The Truth and Nothing But the Truth

2012-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Half Cliff Mountain Station

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Celebrating the Rainforest

-photo Wayne Tyler Young

click on image to enlarge

2012-01-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

Passing on the train

The rainforest rushes by,

We have seen the wind.

-rw

click on image to enlarge

2012-01-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

Once again my friend,

The lowering canopy,

houses my spirit!

click on image to enlarge

2012-01-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Bye Bye 2011

Click on image to enlarge

Spirit of City Creek

2011-12-03T16:36:00.001-08:00

- photo by Bill Williams

Well the Salt Lake City Sky Bridge project, Spirit of City Creek, is completed

Grand opening 22MAR12.

Captured In this random preview snapshot: Spirit of City Creek melds with the all inclusive environment. The power of true reflections and a optical considerations are manifest. The unobstructed view of the immediate environment are superimposed on the reflections from behind the viewer. A moment of reflection is presented with the goal of lifting the human spirit.

Cladding a pedestrian bridge across main street
connecting the two halves of an in the low Billions USD project, 1000 ft. from Temple Square it is the 'hood ornament' of the project.

The layered laser etched artwork, based on artists' photographs taken at and of the creek that gives SLC it's life, includes conformation to energy specifications and percent of transparency preferences of the project owners. Each panel consists of four planes of superimposed artwork.

click on image to enlarge

2011-12-03T10:03:00.001-08:00

Signage for the Duke's Place from my script, a nightclub honoring John Wayne at the elegant Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, California where he often docked his yacht the Wild Goose.

click on images to enlarge

2011-11-28T08:29:00.001-08:00

2011-11-26T11:21:00.001-08:00

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

O' GLORIOUS CREATION ALL FOR ME

AND FOR THEE
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

2011-11-22T08:06:00.001-08:00

THANKS

2011-11-19T12:37:00.001-08:00

conceptual architectural art

2011-11-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

Friday this week it will be the unique

11.11.11
Veteran's Day

2011-11-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

This peaceful place in Mogues France still has parts of my Uncle Tommy's plane in the debris field of his fatal crash near the end of WWII just days from his 21st birthday.

The quiet in this place is stunning.

click on image to enlarge

2011-10-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

click for

THE BEST HALLOWEEN AD SO FAR:

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

WHAAAT THE...?

2011-10-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.ronwood.com

2011-10-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here, Now.

October Sky, Sun City, CA, USA

click on image to enlarge

2011-10-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

The autumn sky is here now in this part of the world

There be a link to my blog, The Truth and Nothing But The Truth, at the top of the home page to my site at: http://www.ronwood.com. It has a new interface controllable by the viewer making navigating the many posts easier and customizable by the viewer. Check it out.

2011-09-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

Fortnight Lily

About images from the natural world, whether captured by photography or simply observed in a relaxed or meditative gaze, the associative powers of the brain can be unleashed. In this close in photo of a Fortnight Lily different people can see different things, even though the true nature of the image is known. Much like looking at a cloud, seeing a horse, and still knowing it is a cloud. This exercise has delighted me since early childhood and still informs many aspects of my artwork.

In the images above, one color, the other black and white, one can see that the black and white is more abstract, (Of course, as the color has been abstracted). The more abstract and softer the focus the easier one can reconfigure the organic design to mentally construct substitute images.

In this case, I can see a Jay bird in profile and I can see a fox from above. Of course i can still see the Fortnight Lily.

What can you see? Print the black and white and ask your kids what they see. Let them color it.

2011-09-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hard Drive

Just saw Drive with Ryan Gosling

of course the association part of my brain reminded me of this sketch I did a few years back called

Hard Drive

and wanted to share it for coloring book art cars

for my little fans.

click on image to enlarge

photo shopped by M. Giles, Omaha - 6th grade

2011-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

WTC MEMORIAL

http://www.sarahmckenzie.com

Upcoming solo show: Void, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York
September 10 - October 23, 2011.
Please join me for the opening reception on Friday, September 9, from 6-8 pm.

Another of Sarah's paintings of the WTC Memorial project in progress

click on image to enlarge

visit Sarah McKenzie's site, click on URL above

2011-08-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

WTC Memorial

Sarah McKenzie painted this photo-realistic depiction of the winning memorial from pictures she took during construction at ground zero. Amazing.

Anything to do with the World Trade Center memorials grabs my attention (previous post).

Memorial, oil and acrylic on canvas, 36" x 54", 2011

click on image to enlarge

link to Sarah McKenzie web site click on her name at beginning of this post

Support the arts!

2011-08-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

WORLD TRADE CENTER

NY, NY, USA

as a member of one of the 5200 Teams that submitted concepts for the 9/11 world trade center memorial projects it is always interesting to me to see progress reports on the site. Click on the image immediately below to be taken to ENR, a pubvlication of the AIA and their latest progress report.

Special Report - World Trade Center Reconstruction
ENR's coverage of the $18B redevelopment of the World Trade Center site looks at work on 1 WTC, the 9/11 Memorialand the underground transit hub. Online Extra: Watch a video overview of the construction efforts and View a slide show time line of the history of the World Trade Center.(enr.com)

Click on the image below, then click again, then click once more to be taken to the official WTC memorial site entry on which I was a member of a team

2011-08-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

KOI

detail: 1" thick 4' x 9' silvered table top

click on image to enlarge

2011-08-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

King Solomon as quoted to Ben Franklin by his father

In the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin he quotes his father quoting King Solomon “seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men”.

Ben was a great guy and his autobiography is a great and easy read. It is especially of use to you young people struggling with doing what it is you want to do in life.

Benjamin never thought he would actually stand before kings, but he did. My mother used to tell us the same thing and lo and behold I actually spent a couple of months in a royal palace.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is free on the Kindle app.

The app works not only Kindle, but on computers and smartphones too.
At least that is the case with my vintage MacBook Pro.
and...
AmaZingly, when you go from smarphone to computer the page you were on is
synchronized!

2011-08-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

The Kings Game Table

http://www.ronwood.com

This detail shot of The Kings Game Table was taken at the overflow of the Berlin Exhibit at the Hotel Steigenberger in Berlin. The wooden pegs hold the glass pieces off of the surface of the incised Brzovic table top, causing them (up to 100 pounds) to float. The idea is that the pieces are so heavy that the King would have to have slaves to move them. The bent Starphire glass is highly reflective and thus includes the viewer.

NOTE:

This work was destroyed during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

click on image to enlarge

2011-08-10T01:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.ronwood.com

click on image to enlarge

PINK THING

2011-08-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

This epiphyleum has been in our family for more than 100 years. Of the years of my life never saw it produce anything like this PINK THING before. If a botanist is out there that knows what it is, let me know. It hard to the touch, like a melon shell.

The normal bud looks like this:

The normal bloom looks like this:

The bush has night blooms for several days of about a dozen a day.

This ocsurs several times a year and looks like this:

"Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice..."

2011-07-24T14:01:00.001-07:00

http://ronwoodart.blogspot.com/2010/09/little-boy-blue.html

...at Rainforest Habitat

2011-07-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

These amazing Koi live at Rainforest Habitat, a private residence on the Pacific Ocean shores of Southern California. These fish are about 3 foot long and the healthiest most beautiful in the world.
http://www.ronwood.com/projects/toucan/toucan.html

out of the seamless facade, a 1200 pound door whispers open to the bridge that spans a stream, Koi pond, waterfall, and subterranean garden Rainforest Habitat,
http://www.ronwood.com/projects/toucan/toucan.html

The owners and the architect discuss the built environment of Rainforest Habitat in ongoing considerations...
http://www.ronwood.com/projects/toucan/toucan.html

The front gate of frosted laminated Starphire safety glass acts as a projection screen, providing a canvas for the Pacific Ocean sun and tropical gardens, design provided by the Great Spirit...Rain Forest Habitat, a private residence...
http://www.ronwood.com/projects/toucan/toucan.html

This bird, a client supplied project inspiration.

Check it!

Etched glass "Toucan Bill" pocket doors slide open along the entry bridge to reveal an aviary of exotic Toucans...Rainforest Habitat, Southern California coast...
http://www.ronwood.com/projects/toucan/toucan.html

Not The 4th of July

2011-07-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

Reposting this because my family is a great source of love, inspiration, and pride to me.

During WWII my uncles, mom's brothers, all served. Even my ma took her turn at Todd Shipyards in the tradition of Rosy the Riveter in the last days of the war when we were evacuated from the British West Indies by the U.S.Navy. I still remember the scarf she had like the one on the We Can Do It stamp. The Drive on my laptop is named We Can Do It.

World's Toughest Fixes | Salt Lake City Sky Bridge | National Geographic Channel

2011-07-14T04:52:00.001-07:00

"The spectacularly excellent and abundant human ingenuity and expertise poured into this project make it a humbling privilege to have been part of the wide collaboration doing the art work for the cladding. This bridge is the hood ornament for a five billion dollar construction project built for posterity."

World's Toughest Fixes features host Sean Riley witnessing heavy duty industrial fixes up close and personal.

View >>

WORD

2011-07-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Where I Am there is no plague, no floods, no famine, no cataclysm, except in the abstraction of knowing that these things exist. Where I am is inundated in comfort, satisfaction, the awesome beauty of being, the sensory overload of the universal beauty of life, being alive, being.

What is abstract Where I Am be real to others. Now.

For the first I thank The Great Spirit. For the rest I fear The Great Spirit. Yet it has always been and always will that the meteor is on it’s current PATH.

WORD

2011-07-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

Please Do
WATCH THIS

video of the modern legendary artist Weiwei and be amazed!

BBC：艾未未专题纪录片（Ai Weiwei, Without Fear or Favor）youtube.com/watch

The imagination and creative spark is with Weiwei.

He may have 1600 people to execute an idea

but

the idea remains his. The idea may be obvious, the idea will be of our time and available to anyone

but

it was the creative drive of this one person that was the catalyst to make the idea real.

Support The Arts!

2011-07-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Tastiest Morsels On Earth

http://www.hayesoyster.com

Flown alive to your doorstep overnight....OYSTERS!

2011-07-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

WATCH THIS

This program shows the installation of the steel bridge that is now clad in layered etched glass

Will post pictures of the completed bridge soon

Airs Thursday, Jul 7 1:00 EDTProgram times are subject to change. Visit http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/tv-schedule to confirm.

click on image to enlarge

2011-07-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Traveling from the 100 degrees Fahrenheit desert floor to the Alpine climate of Idyllwild to find thunderstorms complete with huge thunder, lightening and pouring down rain in one hour was quite an experience.

Less than a month after our enthusiastic gallery installation we spent the day dismantling, packing and trucking the artwork.

PWI truck dodging the monsoon with the bed protected by the porch overhead

The drive up the California Scenic Highway 74 is always beautiful

The downpour was poignant, apropos, powerful, and beautiful

Please click on images to enlarge

2011-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

This photo of Eucalyptus, a layered sculpture made from hand drawn Euc boughs, was featured as a poster for my 1983-1984 one man show at the Gallerie Lietzow in Berlin.

The posters, an edition of 1000, sold out in 5 days.

click on image to enlarge

2011-07-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today is the last trip up to Wildwood IGO7 gallery in Idyllwild, CA. Meeting PWI truck to dismantle the exhibit that was so promising and fun. May Isaac Outland (see older posts) R.I.P.

The painting, The Whole I Am, was inspired by a big tree, shown below with my 90 year old Mum, was just around the corner from the gallery. Now to find it a new home!

Detail of The Whole I Am showing the shadows on the forest floor

Larger detail of the 18' tall canvas

Inspiration for the painting is the centuries old tree, shown here with my dear old Mum, only 90 years old. Both the source of inspiration.

Isaac Outland (R.I.P) and Ron Wood standing next to The Whole I Am installed at the gallery.

click on the middle three images to enlarge

2011-07-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

The first bloom was just a week ago, now it looks like we'll have

to hack our way to the front door with a machete!

BLUE PURPLE PLUMBAGO

click on image to enlarge

2011-07-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

During spring break from Arcadia High School my uncle Robert loaned me his pride and joy 1947 Caddy convertible, he called it his town car. The first day I had it I let a girl drive it and she clipped another car making a too wide right hand turn. Easy to do as the car was half a block long. It took the rest of the break for me to have the car restored to perfect. My dad bought all of my furniture and things from my room so that I could pay for it. It took me a year to work it off, but I don't think my Uncle Robert ever knew it. I was 16. Brazo Fuerte (Armstrong).

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY . AMERICANS ARE AMAZING

MADE IN AMERICA

click on image to enlarge

2011-06-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

click on image to enlarge

2011-06-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

Wildwood IGO7 Gallery and Museum Exhibits Closed

Isaac Outland, R.I.P.

This article from the Idyllwild Town Crier further to the closing of the artists exhibitions. A great shock to the participating artists and a tragic ending of life:

Breaking News

Last updated Wednesday, June 29, 12 p.m.

Evidence points to suicide in Outland death

By Marshall Smith
Staff Reporter
Riverside County Sheriff ’s Department Investigator Brad Farwell, lead investigator in the death of Isaac Outland, confirmed on Wednesday, June 29 that evidence to date supports suicide. “Initial forensic evidence supports death by self-inflicted gunshot,” said Farwell.

Farwell also noted he had compared the signature on the suicide note left by Outland with his Department of Motor Vehicles signature, and it was, in his view, an exact match.

Farwell also reported that on Monday June 20, the California Franchise Tax Board seized Outland’s bank accounts, purportedly for non-payment of back taxes. Farwell offered that information as potential evidence of motive, and as another piece of information that supports Outland’s death as a suicide.

Anyone having additional information that might be helpful to this investigation should contact Investigator Farwell at (951) 791-3412.

2011-06-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

WILDWOOD IGO7 Gallery and Museum Exhibits CLOSED :Isaac Outland - R.I.P.

2011-06-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

Breaking News - Last updated Friday, June 24, 12 p.m.

Idyllwild businessman Isaac Outland confirmed dead in suspected suicide

Isaac Outland is shown in his gallery. Photo by Sally Hedberg

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 12 pm: On Friday, June 24, the Riverside County Coroner’s Office confirmed the death of Isaac Outland, 68, as likely a suicide. In May Outland, owner of Wildwood — IGO7 Gallery in the Village Centre, was elected to the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce.
Outland’s body was discovered on Wednesday, June 22, just after 10 a.m. at Lawler Lodge on Highway 243 in Stone Creek, north of Idyllwild. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office of Hemet is investigating the death by gunshot wound as a suicide.
— Marshall Smith

Isaac Outland shown last
Saturday night at his gallery
during "Date Night."
Photo by Cid Castillo

More details below

A Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigator stands beside an SUV containing a dead body, which was discovered early Wednesday, June 22, at Lawler Lodge. Below, Sheriff deputies stand in front of Lawler Lodge. Photo by Cid Castillo

Body found in SUV at Lawler Lodge
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 3 PM: Riverside County Sheriff's deputies responded to what appeared to be a suicide early Wednesday, June 22, at Lawler Lodge, 19751 Hwy. 243 in Stone Creek.
The lodge is closed, but Riverside County Regional Parks and Open Space District Supervisor (corrected) Jim Davis stopped when he saw an SUV parked on the side of the building. He discovered the body of an individual who appears to have died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The SUV is a dark blue GMC Yukon. The name of the deceased was not released.
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 11:30 AM: As of this morning, neither the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department nor Coroner’s Office has identified a body found at Lawler Lodge early Wednesday, June 22.
The following information may relate to this incident, and the Town Crier will post new information as it is made available.
An Idyllwild business owner, Isaac Outland, has been missing since late afternoon Tuesday, June 21. Outland was last seen by another local business owner Tuesday afternoon when he asked her to watch his pet. Outland was to have returned by 5:30 that afternoon (June 21) to retrieve the pet. He did not return.
The Sheriff’s department has not confirmed that the license plate — ISAAC07 — of the vehicle in which a body was discovered yesterday morning at Lawler Lodge is registered to Outland.
Town Crier Staff Report

Riverside County Sheriff's Department officers look at an exit bullet hole in the roof of an SUV discovered at Lawler Lodge Wednesday morning containing the remains of an unidentified individual. Photo by Cid Castillo

2011-06-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Wildwood igo7 Gallery and Museum exhibits closed

Isaac Overland

R.I.P.

click on image for article

The Spirit of City Creek

2011-06-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

The laser etched glass depicting the Spirit of City Creek is all in place. The spine that runs the full length of the roof/ceiling is still being worked on. By the first of August the tech apparatus should be in place. It took myself, my digital collaborator, and an extended design team, with members as far flung as San Francisco and Ann Arbor a couple of years to complete the artwork. The resulting laser etched enclosure, is unprecedented. The picture below is one I took of a sample submitted and accepted for the roof/ceiling of the bridge. Can not wait to go to SLC and photograph the total enclosed environment from the inside, and to photograph it's presence 1000 yards from temple square as it spans above Main Street.

Watch the steel being installed:

Salt Lake City Sky Bridge | National Geographic Channel

You Can Do It...part 4

2011-06-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Hung in a window at Wildwood igo7 Gallery and Museum

Idyllwild CA

Each original work catches the light the same way stained glass does.

Previous posts show previous steps

click on image to enlarge

many OLDER POSTS accessed at page bottom

You Can Do It Too...part 3

2011-06-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

Inked rice paper banner project working...

Here the inked rice paper has been torn into vertical strips, about 50 of them resulting from the 7 papers in this session.

Some of them have tears and most are a bit long in terms of being easy to hang somewhere to bring a moment of sunshine. The best place would probably hang free in windows or doorways as the rice paper is translucent and the colors hold light much like stained glass. Also, when caught in a breeze, they catch the eye.

Note that the individual pieces have taken on their own characters, retaining little of the composition of the larger papers as they were inked.

Next step is to size them, then to tie string through holes for hanging.

Previous posts show previous steps

click on image to enlarge

many OLDER POSTS accessed at page bottom

You Can Do It Too...

2011-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Inked rice-paper banner project working...

will be fun to see how many banners from this session...

click on image to enlarge

previous posts show previous steps

many OLDER POSTS accessed at page bottom

Project in Progress

2011-06-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

7 big (5') sheets of handmade rice paper are

weighted down with rocks to keep them from

blowing in the wind while being inked for banners.

click on image to enlarge

multitude of previous posts listed below

2011-06-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Driving down a country road I see a huge Eagle in the sky.

Can you see it too?

Pictures in the clouds.

One of my favorite things!

click on image to enlarge

ever increasing number of previous posts listed below

Happy June

2011-06-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Detail of
The Whole I Am

"God lives in the details" Mies Van Der Rohe

The Whole I Am, painting by Ron Wood

available at

Wildwood Igo7 Gallery and Museum,

Idyllwild, CA

ACCESS OLDER POSTS BELOW

Mr. Wood's Garden

2011-06-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Often being the only one to see the one day wonders of blooms in the desert while walking in the studio grounds here, the urge to share prevails, thus...

Hoya

Exotic Hawaiian Hoya

cactus flower

Fortenight Lily

Night Blooming Epiphyleum

Plumbago

Lantanya

click on images to enlarge

if you can use these images be my guest

List of previous posts below, or click on Older Posts

2011-05-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

The Whole I Am

available at:

Wildwood igo7 Gallery and Museum

Idyllwild, CA

6' X 18' $48,000.00

click on image above to enlarge

The huge canvas is hung as a scroll and has a back hook about three feet up the wall behind it as the gallery ceiling is only 15' tall. Steel hangers by Pacific Westline Inc.

GRAND OPENING

2011-05-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Wildwood igo7 Gallery

Idyllwild California

Grand Opening

"...that's Earth aight, we're really getting close to ...home"

put yourself in the picture

click on image to enlarge click again

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 27-30 MAY

Memorial Day

2011-05-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ron Wood and Galleriest Isaac Overland

with The Whole I Am

at the

GRAND OPENING

WILDWOOD igo7 GALLERY

IDYLLWILD, CA

27-30 MAY 2011

Wildwood igo7 Gallery Grand Opening

2011-05-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

27-30 May

GRAND OPENING

WILDWOOD GALLERY

IDYLLWILD, CA

Butterfly Woman by Andra Dunn

click on image to enlarge

Good Morning

2011-05-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

This morning my friend Elin sent me a flower. Water Shall Make The Desert Bloom is bolted on Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam). What I love is that this busiest of friends is compelled to capture a moment of fleeting beauty and to share it.

click on image to enlarge

WORD

2011-05-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

What is abstract Where I Am be real to others. Now.

For the first I thank The Great Spirit. For the rest I fear The Great Spirit. Yet it has always been and always will that the meteor is on it’s current PATH.

WORD

Look Out Window Replaced after 30+ years

2011-05-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hang Glider Magazine Centerfold, July 1978

In July 1978 it was a big thrill for me and the guys in my studio to have our Handglider

chosen for the centerfold of Hang Glider Magazine.

This stained glass window along with etched windows scattered around the Look Out Roadhouse in Cleveland National Forest kept our stomachs full during the lean times.

A year or so ago some night riders drove a pole through the window and using the same techniques, as requested by the Roadhouse owner, a replacement was made. Though Hang Gliders no longer are allowed to jump off the mountain at the Look Out, it is still a popular destination for motorcyclists. The Look Out Roadhouse is still bringing in awards for gourmet breakfasts and lunches.

Look Out Window Today

The view the Look Out is named for. Tony
and I on this Saturday's ride up the mountain for lunch.

click on images to enlarge

many older posts listed below

SPRING HAS SPRUNG ...Boing...

2011-05-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

prickly pear

freeway daisy

oleander

red epyphillium

star jasmine

A quick walk around the studio grounds awakens the spirit of renewal.

click on image to enlarge

SEE EARLIER PREVIOUS TRUTHS

LIST BELOW

Trees

2011-05-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

While Joyce Kilmer was spot on when saying only God can make a tree, I have spent half of my life being amazed at, and trying to capture, the light of our arboreal neighbors. This layered sculpture was done while living in the Olympia Rainforest in Washington to honor the union of my youngest niece, Laura Wood Rosia and Tim Rosia, more than twenty years ago. Their little saplings, Matthew, Sarah, and Benjamin, are now approaching adulthood and reaching for the light of the sky.

TREES
by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

click on image to enlarge

Big Tree

2011-05-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

This 18 foot tall canvas, two years in the painting, was finished up in two days of non stop work with the tutelage of my good friend Elin Pendleton, famous for, among other things, doing a painting a day. I am so grateful for her forcing the final steps from my brushes.

Big Tree

My impression of a centuries old ponderosa pine located in nearby Idyllwild, an alpine climate forty minutes from the desert floor where my studio sits. The painting is soon to be consigned to a

gallery grand opening. Will keep you posted.

click on image to enlarge.

Elin just sent me the following pics she took at her studio as discussed above:

click on images to enlarge

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

My mother is now 90 to my 71 and for me has always been a source of inspiration and a shining example of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

Happy Mother's Day!

If all the mothers of the world were like mine, earth would be paradise, it is for me.

~ M O T H E R ~
M is for the million things she gave me, O means only that she’s growing old. T is for the tears she shed to save me, H is for her heart of purest gold. E is for her eyes of love-light shining, R is right and right she’ll always be! Put them all together they spell
Mother, the word that means the world to me.
By: Howard Johnson, 1915

click on image to enlarge

2011-05-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.wtcsitememorial.org/ent/entI=409401.html

BYE BYE OSAMA BIN LADEN... HOORAY FOR THE USA

Donna's Pool

2011-04-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

This photo of a painting done while house sitting in 1984 fell out of a book in my library. I had forgotten all about it, but now remember those sun drenched summer days. Saddleback Mountain in the background.

click on image to enlarge

2011-04-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

click on image to enlarge

Oystermen

2011-04-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

My friend, Jesse Hayes was on a public television broadcast

http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonexperience/programs/player/34-The-Oystermen

last night (link above)

His website has been posted here a few times previously but the public TV show tells the fascinating history of Oystermen and how they changed the west.

http://www.hayesoyster.com

Among my most enduring friendships is Jesse Hayes. He owns a big part of Tillamook Bay and raises the most utterly delicious oysters on the planet. Both the small Kumomoto with their rich buttery taste and the large Pacific oyster variety. With the disasters the world keeps reeling from, his farms is one of the few untouched estuaries, fed by five salmon bearing rivers, still thriving. Iced live overnight delivery can be arranged through his site for those oyster connoisseurs among you.

PARTY TIME!

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The tastiest morsels on earth. Eat 'em alive!

Senneh Kilim

2011-04-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

This Spanish Wall, Senneh Kilim, features 1800 pieces of hand blown German Fischer flashed glass, double etched and assembled using Louis Comfort Tiffany's copper foil technique, and then copper plating the metal work. The hardwood frame (African Wangi and Brazilian Purple Heart wood) is by John Brzovic.

Fischer is no longer making art glass, which is a shame. The blue was pigmented with Russian Cobalt and the Red was made with Gold. The white areas are where the pigment was sandblasted out of the glass pieces. The outer border is double etched back to back mirror.
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Inspired by the flame design of an antique Kilim rug from Senneh, the work resides in the Royal Palace of His Highness,

Prince Khalifa Bin Hamod Al Thani, Emir, Doha, Qatar.

I spent a month roaming around the old Royal palace in Qatar talking to the architects about the new Royal palace being built at the time.

Was that fun or what?

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Ellis Island Medal of Honor

2011-04-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

In an earlier blog (March 17,2011 / Tsunami) some current events that effected projects were mentioned, most were catastrophes. Much more often people are exposed to the art work in positive ways, like 12000 people passing through a curtain wall, The Veil , at a Catholic church in Houston every week, or people going through hotel lobbies, commercial establishments, bridges, airports, trains stations, where projects reside, and are hopefully moved to a shared spark of inspiration, a moment of reflection.

The press release below, for instance, is an art event where those attending will pass by a lobby project completed at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Battery Park, NYC. If they go to the bar they'll see a back lit sculpture Harbor Lights :

Support the arts!

Media Contact:

James Moore

Email: jamesmoorepr@aol.com

April 17, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Acclaimed artist KAMRAN KHAVARANI will join legendary entertainer JERRY LEWIS and other Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients at a pre-gala media reception hosted by The National Ethnic Coalition (NECO) at the Ritz Carlton New York, Battery Park, on Saturday, May 7, 2011, at 4 p.m.

NECO to present the 25th anniversary of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor on Saturday, May 7at 6.30 pm on Ellis Island to those who have distinguished themselves through their significant contributions to this country and have made a lasting impact on humanity.

NEW YORK, NY – Acclaimed Artist Kamran Khavarani will join legendary entertainer Jerry Lewis and other Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients at a pre-gala reception hosted by the NECO on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at The Ritz Carlton New York, Battery Park. A Gala Dinner in the historic Great Hall PIX11 will follow the Ceremony.

Each year since 1986, The Medals are presented on Ellis Island, in a dramatic ceremony, to American citizens for their outstanding contributions to their communities, their nation and the world.

Kamran Khavarani feels honored to participate in the 25th Anniversary of the Ellis Island Medals of Honor ceremony and is a well-deserving recipient. Dr. Khavarani has been recognized by one of the greatest social art historians of our time as the father of the new style of painting “Abstract Romanticism”, that can influence the history of Art.

Dr.Khavarani was born into an artistic family in Iran in 1941 and completed his education in 1966 from Tehran University with a Master’s degree in Architecture and a Ph.D. in Urban Design. Khavarani has won numerous architectural awards and recognitions.

Khavarani joins a prestigious group of honorees. Past Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients include six Presidents of the United States, Nobel Prize winners and others whose work has made a lasting impact on humanity.

The Ellis Island Medal of Honor ranks among the nation’s most prestigious awards. The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have officially recognized the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, and each year the recipients are listed in the Congressional Records.

http://www.neco.org/www.neco.org.

Den Lindenbaum

2011-04-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Den Lindenbaum located in the Hotel Steigenberger, Berlin's famed Parksalon on Los Angeles Platz, installed in the 1981 lead to the invitation for the Ron Wood Berlin Exhibit at Gallerie Lietzow, Berlin.

The project had the perk of housing at the 5 star hotel during the installation. The Parksalon required that the installation occur overnight when the room was dark. Bartelt und Sohn, a glass factory in Berlin opened during that night to re-fabricate a broken panel and the three ton sculpture was in place for the early breakfast crowd. Alexander Haig, U.S. Secretary of State at the time, was a guest at the hotel.

Amazing security measures were in place. That was exciting.

Engineering of the mechanisms with which the free form panels were hung through the ceiling allowed for seismic movement. Only later did I learn that Berlin wasn't earthquake prone.

Distances between the hanging panels and the heavy plate containment box cause kinetics activated by viewers movements. The optical considerations here include light, shadow, transparency, translucency, reflections and projections. Art work was all hand work in this time predating computer assisted work. Pencils, X-acto blades, tape, sandblasters, blood, sweat and tears.

The inspiration for this work was a famed old boulevard, Lindenbaum Strasse, in what was then East Berlin, lined with lush Linden Trees. The Parksalon overlooks Los Angeles Platz. Reflections from the trees outside and from the diners on both sides of this forest in a box become part of the work.

It's hard to have more fun than this!

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Tide Pool

2011-04-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

This early work was executed with Louis Comfort Tiffany's style of copper foil, that was then copper plated. The glass was striated German Fischer hand blown art glass.

Optical phenomenon such as projection and reflection were obvious considerations demanded by the medium of glass and central to my aesthetic.

Using the prevalent technology of the time, X-acto blades, tape, hand held glass cutters, etc., the work, like the majority of my portfolio, was directly inspired by nature.

This inspiration remains constant.

Mirrored walls carried the art down the spiral stairwell.

Although this work is now thirty years old it satisfies me

to be in my body of work.

True.

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American Red Cross

2011-04-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

How America gives back to The Family of Man

Double Sided Way-finder, OC, CA-rw

When overwhelmed by Catastrophe: Tsunami

The American Red Cross wades right in. Click here to donate:

I became interested in the American Red Cross when my mother, Susan Anderman was Director of Accounting. Here she greets Honorable Assistant Secretary of Labor, Richard Shubert, Esq. in her office just prior to her retirement in 1986.

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This cover of the fall 1984 American Red Cross Volunteer features Donald Karcher's, Former President of Carl's Junior, Spirit Award. One of several I was privileged to have been commissioned to design through the eighties, by Director George Chitty, CEO, OC, ARC, who devoted his career to public service.

These awards honored persons in Orange County who had contributed greatly to their communities and to the work of the American Red Cross.

Support The Arts

Tsunami

2011-03-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

Being an artist in this age of global access often brings an artist's perspective into sharp focus in terms of world events. For instance, in 1995 my sculptural twins "Tsunami" were installed flanking a hotel lobby in Tokyo. 16 years later Japan is hit by it's worst recorded Tsunami disaster.

Of course my intent was to celebrate the power and majesty of Mother Nature, not focusing on the resulting calamity to human society. Like my series Seven Deadly Sins my focus celebrates the beauty of the human experience, leaving images of despair and disaster to the multitude of artists involved in illustrating the bitter. Life is of course a bitter sweet experience. My goal remains to

lift the human spirit.

Anchored in bronze cradles, Tsunami flanks the lobby towering above the viewers head.

Looking back at 4 decades of international architectural installations there have

been several of my projects that relate to, or that have been effected by current events of historical significance. My Berlin Exhibit was sent to Kuwait and destroyed by the Iraqi invasion. A project 1000' from the World Trade Center in New York City was delayed for many months by the events of 9/11. Now, in the island country of Bahrain unrest surrounds an interior art glass gazebo installed in 1984 at the Minama Diplomat Hotel.

Tsunami was shipped to Japan with installation and design notes. The negative space in the piece is highly reflective and functions to include the viewer via reflection.

The glass discs in their cradles place the ball-peen broken and polished top edge well above eye level.

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The Ghost of Winter

2011-03-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

Winter slowly recedes over my back fence and water soaked skies begin their retreat as small green buds begin to appear on the deciduous skeletons of the trees.

Promise of an early spring awaken to the eternal cycle

of rebirth here in the California desert.

It is good to be alive!

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The Color Purple

2011-03-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Every time I see the color purple it reminds me of the line in the movie The Color Purple

that it really pisses God off if you don't notice the color purple.
That seems right to me!

Happy March 2011

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2011-02-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

The local Press Enterprise had this panoramic view of downtown Riverside CA this morning. It shows one end of the huge Inland Empire, a valley surrounded by snowy peaks less than an hour away from the warm valley floors. The photo is nice, but sort of like photos of the rising moon, it fails to capture the majesty of looking at the real thing. Cheers!

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Baby Shoe

2011-02-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

It's

hard for me to believe that this little shoe graced the infant foot of me dear ol' Irish Mum in 1921

One step at a time she has arrived at the venerable age of 90.

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Those Wide Open Spaces are Callin' My Name

2011-02-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

The sensual subtle curves of the alluvial plain landscape undulating off into the distance for a hundred miles continues to inspire and and humble as does gazing into the endless star studded night time desert skies. I do love going to towns and cities and being amazed by the industry of people, still, nothing does it for me as much as the wide open spaces. This view across the fields and foothills show 11000' Mt. San Gregonio in the distance. The panorama is 10 minutes from my desert studio.

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Color Me Fishy

2011-01-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you Betty, John and Austin for letting me know you had fun coloring the Barracuda.

Of course it is OK to print out for your friends and classmates to color too. Have fun!

I'll put more line drawings up here from time to time, stay tuned.

Don't forget to give the fish a watery home!
P.S. Anyone want to send a child's coloring of my drawings to me I'll try and post it here.

ronwood@ronwood.com

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