Landscape with Hagar and the Angel (1646) / Claude Lorrain / © National Gallery of Art

Landscape with Cephalus and Procris reunited by Diana (1645) / Claude Lorrain / ©National Gallery of Art

Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca (1648)/ Claude Lorrain / ©National Gallery of Art

Pastoral landscape (1646-7)/ Claude Lorrain / ©Timken Museum of Art. The Putnam Foundation Collection

Landscape with Narcissus and Echo (1644)/ Claude Lorrain / ©National Gallery of Art

The Enchanted Castle (1664)/ Claude Lorrain / ©National Gallery of Art

Classical Roman ruins, ideal beauty, mythic characters and pastoral settings are the primary themes found in the paintings of famed landscape painter Claude Lorrain. Born Claude Gellée in the French Province of Lorraine in the 17th century, Lorrain mainly worked in Italy. Known as a Baroque painter, he was quite successful completing many drawings and books in addition to paintings.

thank you to: National Gallery / Timken Museum of Art/ Art Finder

What a beautifully designed scarf! Created by Elsbeth Joy Nielsen of the Netherlands, Silk Story is made from one of the forms of Peace Silk. Nielsen created a technique that doesn’t destroy the silkworms to obtain their silk. This design is one of many selected by journalist and curator Marcus Fairs for his 2009 publication, Green Design: Creative Sustainable Designs for the 21st Century. Fairs chose Nielsen’s design along with 19 others for an article on innovative eco-designs from The Independent a few years ago. You can see the other selections here.

credits: thanks to Elsbeth Joy Nielsen, The Independent

For this multifaceted, ambitious work, Maya Lin approaches her favorite subjects: science, nature and art with a high-tech, high-touch sensibility. Several plans are in the works for “What is Missing?” Lin has committed to the evolution of this work over time and place – sites will include: San Francisco, New York City, Beijing, Washington D.C. and cyberspace – until 2020. Media and installation projects incorporate: a recently completed sound cone sculpture in San Francisco, a billboard for Times Square, an expanded website, a traveling exhibit starting in Beijing, both a virtual and physical book, a sound sculpture, a projected light sculpture, limited edition glass castings of animals and a virtual online map – the greenprint. If only there could be more public art projects such as this.

The process and research for this memorial has taken place over several years. Working with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Geographic Society, ARKive among others, data, images and sounds of species, habitats and locations have been compiled to create this accessible yet complex public art project.

What are some of the themes explored? Certainly a sense of what is occurring and a true perspective on the resulting impact. As Dr. Gregory Farring, Director of the California Academy of Sciences states, these themes “… they encourage people to think about the world and their responsibility to it.” The Academy’s mission is to ask two basic questions: “Life – How did we get here?” and as part of the “challenge of sustainability – How are we going to find a way to stay?” Maya Lin explores biodiversity, habitat destruction, fragile and exploited ecosystems. Effective and current, ephemeral and timeless, ask yourself what is missing?

Ethos Paris is an eco fashion house founded in 2002 that only uses materials that are both fair trade certified and organic. The collections are mostly made from cotton, raffia and alpaca. While alpaca is an animal-based product, it is sourced and produced by an Indigenous collective in Bolivia. Zippers are free of nickel. Coconut, wood or seashell are used for buttons. The preference is to design garments that minimize fastening devices to keep clothing wear simple.

In 2007 the company launched the Botanical Impressions collection made from 100% herbal dyes that are ayurvedic or natural. Founders Ann and Leslie Leroux abide by regulatory organizations such as Eko, Ecocert and Bioport. Company goals include “Put an end to the clothing industry’s exploitative sweat shops by establishing genuine partnerships with producers and uniting forces to bring about positive economic and social change.” and “Respect for the consumer through business transparency and product quality.” Look for more Ethos Paris at the Paris Ethical Fashion Show and Portland Fashion Week coming this October. In the meantime, enjoy this short video with music by the Japanese pop group, Yaneka.

“The Landfill Designers” is an audio production of the BBC. Please click here to listen.

Attracting Native Bees To Your Garden

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

Better Bees: Super Bee and Wild Bee

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

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Wish I could have several pieces from this collection, don’t you? Well, wouldn’t you like to see Stella’s new resort line for 2010? Okay. Go here. Since I can’t get enough fashion how about two more slide shows both from treehugger – Stewart & Brown Fall 2009 and 20 Under-the-Radar Green Designers.