Conversation with Jane Baker: Working Assets San Francisco 12/08/08 My first acquaintance with Jane Baker came at a dinner party at a friend's house. I left with a strong impression that stayed with me, but a year was to pass before we met again. That happened thanks to Leigh Hyams who was in town for an exhibit of her own work at Meridian Gallery. A couple of days after Leigh's opening, the three of us got together for breakfast at Jane's house. It was one of those memorable occasions when conversation flows almost magically from one wonderful story into another. "You should visit her at her ... Feb 19, 2009, 18215 reads

My First Best Friend: My First Best Friend Dark dense morning. The sky spilling rain at dawn. Water splashing impishly against my windowpane. I sit and watch it fall. I feel the call - come out and play with me. Into her splashing arms I run. Long before we came along, there was water: great oceans that welcomed the rivers; rivers that welcomed the creeks; creeks that flowed from springs that opened some place in the earth, and released this living liquid to go out and play and nurture the planet.      In 1945, a child too young for school, I wandered from ... Jan 28, 2021, 5044 reads

A Conversation with Haricharan Das: In the Company of Saints Photo: R. Whittaker 11/20/09 Meeting Haricharan Das was one of those happy improbabilities you could never have made up. My wife had been reminding me for months that the paint on our house was peeling off and that if I didn't get on the ball and deal with it, we'd regret it. So finally I got online and looked at the Berkeley Parents' Network, a great resource for recommendations. I called a painter with rave reviews and a few days later, my doorbell rang. A tall man with a shaved head and olive complexion stood there smiling. He was ready to take a ... Jul 27, 2010, 44401 reads

Interview: Rick Hawes: Civic Beauty without Permission Besides introducing me to Ted Fullwood, artist Tony May told me about Rick Hawes. In fact, we'd just left Fullwood's house when Tony said, "Let me show you..." —I couldn't make out the rest of it - something about a bridge.      "A bridge?"      "There's a guy who's been tiling them."        "You mean like freelance?"       Tony nodded again.      "He just started tiling them?"       ... Dec 25, 2009, 9908 reads

John Malloy Interview: We Are All In This Together photo: r. whittaker I met John Malloy at one of ServiceSpace’s weekly events, an Awakin Circle. It was typical in that there were 60 or 70 people there. And, as usual, there were many I hadn’t met. At one point in the evening, each person has a chance to speak and it’s always fascinating to glimpse the different worlds that come into view this way. There are always some who make deeper impressions. John Malloy was one of those. His presence is palpable and his speaking reminds me of the few Native American elders I've heard.    ... Nov 9, 2014, 13308 reads

Toward Inaccessible Places: A Conversation with Andre Enard The three of us sat at Jane Rosen’s dining room table in her home perched atop a ridge near the beach at San Gregorio in Northern California. Through a wide expanse of glass, the sweep of the coastal hills with their native redwood, oak, bay and madrone lay before us.      We had just finished dinner. The fresh salad, with locally grown tomatoes and greens, included slices of mozzarella “not as good as in New York,” Jane said, a claim I’d have to take on faith. We all agreed the interview could wait until after our meal, but now the time had ... May 18, 2008, 36090 reads

Blood Brothers: The jagged boulders at the bottom of the snow-filled gully weren’t fully covered by the snow. They lay in a jumble, piled there by the receding glacier from the last ice age.  There was plenty of time to fully regard them as he accelerated towards them, approaching some terminal velocity, down the ice chute into which he’d been unceremoniously pitched, headlong. His mind didn’t think about them, really, these angular blocks, black against the snow’s white. It merely held them, turning the prospect over, like some mild curiosity.  This fall ... Nov 30, 2018, 3936 reads

Interview with Fredric Fierstein: An Outrageous Act The story leading up to this interview includes the influence of my having read Peter Kingsley's A Story Waiting to Pierce You. In his book, Kingsley hypothesizes that a mysterious figure, Abaris, traveled from Mongolia to Greece to meet Pythagoras. Abaris is mentioned in several ancient texts, usually carrying an arrow, a symbol of shamanic power.       A few years before having read Kingsley's book, I'd been bicycling around the Berkeley marina one day, when I was surprised to come upon a warrior archer astride a mythical beast that looked ... Feb 23, 2011, 67476 reads

The Skittish Stallion:      Another story is about a horse. We couldn’t have bought this beautiful farm had we not been able to have some help. Well there was a great apartment in the top floor of the barn. So we advertised for someone who could help us with our 58 acres and they would have a place to live. We had pages of the names of all those who responded to our ad, and there was one couple that stood out. She had an agriculture degree in stable management. He had a horticulture degree. And they had this little baby, Shane. They would each be able to keep their day jobs and still ... Jul 6, 2008, 9494 reads

On Art and Mindfulness: An Excerpt... For the past several summers, Enrique Martínez Celaya has been teaching a painting workshop at Anderson Ranch in Colorado. Many of his students are unusually moved by the experience. And that’s not surprising.      While nearly everywhere style, entertainment and spectacle take center stage, the deep questions remain—acknowledged or not. For those who feel how little nourishment beguiling surfaces provide, there’s a hunger for contact with the deeper reaches of life—territory that traditionally has been the purview of art, philosophy ... Feb 7, 2016, 22351 reads