Postcard from Arizona State University

 

A Cyclist’s Concern: Part One

It’s ten until ten.
I’ve slept in again!
My alarm, I swear that it’s broken.
I sleep as it beeps,
Or maybe I creep and silence the wake up call motive.
I manage my snooze.
And often throw shoes, to pause the start of the day.
I wake in a bind.
It’s always I find, I try, but I’m late anyway.
Sloshed morning thoughts.
Can’t find my keys, my pants, my watch.
Of course I’ve forgot the numbers to the lock.
Oh, pretty please!
I twist the bike lock free!
Might make it if I flee!
Check the rear view to watch traffic carefully.
I ride up the hill, I don’t have the skill.
I stall, I slip, I perspire.
I move up the curb just missing a swerve
from the truck with the sudden flat tire.
Straight peddling on, til the looks are all gone
while I calm the fear I’ve acquired.
Police turn round the corner,
I stare in pure horror as one motions for me to dismount it.
Truck nowhere in sight, and I get the slight,
as he writes me a ticket for riding my bike where pedestrians tread,
can all this be right?
Did nobody see that freight give me fright?!
Confound it!
Shamed, shunned, despair.
I’ll walk, I don’t care. The doctor suggested fresh air.
I glance to my wrist- it’s Sunday the fifth!
I don’t have to be anywhere!

Claud Capuano Dec. 2013

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum – “Bikes on Campus”

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tucson

Yes…it’s that time. Cactus flowers are springing up all over the Sonoran Desert. Spring here is like no other in the world. All the plants you associate with Spring are in full bloom also, just like where you live. But, cactus flowers always come a little bit later. Almost every day I like to take a walk in the desert (on a paved walkway to avoid rattlers and scorpions) and right now flowers from every kind of cactus imaginable line both sides of the trail.

This flower is from the king of all cactus…the Saguaro. This particular cactus, is an old one as it has a couple of large arms. Remember, the Saguaro don’t start growing arms until it is about 100 years old. Behind this flower, you can see bulbs that will soon open to reveal their flowers. You can always count on lots of flowers from older Saguaros.

The only problem for the photographer is almost all Saguaro flowers grow on top of the main branch or the arms. And these cactus can get pretty tall…much taller than me! I got lucky with this particular one as there was a mound in front of it and, with the help of a long lens, I was able to get eye-level with the flower.

Out where I live in the western foothills above Tucson, the Saguaro are as thick as thieves. There are hundreds of them on each hill around my place. The Saguaro Cactus National Park is only a few miles from here. So I have my pick of cactus to shoot. All I need is a little natural elevation to photograph the flowers face-to-face.

Although you may have seen Saguaro Cactus in John Wayne westerns, supposedly based in Texas, they really only grow in this area and further south in Mexico. PS: for your information, many of those John Wayne films were shot just a few miles from here at the Old Tucson Movie Studios. So, if you see any movie with Saguaros, you know they were shot here.  

Come down in April sometime and see these beauties for yourself.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Rome

 

The Roman Forum

A Poem by Nicholas Michell

 

The Forum, glory of departed time!

Where temples dazzled, arches rose sublime,

And statues burned with life— what see we now?

Stones, fragments, dust — yet pride is loath to bow;

A few pale columns point to what hath been,

The last, lone, sorrowing orphans of the scene,

And mouldered walls, fair marbles, ages' spoil,

Reluctant mingle with the meaner soil:

Still Phocas' pillar struggles with decay,

And thy hold arch, Severus, spans the way;

But gone the car, and lightning-breathing steed,

And where an emperor stood, now waves the weed;

No more along the Forum's stately side

The musing sage sweeps by in toga'd pride,

Or hear we from the platform's glittering beak

The fiery orator in thunder speak;

But there the herdsman leans, and sheep and swine

Pollute the once rich path and radiant shrine:

Caesar, Augustus, Tully! gaze ye here,

Frown from the grave, and drop th' indignant tear.

 

Digital Sketch from an Original Photo by J.R. Corkrum

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Naples

I only spent one day in Naples, but do I have several stories to tell about that short sojourn. But, for now, I will just tell you one of my favorites.

To enjoy this story, you need to know three things: First, we were given a guided tour of Naples by our Italian friends who lived there for many years. So that made it easier to get around and understand what was going on. Second, understand that Naples was the most bombed city in Italy in World War II. Third, there are 27 centuries of history inside this amazing city.

To begin our tour, we took a streetcar from the railway station (we were catching a train to Florence in the evening) down to where the line ends at the waterfront. From there we could see the Isle of Capri, a famous vacation spot for Roman Emperors and today’s wealthier tourists.

From there we started our real walking tour along the oldest street in Naples, built by the Romans over 2,000 year ago. This would eventually take us back to the train station. Of course, the real reason was to take in some of most famous sites in this amazing city.

At one spot, there were two large churches across the street from each other…one was Gothic and the other Baroque. And you could not imaging two churches so opposite from each other. The Gothic church was extremely austere, almost sterile, in it architecture and decorations; while the Baroque church was as rich in decorations as any church or cathedral in Italy. It was stunning, to say the least…all quite normal for Baroque churches.

My story begins in this church. As I wandered with my Italian guide enjoying the marvels this church had to offer, we were approached by this very elderly woman, who clearly was headed right for me.

She started screaming at me in Italian and I had no idea what she was saying. I looked at my guide and friend for help and he just signaled me to stay cool. But this woman kept screaming at me, and attracting a lot of onlookers.

I kept hearing the word “Bomba” over and over. All I could think of was the word meant bomb. As for the rest of her diatribe, I did not have a clue. She finally finished and wandered off.

I turned to my friend and asked what she was saying and did the word bomba mean bomb? He said yes it did. What the woman was doing was chewing me out for bombing Naples in World War II. She obviously knew I was an American. But the kicker was she said that the Italian government had become so corrupt that she wanted me to fly my bomber up to Rome and bomb it!

Needless to say we all had a good laugh over this. How clever of her to spot me as an American but, of course, I was born after the end of the war in Europe. I still laugh when I think about that old woman. If I only could remember where I parked my bomber.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from the Sonoran Desert

The flowers bloom in the Desert joyously—
They do not weary themselves with questioning;
They are careless whether they be seen, or praised.
They blossom unto life perfectly and unto death perfectly, leaving nothing unsaid.
They spread a voluptuous carpet for the feet of the Wind
And to the frolic Breezes which overleap them, they whisper:
“Stay a moment, Brother; plunder us of our passion;
Our day is short, but our beauty is eternal.”
Never have I found a place, or a season, without beauty.
Neither the sea, where the white stallions champ their bits and rear against their bridles, Nor the Desert, bride of the Sun, which sits scornful, apart…

Excerpt from “The Poet in the Desert” - By Charles Erskine Scott Wood

A Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Hunters

The Old Country Church

There's a place near to me, where I'm longing to be
With my friends at the old country church
There with mother we went and our Sundays we spent
With our friends at the old country church

Precious years of memories
Oh, what joy they bring to me
How I long once more to be
With my friends at the old country church

How I wish that today all the people would pray
Like we prayed in that old country church
If they'd only confess, Jesus surely would bless
As He did in that old country church

Precious years of memories
Oh, what joy they bring to me
How I long once more to be
With my friends at the old country church

 

Lyrics from a song by Hank Williams

Written by J.W. Vaughn

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum 

“Old Church in a Tiny Town”

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tempe

10 days ago, I headed north toward the greater Phoenix metropolitan area…specifically Tempe and Mesa. Not only did I want to get out-of-town and do something different, I also had an itchy shutter finger and felt like photographing something new.

My targets were two of the Arizona State campuses…the main ASU campus in Tempe and the ASU Polytechnic campus out in Mesa. It was a great day for photography…nice weather and some lovely clouds in the sky. Believe it or not, in my 5.5 years here I had never visited an ASU campus…have been close a couple of times, but never visited. And as you might have noticed over time, I have a penchant for intimate architectural photos…not whole buildings necessarily but small elements of buildings that make interesting photos.

Such is the case with this photo…it is part of the Memorial Auditorium where major events take place on campus. I was fascinated with the arches that led up the ramp to the auditorium. I knew immediately I wanted a photograph and that it would be in black and white as so many of my architectural photos are.

As you might guess, there is a major rivalry between ASU and the University of Arizona in my home town of Tucson. Not just sports, but in most everything. You can buy t-shirts here that say “ASWho?” Even I have a Arizona t-shirt that takes a shot at ASU. I did not wear it this day.

As I wandered around campus, I found it interesting to compare the two campuses. Both are located in a downtown area, but ASU feels a little more cramped. UofA is much, much larger and has far more open spaces including a gigantic, mostly grass mall that stretches on and on (very similar to the one in Washington DC). For instance, they could never hold the Tucson Book Fest at ASU as there is not enough room.

As far as architectural elements go, UofA has a bit more that ASU…but still I found many interesting buildings to photograph (as you will see here over time). Still, it is a lovely campus and I really enjoyed walking around and photographing. I also have a few more photos to show you from the Polytechnic campus in Mesa, but will save those for another day.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from a Truck Graveyard

The Truck Graveyard

Across the road from new truck sales
Lay a yard filld with trucks that died
These vehicles' voice offer tales
Once on them a trucker relied

They thought that he would be companion
Their eternal guide protect them
He  took one to the Grand Canyon
He was truck's total brain stem

Made the decisions for each day
This truck didn't object just follow
Whichever way trucker would stray
Even if where lay Capistrano Swallow

Then one day the truck's tires went flat
Soon in this graveyard this truck lies
Trucker lost his favorite hat 
Old trucker no longer truck guides

by Sara Kendrick

Japanese-Style Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum

From his original photograph

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Scottsdale

All to soon, the Cactus League Spring Training in Arizona came to an end. Today was the last day of preseason games here in our fair state. Tonight or tomorrow the teams will head back to their respective cities, play a couple more exhibition games, then start the regular season on Sunday or Monday.

It is always such a sad time for diehard baseball fans like myself to see Spring Training come to an end, especially when it is in your backyard. They are so different than regular season games because they don’t count…and you get to see a lot of different players on the field…the regular players are usually done by the 5th inning. Then it’s time for the younger players to show their stuff.

When I came to Tucson, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks were the only two teams training here (the Chicago White Sox left the year before). So I went to several games every year…until both teams moved up to the Phoenix area. Now, all the teams in the Cactus League are in the same vicinity so travel is easy for them.

So even though we have no teams here anymore, a few teams like the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers normally come down and play a couple of games here. But, this year, those two teams went to Australia to play there. So, for the first time in over 50 years, there were no Cactus League games in my fair city.

I only went north once this pre-season to see a game…and happily for me, it was the San Francisco Giants, my favorite team in baseball, playing the San Diego Padres in Scottsdale. Even though they lost that day, it was still a fun time at the old ball park.

What makes these games so special is the size of the stadiums…they are very small, so you are right on top of the action. The players are a little friendlier and looser than normal so a baseball fan can have fun interacting with them. Its just a great experience that you will seldom find in a big-league ballpark. 

I also got to experience Old Town Scottsdale, something I had not done before. It is quite a place and certainly worth a visit. I was with my good friends, the Millers, from Walnut Creek, CA, so I got to experience the city with them. Always more fun when with friends. And of course, there were fellow Giant fans everywhere.

If you ever visit Scottsdale, be aware they have guys and girls running around town in golf carts. They will take you anywhere you want to go for no charge (they live on tips). It beats taxis. Our driver found out I was new to Scottsdale and gave me a great tour around Old Town.

I can honestly say I may never have had such a great day experiencing  Spring Training baseball from sunrise to sunset.

PS: This photo was not of the Giants game I attended. I forgot my camera. Dummy!

Postcard from a Long Lost Garden

The Morning-Glory

We wreathed about our darling's head
The morning-glory bright;
Her little face looked out beneath
So full of life and light,
So lit as with a sunrise,
That we could only say,
'She is the morning-glory true,
And her poor types are they.'

So always from that happy time
We called her by their name,
And very fitting did it seem,--
For sure as morning came,
Behind her cradle bars she smiled
To catch the first faint ray,
As from the trellis smiles the flower
And opens to the day.

But not so beautiful they rear
Their airy cups of blue,
As turned her sweet eyes to the light,
Brimmed with sleep's tender dew;
And not so close their tendrils fine
Round their supports are thrown,
As those dear arms whose outstretched plea
Clasped all hearts to her own.

We used to think how she had come,
Even as comes the flower,
The last and perfect added gift
To crown Love's morning hour;
And how in her was imaged forth
The love we could not say,
As on the little dewdrops round
Shines back the heart of day.

We never could have thought, O God,
That she must wither up,
Almost before a day was flown,
Like the morning-glory's cup;
We never thought to see her droop
Her fair and noble head,
Till she lay stretched before our eyes,
Wilted, and cold, and dead!

The morning-glory's blossoming
Will soon be coming round,--
We see their rows of heart-shaped leaves
Upspringing from the ground;
The tender things the winter killed
Renew again their birth,
But the glory of our morning
Has passed away from earth.

Earth! in vain our aching eyes
Stretch over thy green plain!
Too harsh thy dews, too gross thine air,
Her spirit to sustain;
But up in groves of Paradise
Full surely we shall see
Our morning-glory beautiful
Twine round our dear Lord's knee.

Maria White Lowell

Digital Sketch Entitled Morning Glories by J.R. Corkrum

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tucson

My life has been filled with great music. From my earliest days of Rock n’ Roll (for which I was royally chastised by the nuns at school), to my discovery of modern jazz and later classical music. Of course, we all enjoy music of one sort or another, but my life’s journey with music has been very special…a personal odyssey, if you will.

Last week, I sat captivated by the Arizona Symphony’s performance of the powerful Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony. The power of that music had me pinned to my seat as if held by a giant magnet. I recall the same thing happened in London when the Philharmonia Orchestra played the “Mars” Section of Holst’s “Planets.”

After last week’s symphony, I thought about some of the great venues where I heard some of the finest music composed on this planet. Besides classical, I listened to some of the great legends of jazz play their music in small jazz nightclubs…but I will leave those memories for another day. Today, it is about classical music.

I’ve been privileged to hear some great symphonic music in the concert halls of London, Paris, Oxford and other European cities…not to mention here in the US. Another piece of music that pinned me to my seat was the remarkable Beethoven 9th Symphony. The first time I heard it live, I could hardly walk after the performance. And to think he wrote it while totally deaf.

I’ve heard Mozart played in St. Martins In-The-Field Church in Trafalgar Square in London; the haunting Vaughn Williams’ “Fantasy on a Theme of Thomas Tallis” at the Southbank Center, also in London; Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” in Sainte Chappelle in Paris; and more Vivaldi in Venice. I could go on, but suffice it to say I’ve been fortunate to hear great music performed all over the world.

I began my journey with classical music while in my 20’s. As I listened and enjoyed, I wanted to learn more about it. What I learned early was: in order to really appreciate the music, one must know more about the composer, where and when he lived, what his life was like, and how long he lived.

Then I learned the basic eras of each composer and how church music later morphed into secular music…how the Classical era of Mozart and Haydn followed the Baroque Era of Bach and Vivaldi; and how Classical was followed by the Romantic Era…and on an on. I learned where each composer fit into the scheme of things and how his music differed from others in each epoch. By doing that, classical music appreciation fell into place.

It’s been a wonderful journey…and it continues to this day. Living in a university town affords me plenty of great classical concerts. Besides Tchaikovsky, in the past couple of months I’ve heard Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, a piano concert by one of the world’s great pianists who played the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin…all in one glorious evening. I am a very fortunate man and I hope to hear more great music before this journey comes to an end.

Postcard from Tucson

I created this digital sketch from a photo I took on campus at the University of Arizona. For your information, it is part of the large Electrical and Computer Engineering Building. Like other buildings on campus, the architecture is a reflection of the classes taught inside. Notice the rounded top of the building that looks like a computer. There are others just like it all around the building.

Still, it fits nicely into the general architectural scheme of the entire university…and the rocks give it a desert feel. After all, we are indeed in the desert. I love all the design elements in the image…the stairs leading up to the building, the rounded exterior, and the covered walkway leading inside. All are wonderful design elements leading to the creation of the entire image.

Frankly, I think this image works much better as a digital sketch rather than a photo. As you may have noticed from recent blogs, I’ve really gotten back into sketching and painting…digitally, of course from my own photos. If I did these by hand using pencil and paints…well, take my word for it…it would not be good. My skill is in photography and now in post processing…creating different styles of images that express my inner feelings as an artist. Thank God there are new products on the market that let me experiment.

It’s funny that I thought when I retired I would have more time for photography and digital painting. But, that is not necessarily the case except perhaps in the summer when the heat keeps me indoors.

But this time of year here is amazing…the weather is wonderful and the activities abound. This week alone I have been to 3 concerts in 4 nights, two lectures and a baseball game. And this weekend is the incredible (and very large) Tucson Festival of Books where authors famous and not-so-famous, come to give talks and participate in author’s panel discussions, and of course, promote their books. It is a two day event that keeps me hopping all day long. Love it!

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from a Bygone Garden

An Iris Blessing

May your blooms be floriferous and in good form,

Distinctive, with good substance, flare, and airborne,

With standards and falls that endure, never torn.

May you display many buds and blooms sublime,

In graceful proportion on strong stalks each day,

Gently floating above the fans and the fray.

May you too reach toward the moon and stars,

Bloom after bloom, many seasons in the sun,

Enjoying your life, health, and each loved one,

Until your 'living days are artfully done.

By Georgia Gudykunst

 

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum

“The Lonely Iris”

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Oxford

This photo shows the chapel at Keble College, part of the Oxford University System. It is one of the largest colleges in terms of students. However, there are only around 700 undergraduates and graduate students enrolled. It is also one of the youngest of the Oxford Colleges…founded in 1870.

It was built as a monument to John Keble. He was a leading member of the Oxford Movement, which sought to stress the Catholic nature of the Church of England, which probably explains the ornate nature of this chapel, compared to others at Oxford. Consequently, the College traditionally placed a considerable emphasis on theological teaching, although this has long since ceased to be the case. 

After the WWII, the college started emphasizing scientific courses. Originally for male students only, Keble became coed in 1979. Its somewhat controversial architecture led many scholars to proclaim that is was the ugliest college in all of Oxford.

One story claims that a French visitor, on first sight of the college exclaimed, "It is magnificent but is it not the railway station?"

It is a beautiful church and I was lucky to get this shot. I was using a film camera back then and I took this photo without a tripod. Needless to say, anti-shake lenses had not been invented then. I have a great many happy memories of my times at Oxford. I would love to go back again.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tubac

This image is far more about style than place. Although I took the original photo in Tubac, AZ, the finished product here is a digital sketch done in the style of Japanese woodblock printing.

The term for this style is “ Moku Hanga” (木版画).  Although similar to woodcut in western printmaking, the Moku Hanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to western woodcut, which often use oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency.

Before the invention of moveable type, Moku Hanga was also used to print books in China and Japan. The first printed books were seen in Japan in the 8th century in Buddhist temples. Much later, around the 17h century, woodblock printing was used to create works of art…and like Western painting techniques, there were many schools and movements based on style.

Here is how it works: The image is first drawn onto paper, then glued face-down onto a plank of wood, usually cherry. The wood is then cut away, based on the drawing outlines. A small wooden hard object called a baren is used to press or burnish the paper against the inked woodblock to apply the ink to the paper. Although this may have been done purely by hand at first, complex wooden mechanisms were soon invented and adopted to help hold the woodblock perfectly still and apply proper pressure in the printing process. This was especially helpful with the introduction of multiple colors that had to be applied with precision over previous ink layers.

Of course, my version of Moku Hanga is all done using digital computer software…and like the Japanese schools, I can create several different styles. I am having fun experimenting with this new software. This image is of large metal flowers so prominent outside Tubac craft stores and is one of my very first attempts at creating Moku Hanga drawings. You will see more in the near future. All comments on my work, good or critical, are gratefully appreciated.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Yosemite

…How boundless the day seems as we revel in these storm-beaten sky gardens amid so vast a congregation of onlooking mountains! Strange and admirable it is that the more savage and chilly and storm-chafed the mountains, the finer the glow on their faces and the finer the plants they bear. The myriads of flowers tingeing the mountain-top do not seem to have grown out of the dry, rough gravel of disintegration, but rather they appear as visitors, a cloud of witnesses to Nature's love in what we in our timid ignorance and unbelief call howling desert.

The surface of the ground, so dull and forbidding at first sight, besides being rich in plants, shines and sparkles with crystals: mica, hornblende, feldspar, quartz, tourmaline. The radiance in some places is so great as to be fairly dazzling, keen lance rays of every color flashing, sparkling in glorious abundance, joining the plants in their fine, brave beauty-work, --every crystal, every flower a window opening into heaven, a mirror reflecting the Creator.

From garden to garden, ridge to ridge, I drifted enchanted, now on my knees gazing into the face of a daisy, now climbing again and again among the purple and azure flowers of the hemlocks, now down into the treasuries of the snow, or gazing afar over domes and peaks, lakes and woods, and the billowy glaciated fields of the upper Tuolumne, and trying to sketch them. In the midst of such beauty, pierced with its rays, one's body is all one tingling palate. Who wouldn't be a mountaineer! Up here all the world's prizes seem nothing.

The largest of the many glacier lakes in sight, and the one with the finest shore scenery, is Tenaya, about a mile long, with an imposing mountain dipping its feet into it on the south side, Cathedral Peak a few miles above its head, many smooth swelling rock-waves and domes on the north, and in the distance southward a multitude of snowy peaks, the fountain-heads of rivers.

excerpted from, “My First Summer in the Sierra”

by John Muir

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Kodachrome Basin

I took this photo near the entrance to Kodachrome Basin in Southern Utah. It is a unique state park filled with with strange chimney rock formations. In fact off in the distance, you can see one of the white chimneys that inhabit this area.

I like this photo as it contains the three elements a good landscape photo should have: a foreground: a middle ground; and a deep background. If you count the sky, it actually has four elements. The flowers in front are the focal point of the photo. From there, your eye travels across wide open spaces to the red rock formations that also inhabit this region.

But, the Pièce de résistance are the orange/pink mountains in the distance. That, my friends, is Bryce Canyon National Park. As you can see, it is not a canyon…but mostly incredible rock formations that run north to south for several miles. Bryce faces almost due east. Behind those pink rocks is just forested land.

As I said, Bryce itself is not a canyon…but when you get close, you see it consists of many small canyons (or basins) surrounded by fantastic rock formations. I always thought Bryce Canyon should be called Bryce Canyons. But, what do I know?

Kodachrome also has its own unique beauty that I have shared here before. So how did this park get its name? In 1948 the National Geographic Society explored and photographed the area for a story that appeared in the September 1949 issue of National Geographic. They named the area Kodachrome Flat, after the then relatively new brand of Kodak film they used.

In 1962 the area was designated a State Park. Fearing repercussions from the Kodak company for using the name Kodachrome, the name was changed to Chimney Rock State Park, but renamed Kodachrome Basin a few years later with Kodak's permission.

So the point of all this is to show how close Kodachrome Basin is to Bryce National Park…so if you visit one you should make a side trip to the other. And while you are in the neighborhood, make a stop at Red Canyon. All of this is part of Utah’s magnificent Highway 12 country…one of the most beautiful highways in all of America.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from San Francisco

How often have I written of San Francisco in this blog? Many times, I am sure. I can’t help it…The City was where I was born and raised. My father was also born and raised here. But, it was my Grandmother who showed me the real City. I was her first grandchild…thereby her favorite.

For many years, she ran a woman’s boarding house up on Jackson Street. But, no matter how many women lived there, I always had my own room when I came for a visit. When I would stay with her, I helped out in the morning with the chores. I remember opening the old-style refrigerator for the man who climbed the back stairs carrying a large block of ice on his back. The iceman cometh…almost every day.

When the chores were done, we would go out on excursions into the City. If it were a Sunday, we would start with Mass at Old St. Mary’s Church, right on the edge of Chinatown. Then we would wander through Chinatown, often on a side street like this one…stopping to have lunch in one of the many little restaurants that dot the Chinatown landscape.

On other occasions, we would ride the Powell Street cable car up to Nob Hill, often stopping at either the Mark Hopkins or the Fairmont for an ice cream sundae. Back then, the cable cars were for getting to and from places…not the big tourist attraction they are today.

Sometimes we would ride the cable car all the way down to Fisherman’s Wharf, also not the great tourist attraction (or should I tourist trap) it is today. She taught me which were the best restaurants on the wharf and which ones for tourists. Too bad I didn’t like fish. But I do remember the giant crab pots always boiling on the wharf. They are gone now.

My Grandmother was a great and special woman. She sang in the San Francisco Opera Chorus and her circle of friends included the legendary conductor Arthur Fiedler. She was class personified. How could she not be with a maiden name like Winifred Rose Callahan.

So when I describe myself as a San Franciscan in absentia, it is only because she taught me the ways of one of the greatest cities on this earth. I will love and remember her always.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Venice

I stood in Venice

by George Gordon Byron

    I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs,
    A palace and a prison on each hand:
    I saw from out the wave her structures rise
    As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand:
    A thousand years their cloudy wings expand
    Around me, and a dying Glory smiles
    O'er the far times, when many a subject land
    Looked to the wingéd Lion's marble piles,
Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles!

    She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from ocean,
    Rising with her tiara of proud towers
    At airy distance, with majestic motion,
    A ruler of the waters and their powers:
    And such she was--her daughters had their dowers
    From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East
    Poured in her lap all gems in sparkling showers:
    In purple was she robed, and of her feast
Monarchs partook, and deemed their dignity increased.

    In Venice Tasso's echoes are no more,
    And silent rows the songless gondolier;
    Her palaces are crumbling to the shore,
    And music meets not always now the ear:
    Those days are gone--but Beauty still is here;
    States fall, arts fade--but Nature doth not die,
    Nor yet forget how Venice once was dear,
    The pleasant place of all festivity,
The revel of the earth, the masque of Italy!

Painting by J.R. Corkrum

“Blue Pole Canal” 

Postcard from Capitol Reef

Every so often I love doing a black and white image. I took this photo on one of my exploratory trips down the back roads of Capitol Reef National Park in Southern Utah. It is a very undervalued National Park that gets few visitors compared to some of its neighbors such as The Arches and Canyonlands.

They get so few visitors that they don’t charge an entrance fee. There is only one campground, and they do charge for that. But, every night I was there, the campground was full by about 2:00 pm. I understand that as the campground is one of the nicest I ever stayed in. They can accommodate both tents and travel trailers.

They have a nice amphitheater for after-dark presentations. One one night, they gave a nice talk about the park, then showed an episode of Ken Burns National Park series. So for a small, undervalued park, they due on heck of a job.

The campground sits in the old Mormon settlement of Fruita. There is a long, mostly paved road that runs south from Fruita and eventually dead ends in this slot canyon. This photo shows the road going into the canyon and leading to the parking lot. From there, you can hike into the canyon and see what havoc Mother Nature can wreak with water and wind rushing through limestone canyons. While this canyon is not as narrow as other slot canyons in Utah, it is still fun and quite interesting to explore.  

I hope if you are ever in the vicinity of Capital Reef, you will take the time to explore its many nooks and crannies.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.