Althouse: At the In-Your-Face Wildflowers Café...

July 2, 2010

At the In-Your-Face Wildflowers Café...

... you can get up close and personal.

38 comments:

HT said...: New to the suburbs (after x number of years):

Should I collect pine cones from the yard? Do people need these in the fall and winter, say to burn in their fireplaces?; 7/2/10, 7:44 PM
Trooper York said...: Every time I click on to the blog, the stupid NY Times commercial starts playing in the post about sandwiches.

It is very annoying.; 7/2/10, 8:27 PM
Triangle Man said...: I ran around the Biocore prairie for the first time today. Looked very much like this.; 7/2/10, 8:29 PM
commoncents said...: Thank You for posting this!

I really like your blog!!

Steve
Common Cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com; 7/2/10, 8:31 PM
Trooper York said...: Thank You for posting this!

I really like your blog!!

But if you really want to know what is what and how New Age cults are destroying this country, you should check out "The Macho Response!; 7/2/10, 8:42 PM
Trooper York said...: Just sayn'; 7/2/10, 8:43 PM
Anonymous said...: @AA: I see you've switched to the Panasonic ZS7. How do you like it? I bought a ZS6 several weeks ago and am quite happy with it. I'll be using it as a more compact, lightweight replacement for my previous travel camera, a superzoom Panasonic FZ28.; 7/2/10, 8:44 PM
Sissy Willis said...: I adore Tradescantia virginiana ... So much beauty and history, a feast for the eye and the mind.

The king's gardeners; 7/2/10, 8:44 PM
Meade said...: @Triangle Man, we were hiking around the Biocore prairie today too!; 7/2/10, 8:45 PM
sunsong said...: It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam & covers earth with loveliness ~ M B Eddy; 7/2/10, 9:59 PM
JAL said...: Any phallic symbols in sight?

wv trase
Just a trase ...; 7/2/10, 10:05 PM
JAL said...: Well, more seriously, and more lovely ...

New granddaughter arrived today looking too cute for a new baby. A lovely rosebud of a wee girl.

Every one doing fine.

I am going to bed. Waiting is tiring.; 7/2/10, 10:07 PM
Unknown said...: Congrats, JAL. I like the simile of a rosebud.; 7/2/10, 10:24 PM
bagoh20 said...: That photo looks just like the one on the bag of wildflower seed I always buy. It should have a photo of birds eating the stuff, cause that's all I ever get from it. Yea, it's a conspiracy.; 7/2/10, 10:52 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Every time I click on to the blog, the stupid NY Times commercial starts playing in the post about sandwiches. It is very annoying."

Thanks for letting me know. I just replaced the embed with a url that you have to click on.

I hate stuff like that.; 7/2/10, 11:06 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Triangle Man But the photo is from 2 days ago at Governor Nelson State Park.; 7/2/10, 11:07 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Trooper Now, how am I supposed to delete the spam???; 7/2/10, 11:07 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @JAL You're so lucky! I want one!; 7/2/10, 11:08 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: I don't know why - I really don't - but your flower photos do me a lot of good. This one is magnificent.

I've still got your roses (paneled) as my desktop.

Thank you.; 7/2/10, 11:40 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Trooper, you do me a lot of good, too. (You crack me up, is what you do.)

Thanks, man.; 7/2/10, 11:42 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Went to an art show tonight featuring the work of a friend of mine, Maria Vlasic (crunchy pickle fame. Her first studio was called The Flying Pickle), that was held at a her new studio a few blocks from my apartment.

Maria is a bit goth. I used to tease her main squeeze, Jiva, by referring to her as Morticia, but it wasn't much of a tease because he readily agreed. She's also on the irritating side when it comes to food restrictions. Vegan to begin with, but that's just the beginning. We'd never get on.

The show featured her latest series of full-size oils, nudes clothed only in their tattoos and piercings. Her style is shockingly realistic. Penises and vaginæ BANG right there. Each painting takes her 100 to 130 hours to complete from a photograph. The models, save for a few, are all ordinary people she meets on the street who she senses would make an interesting picture, and of course, who agree.

I asked her what the models get out of the project beyond the admiration of their peers. Maria said they get to keep copies from the original photo shoot, professionally done, which is valued at about approx. $500.00 plus they get a free copy of a print from the final painting. I asked her if the prints were full size. "No," she said, "but nearly so. They're about 75% full size, about like that." She pointed to another painting on the studio wall. "The editions are limited." I ask how limited. "Just twenty-five." She answered. "Oh. That's very limited indeed." She responded, "Yes. I used to have larger editions but I feel this helps maintain the value for collectors."

I took my camera but didn't photograph anything because I expected the nudes to have been posted online, but I see I am wrong about that. My bad. This page would give you an idea of her work. Her site has lots of other interesting things too, press releases, and such. The orange haired girl is a dancer in Jiva's band. She's an awesome belly dancer and quite a character besides. She is a very interesting model and Maria painted her several times during the period that led to the nudes that were shown tonight. All I can say from what I saw tonight is that she's evolved along very specific and interesting lines.; 7/3/10, 12:58 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Chip,

Goth? Tired.

Check out the work of my friend, Merkeley. He's a fun guy - and a really hard-working artist - who scares the *fuck* out of people (I'm not kidding: even I was a little freaked out when I first met him) by surrealistically appropriating the look of Robin Gibb of the BeeGees.

I'm not trying to diss you (you know that) or your obviously-talented friend, but - when it comes to originality - she's really got to get out of that old school, now-even-mainstream Goth, "shock" thing and try a little harder.; 7/3/10, 1:52 AM
Kev said...: A lovely rosebud of a wee girl.

That line is pure poetry. Congrats on the granddaughter, JAL!; 7/3/10, 3:13 AM
rhhardin said...: The Onion: Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years Of American Independence; 7/3/10, 4:51 AM
AllenS said...: Trooper York said...
Every time I click on to the blog, the stupid NY Times commercial starts playing in the post about sandwiches.

Does it start out with a loud guitar twang? Yesterday, I was having that problem.; 7/3/10, 6:11 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: Cakewrecks always comes through.

* Happy of July
* Stars & Strips Forever
* Happy Birthday Amerika

More here.; 7/3/10, 6:26 AM
traditionalguy said...: FLOWER POWER!; 7/3/10, 6:57 AM
Anonymous said...: @HT: Pine cones do make decent kindling if they're dry. They can also be used for dangerous pine cone fights among foolish boys, or for ugly homemade Christmas wreaths. I'm not aware of any other use and most people I know treat them the same as leaf litter.; 7/3/10, 9:07 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: HT, no, you don't need the pine cones. Unless you want to make a wreath with them, or fill a basket with them, or turn them into bird feeders.; 7/3/10, 10:12 AM
Trooper York said...: One persons spam is another persons straight line.; 7/3/10, 10:19 AM
jungatheart said...: re pinecones, they're great kindling for a woodstove.; 7/3/10, 11:47 AM
Opus One Media said...: go thee and spend greatly...

gwbush 2005; 7/3/10, 12:02 PM
HT said...: Re: pine cones. Thanks all. I was just wondering, since they are starting to fall now and there are so many of them that I think, "hmmm, does anyone want these?" The fireplaces in the house last year were turned into gas ones so we can no longer use them. Do they decompose in the compost, I wonder.; 7/3/10, 12:32 PM
MamaM said...: Pine cone experience:

This spring I was cleaning out weeds under a Jack Pine that kept dropping cones. The cones appeared to fall off on their own, but each time one dropped, the branch it came from would bounce from the release of weight and a visible cloud of yellow pollen would poof into the air. It made me wonder if the tree was actually pushing the cones off by growth (as opposed them falling due to a random pattern of dryness and disconnect), like packages being moved along a conveyor. Whatever the case, the economy of the delivery system was impressive to witness.; 7/3/10, 1:44 PM
MamaM said...: Thanks Chip and Crack. Maybe the goth angle, and food issues are tiresome, but the art produced is not. I found the work of both artists to be beautiful, unusual, and phenomenal.

It's my belief humans have a true and unique identity which is very often most clearly revealed in art and music. (Words provide a third medium). Living out this identity in culture and community is not easy. Neither is living it out alone, completely apart. Odd or incongruent behavior is often the result.

In my experience humans tend to apply strong or unusual preferences and behaviors for the sake of covering a wound or protecting vulnerability. These become part of a persona under which the true identity lives and relates. In some individuals the persona ends up dominating and destroying the true identity's ability to function and flourish. Al Gore and Tiger Woods are two recent examples. Bill Clinton, gifted in the use of words and application of ideas, is another as he continues to be limited and hampered by his behavioral issues. Carter, Reagan, the Bushes, Obama, the list goes on as the challenge of discovering and living in strength and integrity is a challenge every human faces.

This is why I experience a sense of joy and affirmation whenever I encounter examples of humans responding from what appears to me to be their true self.

Chip, the pictures may not be from her current show, but following your link to the one on her site for prints from the "Altered" series provides a set that appears similar to the ones you described seeing.; 7/3/10, 1:52 PM
BJM said...: @HT Pine cones are part of the natural understory process, leave the debris under the trees and your trees will be healthier. I'm in the process of restoring the meadow and 250+ yr old coastal live oak understory on our property that some fool cleared.

Plus pine cones contain creosote which over time can build up and create a chimney fire.

@Meade Is that a sown wildflower garden?; 7/4/10, 10:49 AM
HT said...: BJM, I am leaving them under the trees. I was just wondering about the patio. Now I guess I can just add them to the compost pile where I assume there is no danger of spontaneous combustion. ?; 7/4/10, 9:46 PM
BJM said...: @HT pine cones are high in carbon and keep the compost heap nice & aerobic but you should to shred them, otherwise they take forever to break down.

If you don't have a shredder you can let them dry and break them up with the back of a heavy hoe.; 7/4/10, 11:11 PM