Art Drop-Off, Allentown, PA, July 12

In my Art Diary post from the week of 7/13, I mentioned that I have an exhibit of my paintings in this city. On the evening of the opening reception, we had some time before we needed to arrive. We spent it by taking a short walk in Trexler Park.

We are very familiar with this park and have taken walks here many times when we’ve come to Allentown (which is about an hour from our house). There is a peacefulness about the place.

We left two clay tile people on benches near the small lake. Here’s one:

And here is the other:

Then we went off to the exhibit, leaving these little guys to find new homes – and in the meantime to enjoy being in the park. Along with everyone else…

 

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Art Drop-offs – June Ends and July Gets Off to a Good Start

I’ve been walking with my husband on the Pennypack Trail this week. Each morning before he goes to work we have gone out  and gotten in some miles. Why are we doing things this way? Because it is really hot right now – 95+ F during the day – so we want to go early and beat much of the heat.

We’ve been covering the same section of trail this week – between Welsh Road and Byberry Road,  the upper half. This side is almost 100% in the shade and runs beside the water. Once again, we are thinking cool.

I’ve left tiles all week. I admit to a little confusion about which day I set down which tiles. My computer was out sick for a few days and I didn’t get to organize the photos in my usual manner. So – I’ll do my best. Here are the tiles and where they went.

June 30: oops, these are little clay rocks, not tiles. On a rock by the trail.

Also June 30. Set on a bench at the memorial for the train crash that ocurred here in winter, 1921.

July 2 – yellow tile on a ledge. It’s not easy to see (bottom photo, look to the left side). Sometimes I like to give the art a challenge…

July 2 – Dark tile on a bench.

More July 2 – Tile on a bench. I particularly like this bench because of the sentiment expressed and the lovely contemplative location.

More July 2. I’m pretty sure some of these just mentioned must have been from July 1, but, well, it will always be a mystery.

July 3 – Tile on a ledge. I often use this location. It seems made for display.

July 3 – this item is not one of mine but I participated in its life. Look. See that little red bit (the helpful arrow was not there in real life. I just happened to notice a spot of red and had to look and see what it was.)

It’s a little rock painted red with some gray sections. I looked it over, admired it, and gave it a ride a little further down the trail.

I’m going to wait and see what happens. I may bring it home, but I thought I’d let others decide if they want it before I just grab it.

July 4 – The trail was very crowded today on the holiday. Never a time when people were not passing. Still, I managed to set down one tile near this bridge.

My husband does a great job as a spotter!

OK, that’s it for now. As for who is still in place on the trail and who has been taken home, I am mixed up. I will say that more than half are already gone, including all the clay rocks.

Until the next time…

Art Drop-offs June 19 and 20, 2018

Back at the Pennypack Trail these two days and the clay tile trend goes on. On the 19th, I left this tile near the Welsh Road parking lot, not too far from where the trail crosses the active commuter rail line:

The photos are not so great because suddenly some people started toward me from the parking lot and I had to pretend to tie my shoe. Anything to keep my anonymity!

On June 20, my husband and I walked before he went to work. We went toward the Byberry Road direction from the Welsh Road parking lot, the opposite of yesterday’s walk. This time I set the tile in a place that deserves a little more explanation.

In this section of the trail, there are two vehicle bridges crossing the Pennypack Creek from when there was a road along the other side of the creek from the rail line. A fragment of this road still exists and serves a few houses – this bridge I speak of today connects that fragment with today’s road system.

Across the creek is a trail paralleling the creek, much rougher than the Pennypack rail trail, and a network of even smaller trails all through the area. It’s part of the Pennypack Ecological Preserve:

If you are looking for a wide-ranging network of wild and interesting walks, this is your place to go. I’ve been all through it over the years and wow, it’s a lot of fun and interesting in all seasons.

Back to the bridge. This is an old structure:

This marble plaque says “Built by Montgomery County AD 1847” – I think it’s 1847, anyway. The bridge has been repaired not too long ago and is in great shape for being so old, I think. And take a look at this nice creek view:

upstream.

downstream.

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By the way, before we started off on the 20th I checked the drop-off of the day before, back near the parking lot near the SEPTA line, remember? The tile was gone…

A Short Walk in an Arboretum

On Sunday afternoon, June 17, my husband and I took a short trip over to the Morris Arboretum, about 15 minutes from home. We wanted to take a short walk and shake off the effects of sitting all day Saturday at the art show I participated in in Allentown, PA. The Arboretum fit the bill – we’re members, so we can go anytime and stay for as long or short a time as we want. Plus, the Bloomfield Farm side was open this day – unlike the regular grounds that are open daily, this side of the site is not – you have to catch the once-a-month date to see it.

You may remember the Arboretum from previous posts:

and I did an art show there last fall.

So, good, off we went. It was a hot, sunny day, perfect for being outside.

We parked at the lower section of the location and walked across the street to the farm section. Look at the milkweed blooming!

At the farm (it’s called that because of its history, but it is mostly a wild landscape) we passed the education building and equipment sheds with their green roofs – wow, I just loved these. The whole building complex is meant to display methods of sustainability – it captures rainwater and is sited for energy efficiency, among other things.

Even the birdhouses had green roofs.

There are a lot of beehives. I did not venture close. No. I did not.

We stopped in the gristmill – it’s a real mill that’s been here since the 1700’s and is in the process of being restored step by step. We joined the tour for a short time

but I wanted to go back outside.

We wandered down to the community garden. Mint is planted around it – I think deer are put off by mint, maybe? Though there is a fence around the garden as well, more deterrents don’t hurt. Deer are persistent and numerous, being pests, really, in our area. Anyway, the mint crushed in my fingers – ahhh, the smell!

We wandered through the aisles of the garden. I liked these lettuces wearing hairnets to keep off the sun…

There was a lot of growing going on, that is for sure.

When we left, we had shaken off our stiffness and felt better for sunshine on our faces.

Art Drop-off Today, June 18

Well, the title tells you a lot, but not all of it. I went out on the Pennypack Trail this morning, in a very warm and getting warmer fast kind of morning, humid and sunny. Just perfect summer weather.

I parked the car at Moredon Road with the idea of doing 4 miles at a good fast walk (it takes me about an hour or a minute or so over), and this way, I could stop at the car for a quick drink if I were thirsty (which I was, so it turned out well).

All the previous tiles I’d left had been taken up. Fantastic! Today, I left this tile in a train control box.

Here’s a full-view shot, and look at the lush vegetation all around. Green is the color of the day all right.

Here is a photo of the trail in the direction I was walking. Now, it is important that these art scatterings happen so that I can remain anonymous. That means keeping an eye out for other people when I decide to set something down. I’m usually successful but a few times I have had to pretend to tie my shoe or that I needed to look at my phone, in order to throw people off the scent.

Not today. The warm sticky weather mean the trail was quiet. Good! I did my work and went on my way.

Art Drop-Off Update – June 8 and 9, 2018

Let me get right to it. On Friday, June 8, I walked on the Pennypack Trail, Welsh Road to the 0.0 marker and back – 5 miles. I left two tiles along the way. This first one is near the Moredon Road parking lot and I set it on this fallen tree remnant. You see it to the right of the trail in the second photo.

The other one, on a bench.

I like to read the dedications on the benches along the trail and say a little thank you to everyone who is remembered in the plaques and to those who cared enough to have a mention put up.

The trail was quite busy. I saw several familiar faces. Shout out to Stu and Norm, two guys I have known for several years from trail walks, and to Alan, who wasn’t there, but Stu said he said to tell me hello next time Stu saw me, so – I’m saying hello back to Alan right here.

On Saturday, June 9, my husband and I walked in the Norristown Farm Park. We approached the bridge that leads to the state hospital – it’s blocked off to vehicles but those using feet for transport can go right along:

 

I set a tile on the log barrier.

Here is what the tile is looking at, the direction we just came from – this nice leafy tunnel of trees:

I set another tile on a bench.

Once again I read the inscription.

Here is the view the tile is looking at:

Now, we’ve been wondering. The fields this year have looked untouched. You see it in the above picture. Was the park planning to move from being a crop-growing farm? A ranger came by in his truck and we flagged him down. He said – no, they have just planted the seeds. It’s a little later than usual. Weather and so on. But corn and soy are coming just like always.

I was glad to hear it. This location has been a farm for 130+ years – you may remember that it started out as the farm for the adjacent state mental hospital and patients, if able, worked the land. This site, which also included a fish hatchery (still in action as part of an anglers’ club today) and formerly had dairy cows and fowls, supported not only this hospital but a couple of others, the ranger said. I am glad it will be growing things this season.

Until next time.

Art Drop-Off Update – May 30 and June 6, 2018

Both art drop-off  days I was walking on the Pennypack rail trail, but on different ends of it.

Let me give a quick info session. Here is the Montgomery County PA page describing it, and they do a great job if you want a quick little bio of the trail.

And here is the map you can find on that site. Excuse the smallish size, I’m not great at getting things to go where I want them at the size I want them. Anyway, I generally park at the letter “C”, Welsh Road trailhead, because it’s the middle of the route and I can choose to go either way – but I don’t always. Just saying.

The section of C to letter A is the older part of the trail. The upper section, C to E, was opened a few years later. The entire length is about 5.4 miles. I generally try to do some combination of 4 or 5 miles. The scenery is somewhat different on each half of the trail and the structure of it makes for a lot of choice as to routes.

OK. On May 30 I started at Moredon Road, letter B, heading to Rockledge, letter A (toward Philadelphia, if you are interested to know), with the idea of circling my start point to get my miles in. I left this tile in a train control box along the way.

I left this tile at the base of a bridge over a creek.

On June 6, different day, different route. I started at Welsh Road (C) and walked the other direction to the end of the trail at letter E, Byberry Road, then came back.

I had left some items along the way the last time I took this route –

Today they were gone.

This morning I left these two little clay things on top of a train control box on my way out.

On my way back I noticed the one on the right was already gone. Hey, that’s nice.

I left this tile at the parking lot at Byberry Road, my turnaround spot, next to the bike comfort station:

I did five miles this morning, and I am proud to say that my time going out was only two seconds faster than my time going back in. Keeping up a nice pace is important to me, I don’t like to dawdle when I walk, and I got a laugh out of how neatly the whole thing split.

OK! Until next time.

Art Drop-Off Update – May 23, 24, and 29, 2018

Well, after the buildup of the post’s title, you know what you are going to get! The story of more art set out into the world, that’s what.

Part of the fun of art-drop-off-doing is seeing if it got picked up by anyone. Well, since I put the pieces in places I go to pretty often, I get the satisfaction of seeing them go away, too. Let’s find out.

Last week, May 23, I left three tiles along the “new” section of the Pennypack Trail (above Welsh Road). This is a shady section of this rail trail that runs very close to the Pennypack Creek all the way along its length.

(If you are interested in knowing more about these tiles, meaning how I made them, etc. – look here).

Here we go.

I’ve set items in this little rock shelf before.

How about this bench overlooking the creek?

This tile is set on another rock shelf. And if you climb up that little trail, you’ll get a nice view of the creek from the top.

Today, May 29, my husband and I traveled over the same ground and set out new items while also looking for the previous ones. We left a colorful tile lady at the info kiosk in the parking lot. (I featured the whole group of these tiles on my art blog here.)

It was a nice feeling to come along and see this empty space where a tile had been last week.

The single rock by the trail was empty too, so we filled it again.

On the in trip (as opposed to the out) I left a tile lady at the base of one of the bridges crossing the creek. You can see that this was the original rail bridge with a higher barrier put up when the trail was developed.

Guess what? We also saw a snapping turtle beside the trail – she (we believe she is a she) has just come up from the creek below to lay eggs, that is our guess. We did not approach her. A snapping turtle can bite right through your finger. And this lady is really a large strong turtle, the biggest I have seen along the trail.

That is the status of art along the Pennypack Trail.

*******

On May 24, I was at Montgomery County Community College for Poetry Marathon. I left a couple of tiny face tiles there in the library, before I went home. I’ll check this week and see if they are gone.

OK, that’s where we are with art out in the world.

More Art Scattered

My husband and I took a walk on the Pennypack Trail this morning. We dropped off a few more items.

First, this tiny clay tile lady took up a place in one of the former train control boxes.

I put these tiles at the info kiosk at the Moredon Road crossing.

Update on recent dropoffs – remember these?

Well, they are gone now!

Happy Art.

Scattered Update

All right, how about some news of art making its way out in the world?

On May 14 I took a short walk at the Pennypack Trail in the afternoon. In the parking lot, I checked the kiosk. Lady in the corner – she has left.

I walked on down the trail. Remember, it’s a former rail line. Here is an example of some scenes along it.

That green has become ultra-green in the last few days!

I set a small clay tile lady in one of the former control boxes. This one has been painted silver – most of the others have been left rusty, and this one is trying to return to that state – and when they were in use would have had doors that were locked. Now they are each a set of nice display shelves.

Further down the trail, I left two tiles on a bench. I’ve often run or walked by this particular seat and I always like reading the dedication.

I probably won’t be back here until next week. Then I’ll see what has happened in my absence.