Oct. 2022 Big Rock Garden Park

Big Rock Garden Park is a unique combination of an Arboretum and a Sculpture Garden. It has thirty-eight different pieces done mostly by Pacific Northwest Artists. It's hidden in a woods on a 2.5 acre plot in a hilltop residential neighborhood in Bellingham, WA.

After a year of visiting the Park in all seasons, and doing extensive background research on George Drake and David Marshall the two people most responsible for its creation, I produced a 40 page booklet on the subject. In the last ten years both of these patriarchs have passed away and the Park has become just one more entity in the City of Bellingham's Park system. The flowers and trees have been well-cared for by a group of dedicated volunteer gardeners called: "The Friends of Big Rock Garden Park". And the heavy maintenance is handled by the City Park's staff.

What's missing though is the personal leadership and financial support that Drake in particular provided. It's my hope that this booklet might inspire a next generation of residents to recognize the Park's value and protect it. Here's a link to a PDF version of the booklet plus few additrional images. Bellingham (WA) residents can purchase a printed version of the booklet at Village Books (Fairhaven), the Whatcom Museum Bookstore and the Allied Arts Gallery.

 
   
           

Sept. 2022 Seattle Art Museum

  
   
On a recent visit to the SAM there were two shows of interest to me: the visiting Alberto Giacometti exhibit and the display featuring the collection of Richard Lang and Jane Lang Davis which was recently donated to the museum. On the left below is one of Giacometti's characteristic walking men sculptures, while on the right is a David Smith Sculpture with a Franz Kline painting displayed behind it. The Giacometti sculptures were unique and fascinating. The Lang Davis show included large photographs of their Abstract Expressionist painting as they lived with them in their Medina (WA) home: which humanized this art genre for me.  
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   
   

Oct. 2020 Seattle

Marty Dog and I went down to Seattle in late October to visit the Seattle Arboratum and photograph some Fall color. The leaves hadn't turned yet so we moved on to the Olympic Sculpture Park downtown and and saw the famed Alexander Calder's "Eagle" and Richard Serra's "Waves". On the way home we drove up Queen Anne Hill to Kerry Park to catch the evening sunset. The clouds broke over Mt. Rainier at just the right moment.

  
   
   

Aug. 2020 Artist Point Trails

The Artist Point trail head at 5,000 feet didn't open until August this year. From there Mt. Shuksan, a 9,131 glaciated massif rises in the east; while Mt. Baker, a 10,781 active glacier covered volcanic peak rises in the west. These images, were taken in late August. The air was clear enough to see Mt. Ranier 100 miles directly south. This trail is only 65 miles from my house.

  
   
 
   

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Oct. 2019 The "Real" Lake Louise

About a mile from my home there is a nice pond called "Lake Louise". But the real one is in the Canadian Rockies. Marty and I went up there via Glacier National Park in early October. An early season snow storm closed the Park forcing me to drive around it rather than through it. In Canada it was the clouds that obscured our views. But I did have two shots at Lake Louise.

  
   
 
   

 
 
   

June 2019 Squalicom Harbor

Sqaulicom Harbor, on the Bellingham waterfront, is the home port for 1,400 commercial and pleasure boats. In these two evening shots the 1892 City Hall Building can be seen lurking over the harbor.

  
   

 

 
   

May 2019 Vancouver BC

The Vancouver Art Museum had an exhibit of 67 paintings, mostly French Modern, on loan from the Brooklyn Museum. The show covered a wide range of artists. To avoid the traffic and parking issues, I took the AMTRAK train back and forth across the border. The painting shown is by Camille Pissarro: one of my favorites among the French Impressionistic artists. His works always have multiple layers giving them a sense of depth; which good landscape photographers strive for too.

  
   
 
   

Jan. 2019 Eagle Photography

There was a very small salmon run this year, so by mid-January there wasn't much food left for the Eagles along the Skagit River. So a decaying salmon carcass drew a competitve crowd. More images can be viewed in the Eagles Gallery.

  
   
 
   

Oct. 2018 Jackson Hole

In late October just before Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks closed for the season, Marty and I made a 2,900 mile round trip to try and photograph some wildlife in snow. We got some snow, but saw very few wild animals. Their winter migration hadn't begun yet. The image on the left is Oxbow Bend on the Snake River, on the right is a barn built by one of the original settlers (John Moulton) of Jackson Hole. More images will be shown soon in a Wyoming Gallery.

  
   
 
   

May 2018 Columbia River, Oregon

Marty and I drove down through Mt. Rainier National Park and then over into Oregon on the south side of the Columbia River. The weather was rainy and foggy in WA, but the sun came out once we got down into Oregon. Multnomah Falls drops 620 feet into the Columbia River, just off I-84. It's the second largest in the US after Yosemite Falls. On the right is an overview of the Hood River Valley with Mt. Hood in the background.

 
   
 
     

Jan. 2018 Eagle Photography

After trips on the Nooksack and Skagit Rivers in cold, rainy and dark weather in December, the sun finally came out on the Skagit River in early-January. The light was good and the Eagles were hungry. Here's an example of what happened in three hours on the River up near Marblemount,WA. More images can be viewed in the Eagles Gallery.

  
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

Jan. 2018 Seattle Train Trip

AMTRAK provides daily passenger train service between Vancouver, Canada and Portland, Oregon. So instead of driving down to Seattle to see the exhibit of Andrew Wyeth's paintings at the Seattle Art Museum, I took the train. The train ride down the coast was enchanting even in the rain. Once in the city it was a short walk to the Museum, but since I had eight hours between trains, I spent some time in the Pike Place Market and then dined in a very nice Italian Eatery (Radici) near the station.

  
   
                       
   
ANDREW WYETH: I first encountered his work at a retrospective held at the Chicago Art Institute in 1968. Since then I have seen two other shows of his work, plus I have visited the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA that features his work as well as the art of his father and son. During his 90 year life he created hundreds of remarkable landscapes and portraits including some nude figure studies. He's generally regarded as one of the greatest American artists of the 20th Century. The Seattle show was mostly drawn from the family's private collection and covered his work from the late 1930's up until his death at age 90 in 2009. Shown below are two of his most famous pieces, a loving portrait of his wife Betsy, and "Wind from the Sea" a view of Maine painted in 1947. Both are tempera paintings on board.  
   
 
   

Oct. 2017 Downtown Bellingham

Bellingham has a very interesting and commercially vibrant downtown. The 1892 City Hall building is used as a Historical Museum today; while the 1927, 1500 seat, fully restored Mt. Baker Theatre is the largest performing art center north of Seattle. And Rocket Donuts is far more interesting than Dunkin'! The flag, shown with Marty, celebrates our latest thing.

  
   
 
 
   
 
 
   

Oct. 2017 WA Round-About

In the first week of October I drove over the Northern Cascades through Washington and Sherman Passes and then down into Spokane. From there I headed down into the Palouse country and Pullman, WA. Then I came home through Ellensburg, Levanworth and over Stevens Pass. As a newcomer to WA, I wanted to see the eastern and central parts of the state. I had hoped to see more fall color, but was about two weeks early. A few of the Larch trees at high elevations, such as on Liberty Bell peak, were turning yellow while the Palouse fields were a mixture of gold and brown.

  
   
 
 
   

Sept. 2017 Zodiac Schooner

In early September I joined about fifteen other folks on a three-day sail from Bellingham on the 160 foot Schooner Zodiac that was sponsored by Village Books in Fairhaven. We sailed around the San Juan Islands, spending our first night off Sand Spit State Park on Lopez Island and the second in a lagoon on Shaw Island just across from Friday Harbor. On one evening the author Jim Lynch talked about his sailing novel, "Before the Wind'. On another day the First Mate discussed Jonathan White's book on "TIDES" with us. For the benefit of my fellow sailors and the crew, I put up a web gallery of images from the cruise; Click here to view it:www.mcbridephotographics.com/zodiacgallery1.

  
   
                       
   

June 2017 Artist Point

The first day (June 30) the Forest Service opened the road up to Artists' Point, Marty and I were up there. We hiked up the ridge trail on a 70 degree day in warm soft snow. It was a great day to be in the mountains. Shown below is Mt. Baker on the left and Mt. Shuksan on the right. This is all just 65 miles from our home in Bellingham!

  
   
                       
   

April 2017 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Just south of my home there are two large bulb farms in the Skagit Valley that grow daffodils and tulips. During the four weeks each spring when the fields are all in bloom, for a $7 fee, they allow visitors to wander among the flowers. This event draws huge crowds backing up weekend traffic for miles on I-5 from Seattle. Shown at the left is a closeup photograph featuring some of the more exotic hybrids, while the view on the right features more convetional varieties.

  
 
   

April 2017 Trip to Orcas Island.

Orcas is the largest of the San Juan Islands and it has the most diverse topography, highlighted by 2,400 foot tall Mt. Moran in the middle of a State Park that also includes numerous waterfalls and two good-sized lakes. The island is directly west of Bellingham Bay and Lummi Island. It is a horse-shoe shaped island with a peninsula down the middle separting East Sound from West Sound. The extensive shoreline is a delight for boaters in the summertime. Shown below is the ferry landing in Orcas Village and a picturesque farm.

 

  

January 2017 Reifel Sanctuary

About 40 miles north of our home in Delta, British Columbia, there is a large wildlife sanctuary where the Fraser River flows into the Strait of Georgia just south of Vancouver. It's home to numerous waterfowl year round, plus lots of seasonal migrating visitors. The Wood Ducks on the left are the only ducks with claws on their feet for nesting in trees. The Blue Heron is an adult male in breeding plumage. On the right is a very curious male Ring-Necked duck.

 
   
   

December 2016 Lake Whatcom

Just a few blocks from our house there is a five acre dog park on the shore of Lake Whatcom. Here Marty and Mitzy are enjoying the winter snow on a bright sunny day.

  

November 2016 Trip to San Juan Island

One of the best things about living on Puget Sound is the Washington State Ferry system that connects all the islands and the Olympic Peninsula. From nearby Anacortes ferries connect to the four San Juan Islands, as well as Victoria BC in Canada. The photo on the left was taken leaving Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island. On the right is Lime Kiln Light.