A few years ago, my daughter Emily Birmingham started making group quilts around and about the Big Sur community. I was delighted to see her incorporating techniques she’d learned from my explorations in working on kawandi-style quilts, but even more impressed by her capacity to invite all comers into the quilt design, construction, and quilting[…]

Gualala, California – July 7 – 23, 2023

At Nepenthe, we have long had The Free Box, a place where people have dropped off stuff they no longer need and picked up stuff that others are passing on (think books, kitchen ware, clothing, even furniture.) In Great Britain, Repair Cafes are springing up – places where you can bring something to be fixed,[…]

I tripped and broke my elbow late September. For weeks, I found myself too nervous to walk much at all while my arm was healing. Everywhere I looked I saw trip and slip hazards. Water on the pavement, leaves, plastic bags, frozen puddles, un-even concrete — treacherous enemies laying in wait to pull me down.[…]

If you pay attention to the craft of painting, the expression will follow. It’s like building a home for your muse. No floor? walls? No roof? Not very inviting.

I was born in 1963, in Big Sur, California, and grew up at my family’s restaurant, Nepenthe. I remember so many moments from childhood, like stills from a film. Peeking through the curtains to see everyone dancing down below. Astrology parties with free birthday cake and champagne and dancing under the stars. Beating tin can[…]