Quiet Grace

San Francisco resident and art exhibition newbie, Kristine Reano, offers some fluent renderings of the interconnectedness between humans and nature. She does a pretty fine job of splicing lace, wood, ink and watercolor into single cohesive pieces, each one precious in its own right. The found objects are allowed to retain their identities as well as complement and be complemented by the drawings. Collaging is not an easy task, and though I might tweak the poses of some of the animals (the last two here are a bit stiff considering the organic nature of the subject), I’d say that the overall exhibit is successful, and the artistic vision and draftsmanship: inspiring. These works are from Whispering World, currently showing at Edo Salon in SF.


In the show, Reano doesn’t stop short in the presentation. All works are perfectly framed in this raw wood (below). If you’re in town, stop in. The pieces make a great in-person impression, and they are pretty affordable ranging from $150–$550.

Let me ride

Well I got an email today from one of my triathlon buddies, informing me about bamboo bikes! It seems that bamboo is strong enough to make road bike frames and even mountain bike frames.



You will notice that these bikes are not entirely constructed from bamboo and require- additional carbon or aluminum parts, but I still love the idea of substituting artificial man made parts with one of nature’s strongest plant. I think these bikes are really beautiful on an aesthetic level, but am really sold on the fact that they work as well—if not better than carbon bikes!




After doing some research I stumbled across the website of Brano Meres, a very skilled mechanical engineer, photographer and freelance industrial designer (you can see why he might find it difficult to find enough time in the day for all his projects). The images shown here are his creations and you will want to read his website, which not only discusses how he makes them but also gives updates to the condition of the bike as he rode it over a period of 5 years. I have a lot of respect for those who can merge beauty and functionality together so well.


The story that started my search of bamboo bikes here and one other blog story here.

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.”

- Emo Philips

Aquatic Wonderlands

I was never that into aquariums until I saw these. . . . Now I can't wait to plunk down a couple of g's (and many maintenance hours) aquascaping my way to owning one of these incandescent worlds. Thank you, Takashi Amano—and likely, others—for paving the Nature Style way.





Thirsty for more? Have a look at Takashi Amano's gallery here: