RMW Ramblings

      California Poppies This year's heavy rainfall initiated a "superbloom" of wildflowers in California (https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/20/us/california-superbloom-flowers-climate/index.html) especially California poppies ( Eschscholzia californica ),  A photo on the news link reminds me of a painting I did of Mt Shasta.  The link was sent to me by our son-in-law Bill, who with Maura own the painting.

  My Library Globe 1 When we bought and renovated our home in Wilmington in 1965-66 , we re-did a long unused room facing Mount Salem Lane as our library. Here is the room while repairs were underway...       there was an out-of-scale tiny ceiling light fixture, but the "Queen Anne" stained glass transom windows and doors, and the paneled walls and ceilings reminded me of a capiz shell globe I had seen at a discount import shop in San Francisco.  We had just moved from  the San Francisco Bay Area a few months earlier.  The globes resembled the street lamps along Powell St. in San Francisco by the St. Francis Hotel.     My brother Vic was then stationed with the Navy in San Francisco, and I had him buy and ship the capiz globe to Wilmington.  It was only a globe, so I needed to build and wire the internal electrical assembly, still with us after 57 years.   Here is the globe as it is now...   The  globe has influenced my ar...

  Cards of Christmas Past Our First Christmas In 2011 Mary and I looked back at our first Christmas together, in 1961. I was a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley.    

  Cards of Christmas Past 1985 A Hand Drawn Card   From mid-1985 until fall 1986 I was on a temporary job assignment in Southern California, flying home to Wilmington when I could.  The warm sunny winter there suggested a design for the 1985 Christmas card which I hand drew..  The horizontal bars were done with felt-tip markers.

  International House The Goines Posters The Thanksgiving through Christmas season is the time when we remember what we are grateful for as we send end of the year charitable contributions.   My educational opportunities were a blessing for me and my family.  A part of this was the year I lived at International House in Berkeley. (https://ihouse.berkeley.edu/), a remarkable institution which I support annually.   For the 50th and 75th anniversary of I-House, the talented graphic designer David Lance Goines produced and printed limited editions of commemorative  posters for the occasions.  As both an I-House supporter and a graphics design affectionato I purchased each when issued.     I didn't know if either I or Goines would be around for a 100th anniversary poster, but last year a 90th anniversary poster was produced as a fund raiser for International House by Goines and I bought it.      I encourage you to learn more about Intern...