Turkey Hill and the Susquehanna

There was a rare spot of sunshine during another cold rainy week, so I took advantage of it with a quick trip down to the boat launch/river access off of Blue Rock Road in Lancaster County, PA.  It's just a short walk down to the Susquehanna, across the railroad tracks.  On the way I paused to admire the Dame's Rocket, Hesperis matronalis, in full bloom:

 The milkweed is budding up and getting ready to bloom.  I'm always glad to see it, as it's a vital food source for monarch caterpillars:

 And the pokeweed is growing by leaps and bounds. I admire its vigor in the wild, but not so much in my garden:

Here's what I came for, the view of the Susquehanna, looking downriver towards Turkey Hill.  You can just make out the Enola Low Grade Trail, last week's photo site, at the base of the hill:

I was at this spot early last fall, but looking upriver, for my week 20 fisheye image:

52 Ways to Look at the River, week 20 image

 And the resultant week 20 panel:

52 Ways to Look at the River, week 20 panel

Here's the dock this week, sans boat:

To get even more meta, remember that view of the islands from the trail, from last week?

Here's one of them full on, with a telephoto lens, revealing what I'm assuming is a duck blind in front of it:

And surely you remember that red caboose on the trail?

The caboose is just visible, with the telephoto lens, in the image I chose for this week's inspiration photo. At the top of Turkey Hill are the windmills, standing 262 feet high, that help power the dairy.  Just beyond the windmills is the Frey Farm Landfill.

 The panel is wool and silk, 6" x 12", needlefelted, stitched, and painted.

52 Ways to Look at the River, week 47 panel

You can follow along with the 52 Ways to Look at the River project on your platform of choice:

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I've added a "52 Weeks" tab at the top header so you can track the project back to the beginning.

As always, thank you for reading and commenting.

The Susquehanna and the Enola Low Grade Trail

It was another cool, gray, rainy week. Despite the weather, I'm trying to get the garden in, so I made just a quick trip for my 52 Ways to Look at the River photo shoot.  I went to the Enola Low Grade Trail:

This section of the trail flanks the railroad tracks along the Susquehanna from Turkey Hill to the Safe Harbor Dam.  I go there from time to time to get in a bike ride, as the trail bed is excellent, and I've been there before for this project.  Way back in week 8 I took this fisheye picture on a hot, sunny day:

Week 8 Image, 52 Ways to Look at the River

I used it as inspiration for this panel:

Week 8 Panel, 52 Ways to Look at the River

And on week 11 I was back to climb the adjacent trail up to Turkey Hill and take another fisheye picture.

Week 11 Image, 52 Ways to Look at the River

 Which I turned into this panel:

Week 11 Panel, 52 Ways to Look at the River

This same vantage point was the subject of this small art quilt, View From Turkey Hill, which I sold years ago.  Before the current trail version of the trail opened, it was a more rustic hike, as I reported back in 2012.

View From Turkey Hill

And way back in 2009, the old trail was the site of my paw paw extravaganza:

This time around nature's palette was much more subdued:

With the only pop of color coming from the caboose on display:

So I decided to embrace the gray, and turned my telephoto lens towards that group of islands.  Here's the week 46 inspiration image:

52 Ways to Look at the River, week 46 image,

And the resultant panel, 6" x 12", wool and silk, needlefelted and stitched:

52 Ways to Look at the River, week 46 panel

You can follow along with the 52 Ways to Look at the River project on your platform of choice:

Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/suerenostudio

Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/suereno

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Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/people/suereno/
Instagram: sue_reno_studio

I've added a "52 Weeks" tab at the top header so you can track the project back to the beginning.

As always, thank you for reading and commenting.

Chickies Rock Hike

In the midst of a very rainy and dreary week, I took the short hike up to Chickies Rock to take pictures. I've been there countless times, but I never take it for granted, or tire of it, because this is the view:

I took a telephoto lens this time, and focused on the bridges downriver.  Here's the modern Rt. 30 span, with the Veterans Memorial Bridge that has often been the focus of my artwork in the background:

 The lens also let me capture this hawk in flight:

In May the woods along the trail are bursting with new growth, like this Royal Paulownia tree, Paulownia tomentosa, in full bloom.

The blooms are high in the tree, but heavy rains had knocked some of them down, and I was able to get a macro shot of a bud:

And a macro image of the interior of a flower:

Royal Paulownia is a non-native, fast growing "trash" tree, but I've got a soft spot for them, mostly because of their gigantic leaves.  I used the leaves in a mono print and a cyanotype print in my artquilt Royal Paulownia.  In 2006 this work was shown in the Museum of Fine Art in Bishkek, Kyrgzstan.

Royal Paulownia

Still looking up, I saw several tent caterpillar nests, although it didn't seem to be a heavy infestation this year.

The caterpillars can be destructive, but in a macro view they have their own beauty.

The fresh green leaves of a chestnut oak are very appealing:

And I suppose there's some beauty to be found in devil's tear thumb, Persicaria perfoliata, even though it is the bane of my gardening existence: 

 The fox grapes, Vitus labrusca, are just starting to leaf out:

And the heucheras are setting buds:

 Mayapples are an attractive native ground cover, especially appealing when dotted with raindrops:

 I used mayapple leaves for cyanotype prints in Deer and Mayapple, part of my Flora and Fauna series:

Deer and Mayapple

The fuzzy leaves of common mullien, Verbascum Thapsus, also catch the rain.  It's a biennial, so this specimen will shoot up a tall flowering stalk later in the summer.

Here's some small pink daisies or fleabane flowers--I haven't tracked down the exact ID, but that doesn't abate my appreciation:

 And surely there's some beauty in the reddish color of these new poison leaves, if only in its effectiveness in warning me to stay away:

Poke, or pokeweed, Phytollaca americana, is also emerging right now.  These shoots are just a bit past the stage where there are edible.  It's one of those deals where you have to catch them young and boil them in several changes of water to avoid toxicity--the mature plants are definitely inedible.  I've eaten them a few times and enjoyed them with no ill effects.  Sometimes old-timers have them for sale at the local farmer's market.

This is another favorite plant/garden weed, partly because of the purple berries I used to make "ink" as a child, and partly from admiration of it's persistence.  The seeds can lay dormant for decades if need be.  I used the leaves in one of my first artquilts, Poke Salad:

And also in the Cul-de-Sac, where they grew in abundance after a bit of woods was clear-cut:

The Cul-de-Sac

Part of the premise for my ongoing, self-directed project, 52 Ways to Look at the River, is that every viewing of Susquehanna River is unique.  I visited Chickies Rock last fall, when the leaves were just starting to turn:

Week 17 Image, 52 Ways to Look at the River

I used that imagery to make my week 17 panel:

Week 17 panel, 52 Ways to Look at the River

This week I focused on the view downriver, and chose this perspective as my inspiration image:

Week 45 image, 52 Ways to Look at the River

 Here's my week 45 panel, 6" x 12", wool and silk, needlefelted and stitched:

Week 45 panel, 52 Ways to Look at the River

I'm coming down the homestretch on this project. While on the one hand I'm considering making road trips to view the Susquehanna in far-away locales, this week's outing proves that adventure is a function of attention and observation.

You can follow along with the 52 Ways to Look at the River project on your platform of choice:

Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/suerenostudio

Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/suereno
Tumblr: http://suerenostudio.tumblr.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/people/suereno/
Instagram: sue_reno_studio

I've added a "52 Weeks" tab at the top header so you can track the project back to the beginning.

And as always, thanks for reading and commenting.  I always try to reply to comments personally and individually, provided there is contact information available.