Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Three Bags Full



Judith writes:

After the onslaught of winter storms with days and days of rain, the uplift of sunshine was almost too brilliant for eyes that had gotten accustomed to the clouds of grey. And we could not believe our eyes that, except for two birders with a scope who were there for a quick check on the nesting Peregrin Falcons, all afternoon we were the only people at Kehoe Beach.

A trip to the beach with Rebecca DiDomenico is always an adventure. She is a source of abundant enthusiasm, a font of wisdom, plus meanders the beach with a similar pace and is keen to be on the hunt for plastic and for inspiration. 

These jellyfish and sea-creatures made with mica are part of her latest art exploration.The filigree of the patterns were rasterized then cut on a laser cutting machine.




She writes on her website: 
The mica veil creates a similar intimacy, a delicate screen unfolding with its own symbolic language, a curtain rising from the stage of life, revealing only parts at a time, a tender membrane hiding deeper metaphysical questions.


Do we perceive in tiny bits of information, because otherwise so much beauty would knock us over? Like the French poet, Paul Valery, who wrote, “ Man’s great misfortune is that he has no organ, no kind of eyelid or brake, to mask or block a thought, or all thought, when he wants to.” It seems we need to be able to temporarily turn off the bombardment of stimuli, in order to re-emerge with new eyes.

For more Rebecca wonderment: Here

From a distance it looked as if there was no plastic on the beach but, since we are both slueths extraordinare, in just a few hours, we had collected three bags full. All the regular stuff was there including 15 shotgun wads. Now, thanks to the activist folks at Surfrider SF we have a place to post our ubquitous finds on their Shotgun Wad Watcher. Surfers are awesome folks who care deeply about the health of the ocean. They are keeping a tally of plastic hunting detritus with the idea that just showing the quantity will prompt action to change the composition of wads from plastic to biodegradable. 







Kehoe Beach is a field study destination for geology classes who are interested in viewing the Laird Sandstone and monumental events that gave shape to the cliffs and the coast. Slaking off the cliffs are microscopic skeletons of diatoms and single-celled plankton that once floated in the sea. And who doesn't love to see the effects of the San Andreas Fault where the tectonic plates smash one against another. To find a Tricertops in these here strata would be rare indeed but finding this diminuative Dino made geologic history.


1.25" x .5" x .375"