Time for a cup of tea with me?

Monday morning.... got time for a tea?

this does look good ... mint tea found at lovely tumblr site: black-pool.

also from Black-pool....perhaps a slice of this with your tea?

Ecelectica like this item below prevails at this tumblr as well:

black-pool - click here!

I track that image of 'pollen of snowdrop' to  t. van gieson's photostream and am delighted to find a plethora of interesting sets to explore but go here:

and click on this one:

 

Anna Atkins- algae cyanotype

and go to Wikipedia to read more and use their image!

Then back to Black pool where I notice an image of painter Xenia Hausner's colour palette:

click here

and this one.... Cy Tombly's desk:

click here

Then I went to this image which I added to my tumblr:

Seed Capsules

and this one:

Seed Capsules

and by checking in my tumblr archives I remembered this:

Valerie Hammond

This took me to the blog - A billion tastes and tunes - where i got to see more fascinating work by Valerie Hammond.

Quoted form A billion tastes and tunes:  The beautiful lines and textures of Valerie Hammond's work. Images from Design*Sponge posts, here and here, and from the Carrie Haddad Gallery.

Well .... hope you enjoyed that cup of tea... off to paint now... good week all!

Sx

just very quickly... 2 things ... first the sobering news, then the good!

First the seriously sobering news...


I've heard people saying in the last week or so... Nuclear energy is profoundly more dangerous than Coal... I for one would like to see the newer, safer, cleaner options being put into place ASAP! Its hard to see why this shift continues to stall... given the signs long before 2011 this was imperative. 


The danger and suffering we are seeing at this very time in Japan highlights every warning we've  ever heard about the grave consequences of accidents in the Nuclear industry. Who among us would wish to work in a nuclear facility or live near one... or find ourselves in some way dealing with fall out - whether its contaminated food, water or ?


I posted an article below quickly yesterday but came back to add a little more when a blogger ...thank you MP... responded in a way that highlighted crucial context was missing in this post. Without commenters where would be be!


I found this stark graph below at grist.org which is known for its solid reportage on all environment related issues from politics to energy, business to food and more. Its part of the Guardian Environment Network and I was very glad to be referred to it by blogger Sharmon when seeking info on a misleading story re food legislation 2 months ago for the homage blog.

Here's an article from Germany at Grist: 

• DAS IST GUT

  Germany continues breaking clean energy records 6

  POSTED 24 MAR 2011 6:58 PM BY PAUL GIPE
  Wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, solar cells, and biogas digesters now provide nearly 17 percent of Germany's electricity.READ MORE
  
  

Here's the worrying graph I posted yesterday:

Relative to watts produced, coal kills 4,000 times more people than nuclear power.

Our pervasive sense that nuclear is more dangerous, when the opposite is so clearly true, comes at least in part from a cognitive bias called the "availability heuristic" -- memorable events that are easier to think of, like nuclear disasters, tend to seem more common. 

Counterweight your availability heuristic by reading up on Alexis Madrigal's list of 25 energy-related disasters from the last year. Most are coal mine accidents and refinery explosions, and the vast majority of the deaths should be filed in that big box on the right.
Text and Image from Grist.
Read more:
"The triumph of coal marketing," SethGodin.com
"25 Other Energy Disasters from the Last Year," The Atlantic

The reason for sharing this graph is actually NOT to play down the Nuclear disaster unfolding or suggest we should increase the Nuclear industry. I felt that Grist published it (and I included it) to remind that as the horror of Nuclear energy is played out for all to see lets not go quiet on our need to lobby for clean energy all round ... lets not forget why many want to see coal also shelved as the major energy option we rely on. Let's look to Germany and countries with good track records for inspiration. If they can do it... why cant we?


well... I must end on an upbeat note.

The good news story...

Here's a great image I found through Mary Zeran's tumblr site this morning ... dont you love this studio space? Mary has been posting quite frequently of late at her Adventures in Art blog on studios... dream studios and such. As I recently moved from the luxury of a large studio to a much smaller home studio I have drooled over Mary's postings on studios.

By the way Mary has joined the momentum of wonderful blogger initiatives to raise funds for Japan through art sales. Click on the blog title above to go see. See a dream studio post here!

Image found via Mary Zeran tumblr archive here.

curious image from simplypi archives here. A repurposed building?
Simplypi first posted the image of the studio above!

Mary's blog: Discovering the World of Art: (from Iowa that is...) featured this artist this week;

Taryn McMahon: Their Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment

Mary decided to focus on the state she lives in after realizing it would fill a missing info gap. We bloggers realise that the centre of the world is wherever we find ourselves... and this blog shines a light on a region in the US that is not known first and foremost for its Art...but why not? I really appreciate learning about places I've never visited through bloggers all over the globe ...bringing the peripheral to centre stage so to speak!

Inalux posted this image below from Mary's studio here.

from Mary's studio

From April 6th you can see Mary's show here:

The Best of All Possible Worlds/ Solo Exhibition
The University of Iowa Hospitals
Project Art Gallery III
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
April 6th through July 8th 2011

Loved the invite Mary...  it came in the mail today... sorry I cant make it ... anyone out there live near here? Could you please go along on my behalf!

Have a good weekend everyone!

S x

botanically themed...

nends:

Herbal, Italy, N. (Lombardy); c. 1440

nends:

Herbal, Italy, N. (Lombardy); c. 1440

sabrinacampagna:

Vintage Printable – Color

Lisa Acke

stilllifequickheart:

Unknown (Japanese)

Textile Panel

18th century

All images at my tumblr site: Seed Capsules .

Live TV coverage from Japan: USTREAM 

in case you are wondering...

This information was found at Google crisis response. I came across this site 3 hours ago on twitter and noted the Japanese Red Cross Society has an account specifically set up to direct funds 
straight to the affected areas. 


They note 25 US dollars is approx 2,000 yen.

• Japanese Red Cross Society
• International Medical Corps
• Unicef
• Save the Children
• Other ways to help

¥ 
Enter amount in JPY 

2000 yen is approximately 25 US dollars.

All funds received will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross Society donation account and will be distributed directly among those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.