Land ripe for retirement-home development

"Atlantis" (oil on prepared wood panel), by SUSAN LYMAN, in her show "The Body of Nature: Sculpture in Wood and Oil Paintings,'' at Boston Sculpture Gallery, Feb. 25-March 29.

Better than a new coat of paint?

 

"Reflective'' (photo), by LISA SIBLEY, at Fountain Street Fine Art,  Framingham, in the "Visual Alchemy Show,'' Jan. 2-25.

Architecture in porcelain

 

"Grain and Flour Exchange,'' by STEPHANIE YOUNG,  in the show  "City Works: Boston Architecture in Porcelain,'' Sept. 5-Oct. 5,  at Vessels Gallery, Boston.

Ms. Young had the clever idea of creating vessels with the facades of Boston landmarks,  from Commonwealth Avenue brownstones to the Longfellow Bridge.

The gallery says that "all works in the exhibition are labeled with the building, block or street that inspired the  creation, and many have slip glazes, which include silt deposits from the Charles River.''

Coronary and traffic congestion

Photo copyright BOBBY BAKER, who travels New England in search of memorable shots.

This one, of a joint in gritty downtown Worcester, is very evocative to me. Friends and I used to stop there on road trips to Vermont and fill up on food that the American Heart Association would urge us all to avoid whenever possible. It is utter junk, but delicious. The confused and congested traffic circulation of downtown Worcester, "New England's Pittsburgh,'' was a frustration that was difficult to avoid but Coney Island made it considerably more tolerable.

From Worcester, we'd proceed northwest through assorted villages and mill towns, some of which looked little changed (except for the cars) from photos taken 100 years ago. If a year or more had elapsed since our last trip through the areas, we'd notice that some big wooden store or old stagecoach hotel on a common had burned down in the interval.

Gulf Stream feeling

 

"Storm Lifting'' (oil on panel), by MARTHA STONE, in her show "Atmospheric Landscapes,'' at Galatea Fine Art, Boston, May 1-29.

April 29, 2o14

This morning had that pleasant wet feel that comes before a southeast rainstorm -- almost a breath of the tropics that reminds us of how close the Gulf Stream is.

A very agreeable effect until I realized that the basement might  flood  in the next couple of days.

And the wind  and the rain might soon strip off the blossoms from the flowering trees,  whose show is so brief.

rwhitcomb51@gmail.com