Last weekend we hopped on a bright and mild moment and went to Northerly Island for a walk. After walking on the official path the southernmost tip of the island (ummm, peninsula) we noticed that there’s a really sturdy walkway along the harbor side headed back north. Great views of the city from there! The views from the whole area really can’t be beat.
We have both been sick for the last week – with John having about a 4 day head start and so he’s better now, and I am getting over this bug now. Other people we haven’t had any contact with like Maddie are also sick (as is Liam, but less relevant to this story) and unfortunately a birthday outing that Maddie and I were going to do to celebrate her turning 11 on Monday has been postponed. Disapponting! Since I already had planned to take the day off, I stuck with it and went to the Smart Museum of Art in Hyde Park (on the UChicago campus) to see the Ruth Duckworth exhibit.
Ruth Duckworth was a studio ceramicist in London and I really love her work from that period. Then she moved to Chicago in 1964 and started working more on ceramic sculpture – so much to love there too! The exhibit at the Smart is really wonderful. It has some of her 3D pieces, including birds (4th photo below), wall reliefs that are put together out of many very large ceramic fired tiles, and other figurative sculptures that reference themes like the human form and landscapes.
In the next gallery there was an exhibit about poetry and I really liked these poems by Mary Ellen Solt, who was among other accomplishments a concrete poet. Concrete poetry is an arrangement of letters and words in such a way that the form the letters take is more important than their meaning. Where has concrete poetry been all my life? Love this. The first photos show the poem Forsythia (which I like because forsythia blooms early here and is a pretty yellow, and because it sounds like my name.) The next poem is Marigold, in circular and almost mandala like form.
There was a great article in the New Yorker this month about a new short movie about three women who swim in Lake Michigan year round. I highly recommend you watch the movie at the link above – maybe pour a warm drink and fire up a laptop or screen that’s larger than a phone and enjoy! Anyway it’s reminded me that I haven’t been to Promontory Point in a long time, and so after the museum I went over to the lake for a walk.
This part of the lake was very quiet – no rocks for the water to ripple against.
Just a few feet away, this part of the lake had very loud ripply sounds.
On the north side of the point, the water was super glassy and smooth.
The scalloped edge of the concrete reminds me of an edge of fabric cut with pinking shears. And this curve is like the curve in a stocking!
Elegant incorporation of a ladder into the edge.
The lines raked into the concrete made me think of some Ruth Duckworth sculpture surfaces.
I started to boost the “brilliance” factor of this photo but then realized that really it should stay as is, showing the pale winter light. No leaves means such a great view of tree branch form!
Shame you were all sick! Great you stuck with the day off and did something lovely with it…. You weren’t tempted by a winter dip like those women!!?
About the video I watched via the link: I noticed that the women wore black gloves and sock-like boots for getting into icy water. I guess these are somehow waterproof? Are they to protect fingers and toes from frostbite?
Looks like they have dry robes like you have!
ummm, I appreciate how invigorating a winter swim made the women feel, but it’s mighty nice to enjoy a nice cup of coffee indoors, too.
Yes, those gloves and boots protect extremities from getting too cold! Coffee indoors is really nice too!