Ellen Friedman

@ellen-friedman.bsky.social

1767 Followers 302 Following

Seeking joy in people, nature, science, art (watercolors!) & a bit of humor Scientist, speaker, writer PhD Biochem, Rice Univ. Ex-Committer Apache software Past work w NASA, NOAA, NCAR; UCSD Med School; NMSU

Photo of a partially opened bright orange California poppy bloom against a dark background. Lower part of photo shows green in distance and some lacy green leaves of the poppy. To the right of the bloom is a long green poppy seed pod. Photo by Ellen Friedman
Photo of a dark gray sidewalk leading into the scene with a series of olive trees to the right of the walkway. Photo by Ellen Friedman 2026
Photo of a large golden-colored koi fish as it lands back into greenish water after a leap. The fish is surrounded by a splash of water. Upper part of photo shows bright sunlight on water and reflection of green plants. Foreground shows green plants on bank and some bright yellow day lily blooms. Photo by Ellen Friedman 17 July 2026 at Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco.
Photo of bird (a Great Tit, found in UK) left of center, almost landing on outstretched hand holding some food. Bird is facing camera, showing bright yellow underside with black central stripe. Bird has black around neck and top of head with white cheeks. View is down a grey path in Green Park, London, in winter. Green grass and bare trees flank the path. Photo by Ellen Friedman 2017.
Zoomed in photo of the Moon, showing half lit disc and partially obscured by clouds. Photo by Ellen Friedman 19 July 2026
Photo of bird (a European Blue Tit) left of center, almost landing on outstretched hand holding some food. Bird is facing camera, showing bright yellow underside with black central stripe. Bird has black around neck and top of head with white cheeks. View is down a grey path in Green Park, London, in winter. Green grass and bare trees flank the path. Photo by Ellen Friedman 2017.
Watercolor painting of Venice by UK artist Turner. Photo at De Young Museum by Ellen Friedman 2026. Shows buildings on either side of water in a canal.There is a boat on the right foreground near shore and a faint distant dome. Colors are muted and lightly painted, with grey, some blues and pink predominantly.
Photo of a painting hanging on dark grey wall. Painting has heavy ornate gold frame. The painting, by Monet, has blue water, lavendar-blue sky, distant light tan cliffs. Title is Low Tide at Pourville near Dieppe. 1882. At De Young Museum show. Photo by Ellen Friedman July 2026
Photo showing exterior entry way to De Young Museum in San Francisco. Ground is paved with large light tan stone pavers. Several huge flat-topped stones decorate the space. On far wall is long poster with reproduction of a hazy painting of Venice by Monet. Far end of wall has Monet quote in white letters on black glass: "Venice was 'Too beautiful to be painted. Monet did it anyway'" Photo by Ellen Friedman 17 July 2026
Map showing areas around Great Lakes and east to New England, New York, Washington DC etc with dangerous levels of wildfire smoke. Article https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ez9yft362u16764apr3a0/Screenshot-2026-07-16-at-1.00.18-PM.png?rlkey=xltcw6573q4pur3j4gmdkta9b&dl=0
Photo of old style Bianchi bicycle in Celeste color. Logo and frame in photo plus brown seat, edge of front wheel and hint of handle bars. Photo by Ellen Friedman
Photo of a sea gull (white body, grey wings, pink legs and feet) with wings raised and stepping up with right leg on edge of stone fountain. Water in thin streams and droplets is cascading over lip of fountain below the bird. A blue wall extends behind the fountain on the right side of photo. Photo by Ellen Friedman Aug 2023.
Large conifer with gnarled trunk at end of highway in Monterey CA on a cloudy/foggy day. Tree appears as dark green and brown silhouette against the white sky. To the right is a white board-sided building. The top of a vehicle and some roadsigns are in the bottom of photo. Photo by Ellen Friedman Aug 2023
Close up photo of a big rounded green leaf with dramatic lighting. Leaf has little silvery beads of raindrops and a large drop in center of leaf that magnifies point where the whitish veins come together. Center droplet appears to be glowing. Background at edges of photo around leaf is very dark. Photo by Ellen Friedman Oct 2025
Photo close up rim of a small metal garden bell with a turquoise green patina (upper right quadrant of photo). At center of photo, there is a raindrop clinging to rim of the bell. A small rope bell ringer hangs down right side of photo. Beackground is shades of dark brown and grey, out of focus. Photo by Ellen Friedman Dec 2022.
Close up of two water droplets clinging to bottom of a reddish brown twig, near spots where buds are emerging. Inside droplet, there's inverted image of blue sky and a big pine tree. Background is a dark brown fence and bright yellow-green shrub in lower right corner photo. Photo by Ellen Friedman Jan 2021
Minimalist watercolor painting showing blue to pale peach in sky above a dark landscape of low hills, golden light on a stream of river with layers of fog (midground). View is from high vantage point. Painting by Ellen Friedman 2023.
Photo of 3 brown cottontail rabbits sitting at the edge of a road, under overhaning shrubs. Rabbit in the middle is scratching its ear with its back leg. Photo by Ellen Friedman
Photo of two mostly white koi fish, heads together, in pond that is reflected clouds on a grey day. Lower left shouds some faint golden-green shapes under the water and a dark branched twig overhanging the water. Photo © Ellen Friedman 2025
Photo of hand-sized Native American pottery art, in this case, a small rounded seed pot with characteristic tiny hole at top so seeds can shake out but mice cannot enter. This one is made/painted by Acoma artist Rachel Concho from early 1990s. Motif is geometric design of rabbit plus fine-line geometric designs mostly in black with touches of reddish brown on off-white clay typical of Acoma Pueblo. Photo by Ellen Friedman July 2026
Ellen Friedman <b.ellen.friedman@gmail.com> 5:37 PM (0 minutes ago) to me Watercolor painting showing a woman hiker walking away a trail in a dry mountain landscape. Hiker is wearing bright yellow shirt with a blue jacket wrapped around her waist. Dark trunks and oral branches of small oak trees curve over the trail in dry brush. Instant snow-capped peak shows beyond the branches. Painting by Ellen Friedman 2026.
Close-up photo of a wisteria bloom at night, dramatically lighted against a black background. The large banner petal of the upper right bloom is pale yellow-green with a bluish base; the two wing petals at blue-violet.. The bloom in center of photo has a blue-violet banner petal and pale blue-pink wings. The unopened bud at the tip of stalk (raceme) is pale pink-violet. Photo © 2023 Ellen Friedman
Watercolor painting of golden pink light on high mountain peaks at sunset. Sky is muted dark blue. Foreground is dark overall, with hints of nearer tree-covered hills and closer tall Swiss chalets. Painting by Ellen Friedman 4 July 2026.
Photo of high mountain peaks at sunset beyond town with several multi-story Swiss chalet style buildings in dark brown. There are dark green trees on hill behind the buildings. Last rays of sunlight put bright golden-pink color on the mountain peaks. Photo by Ellen Friedman Oct 2025.
Photo showing a collection of rabbit themed objects: Hand holds a stitched pillow with blue flowered background two large white rabbits. A small Japanese style round blue and pale grey dish shows two rabbits jumping beneath a moon. To the right, is a medium size brown bronze rabbit statue. Photo by Ellen Friedman
Bright gold almost-full moon against a dark purple-blue sky above a dark silhouette of tree tops. Darker seas and points of craters form a light-dark pattern on the surface of the moon. Photo by Ellen Friedman 28 June 2026
Photo of several adult and baby sea lions on light tan sandy beach. One mother in center of photo is facing forward with 2 darker babies nearby one on each side. Just behind her, to the right in photo, is a mother nursing her baby. Photo by Ellen Friedman June 2026.
Photo out the window of an airplane that has just landed. It shows a pale blue sky, a strip of land, Blue water in the world of nearby palm trees.
Screenshot detail of photo from MS Now article about the removal of illegally placed name on wall of John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Image shows view through a gap in tarp with a helmeted worker and the bard arm /pink glove holding the giant letter "D" that has just been removed from the building. https://www.ms.now/news/watch-trump-name-removal-kennedy-center
Screenshot of color-coded weather map for US showing temperatures (red to pink) in range of 85F to 104F across much of the country. https://weather.com/maps/ustemperaturemap
Screenshot of weather report for Thur June 11 showing temperature "now" as 101 degrees F and dropping to 86 F at 7pm. Current humidity 13%. 10 miles-per-hour wind.
Photo of large brown jackrabbit, which is actually a hare, crouched down in golden dry grasses. He is facing to right of photo, with his long ears laid back. Photo by Ellen Friedman June 2026
Photo of a cafeteria display with national donut day sign and lots of donuts for sale
Photo of sidewalk next to a tall modern building and on the right. Bright sunshine and green foliage show at the end of the walkway with the blue sky above. Burlingame CA med center
Photo of an orange monarch butterfly with its wings open flat. It is perched on white blooms of a broadleaf milkweed plant. Photo by Ellen Friedman
Black & white photo showing a woman pointing to a large instrument as a young girl with long hair looks on. Woman is Frances Friedman, Director of Hudnall Planetarium, showing the projector to a student. Projector is a long complicated motor-driven device with large globe and embedded optics used to project night sky on the planetarium dome. Photo from 1970s. Used with permission, Ellen Friedman
Photo of a sticker that reads "I Voted" in English and in 8 other languages below that text. Sticker is round, blue on top with a background of white stars and red below.
Photo of Red Shouldered Hawk taking off from a tree. Hawk is flying to left of photo, legs hanging down. Underside of wings with black & white stripe pattern and flared wing tips show in photo. Background are green limbs/foliage of a large conifer tree with some blue sky at left of photo. Photo by Ellen Friedman 2026
Photo of corner of a room with small, blue, child-sized chairs and a floor-to-ceiling column of colorful balloons topped with a balloon cartoon character named Woody from movie toy story.
Photo of a hummingbird at bottom center of image as it approaches yellow flower bloom that's about as large as the tiny bird. Multi-pointed green leaves and bell-shaped yellow blooms form a patterned silhouette against a light ivory stucco wall. Photo by Ellen Friedman Aug 2025
Wide angle photo of large oak tree with trunk surrounded by a wooden bench. Behind the tree is a 3 story modern building. Blue sky at top of photo and the dark shadow of oak tree leaves in the foreground
Painting hanging on a wall. Painting has thin black frame and white mat. Shows a landscape scene with cherry blossoms reflecting in still water and a dark curved bridge across the water
https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/norway-get-kids-reading-again-7rcvm90lm