumash

We just finished the Ventura Artwalk 2010, in my little town. The entire Downtown of Ventura California was turned into a living canvas for forty eight hours. The event was a benchmark of sorts. benchmark |ˈben ch ˌmärk| noun 1 a standard or point of reference against which things may be compared or assessed : [as adj. ] a benchmark case. 2 a surveyor’s mark cut in a wall, pillar, or building and used as a reference point in measuring altitudes. How did this happen? Not overnight. It was the result of seed sowing by a huge number of artists,

Model Models

Recently, NYC based production company Silent Crow was in Ventura. Two writers with the company happened to have connected with Donna Von Hoesslin of Betty B and learning a little bit about her female inspired Eco Fashion line. They came up with an idea. Producer Matt Bennett showed up to do a little bit of discovery work, and honed a reality show concept that deviated from the norm, in that it endeavors to look at the personalities and lives of the women in both my and Donna’s lives. Silent Crow named the show Bonafide. Donna and I have long exchanged

Cameraless

I was cameraless this week. It was great. Sort of. Okay, maybe not completely cameraless. I still had four 35mm stills film bodies, three mini DV cameras, and five high speed film motion cameras, all sitting on the shelf, along with the water housings for those. But I loaned my Canon 5DM2 system out and sold my Rebel T1i, in preparation for buying the new RebelT2i. (Wow, that Rebel was so new it had only seen 3000 frames before the new one was released.) Canon (along with Apple) has been blowing my mind the past few years. We spoke, they

Earth Angel

angel |ˈānjəl| noun 1. a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God. “So let the Earth give testimony.” I was raised in Santa Barbara. Most of my earliest and therefore strongest influences, were based on my native Hawaiian Culture’s perception of man’s place in the world, and the catch all of SB culture’s budding eco consciousness, and the science based tenets of our University and College. But one of the most basic of principals, and something upon which my work is founded, came not from my social and cultural mores, it actually was planted

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