Reflecting one source of the artist’s philosophic and artistic inspiration, this website was based on alchemical drawings of 17th and 18th centuries.
Custom WordPress theme.
Flowers and swords. This contrast takes me straight to the heart of wild duality and vastness inherent in every moment we are alive. Beauty and darkness, life and death are polar opposites and inseparably close, continually weaving our histories, personal, cultural, global. How do we own and hold this great wholeness? How to dance with it well?
Genji and Heike
These stunning chrysanthemum men are warriors of the Genji and Heike clans: two sides engaged in bitter struggle during 12th century Japan. Their famed wars led to unification of power in Japan and inspired so many works of art and literature, that the two clans hold a near-mythical place in Japanese culture. They have become the symbol of eternal rivals, and the colors of their standards, red and white, may still be seen on Japan’s flag.
Hirakata Doll Exhibitions
The tradition of decorating dolls with chrysanthemums began as a novelty in Tokyo in 1868; since 1910, it continued as a yearly exhibit at the Hirakata Park in Osaka prefecture. In October 2012, I was lucky to be in the right country at the right time.
Master craftsmen build 50 dolls with living mum blossoms. The floral statue scenes enact renowned moments from Japanese drama and history. This autumn tradition costs a staggering $1,000,000 to build and maintain.
Racetrack Playa in Death Valley is a mighty mysterious place, be you a scientist or a mere human in awe. Aside from the sheer beauty and elemental intensity of the place, it is home to huge rocks (some weighing over a third of a ton) that move, leaving long furrows in the hard dry lake bed. Though studied since 1900, there are no definitive answers behind the mechanism, as the conditions must be harsh indeed to allow such feats of strength. The standing theory calls for the following recipe: when the playa is covered by a shallow lake with a frozen layer on top, very high winds can move the rocks now somewhat suspended in slippery ice.
After a headachy three hour drive over washboard roads, we arrived a second time to this place that makes you return again and again. Our prize was a full moon night on the playa, bright and lit up more like a vision than waking life.
No, we were not thinking about the Obelisk in Planet of the Apes. But you are!
Though truth be told, that night was a rather transformative encounter.
Above is a shockingly beautiful panorama shot by Dan Duriscoe of National Park Service. Be sure to enlarge the image and delight in all the details of its full glory.
See Saline Valley Gallery for more Death Valley inspired creations and photography.
By Air
$23
Wind-born messages.
- Two 3.875″ x 9.25″ original suminagashi sheets on off-white washi paper
- One matching envelope
- The paper is lightly translucent, foreshadowing the next page
Tanukidanisan Fudoin, Badger Valley Mountain Temple, is a place of pilgrimage for me whenever I get to return to Kyoto. Overshadowed by more famous temples and gardens nearby, it feels intimate, very much part of the forest, full of hidden magic places. I am especially fond of the bronze monk that greets you on the long set of stairs, the small waterfall shrine that you find by following the sound of the water, and the veritable tribe of Tanuki-san, the Japanese mythical badger clay figures.
The temple cluster was built in 781 to guard against bad spirits said to come from the north-east, a direction sometimes named a Demon’s Gate. Whatever the original intent—evil spirits, or no—twelve centuries of casting protection have cloaked the ravine thick in blessings. It is ever a place of refuge, quiet joy, and communion with mountain-forest-water magic.
A post without any particular underlying significance. Everyone just going about their business: the resident monks, the foreign girl. I simply could not overlook the orange and the red, and such natural ease of coexistence.
WRITING IS A BLOODY BUSINESS BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO KILL YOU
This broadside was based on Francesca Preston’s ink drawing and created for her Grafista writing / editing business. I will not attempt to paraphrase a writer’s message about her own work, so do give yourself a taste and the pleasure of her amazing way with words in the detail image below. 
The Process
I felt so in tune with and so moved by Francesca’s ink drawing, the broadside creation process was untimed design bliss. Here are a few roughs and the original drawing. 
Ettie Street Project fuses the worlds of funk, jazz, and electronica into a sound that is expansive and multilayered. The project is a collaboration between Tom Lattanand, Rob Gwin, and various musicians in the Bay Area music community. From 2007 through 2012, their Oakland studio on Ettie Street, the Orange Room, was a hub of musical experimentation, gatherings, and performances. This album reflects this time.
The Simplest Possible Setup
The album is released as a tribute to one of ESP’s drummers, Jorgen Stensson, who passed away in December of 2012. This design attempts to communicate that no matter what storms and layers of complexity life offers up, there are always subterranean passages to navigate the depths and incalculable abundance of nourishment and support, often not obvious. We truly do belong here, and perhaps the magic key is simply the willingness to stay open to the vastness and intelligence of life.
The Simplest Possible Setup
$12
This limited edition of 300 was screen printed right here on Ettie Street.
Demo CD’s and business cards
Flyers and posters
Five Lands Path
$37
Will these prints hold a letter, five poems, or invite musings on the five elements? They await your direction.
- Five 3.875″ x 9.25″ original suminagashi prints on off-white washi paper
- Two matching envelopes (I can include more)
Tunnel
$17
Subterranean communications.
- Two 5.25″ x 8.25″ original suminagashi prints on off-white washi paper
- One matching envelope
- For vertical or horizontal lettering
- The paper is lightly translucent, revealing the underlying layer
Burning Thai Noodle was a fine dining establishment during Burning Man 2010, seeking to nourish hungry souls with authentic, freshly cooked Thai food.
A book that came out of an afternoon taking pictures around the Yerba Buena and financial districts in San Francisco.
Gina Pulice is a psychotherapist practicing in New York City. The multilayered tree illustration was created to communicate the warmth, depth and uniqueness of her approach in working with clients.
Illustration, custom WordPress theme.
Stone Seat View
Stone Seat View is Tom’s a solo acoustic guitar album. The rich, complex, expansive flows of his music were very difficult to attempt to describe in visual form. Having explored many directions, suminagashi art work—where lines are created in part by nature—wound up being the most honest solution.
Stone Seat View
$10
Website
Emerging from above and below, horizontal lines come alive on rollover.
1000 Cranes was a particularly meaningful project for me. A friend was diagnosed with stage four cancer. The Japanese tradition of making 1000 origami cranes for healing provided a perfect channel to send him everyone’s love and wishes for well-being. Many crane making gatherings were held. I then suspended the cranes together as waves of color in a way I thought was most uplifting. The mobile was gifted during a community healing ceremony.
The inspiration of his vibrant personality lives on with us.
A wedding invite and ketubah: red ink on gold and blue on silver. I created a whole suminagashi series so Christina and Jeff could find the right border to frame their marriage contract.
Original suminagashi print used for the invitation and alternate borders for ketubah.
One Step at a Time
$23
- Original suminagashi print, 9.5″ x 12″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in three)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
Softly at Dusk
$37
- Two original suminagashi prints, 9.125″ x 12″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (fold prints in three)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
Irresistibly In Bloom
$29
- Original suminagashi print, 9.25″ x 12″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in three)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
Misty Mountains
$37
- Three original suminagashi prints, 9.5″ x 13″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in four)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
A 3D popup structure that will most likely become a lamp. Exploration of fluid boundaries between surface and structure, inside and outside.
Postcard and poster to promote a butoh performance by Bare Bones Butoh.
Breath Visible
$29
- Original suminagashi print, 9.5″ x 12″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in three)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
Heart of the Matter
$29
- Original suminagashi print, 9.25″ x 11.75″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in three)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
Clear Lake
$37
- Original suminagashi print, 9.125″ x 12″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in three)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
Night Roads
$47
- Two original suminagashi prints, 9.5″ x 13″
- Lightly translucent, soft-white washi paper
- One matching envelope (to fold in four)
- For vertical or horizontal writing
An article about the Artist In Residency Program run by SF dump. Artists get full access to materials brought in for recycling and use them to create sculptures and installations. Some works find their home at the Sculpture Garden. Program tours occur every third Saturday and fourth Wednesday of the month.
Artful Trash Management: Poster
This typographic poster was inspired by ‘Artful Trash Management’ philosophy of Bob Johnson and his RiverCubes Project. He and a team of volunteers dredge up and reclaim trash from rivers around Pittsburgh, PA. Their bounty—everything from tires to shopping carts to car seats—gets compressed into surprisingly lovely cube sculptures that are then placed along river banks close to the source of their dumping and retrieval. This project, in a playful way, seeks to redefine and deepen our culture’s relationship with consumption and waste.
Clear And Smiling
$17
Keen thoughts spoken softly. In two parts.
- Two 3.875″ x 9.25″ original suminagashi sheets on off-white washi paper
- One matching envelope
- The paper is lightly translucent, foreshadowing the next page
Unabashed
$17
In full bloom and unashamed.
- Three suminagashi cards: 3.5″ x 4.875″
- Original, double prints
- Portrait or landscape: as you prefer
- White backing card stock & matching envelopes
Resolute
$17
Lines that flow without self-doubt.
- Three suminagashi cards: 3.5″ x 4.875″
- Original, double prints
- Portrait or landscape: as you prefer
- Off-white backing card stock & matching envelopes
Arrival
$17
Emerging from the depths decisively and with a tale to tell.
- Three suminagashi cards: 3.5″ x 4.875″
- Original, double prints
- Portrait or landscape: as you prefer
- White backing card stock & matching envelopes
The photos do not quite describe the real feeling, but you may perhaps catch a glimpse.
From the entrance to the Valley.
Saline Springs turn-off marker. This is how Death Valley rolls.
It begins: the winds are up but the sky still blue.
Then not.
A donkey family—now wild descendants of their gold rush ancestors—take refuge with us in the oasis. All rear ends to the wind!
More storms brew the day after. Time to politely leave.
Snow and sleet on the way out at Nelson Range Pass, 4,500ft.
Owens Lake.
Joy
$53
- 17″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Periodot tumbled
- Pearl
- Nylon thread
- Sterling silver lobster claw clasp
Rain
$67
- 17″ long
- Manzanita wood
- River pearls
- Beads
- Sterling silver lobster claw clasp
- Nylon thread
In The Nude
$59
- 18″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Blue lace agate faceted
- Gold-plated silver lobster claw clasp
- Nylon thread
Spring
$73
- 18″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Periodot faceted
- Beads
- Sterling silver lobster claw clasp
- Nylon thread
Liquid Joy
$83
- 17.5″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Pearls
- Gold and crystal beads
- Gold-plated silver springring clasp
- Nylon thread
Heavenly Temple
$67
- 20″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Quartz matte
- Mother of pearl
- Beads
- Gold-plated silver springring clasp
- Nylon thread
Suspended Animation
$89
- 17″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Pearls
- Prehnite tumbled
- Periodot faceted
- Beads
- Nylon thread
- Gold-plated silver springring clasp
Hayes River
$13
- Two suminagashi cards: 4.25″ x 5.5″
- Original, double prints
- Portrait or landscape: as you prefer
- White backing card stock & matching envelopes
Though ambling slowly, the mighty subterranean Hayes River in San Francisco is wide and voluminous, spreading through the alluvial sediments, bay muds, and landfill under the Civic Center and Downtown neighborhoods. It broadsides Market Street, encountering a long concrete subway tunnel that interrupts its gait. So copious are the waters of the Hayes that, to protect their investment from damage, BART runs “de-watering” pumps day and night in the Powell Street BART station, to keep the Hayes from flooding the tracks. It finally meets the surface South of Market, where it enters the bay beneath China Basin. Originally, it came to the surface in a marsh at Mission and Seventh Streets.
On average, the river is about fifteen feet below surface, and much deeper and wider than most surface rivers. The extent of this slow fluid influx is such that hundreds of landowners along this waterway originally used private wells, built right into their foundations, to supply all their water needs.
The Root Of Things
$61
- 17.5″ long
- Manzanita wood
- Blue lace agate
- Lava rock
- Beads
- Nylon thread
- Sterling silver lobster claw clasp
