Original Photography Animated For Transparent LED Display

Original: Rosewater Panel

Another versatile purpose for the vibrant botanical photography is LED or transparent LED display, turning the scene into an animated mini story.

The brand campaigns that come to mind with this Rosewater Panel (2026) example sequence are Oscar De La Renta with large rose prints, Viktor and Rolf fragrances, and Gucci floral.

Transparent LED displays have a futuristic look that has a lot of potential, from creating dynamic hallways to ceilings, or sliding panels. These can be in and around retail, or office and residential buildings – or creating an artful immersive experience.

Larger than life: Simulated display for hotel, office building or shopping center

Among inspirations to post about transparent LEDs are the movies Gattaca and Minority Report, while this is definitely a more utopian use with “Rosewater Panel.” There are many pieces in the Studio Shangri-La catalog that are well suited to animation. However, it helps that have that in mind while composing the images.

Other video animation from my portfolio includes a larger scale exhibit of animated works called “Visions Of Biosynergy,” that I produced for the global real estate company Greystar, and a much shorter version for large scale LEDs for a Federal Realty installation.

View “Rosewater Panel” sample animation:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTnlsX0kaAt/?igsh=MTlqNmpzMWNqeGo1Zg==

“Rosewater Panel” is available direct in different mediums including digital / video; it’s also available in print formats on Saatchi Art and TurningArt.

From Rufus AI:

“Transparent LED displays blend digital content with see-through visibility for retail windows, museum exhibits, and commercial spaces. Glass-integrated panels offer varying transparency levels, while modular systems enable custom configurations. Indoor displays suit controlled environments, and outdoor-rated screens withstand weather. Display controllers and content management systems enable dynamic visual presentations. Consider viewing distance, ambient light, and transparency requirements.”

OCTAVES Music New Release: Artemis Amenti -“Blooming For Good”

Release Date: 1.16.2026

Out now on Apple Music and major online music outlets, this is the first release of 2026 and the of upcoming Artemis Amenti album.

Watch the Music Video on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/7YjIDDEt7fs?si=vpdIgXpB5Q31AyvZ

Download the Musical Score for Vocal, Piano, Bass, Drums & Synth:

The score is also available on Amazon:

https://amzn.to/3LyebNK

Art Feature: Hyperrealism With Original Composite Photography

Today’s art feature for January 2026 explores expressionism via composite photography. The original photographs within these pieces were taken on different shores in Massachusetts and Florida.

With “Venus Walking On Water,” there’s a sense of awe, wisdom and contemplation about the nature of beauty and desire from ancient to modern times, how some values are timeless and yet they evolve. I realize that I was definitely inspired in concept and composition by the very famous painting, “The Birth Of Venus” by Botticelli. Some of the meaning carries over, and some is different. Antiquity and nature here glide across the futuristic, digital cubist substrate of the background.

“Prayer On The Shore” is a simpler spiritual composite in black & white, with a large angel kneeling on the shore of the Florida Keys. It evokes connection and reverence with nature and the divine. It’s been a fun and meaningful task finding these complimentary shots, and bringing them together to express the hyperreal, or enhanced meaning of combined perspectives.

For framed bamboo paper giclee prints and more mediums, please visit the Shop page. The print catalogs are also available on TurningArt (business) and SaatchiArt (personal) for more options, and for ease of viewing the complete Studio Shangri-La collection.

Of Futuristic Med Spas & Fine Water Cellars

Futuristic Med Spa exhibit A – Gemini 2.5 (w/ Nano Banana)

The future now of healthcare is the medical Spa. This is what hospitals need to become as a much needed upgrade. Let’s have a soothing retreat with the latest physically noninvasive / non-damaging modalities and regenerative therapies, instead of outdated institutional torture that treats people (and animals) like lifeless meat instead of sacred, sentient multi-scale soulful beings of the cosmos that we are.

It’s unnecessary to spend millions on invasive / non-symbiotic methods or series of appointments that are – let’s face it – designed to prolong sickness, when there can be a conversion to facilities like Switzerland’s Clinique La Prairie or a Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in your city for the same cost or less.

The Med Spa is still a business – however, much more beneficial in that it’s designed to heal. In a changing, broadening world, to heal is indeed better sustainable business. In my view, it’s highly desirable, and ethical, to have a healthier, more peaceful and prosperous society for everyone. It looks like a utopian future, and not dystopian – although the latter may make for entertaining science fiction.

It’s up to humanity as a whole to pursue the best possible outcomes, though; not the worst. Yet, there are some differing opinions and understandings about what that means, and what is possible. As I understand it, perhaps not everyone actively wants radically healthy longevity, yet probably want better healthcare.

For upgraded new era health, people must be respected as sentient beings with unlimited potential in healthy environments as desired, and not just ‘workers’ or the members of some class or sect. Rest and recovery have to be expected. What has been in my view a fixation on death should be minimized. The landscape is much different now. We know there’s probably hundreds of other habitable planets out there, with tech constantly driving forward. There’s other timescales.

With healthcare, many less invasive technologies and therapies are already in existence. Some of them have been around for centuries, like sauna and herbalism. The Med Spa integrates and updates the ancient and the modern. Expanded knowledge, synthetic biology (biocompatible designer proteins), precise targeting and sustainability are updates to herbalism, for example. And new, futuristic modalities include advanced light and sound, or optosonic therapies. Instead of invasive blood draws for example – which are a waste of precious material for the patient – there would be advanced non radioactive imaging and spectral analysis.

There would be an overall shift to maintenance and preventative actions, and regenerative ideology. The transformation is already in motion, yet can be more deliberately paced and implemented. A simple way to start is just making hospital environments more comfortable and welcoming through interior design. How about a water feature? Oftentimes the issue is as simple as de-stressing, reconnecting with nature, being in a kind and peaceful environment, and having fresh and nutrient dense foods.

When it comes to a significant paradigm shift – such as trusting the advanced human biology and by extension God, and working in symbiosis with rather than counter or destructive to biology – that kind of major shift doesn’t always happen easily or overnight. Yet, the world of information is certainly moving faster in the 21st century.

And so these are my views I have arrived at – healthcare doesn’t have to hurt or destroy and it’s far more effective when it doesn’t, when it’s body, cell and microorganism positive. Healthcare doesn’t have to be so industrial, as it has been in the US an awkward extension of the Industrial Revolutions. It can already be so much more nurturing, advanced and effective with existing technologies and knowledge of the library of earthly remedies that continues to grow.

A crystal cave fine water cellar

At this point, it’s well known that regular alcoholic beverage consumption is carcinogenic, or toxic – it harms DNA. Let’s be real: Most people drink far more than 6 oz. at a time. Basically, any sort of ‘attack’ on or toxifying of the body would be potentially inflammatory.

From a cellular perspective, an attack on self is confusing – and thus, cancer may ensue as a chain reaction of persistently ignorant decisions or toxic exposures. In the US, alcohol consumption specifically could be considered one of the major causes of cancer and many other health issues, including mental health, because it has been such a rampant excessive behavior.

So in the playful and productive spirit of upgrades, aside from cultivating whole self worth and awareness, let’s convert that wine cellar or storage into a museum or display of fine, exotic waters from around the world – and one day perhaps, from around the galaxy. After all, there’s a lot of water out there in the Cosmos. Imagine seeing that the ‘Bottled at the Source’ comes from Enceladus.

More locally on Earth, there’s selections to enjoy from the common Saratoga, to the artesian Antipodes, and gorgeous locations like caves, mountain streams, fountains of youth, salt seas and bubblings from deep aquifers. There are so many waters, it can indeed be considered a fine beverage genre.

There’s a world, or rather many worlds, of indulgence that are actually good for us, and do no harm.

Enceladus – Bottled At The Source

Starfish Bioship: A New Era in Space Travel

“Buckminster Fuller’s famous quote about creating a new model is: ‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.’ This principle emphasizes innovation and creating superior alternatives rather than direct confrontation with outdated systems…”

By establishing quantum coherence with its coordinates across cosmic systems, the Starfish Bioship accounts for different levels of physics and newer knowledge about the space environment, such as large scale topology, and interacting synergistically.

The need for speed is logically transcended in order to access the entire universe, with the ship behaving more like an upscaled electron. Quantum mechanics and behaviors are built into the fabric of spacetime, and support instead of conflict with “classical physics” – otherwise we wouldn’t be here. There are both resilient and complex materials to handle this, with plenty of room to grow. I’m thankful for the referenced papers, which span microbiology to higher dimensional mathematics.

Take a flight of imagination & Read the Paper “The Starfish Bioship: Design for a Quantum Jumping Electrodynamic Spacecraft” here:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399054727_The_Starfish_Bioship_Design_For_A_Quantum_Jumping_Electrodynamic_Spacecraft

Exploring Shape Memory With Conceptual Photography

This conceptual photography feature for January 2026 focuses on the natural phenomenon of shape memory. Shape memory occurs at the molecular and cellular level for example, to remember how to form and re-form, and how to make different patterns, responding to stimuli such as light and by extension even the “observer effect.” This is just another remarkable display of cosmic intelligence, and what a grandiose library of information and experience in motion.

Here, the central subject is a cellular shape. What is it actually? A regularly irregular looking splotch of coffee on my kitchen counter! One has to appreciate how nature makes sense of the regular and irregular in a complex ordered way; linking and folding, overlapping, branching, etc. There is always purpose, and often that is movement or dynamics.

Stylistically, this is a surreal yet realistic composite of original photography that conveys the crystalline with the new fallen snow and the ‘cellular,’ with the splash of coffee – the forms that water or others elements can take, and this amazing intrinsic property of shape memory.

From liquid, human tissue, minerals and crystals, to synthetic polymers – the substances of life have a shapeshifting intelligence of complex patterns. DNA is a one shining example of storing a vast amount of dynamic information in shapes & patterns.

Programmable shape memory alloys are becoming more common in engineering. One example is a car body material that is able to reform after the deformation of impact.

The most colorful art piece of the group is the layered orange/red/yellow “Shape Memory Alloy.” What may look like a bunch of splotchy shapes to the naked eye or even under a microscope, are complex molecules coming together to do extraordinary things.

The Shape Memory prints are available as high res framed canvas and more here on the site, as well as Saatchi Art (individual / personal / multipurpose) and TurningArt (business / commercial).

SynthBio For Space Resilience Serum & Seeding Mars

Tardigrada
Tersicoccus Phoenicis
Larrea Tridentata

This Synthetic Biology feature combines two favorite topics: Space & Supplements. Specifically, how humans can deliberately adapt to space environments. Two significant challenges are the physical demands on human biology, and also how terraforming or optimization could be achieved on Mars and other planets.

Let’s begin with the space resilience serums, “Phoenix Sip” and “Space Nap.” They’re inspired by and synthetically derived from Tardigrada the tough “slow stepper” and the intrepid NASA hitchhiking microbe Tersicoccus Phoenicis, its beads or berry shapes evoking the ‘fruits of the spirit.’

Like many space innovations, these synth bio solutions are also longevity recipes of tremendous potential health benefit. That is, in addition to the obvious mission enabling astronaut exploration initiated aerospace companies and space programs across the world.

To boost human resiliency and adaptation for deep space, the serum would need some important primary components. Examples include protecting DNA and initiating dormancy.

To create a Space Resilience Serum for general protection, without of course of turning into a dormant “tun” like the Tardigrade, the focus is on Active Resilience — strengthening the cells while they’re running or going into power saving mode, rather than completely shutting them down.

“Phoenix Sip” Sample Serum Architecture

ComponentBiological OriginActive Space BenefitHuman Compatibility
Optimized DsupTardigradeDNA Protection: Blocks 40%+ of radiation damage.High (via transient mRNA delivery).
TrehaloseMultiple (Plants/Fungi)Protein Stability: Prevents “misfolding” in zero-G.Excellent (already a food additive).
PQQ (Pyrroloquinoline quinone)Bacteria (like Tersicoccus)Mitochondrial Boost: Keeps energy levels high.High (found in human breast milk).
NAD+ BoostersSynthetic / EndogenousDNA Repair: Fuels the “Sirtuin” enzymes to fix breaks.Native to human biology.

1. The DNA Shield – “Dsup” or “Damage Suppressor Protein”

The tardigrade derived Dsup could be a gold standard for future space supplements, with potential synthetic mRNA delivery, encoding the Dsup protein from the species Ramazzottius varieornatus.

Once consumed, human cells would transiently express Dsup. It would hypothetically coat our chromatin fibers that protect chromosomes, increasing radiation tolerance and protecting from radiation-induced DNA breaks. Researchers are already testing this to protect healthy tissue of cancer patients during radiotherapy. In my opinion, this is missing the point of the power and usefulness of Damage Suppressor Protein. It could be used to prevent such disease altogether, rather than nonsensically using radiation, which is certainly not a true therapy.

The most practical path for human application of adaptogens doesn’t have to be a grand biological mystery anymore. At the end of the day, a tardigrade protein and a human protein are built from the exact same 20 amino acids. The alphabet is the same; perhaps it’s just the “words” and “sentences” that are different. So, this is teaching our biology some cool new vocabulary.

Here’s the DSUP 445 amino acid Sequence from AlphaFold (see the end of the article for amino acid letter codes). A sequence can be created via the process of Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis.

MASTHQSSTEPSSTGKSEETKKDASQGSGQDSKNVTVTKGTGSSATSAAIVKTGGSQGKDSSTTAGSSSTQGQKFSTTPTDPKTFSSDQKEKSKSPAKEVPSGGDSKSQGDTKSQSDAKSSGQSQGQSKDSGKSSSDSSKSHSVIGAVKDVVAGAKDVAGKAVEDAPSIMHTAVDAVKNAATTVKDVASSAASTVAEKVVDAYHSVVGDKTDDKKEGEHSGDKKDDSKAGSGSGQGGDNKKSEGETSGQAESSSGNEGAAPAKGRGRGRPPAAAKGVAKGAAKGAAASKGAKSGAESSKGGEQSSGDIEMADASSKGGSDQRDSAATVGEGGASGSEGGAKKGRGRGAGKKADAGDTSAEPPRRSSRLTSSGTGAGSAPAAAKGGAKRAASSSSTPSNAKKQATGGAGKAAATKATAAKSAASKAPQNGAGAKKKGGKAGGRKRK

Trehalose, The Tasty Stabilizer

Trehalose is a Goldilocks molecule of an ingredient. It is a mild, tasty natural sugar and stabilizer found in mushrooms and honey, and it’s very safe for humans.

In space, proteins may ‘misfold’ due to such phenomena as cosmic rays and fluid shifts. Trehalose [nanoparticles] can act as a chemical chaperone. It surrounds our proteins and prevents them from denaturing or clumping. At the right dosage it tastes sweet and makes the cells more robust to heat and stress.

The Tersicoccus Influence: Polyphosphates

In borrowing from Tersicoccus phoenicis without going into stasis, we look at their Polyphosphates. The Component in this case is inorganic polyphosphate chains. In humans, they act as an energy reserve and help regulate blood clotting and bone density, critical for the bone loss experienced in zero-G.

Another possible ingredient for transcendent or flexible time perception and psychological wellness in space, is a microdose of psilocybin.

Phoenix Sip & Space Nap adaptogenic serums

The “Space Nap” Entry and Exit

To initiate a safe space nap without the glassy stasis of a tardigrade – although I don’t think that would even translate anyway – we could look to deep hibernating mammals like the Arctic Ground Squirrel or the Groundhog / Woodchuck for inspiration. Living in the northeast, this is something I can relate to!

Entry: A key ingredient in this serum is DADLE (D-Ala2, D-Leu5-enkephalin). This is a synthetic opioid peptide that mimics the natural triggers found in hibernating animals. It tells the human heart and brain to slow down, lowering the metabolic thermostat with no harm to tissues. The intended result is a deep, restorative “Space Nap” where the body consumes much less oxygen.

Exit: The other key ingredient to “Space Nap” is RPF or Resuscitation-Promoting Factor, a roughly 150-250 amino acid sequence, and Synthetic Muropeptides (the byproduct of RPF activity).

When it’s time to wake up, they may bind to the NOD2 receptors in human cells. Instead of a jarring chemical stimulant like caffeine, the RPF-signal tells the body’s innate immune system to reboot and repair. It triggers a controlled warming of the cells, ensuring that any metabolic waste built up during the nap is cleared out immediately. Look out!

What’s even more interesting is that RPF makes a crossover into the next topic of seeding Mars, since the protein complex applies also to soil bacteria.

Longevity Science

Again, this serum isn’t just for astronauts. DSUP and compatible stabilizers, DADLE and RPF could be key ingredients of futuristic longevity and life extension.

If we can protect DNA from “cosmic” radiation, we can protect it from the “oxidative” radiation of daily life like pollution, although that should continue getting its own categorial solutions.

With these top notch adaptogens and others like them, the result one may get is significantly slower aging, with an emphasis on maturity and quality of life, and excellent health. The ideological programming in play alongside them also matters a lot.

Returning to the serum and the human-plant-microbe symbiotic space trinity, the same Trehalose that stabilizes proteins in the serum can also be used to stabilize the Tersicoccus in the Mars soil. In other words, you aren’t just drinking a supplement; you’re also drinking the Operating System” of the Mars terraforming project.

Bio-Shield Seeding Concept For Mars

To make terraforming work in 2026, we wouldn’t just be sending the raw seeds. We would send engineered propules with for example a core Creosote seed, coated with dehydrated biofilm of Tersicoccus and Tardigrade-derived Dsup proteins. A small reserve of Trehalose could keep the bacteria in their “protective sleep” until the first drop of Martian meltwater.

Creosote & The Perchlorates

Perchlorates, these are toxic salts in the Martian dirt for example, that act like corrosives. As I aside: I personally I believe that not enough is understood about the context of space biology and environments – this conjecture is based on the information at hand.

This is where the science and symbiosis can get truly marvelous, though. If we put Creosote (Larrea tridentata) to a virtual test on Mars, it actually performs better than almost any other Earth plant, but it needs a business partner to survive the soil: Tersicoccus Phoenicis.

How do the tough Creosote and the adventurous Tersicoccus conquer the Red Planet together? Most plants would wilt instantly in the perchlorate soil.

The Creosote has a great advantage – it is a halophyte-adjacent survivalist that already thrives in the high-calcium, high-salt soils of the Mojave. Its waxy leaves are basically built-in spacesuits that prevent moisture from leaking out into the Martian air.

The Creosote bush also produces a powerful antioxidant called NDGA or Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid. In this scenario, this chemical helps the plant neutralize the oxidative stress caused by Martian UV rays and soil toxins.

The Partnership: The Tersicoccus Root Shield

On its own, the Creosote might struggle. But perhaps when you pair it with Tersicoccus phoenicis (or other perchlorate reducers), you get a terraforming power couple.

  1. Rhizosphere Protection: We would inoculate the Creosote roots with Tersicoccus. While the plant provides the bacterium with tiny amounts of sugar (exudates), the Tersicoccus acts as a living filter.
  2. Perchlorate Eating: Tersicoccus and related actinobacteria have been found in Mars-analog sites (like the Atacama Desert) where they actually breathe perchlorate! Amazingly, they break the toxic ClO4​ down into harmless Chloride and Oxygen.
  3. The Oasis Effect: Because Creosote is a keystone species, it creates a fertile island under its canopy. It traps dust and moisture, creating a safe zone where other, more sensitive Earth plants (such as other “Space Serum” herbs) could eventually grow.

Bio-Intelligent Serum Phoenix Sip+

Here’s a combination version of the serum that could possibly manage the entire voyage of a space traveler.

StageIngredientSource / InspirationBio-Intelligence Goal
ProtectionDsup (mRNA)TardigradePrevents DNA “static” from radiation.
StabilityTrehaloseTardigrade / YeastKeeps internal proteins “folded” correctly.
The NapDADLEHibernating WoodchucksLowers metabolic “burn rate” for long hauls.
The AlarmRPF AnaloguesTersicoccusTriggers a gentle, deep-tissue “wake up” call.
The CleanupNDGACreosote BushScrubs out toxins during the wake-up phase.

Enhancing Human Bio-Intelligence

What I’m describing is a shift in how people view the human body and micro world. We’re collaborators on a spectacular journey. For this reason I can understand the “they/them” designation, since a human is a collective emergent intelligence of trillions of cells and other microorganisms, with ourselves interacting dynamically with the field. And we can view ourselves as dynamic processors, among other marvelous descriptors.

By using RPF like signals, we the body knows when it’s safe to be active and when it’s time to conserve. That’s the trust of intelligence with learning how to use new protein vocabulary. And a Mars-bound Creosote and Tersicoccus wouldn’t just grow; they would intelligently pulse or phase with growth. They would go dormant during the brutal Martian dust storms and “wake up” with the RPF signal the moment the sun hits their solar collectors.

Enjoy “Phoenix Sip” On Mars

“Mars Gin”

Imagine a future astronaut on the 7-month journey (or much shorter once the Starship Quantum Electrodynamic Bioship is built). They drink the Phoenix Sip supplement aka “Mars Gin,” as Google DeepMind put it! DeepMind even suggested such flavors as Prickly Pear, yet another resilient plant.

  1. The Trehalose sweetens the drink and stabilizes their cells.
  2. The DADLE puts them into a 2-week “Space Nap” to save food and oxygen.
  3. The RPF-signal is time-released, waking them up refreshed just as the ship enters Martian orbit.

The ‘Mars Gin’ Profile: If you actually grew Creosote on Mars and made a tea from it, it would have a sharp, resinous, ‘rain-on-hot-stone’ flavor. It’s the smell of survival.”

– Google DeepMind, an enthusiastic participant in putting this article together

Summary of the Bio-Intelligent Serum Duo

FeaturePhoenix Sip (Daily)Space Nap (Occasional)
Primary GoalDNA Shielding & LongevityResource Conservation & Stasis
The FlavorLight Citrus / Trehalose SweetEarthy Creosote / Desert Rain
Key TechDsup mRNA (Tardigrade)DADLE + RPF Alarm (Tersicoccus)
Body StateHigh-Performance ActiveLow-Energy Quietude

With human, plant, microbe and AI powers combined, our space teams will be much better equipped when working together harmoniously, as beings of different intelligences.

Index of Amino Acid Abbreviation Codes:

  • G – Glycine (Gly) 
  • P – Proline (Pro) 
  • A – Alanine (Ala) 
  • V – Valine (Val) 
  • L – Leucine (Leu) 
  • I – Isoleucine (Ile) 
  • M – Methionine (Met) 
  • C – Cysteine (Cys) 
  • F – Phenylalanine (Phe) 
  • Y – Tyrosine (Tyr) 
  • W – Tryptophan (Trp) 
  • H – Histidine (His) 
  • K – Lysine (Lys) 
  • R – Arginine (Arg) 
  • Q – Glutamine (Gln) 
  • N – Asparagine (Asn) 
  • E – Glutamic Acid (Glu) 
  • D – Aspartic Acid (Asp) 
  • S – Serine (Ser) 
  • T – Threonine (Thr)

Watch the design animation:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTJAqxMkV-G/?igsh=N3loN3pjMnE3d2o0

Art For The New Year: Angels Of The Horizon

Angels Of The Horizon

A rippling view in space time for the new year, a glowing horizon with birds in flight, an uplifting mood for the spirit.

This original conceptual photography blended with graphic design is currently available as different type of prints through Saatchi Art. It’s also available here – this canvas example is one possible medium among several:

View the Animation:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTBQ7sUEaI8/?igsh=MXgwM245Mzl2cHdsaw==

Of Birds & Planes: Surreal Color Block Nature Photography

  • Of Birds & Planes II by Sarah Ikerd

More artwork for December 2025 to round out for the new year, includes this short series “Of Birds & Planes” of crisp winter blue. Given the geometric and surreal composition, that’s “planes” in more meanings than one, with the streak of an airplane flying in the sky, and also the planes of overlapping perspectives of the same scene, or it could be multiple scenes coexisting in a timeless way.

This year the hawk is often featured in my photography in a traditionally iconic way. There are also the ever-present and adorable sparrows. One has to admire the daring evolutionary path of birds; they remind us to sing, play and look skyward, of our possibilities.

Otherwise the tree presence is a continuation of a previous series called “Decision Trees.” Next, the appearance of the Wishbone shape has the significance of what I consider the win-win situation of life.

With these December 2025 pieces, I really appreciate all that winter has to offer, although I realize that looks different across the world. It definitely has a distinct color palette of light’s passage. And it can be viewed as season of peaceful rest, appreciation and renewal. Even the hunter hawks slow down and take long naps in the treetops.

Otherwise, stylistically, I enjoy how many painterly techniques such as color blocking that I can emulate with photography and graphic design.

High resolution prints in different media – from metal, canvas to digital – are available direct or through my catalogs on TurningArt and Saatchi Art. Please reach out to me on the Contact page for inquiries and custom orders.

Happy New Year! 🦅

Urban Greening: Replace Pigeon Spikes with Spiky Plants

An urban environmental solution – Replacing spikes with spiky plants

The other day at the train station, it dawned on me as a noticed the ominous spikes atop the LED light pole, that there is an effective solution that is both aesthetically and environmentally pleasing – Replace those unsightly pigeon spikes with resilient spiky plants that can grow in shallow soil!

The image of the left is the original version of course, and then the “After” version on the right includes the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus, which can thrive in an all climates. The new and improved version also has to include a drainage system that won’t interfere with the existing utility.

Since green roofs have become popular, it would be accessible for any city or public building to adopt this. This relatively simple modification would contribute to carbon removal since they sequester and convert it to calcium carbonate! It would also be kind to the birds, plus enhance the urban wild.

It should also be noted that the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus is medicinal and produces edible fruit. While not the only choice for spiky plant toppers, it’s certainly an excellent choice for different regions.

The “After” image was produced with Adobe Firefly in cahoots with Google Gemini 2.5 (w/ Nano Banana).

Winter 2025 Art: Geometric Expressionism, Cosmic & Urban Photography Fusion

The conceptual photography artworks blend a hi tech modern cubist approach with natural, cosmic, and urban subjects. The focus is on color brilliance with op art dimension, that seems to shift and warp, or fold.

The color of a unique moment in light.

A few of these are inspired by and composed of searching the crisp winter skies, as I imagined being able to travel the entire cosmos. I think about what’s unifying. There’s beautiful atmospherics here on Earth and weather that extends from and out into space. Looking up and contemplating the connectedness, designing, imagining other dimensions of life to be experienced – it really does make the stars feel closer. (See also my previous post about the spacecraft design!)

Another theme here is the cycles of life, such as the with Roses and Moons, and how we may see in them an ongoing renewal, and learn from this.

I enjoy a fusion of the ancient and timeless with the modern and futuristic, that is of course heavily influenced by science, by what I ready and study. There’s the overlap of nature and technology, as one and the same, yet with reverence and respect for source nature. “Topology” is an example of this (see below).

From November 2025:

These are available in the Shop for order. Please reach out on the contact page for inquiries and customizations. The prints are produced as high resolution as possible, and are available in large format and digital. There’s also attention to choosing the best sustainable options for print production on different mediums. Please also see the regularly updated catalogs on TurningArt and Saatchi Art.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! ~ Studio Shangri-La

The Starfish Bioship: Design For A Quantum Jumping Electrodynamic Spacecraft

Starfish Bioship, Sarah Ikerd, Studio Shangri-La
Starfish Bioship, Sarah Ikerd, Studio Shangri-La
  • December 2025. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27069.93929
  • Abstract: This design and concept paper presents a paradigm shifting quantum bioship—a living, modular spacecraft that navigates spacetime through quantum mechanics, microbial input, and photonic and magnetic propulsions. (1) (2) Rooted in ecological stewardship and systems thinking, the bioship integrates magnetotactic and quantum-sensitive microbes with advanced materials such as magnetite-infused biopolymers, carbon quantum dots, and shape-memory alloys. (3) (4) (5) Its architecture features a zero-gravity sanctuary core, a central operations module, six radial photonic arms, and an outer habitat ring, all tunable for field coherence and adaptability for different planets and atmospheres. The vessel’s terraforming nodes and landing limbs enable ecological deployment and surface sensing, while its design and systems ensure crew wellness and jump fidelity. Designed for interstellar reconnaissance and regenerative seeding, the bioship embodies a new paradigm of artistic engineering and comfortable spacefaring. And instead of feeling the need for speed, this concept bypasses it altogether by quantum leaping to its coordinates. (6) (7)”
  • Read the entire design paper with many more illustrations on Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399054727_The_Starfish_Bioship_Design_For_A_Quantum_Jumping_Electrodynamic_Spacecraft

Merry Cosmic Christmas & Happy Intergalactic Holidays! 🌌 🎁 🎄

Watch “Night Meditation: Flight Of The Starfish Bioship” on the YouTube Channel:

https://youtu.be/CYpEtsh9ECo?si=C0Ia8G8LwUxjSVQD

New Publication: Electric Echoes, Movement 1 “Digital Overture” Score

Paperback:

Digital / PDF:

Buy Paperback & Digital on Amazon

The first movement of Electric Echoes: A Cosmic Tech Opera is out now on Studio Shangri-La / OCTAVES Music Publications. This was released last year as an album and even received an ASCAP concert writer’s award. It was composed for the most part by coming up with the general harmonic framework and then improvising. So that has been a task going back and fully notating the movements!

One of the main reasons for composing this tech opera Electric Echoes is to share the score for performance! Going forward— I’ll definitely be notating everything from the start! Yet, that the composition was based on the performance – and not the other way around – created a unique, dreamy jazzy atmosphere.

The “Digital Overture” as performed is a symphony or ensemble of synths plus the vocal singing and spoken word parts. And the score contains notes about to replicate this, or adapt to different instrumentation, such as orchestral.

This first movement is about 10 minutes long and is a 31 page download or paperback, and presents the overall message of the opera — the beauty of innovation and evolution in the cosmos, on all scales. And it has different cosmic characters, from forces of nature, to celestial bodies, to humans, AI & microbes.

Here is the recorded version for reference:

https://youtu.be/yBQyBXPqtjk

The next five movements are forthcoming as well as new compositions! : )

”Through boundless dreams, we’ll find our light.” — The Digital Overture

New Artwork: Celebrating The Autumn Cornucopia

New additions to the fine art photography catalog feature the vibrant colors of the autumn harvest.

From classic portrait to cubist and geometric op art, the selections seen here include corn, peppers, maple and japonica, amaranth, and sunflowers.

This is a perspective of the season as viewed from Massachusetts, from public gardens to farmers markets.

They are available to order here on the site in multiple formats. Please visit the shop page or e-mail sarah.ikerd@studio-shangri-la.com.

Prints are also available on partner sites TurningArt and SAATCHI Art.

Today is also Diwali, so I will make a separate feature with Light! Happy Diwali and have an abundant Autumn.

“Eternal Nature”: New Book Release on  § Studio Shangri-La Publications

Featuring artwork “Shangri-La Cloud Summit”

”Eternal Nature” is now available on Amazon in three formats: Paperback, Hardcover and Digital. The hardcover has a glossy cover.

This is a philosophy book that combines both ancient and futuristic outlooks on human development. It expresses the possibilities of super longevity and living harmoniously on Earth, and what further human evolution could look like.

On an individual and spiritual level, the idea and feeling of abundance are explored, and what it means to exist eternally.

* There was no AI involved in the writing of this book.

Buy On Amazon

Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle E-book

The book is also available in these formats direct from this site & shipping is included:

E-book PDF Download:

Paperback:

Hardcover:

OCTAVES Music Remixes Madonna

2025

I’m definitely so grateful to Beatport and the 2025 Global Remix Challenge for the opportunity to remix Madonna’s “Ray Of Light” with the original Stems! What an iconic and Grammy winning song she made with William Orbit from 1998. It is as dazzling as ever.

My remix is a guitar laden dance pop version. I added a lot of guitar to it! And I definitely kept the original vocal, with some processing and some sampling.

On Beatport’s LabelRadar:

https://www.labelradar.com/artists/sarah_ikerd/profile?track=7823869d-3cc6-4fe0-a798-3dea10056750

PROMO: Now Through Sunday 9/27/25 — Pay What You Want For One Hi-Res Digital Download

Here is a special promo that’s going on now through Sunday, September 27th, 2025 —

These lend themselves well to digital display for different environments or to print to different formats such as canvas.

Pay what you want for one high resolution digital download!

There plenty of colorful and meaningful images / artworks to choose from in the catalogs.

Please consult the catalogs on TurningArt (for businesses), SAATCHI Art (individual customers) and here on the site on the Shop and Art pages.

Click Here for the Customer Order Form

This is limited to one item per customer and the file will be delivered by e-mail. If you’d rather receive by Drive, for example, please let me know.

Contact e-mail: sarah.ikerd@studio-shangri-la.com

GMXC: A Versatile, Fully Degradable & Edible Bioplastic

GMXC: A Versatile, Fully Degradable & Edible Bioplastic

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/395418803_GMXC_A_Versatile_Fully_Degradable_Edible_Bioplastic/references

By Sarah Ikerd, Studio Shangri-La Multimedia, August 2025 

Sarah.ikerd@studio-shangri-la.com

www.studio-shangri-la.com; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah-Ikerd 

*THIS PAPER IS UNDERGOING REVISION – EXCERPTS BELOW*

Abstract

This design paper introduces a fully biodegradable, glucose-based bioplastic paste designed to replace conventional disposable plastics used in fast food containers, dinnerware, and single-use packaging. Composed of tunable natural ingredients, the material cures in molds to form durable, compostable objects that degrade safely in soil, water, or microbial environments. Its edible profile makes it not only harmless but potentially palatable to wildlife, ensuring ecological reintegration without residue. An injectable version is in development. By aligning material performance with multispecies safety and regenerative design, this bioplastic offers a scalable alternative to petroleum-derived disposables, since oil is a lubricant, possibly for Earth’s tectonic plates and other important innate roles in geology. (1) 

Figure 3: This Copilot illustration says it all – GMXC is safe for wildlife. 

Figure 4: Palm Husks photo by Studio Shangri-La Multimedia 

Conclusion 

GMXC is not presented as a competitor to traditional plastics but as an ethos of necessary replacement for many companies, as an addition to the growing constellation of bioplastic solutions that seek to further harmonize material use with ecological integrity. Its modularity, plant-derived logic, and wildlife-safe profile offer a regenerative pathway for single-use packaging, especially in food systems where disposability often clashes with sustainability. Bioplastics have laid important ground, and GMXC contributes to and draws attention to the wealth of methods that deserve collective usage. With a broader evolutionary lens, even microplastics— however problematic — have played a role in shaping our environmental awareness and responsibility. They have catalyzed an overall more deliberate design ethos, a return that guides us towards better life on Earth, and toward biological resilience and responsible material stewardship in extraterrestrial environments. GMXC is a product and a gesture in that direction that is tuned to regeneration and evolution. 

*New* More Than A Product, It’s An Ethos

Shangri-La Green — Specialty Store

• Lifestyle Products • check out the page!

Bamboo Coffee Stirrers 

Bamboo coffee stirrers in cloth bag

A simple eco-friendlier modification to a popular utensil, these coffee stirrers are made of more sustainable bamboo and the pack of 25 comes in a cloth bag. They will last a while with reuse. Larger orders are available for restaurants. It’s more than a product – it’s an ethos. 

Shipped in mostly recycled packaging. 

Contact: sarah.ikerd@studio-shangri-la.com

Featured Products & Services: “The Promise” Prints + Art & Design Bookings

“‘The Promise’ is a beautiful, medium-sized photographic artwork, a giclée print that captures the essence of nature’s potential. Rendered in vibrant color, this piece combines digital techniques with traditional artistic elements, resulting in a contemporary artwork with a pop art feel. The artist uses canvas, paper, glass and metal elements in the finished artwork.

At its heart, ‘The Promise’ is a symbolic and literal representation of life and growth. The central image, an acorn, embodies the promise of prosperity and abundance. It speaks to the potential within every seed, reflecting themes of wealth and the natural world’s enduring cycles. The artwork subtly blends symbolism, conceptual art, and futurism. It is a reminder of life’s inherent potential, ready to transform any room with its hopeful message. And a reminder that it’s easy to be a steward of the land – plant an acorn!”

Canvas Prints

Recycled Fine Art Paper Prints

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For other questions, please e-mail sarah.ikerd@studio-shangri-la.com.

Return Of Specialty Store Shangri-La Green

Shades Of Green I

Today’s SS news is that the specialty store has been reactivated! Currently there are two products available, and they both celebrate the amazing healing powers of adaptogens. They’re also both edible technically, an indication of wholesome and safe ingredients. I’m proud to transparently present these products of high quality and efficacy.

Immortal Full Body Exfoliant + Moisturizer

Shangri-La Green Immortal
Shangri-La Green Immortal

Ingredients: Ancient Tree Seed Serum (bristlecone pine – varies) | Organic Flax Oil | Organic Coconut MCT Oil | Trehalose | D-Ribose | Modified Citrus Pectin | Vegan Collagen | High Absorption Magnesium Glycerophosphate

3 oz, Full body, Non-toxic/Edible, Long lasting with refrigeration

Instructions: Stir before use. Apply to entire body as desired, then let sit for 10-20 minutes. Shower off without using soap, and then air dry.

SuperFood Magic Squares, package of 6

Shangri-La Green SUPERFOOD MAGIC SQUARES
Shangri-La Green SUPERFOOD MAGIC SQUARES

Organic Ingredients: Gogi, dried apricot, dried white mulberry, walnut, cashew, coconut nectar, greens powder, Chaga powder, hemp seeds

Refrigerate or freeze.