The Twentieth Century Art Book

The 20th Century Art Book (Phaidon Press Limited, London 1999) explores the significant artists, works of art, and art movements of the twentieth century, all in a compact 5x6x1 inch format. You may wonder why I'm reading about art in a blog about gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area, but to me it makes perfect sense! It starts with color, and quickly expands to more!

The bulk of the book is an alphabetical presentation of international artists each with a representative piece of a work, a description of the work, demographic information about the artist and the work, and cross references to other artists who may have influenced the artist or been working in the same artistic school. Works of art range from sculpture and paintings, to installations and happenings, to media. Artists range from Acconci and Hockney, to Mondrian and Pollock, to Rodin and Vasarely, to Zorio. Some of the artists were known to me, but most were not.

The back matter provides a glossary of terms for talking about art (abstract, body art, found object, kinetic, modernism, prints, realism, watercolor, and so forth). It also provides a glossary of artistic movements, with references to artists, such as Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Cubism, Dada, Expressionism, Op Art, Pop Art, Surrealism. After reading about each artistic movement, I spent time rereading the pages for each cited artist, and found it added to my overall understanding.

I was interested to learn that much of 20th century art was about breaking away from representing the world around us, and finding ways to represent the world through abstraction or reduction. French Impressionism, a painting style that started in the 1860s, used light and color to create "an impression" of everyday objects and scenes. The movement laid the ground work for the many styles of abstraction that followed. In abstraction, the idea or emotion of the object is conveyed, rather than a physical representation.

I recommend The 20th Century Art Book for anyone interested in art or gardens. Gardeners can be inspired by Josef Albers, Gunther Forg and others for using color to convey emotion; Isamu Noguchi, Henry Moore and others for creating sculpture with which to ponder and interact; and Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Smithson for employing Land Art concepts both temporary and long lasting.

Huckleberry Botantic Regional Preserve

Our next East Bay watershed park visit is to Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, located in the hills behind Oakland off Skyline Boulevard, between Sibley and Redwood regional parks. The preserve is relatively small, 240 acres, with a 1.7-mile loop trail that links to the larger Skyline National Trail. I visited the park in early May, on a cool, overcast week end. I was very interested in visiting the park because of its unusual plant collection.

Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve Entrance

Picnic area

According to the informative park brochure, written by Ben Johnson, the native plant community is found nowhere else in the East Bay, and represents a relic plant association found only in California areas where ideal soil and climatic conditions exist. The vegetation originated in the southern coast of California when the climate was moister and tempered by cool coastal fog. Similar vegetation is found in the islands off the Santa Barbara coast, and in pockets on the coast between Point Conception and Montara Mountains south of San Francisco.

Huckleberry Path

Per Johnson, the geology belongs to the Claremont shale/chert formation, laid down in a deep ocean basin, pushed up, and then eroded around 12 million years ago. The soil is poor and porous, with little water-holding capability, so the conditions favor pioneering chaparral species, and hold off intrusion of other local species.

Bench with a view of the Oakland Hills

Lush forest with ferns and moss

Upper Huckleberry Path is fairly flat, and passes through a lovely, lush forest of Canyon live oak, Pacific madrone, California hazelnut, and California bay, and an understory of ferns, huckleberries, Iris, currants, and many others. The bay trees give off a wonderful, aromatic scent. Signposts installed along the path serve as keys to brochure descriptions of the vegetation [such as Brittleleaf manzanita, Pallid manzanita, Coast Silktassell, Western leatherwood, Jimbrush (Ceanothus), succession, geology, and more.

Marker 15 - Pallid Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pallida)

View of the Oakland Hills under clearing sky

Along the trail are views of the Oakland hills, which were still green in early May after our very wet winter. A bench provides a wonderful spot to take in the view. I especially enjoyed seeing some of the small woodland plants that grow in the shady understory.

Unidentified	Cow Parsnip
Unidentified	Douglas Iris

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This is a small treasure in the East Bay watershed. There are few parking spots at the Huckleberry Main Staging Area, one picnic table that I could see, and dogs and horses are not permitted on the path, so the preserve may not appeal to everyone. But the vegetation and geology are interesting, it's a great place for a short hike, and it gives us a glimpse into how plants might "move north" to survive as environmental conditions change. Be sure to check the website for notices that might affect your visit.

Address:  Huckleberry Main Staging Area – 7087 Skyline Boulevard (just south of Elverton Drive); Oakland, CA 94611.  Web Site: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/huckleberry Map: http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/_Nav_Categories/Parks/Maps/Huckleberry+map.pdf (map side), http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/_Nav_Categories/Parks/Maps/Huckleberry+text.pdf (text side) Wild flowers (sorted by color): http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/files/EBRPD_files/photoguides/wild-flowers/EBRPD_Huckleberry_Botanic_Wildflowers.pdf For other parks and preserves in the East Bay watershed, see:  http://edenbythebay.blogspot.com/2017/02/parks-of-east-bay-watershed.html

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Color in the Garden: Clear Yellows

This month we're considering clear yellows in the garden, using Penelope Hobhouse's book, Color in Your Garden for guidance and inspiration. In the process, we’re working on a portfolio of plants that can add yellow to our gardens here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Hobhouse distinguishes between pale yellows and clear yellows. Pale yellows are serene and restful, where clear yellows are luminous and glowing. Clear yellows are those with pure hue, easily seen by the eye, since the midrange light wave does not require the eye to refocus. The gallery includes native plants and near-natives that thrive in a Mediterranean climate, as well as some that simply illustrate the effect of using clear yellow flowers.

Spring

Tulips	California Brittlebush
Iris	Two-tone daffodils
Primrose	Violets
Mustard field (invasive)	Monkey Flower

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Clear yellows lie on the color spectrum between harsh yellow and deep orange, and the yellow-greens. Their compliments are blues, violets, and mauves. Clear yellows convey optimisms and cheer, and can be the color of spring.

Summer

Unidentified	Aster
Yellow pokers	Unidentified
Trumpets	Flannel bush

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Hobhouse recommends using yellow and gold flowers and plants as focal points in the garden, rather than as the theme of the garden. Create “pools of gold” or “spotlights of yellow”; contrast clear yellow with sober greens and restful grays, or with complementary colors in the blues, violets, and mauves.

Fall and Winter

Rose	Day lilies (three seasons)
Acacia	Mahonia

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The yellow hue can also originate from pollen tassels, variegated leaves, and pale gold and lime-green foliage. By using both yellow flowers and yellow-tinged foliage, you can have yellow in the garden across the seasons.

Foliage

Variegated leaves	Pollen tassels
More variegated leaves	Lime-green foliage
Still more variegated leaves	New growth yellow-hued ivy leaves

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To find more about yellow flowers and foliage that thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area, see Wildflowers of the East Bay Regional Park District. Another good source is Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates.

Desert Plant Wrapup – 2017

The winter rains produced many beautiful flowers this year. Clearly yellow was the favored color during our visit –  most noteworthy was the California Brittlebush in Whitewater Preserve, and the Desert Sunflower in Borrego Springs. The masses of yellow flowers looked like pools of yellow light or yellow gold on the dessert hills and floor.

But everywhere we traveled we found beautiful flowers across the species! Everything looked healthy and lush, with plants stirring to life and reviving after the prolonged drought. Here is this year’s virtual album from our travels (see albums for 2015 and 2016).

California Brittlebush	Creosote Bush
Sugar Bush	Orange Mallow
Desert Dandelion	Desert Verbena
Unidentified	Desert Evening Primrose
Desert sunflower	Desert Aster

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Borrego Springs to Palm Springs

The storm broke in the night and morning was as sweet as if nothing had happened. Only you could tell that something had happened – leaves and debris were everywhere, trees had blown over, palm fronds littered the ground. The sky was beautiful and blue, cleared of any pollution or hint of storm. I took a quick tour of the Palm Canyon Resort grounds to assess the damage and the beauty.

Palm Canyon Resort the morning after the Big Wind

We headed for our usual breakfast spot, Kendall’s Café, but it was too busy (lots of hungry folks after a night of power outages and storms). We ended up at the Bighorn Fudge Factory coffee shop for coffee and berry pie with ice cream (perfectly acceptable breakfast fare), and then went to Center Market to replenish our lunch supplies. We heard a lot of good storm stories at both places.

Ricardo Brececa - Elephants

Camel

Sloths

After packing up and checking out of the Palm Canyon Resort, we headed for Henderson Canyon Road stopping along the way to see more of the Sky Art sculptures by Ricardo Brececa, sponsored by Dennis Avery, owner of Gallata Meadows Estate in Borrego Springs. 

Wilderness and nature - in the desert

Henderson Canyon Road area

Strolling in the sunflower field

Then on to Henderson Canyon Road to see the fields of sand verbena, and desert primrose, dandelion, and sunflowers. The dessert floor seemed to glow with yellow and gold. Just as interesting were the White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillars (Hyles lineata) that had descended on the desert evening primroses, and were eating their way through their tender flowers and stems.

Photographing the caterpillars

Foraging on desert evening primrose	Consumed desert evening primrose
Caterpillar tracks to a new patch	Group lunch

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Thousands of them hung on the desert evening primrose plants, systematically munching through anything edible, and then dashing across the hot sand to another batch of plants. They were discriminating though - the desert verbenas and sunflowers were untouched.

Palms of Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs Art Museum

We finally pulled ourselves away from the fascinating spectacle and headed for the Palm Springs Art Museum in downtown Palm Springs. We enjoyed seeing the latest batch of California Impressionist paintings on display from their rotating collection, and several newly acquired pieces.

Exhibits in the Palm Springs Art Museum

All Green, by Mary Abbott (inspired by the jungle vegetation of the Virgin Islands - green as light)

Osho, by Faig Ahmed (traditional carpet weaving dissolving into modern art)

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The Women of Abstract Expressionism exhibit was especially interesting (women have been underreported and undervalued in this art movement). I recognized a few names because of recent reading on 20^th century art – Helen Frankenthaler, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, and Joan Mitchell. Mom especially liked All Green, by Mary Abbott.

Sculpture garden with appealing statues

Alive!, by Jeffrey Gibson and Aaron Hansen

We also saw a second Dessert X piece in the outdoor sculpture garden – Alive! by Jeffrey Gibson, with hand lettering by Aaron Hansen. Alive! Is a found object, ready-made sculpture (a wind turbine blade to be precise) that celebrates the desert, the wind turbine form, and life.

Town and culture - in the museum

We ended the day at Maracas Restaurant in downtown Palm Springs, on the shady patio with delicious Mexican cuisine and conversation about all that we had seen and experienced. I love this kind of day - one that straddles wilderness and nature, and town and culture.