Mobilelene: September 2023

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Wrap around cornice

It's important to finish strong, and ensuring that this cornice ends appropriately was (apparently) important!

Streetcar trio (1008, 1010, 1063)

As if I don't post enough photos of these ordinarily. I did get to see streetcar #1 today, which was a special treat.

Green and Cream (SF Muni Bus in classic colors)

The shiny waistband for the bus! The cream on the wheel! I'm surprised the wheel wells didn't have rounded corners, but that is likely wise not to for safety.

Retro Bus Front (colored filter treatments)

There is something so... interesting about design from this era. The flatness! The chrome! The spaces without anything there! The double windows! The roundness of the headlights! The roundness of all the corners! It is quite engaging to look at.

Ohio delivers

The logo doesn't appear level in any of my photos facing this bus straight on, but I still really like it.

Yes, I am admitting that I attended the Muni Heritage Fair.

Blackpool boat tram in red trim

Festive, always!

Muni heritage bus in 49ers colors

My friend P immediately pointed out that the cool, trapezoidal windows were often impossible to open, but I insist that they still looked cool!

Also: what's this about buses I've ridden in being declared "vintage?" Yikes.

Friday afternoon view without wildfire smoke (22 Sept)

So much better! (Sorry about the reflections - I was so excited to see colors again, I didn't immediately notice them.)

View eastward with wildfire smoke from the north (22 Sept)

I had a meeting in downtown San Francisco, and the East Bay (beyond Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands) just didn't appear to exist before the breeze came up. The fires, of which there are at least four, are burning 5+ hours north of here, but it turns out the wind can blanket our area in just a few days.

Sunday, September 10, 2023

Monotype Sunday

Transparent acrylic paints behave differently than I expected, and this particular red (naphthol red light) is fun, but not my usual red, and I wound up adding less transparent colors to get the contrast I wanted. It was fun AND educational.

Spinal reflections (9 September)

It is a neat shape, that reflection. Also, the buildings in the foreground (shown from the rear) have more texture than expected.

Monday, September 4, 2023

Tall Pacific

Shaped Sand

It reminds me of frosting today.

Art on the Outfall

The pieces change often, but the outfall stays the same.

Monotype Morning (3 Sept)

You know I'm having a proper holiday weekend when I can visit art AND make some!

Upright (2 Sept)

Paddling out from Crane Cove.

Preserving the facade, but only a little (2 Sept)

Somehow, this two story box is what is left of the historic building. It's nice. It's just not much.

Iridescent Glass Reflections (2 Sept)

100 The Embarcadero (1 Sept)

D.C. Transit (streetcar with palm trees)(1 Sept)

Always a favorite livery. Hello, Bay Bridge in the background!

Monitor bank (1 Sept)

It looms well, doesn't it?

Detail:

Front view with the actual art:

Scene from a gallery (1 Sept)

Liz Larner's Wrapped Corner, Calida Rawles High Tide, Heavy Armor (facing us in the distance), and... oh, that name of the wonderful hanging piece is escaping me.

I just missed composing this with a pointing hand from a gallery guard.

The art is good, but the projectors make me swoon (1 Sept)

Oooooooooooooooh.

Best room (1 September)

I didn't know the work of Tatsuo Miyajima (tatsuomiyajima.com/) previously, but this is a fantastic introduction.

The piece is called Counter Line.

Pink Window (1 Sept)

New color, familiar view. Thanks always to Snøhetta for designing stimulating angles.

Frank Bowling at SFMoMA (1 Sept)

I enjoyed this show, Frank Bowling: The New York Years 1966–1975 (sfmoma.org) and recommend it for abstract painting fans.

SFMoMA painting by Alma Thomas (1 Sept)

Alma Thomas (Wikipedia link) was born in 1891, and still managed to paint such a remarkably contemporary piece in the 1970s. She is possibly the first woman, and first African-American woman, to receive a bachelor of arts degree in fine art in the U.S.

I really like this piece. (I make monotype prints, and intentionally seek out some patterns like this when rolling paint out on my printing plate, so I have a direct connection to these forms.). It is delightful.

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