by Christina Waters | Nov 9, 2009 | Home |
And the potent desert miniatures by Los Angeles/Mojave oil painter Mary Austin Klein, provided indelible visuals of a landscape that is my second home. As small as the portable altars that accompanied wealthy Renaissance nobles on their travels, Klein‘s intricate braiding of glittering light and deep purple shadows offers choice bits of the geological grandeur of the Mojave, for take-away and at stunningly low prices.
The painting shown, of the Bullion Mountains overlooking Joshua Tree, is a mere 4 x 6 inches, the very smallness of which gives the work an almost magic realist quality. As much a tiny object as a painted representation, it has undeniable allure. Yet, like all work done almost exclusively from photographs, Klein’s paintings fail to convince us that they are pieces of a living domain. There is an absence of expressiveness in these works that contradicts their graphic virtuosity. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Nov 2, 2009 | Art |
or….“Bolts from the Blue” – a series of startling and provocative insights from ur-mathematician Ralph Abraham, shaped into a free, public talk this coming Wednesday, November 4, @ 7pm at the UCSC Music Recital Hall.
Abraham — a pioneer of chaos theory research, UCSC emeritus, and close personal friend of the late, great Terrance McKenna — offers some pithy remarks about the history of mathematics as it butts up against art, music, fractals and the space-time you-know-what. For everyone who fears numbers but is too chicken to admit it – Abraham will demystify much, if not all (and he promises to do it without one single equation!).
Be there, or be squared.
by Christina Waters | Nov 2, 2009 | Art, Home |
It must have been tough living in the shadow of Richard Wagner, but that’s just what powered the career of Richard Strauss, who like his contemporary Gustav Mahler, spent many a sleepless night wondering just how to channel Wagner’s mojo.
Just after the turn of the century Strauss unveiled his voluptuous version of Oscar Wilde’s naughty Salomé, and promptly had his opera banned in most world capitals the minute it hit the stage. As Wilde/Strauss have it, there was much more to Salomé’s desire than simply a baptismal tantrum. She was fatally obsessed with having the Baptist, in God’s way. And as enacted by pliant German soprano Nadja Michael, Salomé was a sensuous handful.
The San Francisco Opera’s current production of Salomé uses set design as well as dramatic motivation to heighten the sexual tension among John the Baptist (sung by a bare-chested Greer Grimsley), the lusting Herod (more…)
by Christina Waters | Nov 1, 2009 | Home |
The best pork chop in living memory was had by me last week at Ristorante Avanti. The pastured pork from Marin Sun Farms was tender and wildly delicious. The plump chop was embraced by a pool of creamy polenta, green beans with toasted almonds and several roasted crab apples — the sweet, tangy taste of autumnn. . . . Meanwhile, you would be doing yourself a favor to join the Seabright neighbors, dining at La Posta on Tuesday evenings. Not only is there a deal-of-the-century option – pasta plus wine, or pizza plus wine, for $15!, but you can slip into the magic realism world of authentic mandolin music, listening to mandolin master Paul Rangell (shown above).
Rangell’s collection of Sicilian, New Mexican, eastern European, etc. folk music is almost supernaturally encyclopedic. And he’s a gifted artist as well. Accompanied on guitar by his wife, Emily Abbink, Rangell’s insistent mandolin (more…)
by Christina Waters | Nov 1, 2009 | Food, Home, Wine |
As if the stupendous selection of fine wines wasn’t enough, now Soif is continuing its prix fixe menu through the entire month of November. To raise awareness about breast cancer — and to help the work of WomenCARE, in Santa Cruz, Soif has created a smart menu of dishes made without added sugars, butter, flour, rice, potatoes or saturated fats of any kind.
Starting with an appetizer of mixed greens with roasted persimmons and (more…)
