sun country living!

guitar recital

2012-01-07T17:52:00.001-08:00

steve jobs, 1955-2011

2011-10-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

As I sit here trying to write a brief blog about Steve Jobs, I'm trying to fathom the incalculable debt I owe him and remembering some of my own design- and computer-related histories.

Back in the day someone might announce, "Whoever goes to Charette, we need knockout paper and coated Pantone paper." And later on sitting at an Apple computer in my first ever computer layout class, PageMaker, and saying to the instructor, "These look like Pantone colours!" and she replied, "They are Pantone colours!"

These days a lot of my life is a pastiche of Adobe software and Mac computers. I'm typing this at my iMac with OS Snow Leopard and just whipped out the mini-memorial graphic in Adobe InDesign. When I'm working in InDesign, I can choose the image alias to display as typical, as high quality or as "fast"--fast looks like that familiar old-time ruby red knockout!

Right now I can say no more, except to offer gratitude and thanks and to look forward to Apple's technological future that never would have been possible if not for Steve Jobs. Thanks, Steve, thank you Apple, hello again, World!

remembering 9-11

2010-09-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

sea impression 1,2,3

2010-08-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

flowers in neon

2010-08-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

creative color challenge...

2010-07-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Louise Gale is having a creative color challenge during August, or more accurately, several creative color challenges--check it out!

summer sandals

2010-07-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

the winter's passed

2010-07-08T22:18:00.001-07:00

Wayne Barlow, "Rhapsody, The Winter's Passed" / In Winters Past, for Oboe & Strings (1934). On YouTube, here's a beautiful performance with the string orchestra part played on piano.

And here's a version of my illustration of the piece...

summer solstice, 2010

2010-06-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Joshua 10:¹²On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord; and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon." ¹³And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in mid-heaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. ¹⁴There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded a human voice; for the Lord fought for Israel.

ordinary time blog images 7-12

2010-06-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

I made four more ordinary time / time of the spirit / season of the church images to feature in sequence on desert spirit's fire's sidebar. These last four bring increasing hints of winter, along with expectation of Advent. This makes a total of ten; here are the first six.

comida sabrosas...

2010-06-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Based on my cinco de mayo tacos

strawberries: 2 interpretations

2010-06-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

fish swim 01

2010-06-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

ordinary time theology blog images

2010-06-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

I made six ordinary time / time of the spirit / season of the church images to feature in sequence of increasingly verdant and lush on desert spirit's fire's sidebar. And I am so stoked by them!

cityside news pages 2 and 3

2010-06-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

cityside news pages 1 and 4

2010-06-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

city delights / sun country

2010-06-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

cinco de mayo tacos

2010-05-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

iKittehs

2010-04-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

earth day 2010: 40 years!

2010-04-18T15:28:00.001-07:00

sun country house

2010-02-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Here's my enhanced version of the East Harwich house; I'm calling this one Sun Country House!

..and the original...

"thank you"...

2009-12-17T10:34:00.001-08:00

here's the note I wrote to fans, friends and guest artists of suntreeriver design on Facebook...

Thank you, thank you, thank you to fans, friends and guest artists of suntreeriver design!

Again we celebrate a season of cultural, religious and family festivities; in the northern hemisphere shorter, darker days and longer, colder nights bring a particularly marked opportunity to recognize the gift of light without which life cannot prevail. At this time of year the world looks to the hope of a new star on the horizon bringing a vision of justice for all creation.

Beginning with light as the first act of creation, a river of life and tree of life in a fresh, untamed garden and ending with the river of life and tree of life in a city where the sun never sets, sun and tree and river are persistent images throughout the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The witness of scripture shows us how to live in community and to live in harmony with and as part of the natural creation. Today many of us live in places neither quite urban or exactly rural, where garden and city intermix and converge, but wherever we are, as artists, designers, photographers, illustrators and people who simply enjoy being surrounded by beauty, we can help make the world kinder, more lovely and less threatening.

As we move the calendar year 2010 may we do everything possible to live as stewards of the planet and of the light as our lives help restore, nourish, heal and sustain. May we fill our surroundings with beauty and grace and make this world safe for innocence, vulnerability and wildness so all creation will find a safe home on this planet that is the dwelling-place of the divine, the habitation of the Spirit of Life.

city blues and brights - city lights

2009-09-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

That we can be "City Lights!!!"

City Blues & Brights – City Lights

It's a morning glow - the kitchen at dawn.
City blues. The kitchen at dawn.
Come on, get up, wake up!
It's a brand new morning!

Look out the window, look at the sky...
Watch the stars fade
the night stars
   lights of night fade
take some stars into your heart
Quick! Look up in the sky – look quickly.
quietly, softly, look
while still there's time
Circle some stars circle some stars
to bring them into your heart

You're up, you're awake. You’re ready
You're ready, you're alive
It's a brand new morning!
It's a beautiful morning!
Hold onto the morning, day is breaking
night is over
This is the sunshine place
It's a city bright

Take that heartful of stars you've
borrowed from the sky
there's a basket over there
set some of those stars
into that basket
You'll need them in the darkness of your night.

Day's breaking
Day's broken all over the city
City blues     the city at dawn

Sit and savor the sunrise
savor the day
bask in and savor the kitchen at daybreak
Watch that basket of stars
guard that basketful of stars
Are the stars still in your heart?
Delight in them    Hold them dear
And share them
Share them...

City blues, urban blues that is.
Sun's up Morning's here

Morning's ready! There's a city out there
A big city out there A Great City
get on out there and scratch for
life
hold on, hold on
hold on. Don’t let go.
Keep those stars in your heart
and give all of them away.
There’s lots more where those came from.
This city will be a sunshine place.

Day's done, it's end o'day
Watch those stars in your heart,
in that basket
Morning's over, so's afternoon
it's evening now
night's closing in...

It's sundown. Night's right at hand
Watch those stars in that basket,
on that table
Watch them closely
night's...almost...here

What promise will you offer the night?
What answer will you give to the night?
Night has dawned upon all of us
Night's here now
Now is the season of night
sleep

You made a covenant with the day
The stars you show are its sign
Will your covenant enfold the night
as well?

It's night now, darkness time
Stars in the basket on the table
Stars in your heart
In your heart Sleep quietly
...now...
Morning's on the way

© leahchang

skyscape light

2009-08-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

I really really like these flowers, so I've incorporated them into another project.

summer sand sea surf

2009-07-23T11:20:00.000-07:00