Bicycle Synthesizer Ride « Northern Spark

Bicycle Synthesizer Ride « Northern Spark

Spring Fling in Kilmer Pond

A lovely Saturday afternoon in June on the Pond. Kilmer Pond park was initiated by the Lakeside Garden Club back in 1960 or thereabouts. We had a working garden club back then, not to say that we still don't work on the gardens around our respective homes, but they, those initial gardeners took it upon themselves to organize ! And, did they ever organize. They went to the point of adding grass and sod to the Park which surrounds the Lake on the houses side, Kilmer Avenue to the cul-de-sac. Later on the city planted trees, added benches, and finally put in the BBQ grill such as it is. Great place for a picnic.

So, the Spring Fling is a nod to the end of school daze and the beginning of summer. My interest is always in seeing the children in the neighborhood, since kids are too old now, and grandkids not here yet. The children begin to know you and then we walk the dog and they really remember Buster. He is a very smart little Shih Zhu, so he looks like a dust mop, all cuddly and stuff.

So, on June 11, 2011, down near the Pond, we will attempt to meet the children, and the children will meet us, maybe participate in a Hula Hoop contest - listen to music MC'd by Howard Walstein at KidDance, and have their face painted. Some really don't want me to paint their faces, so we paint their arms or legs. Hopefully, we will have hot dogs and ice cream cones, if Wolly does the grilling. We have 250 households in the neighborhood approximately, so we may need a helper for the grill.

The re-invigorating garden club promises to give away Bachman gift certificates and a best yard and best back yard garden venue for garden club neighbors. Look for the photos on the official neighborhood association blogspot at www.kilmerpondnews.blogspot.com. As neighborhood organizers, Wolly Hood and I try to keep this one going just as a will and whisper call us: Happenstance, we had it going before the "official" blog for the neighborhood hired it's real talent.

As the full moon wanes this month, the tulips are still standing tall in the front yard, and the daisies haven't bloomed yet. I have never seen such a full and abundant Spring for moisture, but then, cool enough to hold off some plants, while others stay on the stem ! The Star Gazers are coming up nicely, but the Iris's haven't even bloomed yet. Hostas love this weather, and our azalea bush hasn't stayed in full bloom this long ever.

Art in the Backyard this Summer ! Classes every Thursday from 9:30 AM until 1:30 PM. We break for lunch - in fact, bring a bag lunch... Donations for this Art Teacher are always accepted. At $7.00 a week, it may even be a lifelong pursuit, promised to bring great gratitude for life and nature, and other artists and their kind and diplomatic critiques and general comments.

More on that subject later. Enjoy the beautiful weather !! Go Biking and Paint - by all means.

Warming Up : How the Artist Creates

Getting ready to paint that large canvas can be a bit overwhelming. I am ready to start painting even before I begin to draw out the plan. Well, that is so like me, isn't it.. Jump right in, figure it out later. I wanted to try out a different way to do a painting also, so I am thinking about putting narrative in with the visual work. Last summer I saw a painting style that I feel could work well for my narrative painting of the River Migrations I am embarking to deliberate on. I want to jump right in, and live the migration by painting the canvas experiencing the colorations and the finite experiences along the River Towns.

There are times when I have the visuals of what my great aunts who had a houseboat on the River where they lived during retirement, was so vivid in my mind. It has to do with how would it feel to sleep on the river boat, with the engine purring along up and down the river. Seeing the masses of bird migrations along the River corridors, and the dance of the birds skydiving in great masses down to the surfaces of the water. The bluffs with their names, and coulee's with theirs. Glancing by the eagles nests, and seeing the great barges groping their way North during dusk on the great River. Well, the river does change from time to time. Spring takes away, and fall lays the sand bars back where they were before, or a little farther down stream. Sometimes whole chains of currents change course over land and make a new river bed due to high water that cannot stay back. That is exactly how I feel about the River when I am there witnessing its specific grandeur.. we just need to come back and spend more time there.