Impressionism from the Journeyman: October 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014

Walton Ford: A Time to Gather and a Time to Create

I am a Walton Ford watcher and admirer over the last few years since I first saw his work.

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford

His work is a surreal adaptation of a John James Audubon style.

Cruising the web and found this New York Academy of Arts Walden Ford Address and speaks to me today.

"... This is a time of gathering. You're gathering ingredients. I want you to think of this time as the time at a farmer's market.

You have a basket. You are looking around. What do you like to eat? What looks fresh? What’s available? Just gather stuff. Put it in your basket. That's the first step and in many ways, the most important step in making something delicious to eat later. So don't rush it. Enjoy this process. Steal a grape, you know? Look carefully, squeeze, taste, smell you know? While you're at the market, does it make sense to beat yourself up for not being in the kitchen? For not plating a completed meal? Common sense says it's not time yet. You are gathering, pick up a nice tomato. It's not time to open a restaurant. You are gathering. Smell that melon. Is it ripe? It's not time yet to write a cookbook.

Every artist has times of gathering and times of creation. The really great and fortunate artists have several times of gathering and creating, alternating times of creating where it all comes together and you have a body of work to do. But every single artist starts out with an extended time of concentrated gathering. So take your time at this great farmer's market. You're going to museums, galleries, book stores, searching the web, taking suggestions, watching films, hitting the streets, catching live music, theater-- you're gathering, gathering. Finding your heroes, finding your mentors, finding your nemeses.

And this is your job. Cook it all up later and then you'll know. You'll follow the recipes for a bit, but you don't need to write your own recipes for a while. There is time for all that. Life is long.

But this advice to slow down and enjoy the gathering time is not to diminish the urgency of what can be done with your gifts. The education that you have begun, this intense seeing, this mastery of these ancient mediums, this humanistic study of nature, this process of gathering, this education of beauty, what a rare thing in today's world.

And there is proof of this rarity. Just get in the car and take a drive. If you drive up or down the east coast on a major route and you look out the window at the banality of the giant, urban, mega, strip mall that uber city that we call Bos/Wash, Boston to Washington, look out the window it’s pretty banal. It’s a wasteland. Beauty, craft, design, are in short supply. There is plenty of horror, ugliness, and banality out there. But.... you have touched on the cure. You’ve touched on an education that pushes back with everything that makes humanity okay."

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Passenger Pigeon

Internet Fair Use- Walton Ford Crocodile

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Tiger Profile

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Leopard and Bull

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Moose

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Stalking Tiger

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Tiger and Lion

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Bull

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Barbary Lion

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Rhinocerous

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Parrot

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Black Wolf

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Tiger

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Cobra and Mongoose

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Wolves

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Fish

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Heron

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Tiger

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Island

Internet Fair Use - Walton Ford Heron

Thanks Walden Ford for the words, the inspirations, the images, the ideas, and the art. And the vision about enlivening the Boston-Washington corridor with beauty is enticing.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Sunset: A Dazzling Gold

We went to burn some calories one night recently at the local YMCA while my youngest daughter, Itsy Bit, was doing her weekly gymnastics lesson. She pointed out the rainbow in the southern sky as we were entering the building.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Hint of a Rainbow

But that was nothing compared to the brilliant golden sunset in a cloudless sky. The sky was quite hazy though so the sun was dazzling in its golden hue.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Dazzling Golden Sunset

But the more beautiful rainbow colors were portrayed across the sunset sky itself in smooth transitions from one hue to the next. I had not seen anything like it before. White to yellow to orange to pink to blue to violet. I was fortunate to capture the American flag in the image to give it some depth.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Rainbow Sunset

Quite a palette in this skyscape. Living the Moment.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Sunrise Over Boston: The Best View

My daughter, Little Bit, captured the best view of the Boston Sunrise, I think. She scanned and panned the Charles River waterfront and got the long landscape view. This is how the Boston jaunt started and our adventure was a wonderful birthday gift from Little Bit to spend time with her Daddy.

Copyright Anna K. Martin 2014 Boston Sunrise

This is best viewed by clicking on the image and seeing it in a larger depiction.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Final Leg: Jamaica Pond Jaunt

Every time we take our daughter, Little Bit, back and forth to nursing school in Boston, we pass by the Jamaica Pond. We wanted to explore the detail. So, today, Little Bit and I spent some time walking around the reservoir! It's a beautiful 68 acre pond, 50 meters deep, designed and created by Frederick Law Olmstead. The boat house with rowboat and sailboat rentals is on the east side of the pond.

"Let it be not for present use and delight alone, but let it be of such a work that our descendants will thank us for it."
Frederick Law Olmsted

Internet Fair Use - Preliminary Plan Jamaica Park

Parking is available on the north side of the pond. There is a small island in view with a weeping willow on it framed by the boathouse and church steeple towards the southern side of the lake. We walked from north-, to west-, to south-, to east-side, in our jaunt.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Jamaica Pond Island

There are lots of Joggers, Walkers, Dog Walkers, Baby Strollers, and Sun Sitters around the pond. Even a few fishermen!

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Out at the Pond

There are many trees surrounding the pond of arboretum variety, quality, and size.
All in fall foliage colors at this time of year.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Arboretum Trees

Birch trees on the north side.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Birch Trees on the North Side

On this particular day, a lot of dappled sun and shade offering exquisite variety of color and hue.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Shoreline on Shadow

Plenty of views and perspectives offering natural framing of the image in foreground and background as we approach the west side of the pond.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Foliage Framed

On the west side of the pond, many majestic trees along the pedestrian pathway.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Majestic with Dappled Sunshine

It was hard to decide whether to traverse the shoreline or the pedestrian pathway. Both offered excellent photo shots.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Bonsai on the Western Shore

Another of the arboretum quality majestics with numerous branches. This is a real tree climber!

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Majestic Branches

With plenty of shade still left in mid-afternoon, the dark blues and violets abound.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Blue Trunks in Shadow

A teeny-weeny child framed against the massive giant. A nice moment to capture the scale.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Dwarfed by a Giant

This ol' tree had lots of carved initials of loved ones from days gone by.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Initials in the Tree

My Itsy Bit loves to catch unusual perspectives in her viewfinder.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Catching the Angle

The shoreline is beautifully landscaped and protected with well-placed granite erosion control. With the reservoir down a bit in the fall season, the stones are arranged and even piled for dramatic effect.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Roots and Rocks

There was still plenty of sunshine left in the day but we were fast running out of camera battery or photo memory.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Southern Knoll

The smartphone camera didn't quite capture the brilliant color in this shot and I was not able to f-stop the shot up or down to bracket the contrast better and reduce the brilliant glare. Next time with a different instrument.

Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Leafy Knoll

There were many opportunities for pleine-aire painting for those so inclined. Early morning or late afternoon light would be extra special.

The last picture before my battery ran out.

So thank you to Frederick Law Olmstead for this day at Jamaica Pond and these views. I can see early spring being a great time for a revisit.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Boston Morning Photos: The North End

Strolling from the Boston Common with a goal to reach the Old North Church in the North End of Boston means traversing the financial district with a view of the urban skyscrapers.

A bit more modern than Beacon Hill but still provincial..

The plaque below indicates the location of the first meetinghouse in Boston in 1632. Preachers were John Wilson, John Eliot, and John Cotton. To read these biographies is to gain substantial insight into the early religious controversies and theological debates of the New England church as it transitioned from the Old World lineage including the issues of free will versus free grace, the commingling versus separation of powers between church and state, the mission field to the native american Indians, and the expansion of the colonies as a direct result of dissensions and disagreements.

Who can forget the elementary school teachers reciting the lantern signals to Paul Revere of "one if by land, and two if by sea" in the Old North Church?

Lots of tourists at the Old North Church so we moved on toward the waterfront.

We walked out to Sargent's Wharf on the waterfront.

There is a tiny part of me that thinks that a small condominium on the wharf, a slip on the canal to dock a sailboat, and not much else in life would be a deliberate way to live life on the water. It could take a lifetime to explore the upper east coast by sail.

We circled back along Commercial Street. Lots of tour buses parked from FL, PA, NY, NJ, CT loaded with sightseers.

Internet Fair Use - Map of Boston's North End

Viewed the Coast Guard ships at the CG Station, walked through the North End, picked up cannoli and blueberry scone at Mike's Pastries. There was so much to see and do but the camera's were running out of memory and battery! Between us, we took over 1200 pictures on this jaunt. And there was so much more to do!

Internet Fair Use - Mike's Pastry

So we rode the transit back to Cambridge to get the car and head out to Jamaica Pond before returning home. Gave us time to recharge our batteries!