The Artist's Palate Art2u Cooks with Jessica Dunne by Roxane Gilbert Photographs by Douglas Sandberg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Jessica Dunne in her studio. Photo by Douglas Sandberg

The dining table is at the end of the living room, in front of the picture window, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A bright red shrine with a banner on it that says "Dr. Renneker's Scientific Surf Prognosticator" is on the middle of the table. "Chris Isaak and his girlfriend made this for Mark." Chris Isaak is a musician, whose music Jessica Dunne describes as "consistent and true to the heart." He is also a surfer. Mark is Dr. Mark Renneker, a medical researcher, founder of the 600-member Surfer's Medical Association, and Jessica's companion for the past 20+ years.

Jessica's food philosophy is simple. "Butter? Forget it. Cream? Forget it? More than five ingredients? Forget it." She particularly enjoys recipes which take less than 20 minutes. "We have kind of a fuss about breakfast," possibly the most important meal at the Renneker/Dunne household. Dinner takes place usually at 10:30 or 11:00 p.m., when she gets home from the studio.

Another important member of the family is Fillmore, the pet iguana. "My iguana needs to eat high calcium greens, and dinosaur kale happens to be one of her favorites." Because of her own mostly nondairy vegetarian diet, Jessica is on the lookout for high-calcium foods for herself as well.

Fillmore eats once a day. She is regularly checked by her veterinarian for salmonella, a disease-causing bacteria that can be transmitted from animals to humans. She is free of it, and so on occasion is allowed to eat at the table. She prefers her dinosaur kale raw.

Jessica is the daughter of Academy Award nominee Philip Dunne, who wrote the screenplay for the 1941 film "How Green Was My Valley," which won the Best Director Oscar for John Ford and Best Picture Oscar for Darryl F. Zanuck. Her mother is actress Amanda Duff, who starred with Shirley Temple in "Just Around the Corner." There are a few Hollywood artifacts in her flat from her parents' movie days, including a photograph of the Dunne famliy posing with Elvis Presley and Hope Laing.

From the way Fillmore postures for the camera, not even blinking at the flashbulbs, you can't help but believe that Hollywood has had an influence on her character as well. After a meal where dinosaur kale had top billing, it was clear that the real star was the iguana. "Fillmore," says Jessica, "As usual, you've stolen the show."

Robert Surface's Kale Jessica prefers recipes that have fewer than six ingredients. Her friend Robert Surface shared this one with her. Dinosaur kale is organically grown, high in calcium, and can be purchased at health food stores. You can substitute any ordinary kale, but don't expect the same wonderful crinkly, bumpy texture. Serves 4. 2 bunches dinosaur kale 1 medium onion, chopped 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons maple syrup pepper, to taste Tear off and discard kale stems, and tear the leaves into pieces, about 2 inches long. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until soft. Turn up heat, add the maple syrup, and whisk onions around pan until slightly browned and caramelized. Remove from pan and set aside. Add an additional 2 tablespoons oil to pan. Over medium heat, add kale to pan a handful at a time, stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until kale is tender. Mix in onions. Add pepper to taste. Turn off heat and let kale sit for a few minutes before serving.

Stillness and motion.... These are the contrasting ingredients of Jessica Dunne's life and art. Her paintings show surfers, standing on the beach at sunset, watching the powerful churning waves.

Jessica's apartment faces the grassy dune, across the Great Highway from San Francisco's Ocean Beach. Her studio is just a couple of blocks away. On vacations, she has traveled to beaches in the Galapagos Islands, Ireland, Scotland, Fiji, Portugal and Alaska.

A change of scene is a tool Jessica uses to enable her to concentrate on her art. Away from the normal distractions of home, Jessica devotes herself to painting. In recent years she has been artist-in-residence at the Blue Mountain Center in New York, the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, and the Ragdale Foundation in Illinois.

She lives surrounded by the clutter of collected mementos; reflections of her family, her friends, and her spirit.