Elkhorn Ferry
The Elkhorn Ferry was used to cross the Sacramento River at a point and time on the river when other means of crossing were more expensive. One would have to otherwise travel down river to Sacramento, or up river to Knights Landing to get to the other side. It moved back and forth from one side of the river to the other using sets of steel cables, and on-board winches and motors to control them. Note that a rather meticulous hand has been used to render the detail of the watercraft. This painting, done in the early 1970s, is a part of the Edwards-Pedersen Collection.
Fisherman’s Shack
The ownership of this work is not known. It contains some interesting elements. It lies at the edge of a cove. To the left, there are commercialtrawlers. Yet, the central, rectangular opening in the building suggests a means by which smaller sports fishing craft can be launched into the cove and the sea beyond through a boat ramp, or perhaps by using an elevator. Bait and tackle would no doubt be available as well. This painting is more structured in that it has much detail to imply. This is a launching point for amateurs as well as a harbor for those who make their living on the sea. There is less attention to detail than there is in Elkhorn Ferry. What we see is commercial fishing boats at anchor, an opening through which small craft may escape back to their awaiting trailers, and all the while a storm brews at sea.
Fishing Boat Harbor
We return once again the harbor for fishing boats. These seem less protected than most. They must belong to locals who are used to the variability of the sea. They live in the town. When the weather is good, they ply their trade, gathering the bounties of the ocean either by fishing or by retrieving their lobster an crab pots. At first glance, we must believe that the owners of such minor harbor facilities work with locals as best they can to supply bait, provide harbor, and help them home with their harvest from the sea. From a small coastal town that is dependant upon the harvest from the sea and from the mudflats, and processing that harvest can seem particularly mundane. It can be tiresome, and much drunkenness can result.
Flowers Growing in a Pot
For the time being, this image is not easily added.
Four Onions Vertical Still Life
Intermission
This is the most iconic image of a painting by Victor Heady. At the time, in the mid 1960s, this image was reprinted widely. It captured a certain “nitty-gritty” feeling about the musical medium of jazz, and about the lives of jazz musicians. Jazz was a musical invention that emerged, in large part, from the lives, joys and sorrows of American men and women of African origin. The beauty of their music stands in contrast to the conditions in which they created that music. We see a single towel, draped over a bare pipe. It does not appear to be a particularly clean towel. Nor does the sink appear to be kept clean in any meticulous way. There is no place to put the trumpet except on the wooden stool. In the early 1970s, even at such well know Los Angeles jazz haunts as Shelly’s Manne-Hole, opened up by drummer Shelly Manne , the charge was a “two drink minimum”. When the place was touted by Hugh Hefner, it was packed. When I went there, Hugh must have not mentioned it for a while. Their were five or six of us nursing drinks. We did not honor the musicians well. On the other hand, the musicians that night were never heard from again. They did not draw in the crowd through name recognition. Miles Davis was not on the bill, however,
Lew Alcindor was playing for UCLA Bruins that night a short while away in Westwood.