Several views of Mount Fuji

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Richard Bowker

The spectacular Hosukai exhibit at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts ended today, and I finally managed to get there. I took bunches of photos, none of which do justice to the originals. I’ll post just a few of them today.

Hokusai’s greatest hit was the series of landscape prints called Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. Here’s the greatest hit of that greatest hit, “The Great Wave of Kanagawa”:

And here’s “Umezawa in Sagami Province“:

And “Tsukuda Island in Musashi Province“:

And “South Wind, Clear Sky”:

As a special bonus, here is an MFA favorite, Monet’s portrait of his wife in Japanese costume, “La Japonaise”:

Butterfly Garden

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Richard Bowker

To celebrate summer, my company installed a butterfly garden, because that’s the way it rolls. So here are some photos of butterflies.

They even had a poster about Nabokov and butterflies, which I thought was very impressive.

The winter of our discontent needs some flowers

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Richard Bowker

The commuter boat from my little town got stuck in the ice in Boston harbor yesterday morning.

Later, parts of the roof collapsed at the grammar school that our kids attended.

Last night, a couple of guys we hired spent two hours in near-zero weather clearing our roof to prevent it from collapsing after the snow and freezing rain that’s coming tonight.

We need to see some flowers from Tom Whelan. Like a New England aster:

And a bouganvillea:

We will ignore all his very fine photos of ice crystals.

Things are awful on this planet, but there’s always Saturn and its moon

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Richard Bowker

They look really nice in this photo, don’t they? But probably if we ever get there, things will suck on them, too. Also, they don’t have Tom Brady and Gronk.

Crocus

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Richard Bowker

Because it finally feels like spring around here, I thought I’d steal a crocus from Tom Whelan’s Nature Blog:

In the bleak midwinter at Bare Cove

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Richard Bowker

We went for a New Year’s Eve walk in my little town. Things were pretty bleak at the cove:

A little less bleak here:

Cold, but a little cheerful:

This is about as cheerful as it got:

Have a warm new year!

Winter images

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Richard Bowker

First, real photography: frost crystals by Tom Whelan:

Now, something from me, looking out my front door during tonight’s snow:

And the trees in my back yard, lit up for the holidays:

Images of All Souls Day in Provincetown

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Richard Bowker

Thanks to an invitation from friends, I ended up in Provincetown on November 2 — All Souls Day. Provincetown was still celebrating Halloween. I think it likes Halloween! Here’s a zombie/transvestite mannequin:It was a gorgeous day. Our friends’ house must have some of the most spectacular views in town. Here is the Pilgrim Monument at sunset as seen from their rooftop deck:And here is the harbor:And the dunes:After dark, things get interesting in Provincetown — too bad my camera isn’t better. Here are some sailor boys and, er, girls: Here is a biker/angel of death:On the opposite side of the religious spectrum, here is a nun in a miniskirt and a pope (maybe) wearing sneakers:Everyone was headed to the big Beaux Arts Ball at Town Hall:Provincetown is one of a kind.

Summer images

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Richard Bowker

We haven’t taken a photo break lately.

Here is a photo of a waterfall in the Berkshires taken by my friend Tom Whelan:

And here is a simple daisy, looking beautiful:

Here’s where I spent a couple days of my vacation last week, looking at the ocean instead of working on my novel:

That’s Duxbury Beach on Boston’s South Shore.

Now back to work.

Sparkly mayonnaise jars and modern art

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Richard Bowker

During my recent trip to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts I took this photo of modern food items treated somehow to make them sparkle:

I’m guessing this is a trenchant commentary on American consumerism. But I could be wrong–the artist might just enjoy making mayonnaise jars and cracker boxes sparkle. In either case I’m a bit baffled by why these objects are in a major art museum.

Seems to me you go to a museum like the MFA to view objects that you’ll want to view again and again. Like this happy, wise statue: