I cooked rainbow pancakes!

This morning I somehow awoke 30 minutes before Petra. Since I've been playing on Pinterest with much of my free time, I decided to put my new found inspiration to work over breakfast! I wanted to make a rainbow cake, but rainbows seems more like a breakfast treat!

'Twas a pretty simply concept to execute, all I did was added food coloring (about four drops) to 3/4 cups of pancake batter and víola! Instant breakfast party!

I learned that it's record cold in Michigan this winter! And that means there are icebergs on Lake Michigan...

My parents recently moved to Michigan after finishing seminary in MIssouri and Kansas. Both of them are California, born and raised, as are their daughters. Their adventure to the midwest has been a family-wide experience and even their brothers and sisters, intrepid as they are, cannot admit to ever having visited (or even wanted to ever visit) any part of the country beyond the Sierras! But thanks to my pioneering parents, we've all fallen in love with middle America (St.Louis is one of my absolute favorite cities!)

Michigan, however.... might just be a whole other animal. I have some friends from Michigan and they have shared some breathtaking images of weather like I've never experienced and palettes that I'm more akin to seeing in Los Angeles' contemporary art galleries than across trees and foliage. The same goes for incredible crystal expanses left behind by blizzards and ice storms - or, in the case of the photos below, by the frozen ebb of Lake Michigan's towering waters after a record cold. Apparently, it was so cold, the waves would freeze upon contact with the air!

This is video of a lighthouse on Lake Eerie. I couldn't find the lighthouse my dad saw on Lake Michigan, but this still gives you an idea of how cold it was this last winter:

I found out Adam Wallacavage has a show at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City!

My heart is pounding and I can barely type...

I love Adam Wallacavage's cooky, turn-of-the-century-turned-tentacle chandeliers (I had another post on his earlier work and, myself am working on some sculpture) and I am enraptured and flabbergasted that his newest works are down the freeway from me in Culver City's Corey Helford Gallery!

His latest is truly breathtaking. I cannot appreciate enough how elegantly Wallacavage traverses the line between macabre and quirky. There is nothing cute about his work, so I don't mean to make light of the otherworldliness of his cephalopodian sconces and lamps - they are impressive, ostentatious, and striking. Subtle in their absurdity.

Since my last encounter with his pieces, it much has changed - the composition of the chandeliers seems to take precedence over his previously trademarked gaudy embellishments. The design is much more three-dimensional, as well, with multiple angles and breadth in mind whereas previous works featured specific intersections. Even his colors are handled differently (and wonderfully); he hasn't relinquished tawdry contrasts and saturated tones, but he's given more attention to the transitions between his generally two-toned palettes. The shades move over the pieces in a more organic form, giving fleshy depth to the skin of his meandering tentacles despite the outlandish hues.

The fact alson that I get to use this dusty vocabulary excites me! When I look at these pieces, it seems almost that some words were created for aesthetic encounters such as this:

Ashley Made me a Happy Birthday!

A month ago I sent Ashley a cigar-box birthday package full of wax-paper wrapped goodies to remind her of home and of her passions - instant snow, multi-flavored local honey sticks, a tree, and - the crowning piece - a prism! (Ashley loves triangles and colors - how could she not own a prism?!)

What I got back for my birthday package was even better!! Beautifully illustrated sea-creatures rendered by her own hand, exotic candies, and even pearls! Here are some snap State-side snap shots from the grab-bag goodies and CD & card illustrations.

More photographs as taken across the sea can be seen on her blog or in the quoted segment below:

The Sea is Laced with Gold

Here's a little calendar I made for my dear friend, Danica. It was her birthday in December, and I was a little late. Hence the multiple year thing. There was also a mix CD, as there tends to be with gifts given as of late, but I'll let her post those pictures.

I cooked some dang good pizza too late for Pi Day.

(Photo courtesy of The Petit Chef - who included figs in their pizza!)

I missed Pi Day (3/14) – what a shame! – so I am backdating this entry commemoratively. Every year since I first discovered π Day I manage to miss it in favor of my enthusiasm for the Ides of March (3/15). Oh the conflicts of multiple nerdy interests. Come hell or high water, though, I am NOT missing the epic, once-a-century Pi Day of 2015 (3/14/15)!!!

In any event, I accidentally celebrated with a pie - a Spinach Procuitto Pizza Pie!

Apparently, you can get a mean trio of imported cured hams from Trader Joe's (I used this one). I use about half a package per pizza. Matt and I are suckers for these kinds of meats, particularly as it pairs so well with our vice for expensive cheeses.

And speaking of - don't skimp on the prosciutto or the parmesan reggiano! It's well worth the extra coupla bucks for the fancy stuff.

Enjoy this salty pizza with a glass of tart red wine (I picked Liberté Cabernet Sauvignon) and chocolate dessert!