More Swirlyland

Lake Waban, Wellesley
colored pencil
May 29, 2014

We're looking across the lake now. This view is from the bridge where the yellow warbler was singing. yesterday.On the far shore resides "Swirlyland." That's the name my kids gave to the topiary pinetum owned by the Hunnewell family. Here are a few other drawings of the pinetum. It's a magical and difficult subject to draw. Bonne journée and bon weekend.

2011

2011

2014

Ain't it Grand?

Swirlyland
charcoal
May 25, 2014

"Swirlyland" is a hillside "pinetum" with carefully pruned evergreen trees owned and maintained by the Hunnewell family of Wellesley, Massachusetts. It is located on a grassy slope above Lake Waban which includes the campus of Wellesley College. I occasionally walk there from home with my sketchbook. Sometimes I go into town for coffee or to a concert at the college. It's all very sophisticated in a New Englandy rustic kind of way. Emerson, Thoreau and Margaret Fuller would approve I'm sure.

The Week That Was

Marathon Monday: I focus on a pool surrounded by bright green leaves

Tuesday: aftermath of the explosions, hard reflections come through the bridge's archways.

Wednesday: the city is reeling, victims are dying and the toll of injured rises

Thursday: later in the day, surveillance videos and photos are released

Friday: one bomber is dead, the other escapes. The cormorants have returned to Lake Waban.

Friday: the young men will never see this beauty

Saturday: the remaining bomber is caught after a day-long siege of Boston. The city rejoices, the news crews sleep and a gentle rain settles in.

Saturday: Some discord lingers relieved only by the circular rhythms of the rain.

Reflections

The Hunnewell Pinetum from Tupelo Point, Wellesley, MA
11-25-11
colored pencil

The South Natick Dam: Thanksgiving Day
11-24-11
colored pencil

Swirlyland

07-16-11 Lake Waban, carbon pencil

This is a view of the Hunnewell Pinetum (in my house, we call it "Swirlyland") from Tupelo Point on the Wellesley College campus. The body of water is named Lake Waban. Tupelo Point doesn't have a lot to recommend it although it is a famous Wellesley landmark of dubious repute. A family of swans has taken to nesting there and they are messy birds. Feathers and less-poetic swan memorabilia are everywhere --so watch your step if you try to join some students for midnight al fresco entertainments.

I balanced precariously on a small boulder perilously close to the lapping waters to draw this. But the weather was gorgeous and the water was warm. I was amused by a group of boisterous young Danes visiting this country who decided to take a swim (not allowed by the college police). The young men added a boisterous Scandinavian charm to the afternoon. If I were Karl Larssen, I would have persuaded them to model for me and it'd be just like the Garden of Eden …again. Heaven on Earth.
Say "Hello!" to Summer… again!