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Showing posts from 2017

Washington DC night 7th and Pennsylvania

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Carillon Bell Tower in Richmond Virginia

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November 2017 - the Carillon Bell Tower is also referred to as the Virginia War Memorial to WWI veterans.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Site about the Middle English poem at http://sirgawainandthegreenknight.org/

Yves Saint Laurents

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"Yves Saint Laurents - the Perfection of Style" Exhibit at the Virginia FIne Arts Museum featuring a large selection (102 altogether) of dresses and garments by Yves Saint Laurents, plus a large assortment of incidental pieces such as jewlery and hats. Includes a wall display showing collection boards of (usually) pencil art of Laurent's designs on grid paper. The exhibit allows you to follow a year by year progression through Yves Saint Laurents' career seeing the evolution and changes in his designs and fashion in general. Exhibit also included a variety of other artifcats, such as small paper outfits designed, colored and cut out by Laurents for the purpose of dressing paper dolls, providing the fascinating look at the development of a child prodigy before becoming a world-famous clothing designer.

Walney Pond - Chantilly Virginia

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Walney Pond at the Ellanor Lawrence Park. It is heartening that this little body of water persists decade after decade when so many ponds have been filled in by the mammoth amount of development that has turned Chantilly from a rural little farming and commuter community into a densely-packed hybrid of residentia and business operations.

Washington DC - always under construction

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Washington DC is always under construction The amount of change that Washington DC has gone through from the time I was a mediocre student (Chantilly High School class of 1982) and to now, the year 2017, is phenomenal. Each wave of change (usually on the coattails of a president, it seems like) has tended to renovate some aspect of the city, not always for the better, but frequently to improve and upgrade. In particular are changes in which residential areas have been developed where previously a business-only space became deserted once night fell, and an attendent amount of crime became the particular character of that place once the sun was gone. The incredible change of 14th street is just an example. Another good alteration is how the business and entertainment area now around the Verizon Center. In the late 1970s when I attended art classes at the National Portrait Gallery, the area was partially a legitimate business area with art auction houses, restaurants, and the rest, but

Reflecting Pool - Capitol Washington DC

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The Reflecting Pool out in front of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. One of the things I have noticed repeatedly is that tourists go into "rest" mode around the waters of the reflecting pool. The place has an impressive view of the Capitol Building, along with the nice line of trees and the statue of Ulysses Grant in the dead center of the wide open space, but between the waters rolling a bit and the ducks floating along, the tourists seem to slow down and relax from the visual effect. After marching about under a DC summer sun on top of all the pavement and sidewalk concrete, around monuments and the noise of cars, the picturesque setting in front of one of the crazier places of American life (referring specifically to the interior of the Capitol building) all the same is a pleasant and reinvigorating place.
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Portrait - ink and watercolor
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At Lewes, Delaware