Vacation in the Berkshires

Sorry for the blogging silence; I was on vacation again, this time in the Berkshires, located in western Massachusetts.  This has been a summer vacation location for residents of both Boston and New York for over a hundred years.  Wealthy people, including financiers, tycoons, and artists built summer "cottages" here in the hills; some of those cottages have 30 or more rooms!

Summer season in the Berkshires is really July and August, so I was there a little early, but it meant missing a lot of the crowds.  The landscape was green and lush, the weather was humid but not too hot, and the people I met were very pleasant and welcoming.


There is so much to do there in the summer - festivals for theatre, dance, and music; museums and mansions to tour; and gardens, forests, mountains, and meadows to wander through and enjoy.

I took a lot of photos (as always).  I wanted to put some up as soon as possible, so I went through and just picked some of my favorites.  There are more than 30, so I hope you don't mind scrolling through.

Propeller commuter plane to Albany

Art at Shakespeare & Co

Workshop of Daniel Chester French (sculptor of the statue in the Lincoln Memorial)

at Chesterwood

Peonies at Chesterwood

Outdoor modern art at Chesterwood

View from the end of Chesterwood's garden

Rainbows at Norman Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell's studio

Naumkeag

Naumkeag's garden

Stockbridge

Stockbridge

Confier

Fungi on an old stump

Lemon still life

Edith Wharton's bedroom at her home, the Mount

Allium up close

Seiji Ozawa Concert Hall at Tanglewood 

(Boston Symphony's summer home)

Lenox artist's found object art

Hancock Shaker Village

Round barn

Poultry on the farm

Shaker plain dresses

Wool spinning

Ashintully Gardens - remains of the old mansion

Flora texture

Hay rolls and barn

Hawaiian dancers at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Attentive audience!

Outdoor sculpture at Williams College Art Museum, Williamstown

Natural Arch at marble quarry outside of North Adams

Modern art and spectator at MASS MoCA, North Adams

Monument at the top of Mt Greylock, tallest mountain in Massachusetts

Busy bees

Playing with the miniature setting on my camera.

Bascom Lodge, Mt Greylock

Pretty fun, eh?

Covered bridge, Bennington, VT

Rustic bench, Arrowhead (Herman Melville's home)

Book binding and graduations

I've been taking a class in book binding for the last few weeks.  We've learned how to make a few different types of hand made books:  pamphlet, accordion, signature, and piano hinged.  Not the most practical of classes, but very creative and a lot of fun.  I'm planning on making some unique books incorporating my calligraphy and painting skills - plus a little cut and paste techniques :)

Yesterday I also attended the 8th grade graduation of the lovely daughter of a friend of mine.  After last year's Graduationpalooza with my boys, it was nice to just be a spectator.  Tomorrow night I'm going to a wedding.  It must be June!

Book cloth, made from cotton fabric and backed with kozo paper,

drying in the sun.

Hand sewing the text block.

Dick Pio - master bookbinder, showing us how it's done.

My books:

Signature, pamphlet and accordion (with insertions).

The signature has handmade book cloth;

the other two have hand-stamped and decorated

cover paper.

Ms Graduate - yes, we're looking at you!

Graduate's grandma, sister, and friend's baby;

entertainment for everybody!

PCC Flea Market

I went out to the Pasadena City College Flea Market today.  Besides being a really nice market (big, but not *too* big - and free!), it gives me a chance to visit my friend Jan Verdries, who sells original prints from illustrators during the "Golden Age" of Illustration (1890s - 1940s).  I usually end up buying a few each time I see him... I'm definitely running out of wall space!

Today's photos are some scenes from the flea market; things you might not notice unless you slow down and look around.  I hope you enjoy them.