RMW Ramblings

  The Last Boat   In the 1940s and '50s there were no longer amusement parks in the immediate Wilmington area.  Brandywine Springs and Shellpot Park were long gone.  But for a kid in the summer, Lenape Park near West Chester was accessible by an energetic bike ride, and Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville, NJ could be reached by boat.  With friends I took the number 5 trolley to Church St., walked to the Wilson Line terminal by Fourth St., and cruised to the dock right at Riverview Beach Park.  Take in the rides, swimming pool, and food, and then a late boat back to Wilmington. One year Tasty Kakes had a promotion in connection with Riverview.  Local grocery stores gave out strips with detachable discount coupons for many of the rides.  The bottom coupon was good for one free ride on any of the Riverview rides.  We loaded up on the promotional strips, tore off the free coupons. and discarded the rest.  Riverview was overrun with kids. T...

  Marshland Heron A defect in the fabric weave on an 8x8 canvasboard inspired Marshland Heron.  

  Mauve Spring A succession of flowers in our gardens this spring in the purple, violet, mauve range inspired this set of 8x8 inch paintings on a range of backgrounds. Left to right, Iris, Clematis, Geraniums, Wisteria, False Indigo.

  Duo  

  Heron Aloft An Experiment in High Saturation Painting In painting Heron Aloft I greatly exaggerated the color saturation in the sky and the play of light and shadow on the bird.  The result was difficult to photograph or scan, losing some the intensity of the original.

Out the Bedroom Window   

  Cottage Mermaid While rebuilding from our Isabel flood (September 2003) I constructed a small closet in the kitchen recycling a door and trim from an old non-functional toilet stall from another room. Since we have very high ceilings I included a transom door to access the higher space in the closet. I painted a very human mermaid swimming in a fantasy aquascape on a panel inside the beaded board transom door. Most of our visitors never know she is hidden there.