Deborah Kirk

2 days ago | diablomag.com | Deborah Kirk

Get the Hang of ItFor a high-flying thrill, consider giving Dad a hang-gliding lesson, during which he’ll get introduced to the awesomeness of flying solo through the sky with a nonmotorized glider. Fremont-based Mission Soaring Center is one of the top places to learn the ropes, with an expert staff offering four-hour lessons. Training (and subsequent flights) take place at a dedicated site called Tres Pinos near the Central Coast city of Hollister, about a 90-minute drive from the East Bay.

3 weeks ago | diablomag.com | Deborah Kirk

The San Francisco Decorator Showcase is one of the Bay Area’s most anticipated design events, a monthlong annual showcase in which local interior and landscape designers have the opportunity to transform a Pacific Heights mansion. This year’s event, which takes place in a palatial 9,400-square-foot home and runs through May 26, features work from roughly 20 designers, each given a discrete space to reimagine.

4 weeks ago | diablomag.com | Deborah Kirk

For nearly two decades, South Africa–born Philippa Roberts has been designing and selling timeless, feminine jewelry out of her combined studio and shop on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue. With clean lines, organic shapes, and beautifully cut gemstones, Roberts’s pieces have a classic charm that makes them great gifts—for oneself as well as for others.

1 month ago | diablomag.com | Deborah Kirk

Dorian Webb was an architecture student at Yale University when an encounter during her junior year abroad in Italy changed her life. On a visit to Venice, she met skilled artisans who worked tirelessly to produce exquisite glass beads, more for the beauty of the craft than for potential profit. “Here were people who spent so much time making beautiful things for people they didn’t know,” Webb recalls.

2 months ago | diablomag.com | Deborah Kirk

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Mills College Art Museum is presenting a pair of photography exhibits that showcase two of the museum’s greatest strengths: its long-standing role as a creative home for contemporary artists and the depth of its permanent collection. The museum commissioned Oakland photographer Kija Lucas to create images of botanical subjects that explore how we view nature. “My work sort of visually mimics scientific imagery,” she says.