3 January 2014 - Book arts and the Coastal Trail

Today Robin and I started out fairly early for a trip to the SF Design Center. It was not satisfactory so we quickly left. Because we were very close to the Center for the Book, we had to stop in to see what was on exhibit. 

Turns out there were two concurrent shows going on. I was really glad we got there.  The first one was called A Visit to Mad Geppetto's Workshop.  The artist was B. Alexandra Szerlip. To my eyes it was definitely an industrialist, steampunk take on books. I found it very intriguing. Here are some of my favorites.

 The tubes below are filled with shredded pages.

The second exhibit was called The Uncommon Thread by artists Jody Alexander and Lisa Kobin. Lisa's work was mostly pulped books made into other things, or parts of books such as spines, sewed into arrangements. 

 Jody Alexander's works were mostly sewing on books or pages. He created poems or thoughts by sewing through words on a page, leaving other words circled to read in order.  This one reads "filling the spaces hence collections."

He had quite a few works where he sewed through words in red. He explained that he had a dream in which he was doing this, and he couldn't let go of the thought until he actually did it. 

Both Robin and I agreed on the tour de force of the show. It was a stunning piece called Fauxliage, created by Lisa Kobin. It was a reproduction of a eucalyptus branch made of book pages, wire and thread. I can't even begin to describe how breathtaking this was. 

After our adventure with art, we drove through Golden Gate Park and stopped at the Sutro Baths/Land's End for a quick walk. It was quickly getting cold and dark, so we didn't stay very long. But we did see some interesting things. 

We found a cave near the baths that once was a passage from the baths to the cliffs. The far end of the cave is now roped off to keep people from falling. (Not that it stopped people from stepping over the barrier to get pictures.)  For the picture below, we are inside the cave looking out through the haze and salt spray.

We climbed back up to the trail and looked back at the ruins. Calla lilies grow wild here. Some of the plants were 6 feet high and the blooms were equally huge. 

As we walked the trails I was keeping an eye out for birds. I saw a bird high up on a branch of a Monterey Pine. You would have laughed if you had seen me sneaking up to get a picture before it flew away. I was being so careful not to scare it. 

When I downloaded my pictures I realized why it was ignoring me. 

My new bird for the day was a California Towhee.  Another very full day for us. One last look at the towhee then we were homeward bound.