“Vincent’s Perspective of Coneflowers”
Fountainville, PA Garden
Today is a special day for looking back on wonderful memories.
A field of blue,
Shows the artist in you.
Always creating, a beautiful view.
Happy 44th!
“The Fish Teacher”
Miller Hall, University of Washington Quad
In this grotesque on Miller Hall, the Roman god Neptune is depicted with a fish over his head. I have spent a couple of hours trying to research the connection between Neptune, a fish, and teaching. No luck so far…
“The Phoenician Teacher”
Miller Hall, University of Washington Quad
This grotesque, the Phoenician Teacher, is also located on the third floor of Miller Hall. Miller Hall, built in 1922, was originally “Education Hall”, thus being decorated with education-related figures. Carl Gould was the building’s architect. Alonzo Victor Lewis created the 44 sculptures adorning the building.
“Chinese Teacher (Confucius) Grotesque”
Miller Hall, University of Washington Quad
The Quadrangle, located in the “Upper Campus” of the University of Washington, is the center point for the classic Collegiate Gothic architecture on campus. This was were the non-engineering students and all the attractive girls had their classes. They did not allow engineers to grace the halls of these classic buildings. We were all too busy with our slide-rules. In the six years that I attended the UW, I never had a class there.
Even though I did not attend any classes there, I had ample time to stroll through the Quad on the way to the Chemistry and Physics Buildings and the Suzzallo Library. While doing so, I would occasionally look up at the strange figures on the buildings. I always called them gargoyles. But as I discovered later, they are really grotesques. They are differentiated from gargoyles in that gargoyles have water coming out of them from rain down spouts.
For the next several postings I will focus on a few of these pieces of art.
“Perennial Mixture”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee
“Bright and Shiny” is what Mary wanted for her Cherry Allee. It was one of the first criteria that we established as we planned our design for the “lower 40.” It has now become a reality … at least the start of one. Colors are constantly changing as one set of blooms expire and another one starts to bloom. Our target was to have a continuous bloom from mid/late spring through the fall. So far it is working.
Yellow Flowers
On a bright, July day, the yellow flowers are like little suns,
waving in a slight breeze and looking toward me from different angles.
The Earth gives us little miracles, like flowers that drink in the sun,
radiating their color and vibrance to any willing passerby.
The little voices in my head say, “We don’t need to understand it all; just look at the pretty
yellow flowers . . .”
– Mary Dahlin Graf
“Stargazer Lily”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee
A bloom, rarely shy
The lily, bold and joyful—
Fragrant, fleeting grace
– Mary Dahlin Graf
How nice these lilies smell! We planted them next to our “sitting stones” at the top of our cherry allee. When we were first planning what kind of flowers we want to plant, Mary’s immediate response was, “a Stargazer lily, please, please, please!”. So, we made it happen. Now she can sit at the top of her allee, reach out, touch, and enjoy the beautiful blooms. Life is good!
“View from Below”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee
Yesterday’s post was of a mature cherry allee at the Yakima Arboretum. This image is our new cherry allee planted this spring. Between the eight trees we have planted a colorful perennial garden with a path zig zagging through the flowers. We have picked perennials that will flower from late spring through early fall.
It will take several years for the trees to grow large enough to form the allee. The perennials will fill in much quicker. In about three years they should fill in leaving a minimum of uncovered ground.
“Cherry Grove”
Yakima Arboretum, Washington
Cherry trees in July look like they are in full April bloom when they are photographed in infrared. As I looked through the allee my mind imagined what our recently planted allee will look like in the future. This was a good insight with the old trees on the left and the relatively young trees on the right.
Our Heatherwood allee is quite different. It is planted on a hillside looking down to our lawn below. The center of the allee is planted with colorful perennials. Mary calls it her “bright and shiny spot.” On the top we have placed a couple “sitting” rocks to enjoy the view and the colorful flowers below.
“Yarrow in the Sprinklers”
Heatherwood Meadow
My neighbors must have thought I was crazy as they observed me leaning over the side of my lawnmower with a big camera and long telephoto lens pointed down at the ground. I am sure they were asking, “Why doesn’t he stop being lazy and just get off the mower to take a picture?”
Maybe in a couple more weeks I will be able to. Not being able to walk around much or kneel down and get up is not stopping me from creating an image or two.
“In the Sprinklers 2”
Heatherwood Meadow
The sprinklers trapped me! Looking through my telephoto lens (900mm equivalent) drew me into an imaginary garden. I felt small observing flowers and water droplets at eye level. It was magical.