Wrap-up…

I wish I had read a little more history before I went to Portland, because I would have been on the look-out for particular landmarks. Especially, I would have taken a picture of the Benson Bubbler fountains dotted around where we were walking. I thought they were a new feature, but actually the city started to place them back in 1917 from a gift from a local citizen (Mr. Benson) who was hoping to keep his loggers out of saloons at lunch time. They merrily bubble continuously (they are now set with timers to turn them off late at night and early morning) and are four bowls of continuous flow, bubbling along. Wish I hadn’t missed that picture. I did get these fountains, though, around the Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Bronze fountains around a Federal Courthouse reflecting the natural history of the area.

Of course, old buildings and new convention centers.

Had to take one shot from within the MaxTrain because it is such a fine system of public transit (and they refer to their senior citizens as “Honored Citizens”—now, that is a really nice place!)

Then it was time to fly home

Happy to have such good friends and old-time roomies to meet in far-off places to see beautiful cities and catch up on old times and children. Story after story and laugh after laugh. Lovely days, girls…see you next year.

No rest for the weary in Seattle…

Bright and early (well not so bright, afterall it was Seattle) Terry’s brother, Pat, picked us up for our day of sightseeing in Seattle.

A swing through the University of Washington and then down to the Olympic Sculpture Park.

I will only give you a teaser here and dedicate an entire post later to the sculptures. This is Eagle by Alexander Calder. A perfect setting for this soaring piece.

Pat and Terry waited for me to take pictures most of the day They were very patient!

Our next stop was the Pioneer Square section of Seattle where we walked around the historic buildings and found the tasting room for Dry Soda. This is my favorite new drink, but I haven’t found it in California yet. It has flavors like lemongrass, rhubarb, blood orange, cucumber and vanilla bean. Less sweet soda and delicious. They have a tasting room in Seattle, just like in a winery.

At street level is the original second floor of the building because Seattle was rebuilt at a higher level after a fire in 1889 destroyed blocks of the city. Wooden buildings were rebuilt in brick. This created an “underground” portion to the buildings.

Some of the trees and light posts in Pioneer Park had knitted coverings. It made me giggle and think of my “knitting friends” back home.

Really? Still?

And over to:

Pike’s Place Market! The pictures say it all…

This was a very crowded place and I thought if I stopped for pictures of the flowers I would get trampled, so I waited until lunch at Campagne Cafe where it was a little quieter.

Then off to the Washington Park Arboretum (while driving there Pat pointed out this building which is the new library in Seattle.) The building is made of glass and steel and when I make it back to Seattle I will be sure that I see what it is like to look from the inside out instead of only from the backseat of a car through the lens of my iPhone. The iPhone proved again how quickly it can respond to important sights.

The garden has this type of planter (iron with terra cotta). Great design, wish I had some, although the design is a tad formal and massive for my garden. But, a great design idea. Around now we were beginning to realize that for everything we did that day we could have used an entire day’s worth of time to explore. We walked through only a portion of the garden and left wanting more. The plants weren’t labeled so some of the identifications are guesses.

This golden maple was magnificent:

and a honeysuckle

and another lovely flower with freckles and back-light.

Tree trunks in amazing shapes

Then a rollicking evening with Lisa, Pat, Ben, and Jeff at the Italian restaurant Il Terrazzo Carmine. Fantastico!

We will be back! Thanks for the memories! (and pictures)

iphone Photo Friday

Oh, woe, Terry has reclaimed the phone so the only time I can take pictures with it is in the evenings. This makes the subject matter mostly limited to Cliff because he stays still on the couch (he likes me!) and I just have to get him to raise his chin a little once in a while. Before it was confiscated, I was able to get this shot when I went to my Italian class at the community center:

and this one of the public sculpture in the same area:

I was swept away by the fun of it all and forgot to remember the aps I actually used. However, one of the aps has a setting called Paris. Next time I get a hold of the phone, I am only going to use that to take pictures with and see if it transports me. Oh, and then there is one called cinema, I can select only that and see if my life becomes a film noir. There must be a screenplay in there someplace…

Andy and Me

In the few months of existence of this blog I have already mentioned Andy Goldsworthy three times. An interesting impact he has had on my consciousness. I first became aware of him at about the time of the reopening of the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco in 2005. Probably with news reports on t.v. about the sculpture that was being installed in the entrance courtyard of the building. I purchased the dvd Rivers and Tides (here is a youtube clip) and was excited by his works’ connection to nature and I liked the idea that what he made was still sculpture even though it could be transitory. Gorgeous photographs meant it still existed. Some of his sculptures were created from their environment, existed because of their environment, and then were absorbed or destroyed by their environment. The photography in the dvd was beautiful.

I was very excited to be able to experience one of his sculptures, Drawn Stone, so close to home and then in 2008 the Bay Area got a second chance to see his work with the sculpture Spire in the Presidio. So I shall now take a moment to share my experience with Andy Goldsworthy. This is Drawn Stone:

And at the Presidio:

If you make it to the Spire, you also get this view:

Terry did have the camera in his hands at the Presidio. Yes, I do share sometimes….

A source of inspiration…

Last week my mind was trying to decide a direction for expression, so I decided to visit the local library and see the art that had been placed in the outdoor courtyard around it. I had not been to the library for years, except to drop off books for their book sale. It was not a priority field trip once kids left the house and there was never time to just enjoy the environment when I was working. But now things are different. Coffee breaks can be taken in new places, and I thought viewing public sculpture, hearing the sound of running water, and satisfying the rumbling in my stomach (the curse of coffee shops is their pastries) might focus my mind on a new direction in creativity. I approached the sculptures looking for shape and color.
Color I got:

and shape

and sound

and whimsy

and fun

and positive/negative shape.

There is nothing quite like rusty iron, I must say.

The purpose of the field trip succeeded. This:

became this:

a possible Spoonflower fabric, n’est-ce pas?

Stay tuned…