Create an Account

Shopping cart

Close

No products in the cart.

Close
June 29, 2022
View: 359

[ad_1]

Intense competition in the retail industry drives increased levels of performance across the board, and a key impetus to success in this industry is the visual appeal and functionality of retail outlets. Detailed and attractive 3D rendered images, or computer-generated images (CGI), especially those created with the help of Building Information Modelling (BIM) can have a noticeable impact on clients, sales and marketing. Retail design drawings that achieve impressive photo-realistic views and effective 3D rendering services can help drive profits while saving costs.

To better understand how important rendering is to the retail industry, let’s look at what rendering is. In 3D graphic design, rendering is the process of adding shading, colour and lamination either to a 2D or 3D wireframe to produce lifelike digital images. Rendering enables the creation of images or animation that show the design traits of a proposed space. Both designers and clients benefit from rendered views. Though various techniques and software (Autodesk’s 3ds Max, VRay, SketchUp, Maya and Mental Ray being popular) can be used to create computer-generated renderings, the objective remains the same – improve presentations, support marketing and create design views for analysis. Clients can understand renders better than architectural drawings, and therefore, renders are generally more effective in communicating design intent. Accurate renders can effectively represent spatial constraints and possibilities and reach a wider audience as a result.

The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in rendering creates greater accuracy in the rendered image. BIM models can specify the count of cabinet fixtures, lighting fixtures, countertops, legs, handles, grommets, drawer pulls, equipment mounts and other details. A large amount of detail is incorporated into a BIM model, which can be used to generate accurate and detailed rendered images, which show how various elements fit in a space in relation to each other. BIM models are especially useful for space analysis in large retail spaces, such as department stores or malls. Square footage and department-wise lists of fixtures and furniture in display areas, with corresponding dimensions, can be represented. This means that with the use of retail BIM modelling, a 3D view can be created that shows how potential objects interact. Retail space shown in 3D can also include paint, laminate and wall coverings, so that the 3D visualisation is a close representation of what the actual space may appear as.

Rendered images are important for retail companies in several ways. The benefits of 3D renderings include:

  • Realistic depiction of spaces
  • Allows executives to view and approve new sites
  • Ease and speed of creation
  • Useful for marketing and project approvals
  • Language barriers are minimised
  • Renders look uncluttered and attractive compared to 2D elevations

High-quality photorealistic renders are as good as photos Renders also provide flexibility, as elements can be altered quickly and easily. Some of the precise features of retail spaces that renders portray can predict the store experience. For example, a well-designed store entrance must create expectation and offer options. High quality renders help achieve this. Renders can show lighting, signage and displays. The retailer’s image can be communicated through the kind of flooring and shelving used. For example, glass shelves and fixtures can suggest elegance. Smart lighting can improve how merchandise is displayed, thus contributing to increased sales. Walls can be used to store and display messages, and windows can be used to display the type of merchandise and market the image of the store.

A useful application of rendered images is by showcasing store layouts. Clients can be shown the basic layout of a retail space through 3D visualisation so that they can opt for a layout that enables a specific path for their customers. Essential design pointers for an effective layout include the width of walkways – wide enough for shopping carts (if necessary) and also for people to walk through without colliding. There are three basic types of retail layouts, and they can all be communicated through renders: grid layout, racetrack layout and free form layout.

  • The grid layout involves parallel aisles with display items on shelves on both sides, often used for bakeries, display of fruits, vegetables, clothing, electrical and electronics goods.
  • The racetrack, or loop, layout involves one major aisle that circles around the retail space to guide customers on a prescribed route.
  • A free form layout arranges shelves, fixtures and aisles asymmetrically, used primarily in smaller stores, specialty stores or sections within larger department stores.

Approvals from the client for design can be significantly influenced by detailed and effective rendering. Rendering of retail space can show shelving to the benefit of each customer. Shelving and displays should be clutter-free and such that customers can easily locate items. The details of furniture in retail areas, such as cash counters, shelves, storage spaces, display counters and their placement are key factors that influence sales, and showing these details through rendering can be useful for client approvals.

Another key feature of retail space that influences sales is lighting. Light placement and rendering for lighting at different times of the day and night can influence display locations for merchandise, and 3D rendering can show the differences in effect that various types of lights and their reflections can have in the same space on the same merchandise.

Renders can also be used as planograms. Planograms are images/maps created by retailers to decide where to place merchandise for maximum benefit and take into account lighting and shelving. The space needs to be visually appealing to increase customer purchases. These planograms can be easily created, tested and altered in the virtual environment provided by rendering.

Approvals & Decision-making

The use of 3D rendering services can also be useful to obtain executive approvals for new sites and for decision-making purposes. Here’s why:

Competitive Edge

When the competition is fierce, a 3D visualisation of a project is almost as effective as a business card in that it represents and translates the uniqueness of the project. Presentation of work, past, ongoing and future, is a powerful tool. Rendering of high quality showcases design and enhances reputation.

High Quality Promotional Material

Promoting design intent is crucial for retail clients. Well-worked computer-generated images can represent interiors in greater clarity, influencing the decisions taken regarding placement and dimensions of furniture, flooring and wall finishes and coverings. Renders that promote branding can be included in brochures, pamphlets and other promotional material.

Multiple Views

Multiple views of the same space through renders can help show the complete picture and support decision-making.

Cost Effective

It costs much less to create a render than physical models, and since the renders are virtual they can be sent to a greater customer base.

Easy Changes

Customers frequently change their minds and rendered images can be quickly edited to suit customer requirements. The 3D renderings can be sent to the client for quick approvals and changes.

Focus on Key USPs

Renderings show accurate and realistic representations and can simultaneously highlight the key unique selling points of the merchandise.

With an array of advantages, photorealistic 3D rendered images can be a valuable asset for retail success. The use of BIM to create detailed rendered views of retail space featuring walls, lighting, furniture, shelving and layout options provides an extra edge in gaining approvals and in the fields of sales and marketing. Changes are easy to execute, and multiple views can be generated to enable more informed decision-making. Rendering, therefore, is of prime importance in the retail industry.

[ad_2]

Source by Kuldeep Bwail

June 19, 2022
View: 381

[ad_1]

While searching online for a true quiet island getaway, I happened across Long Island, Bahamas, a small island eighty miles long and only three miles wide, aptly named “Long Island,” one of the southern most out islands in the Bahamas.

As I began to read about the lack of tourism, the beautiful stretched out and secluded beaches on both the Atlantic and the Caribbean sides of the island, I found myself already beginning to relax and envisioned myself strolling down an incredibly beautiful beach for hours without a care in the world…

Continuing my education, I began to soak up the laid back way of life. I felt a major urge to get myself to this island and the sooner, the better.

Like a dream come true, as I begin to write this, I am sitting on the porch of a wonderful, romantic cottage, The Whistling Duck, located south of Clarence Town.

Our small 20 seats or so plane landed at Deadman’s Cay Airport (Cay is pronounced “key” in the Bahamas) at the southern end of the island. We were greeted by Nancy, the caretaker for the owners or our private cottage, who drove us to The Whistling Duck.

She was friendly, had a hearty Bahamian laugh, and offered to help us with anything (including a rental car which we took advantage of our second day). She said she was a phone call away if we had any questions.

On our flight from Nassau to Deadman’s Cay, we found ourselves already wondering what might be the best thing about what we would end up calling “The Other Long Island”…

It certainly could be the incredible water. There are the most beautiful hues of Caribbean and Atlantic blues from clear to light blue to aqua to turquoise to deep bluish-purple to varying oceanic shades of green, I have ever seen.

Then again it might be the amazingly secluded beaches with soft sands, good shell hunting and the constant soothing rhythm of crashing waves. Wait, it’s probably that Long Island has the most down to earth, friendly people on the planet.

If you have a craving for quiet adventure, there are many small roads angling off the single north and south main road, Queen’s Highway. Every one of the small, mainly dirt or sand “car paths” must lead to a new head shaking “Wow!” view and experience.

No, actually it’s got to be the water sports from snorkeling, diving, sailing, boating, fishing, to kayaking.

In hindsight, the best thing about The Other Long Island may be one of the sights or activities that we didn’t get to, such as caving or who knows what!

The most appealing aspect could be a combination of any of the above, or maybe it’s simply completely relaxing, being away from all the stress of work and city life.

This island takes your imagination back in time to what the Bahamas used to be like. Amenities are few. The food is great. Supplies are limited but available if you find out where and when to go. Bahamian and U.S. dollars are interchangeable. The people are warm, always seem to have a welcoming smile planted on their friendly faces and more than hospitable and helpful.

The Whistling Duck cottage was everything it had looked to be on the website and more. Our fowl feather namesake cottage had a perfect covered front porch with a double wicker swing, gas barbecue grill and two teak and canvas chairs to sit and soak up the views of the Atlantic and the harbor at Clarence Town.

We quickly discovered this was the perfect spot to sip morning coffee or tea, read to our hearts content, or simply relax.

There is another deck off the bedroom, complete with two chaise lounges and an outdoor shower, the one I used all week. Ceiling fans in the living room, kitchen area and the bedroom help keep the interior comfortable with constant man-made breezes.

There is a gazebo at the water’s edge where we hung out absorbing the water’s sights and sounds and spent time reading throughout the week. Nice bath and beach towels are included. A kayak is available for a small deposit. Laundry facilities are located at the Flying Fish Marina if needed. For an additional fee you can have Nancy clean the cottage each day.

Two bikes were included with the cottage and provided exercise and transportation for our first days’ adventure on the island to check out Clarence Town.

We filled our backpack with supplies from one of the two small stores and befriended a small boy, Horace, at the True Value food and sundry store. Horace seemed truly intrigued by my silver and blue Asics running shoes, shown by the awe in his big eyes when he reached down to touch them.

We quickly discovered that a car was a must if we really wanted to explore the island. Riding eighty miles on bikes one way to get to the northern tip of our quiet island getaway was simply too much.

By the way, be sure to take enough cash as some of the rental car operators do not accept credit cards. (If you think gas is expensive in the U.S., check out the $6.10 per gallon in the Bahamas, and this is in 2008!).

The tourist map of Long Island is like a cartoon and makes it look like all the roads on the island are paved. If you have an adventuresome spirit, don’t be surprised when taking one of the many off-shooting roads from Queen’s Highway to suddenly find yourself on a small, rocky, car-width path that looks like it is going nowhere.

Rest assured that slow going and patience will pay off with breathtaking rewards as the startling, beautiful ocean views provide stimulating visual overload, especially on the Caribbean side of the island.

Throughout our first week of July visit, there was a constant breeze. The various bird species were gaily singing each morning. We fairly quickly found out why the cottage was named The Whistling Duck! There is indeed such a flying feather friend on the island!

The hummingbirds were busy flitting from flower to flower during the day. My better half unknowingly imitated a flower one afternoon while wearing a bright yellow top and had to gently wave to get a hummingbird to leave her alone.

The humidity was very high and sweatily noticeable. The combination of being in the shade and the breeze was very nice and the best place to be unless we were in the water. Working out on the front deck each morning got me drenched within minutes. The ocean view definitely kept me inspired!

On day two, Nancy dropped off the rental car we had arranged the day before and we set out on our first driving adventure. Using the tourist map, we headed south to Hard Bargain, one of some thirty plus townships up and down the island.

We entertained ourselves by pretending to figure out how Hard Bargain got its name and came up with numerous possibilities. Turning east on a small gravel road, we headed toward the Caribbean side of the island and ended up by the abandoned salt fields of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company.

In the days before refrigeration, salt was used to preserve meats and fish for ships setting out to sea and had been a huge business. We thought we were lost when we rounded a curve in the road and simultaneously gasped at the incredible, stunning spectrum of light blue Caribbean waters. This may have been the most beautiful vision of ocean water either one of us has ever seen!

Following the sand and gravel road, we returned to Queen’s Highway (a fairly small, two lane blacktop road which runs almost the entire north-south length of the island) and headed north. For the most part, the drive is not very exciting. There are occasional ocean views on one side or the other. Taking almost any side road will likely lead to beautiful ocean views, a deserted beach, and a new adventure.

Wanting to check out the Stella Maris Resort, built in the 1960’s, we found ourselves standing on a hill in the middle of the resort where we could see the deep almost purple-blue waters of the Atlantic looking one way and the stellar, azure blue rainbow waters of the Caribbean by simply turning our heads 180 degrees, which was quite astonishing.

The Stella Maris Resort is large and is the only place on the island with tennis courts. We noticed several for sale signs in the front of a few of the homes located within the resort, and found ourselves wishfully wondering… Sigh.

Lunching at the resort overlooking the beach, we found the food and service were okay but could use some quality improvement. We did not get to see what are apparently some of the best plantation ruins on the island, which are located on the resort property.

We had hoped to make it all the way to the northern tip of the island to see one of the other two resorts, Cape Santa Maria and the Christopher Columbus Monument, but decided we were running out of time. We will make sure we see both on our next visit.

Wonderfully, the remainder of the week we had no plans whatsoever and each morning casually decided what we would do for the next few hours. No stress, no phones, no technology, no traffic, no rushing around. Simply the constant caressing breezes and soothing sounds of the Atlantic waves to relax us, stimulate our senses and soothe our souls.

We enjoyed taking long walks on Lochabar Beach. We quickly realized that getting to the beach from the gazebo was much easier at low tide, which had to be lower than high tide by at least three to four feet.

We found numerous small conch shells and two large conchs with the most beautiful deep pink on the inside, sand dollars, and lots of smaller shells throughout the week.

Walking to the right for about thirty minutes on Lochabar Beach, we rounded the bend and encountered a huge blue hole. Blue holes immediately plummet from the surrounding shallow sandy waters to fairly extreme depths.

One of our coolest adventures was to see the deepest blue hole in the world. Dean’s Blue Hole is located at Long Island and goes to a depth of around 660 feet! We were told that the second largest known underwater cavern in the world is at the bottom of Dean’s Blue Hole.

We had a wonderful picnic here one afternoon, just the two of us. I was rather nervous contemplating snorkeling out into Dean’s Blue Hole and I decided it must have been the extreme unknown of what lies in the depths below. Locals dive from the low cliffs on the backside of the hole and swim in its waters all the time.

My better and much prettier half, had no issues swimming out into the middle of Dean’s Blue Hole… and loves giving me trouble about being a chicken to this day!

The third morning, I called Nancy to find out where to get fresh fish, thinking there had to be plenty in the Bahamas. She mentioned Nick the fisherman and gave us his number. I left a message and he called us back a few hours later.

Nick the fisherman said he had grouper and red snapper he had caught the day before. It turned out Nick, his wife and six children lived at the end of our sandy, gravel road. It took five minutes to walk up the hill to his house where we were met by a welcoming version of man’s best friend, who ran up to us wagging his tail excitedly and definitely got our petting attention.

There was a fair amount of miscellaneous underwater sonar equipment and three fishing boats in the yard. It was evident this family spent a lot of time by, in, on or under the water.

Nick greeted us warmly and invited us in.

There were attention-grabbing shark jaws mounted on the wall in order from small and harmless looking, to, “no way you want to encounter one of these in the water,” holy sh_ _! large jawed, teeth filled specimens.

Nick shared a little about how they ended up on Long Island. We learned he was from Nassau. Nick and his wife Fiona have four boys and two girls.

Twenty-three years ago he came up with the idea to create a native Bahamian calendar, which the entire family now contributes to. It is sold throughout the Bahamas. The artwork is original and each month has native Bahamian tidbits including history and recipes for such things as soup and conch dishes.

We bought two copies at one of the local stores to bring back home with us. We plan to take advantage of some of the local recipes and use them for our next gourmet club dinner in the mode of a Bahamian theme dinner!

Nick started talking about a few of the ship-wrecks he had explored and showed us several items of interest such as one hundred year old antique gin bottles, four hundred year old olive jars, and more.

One of the wrecks he mentioned was a ship called the Southhampton, which prompted me to share that my godson was attending Southhampton University in southern England to get his masters in Marine Archaeology.

Five days later on our way to the airport to leave the island I noticed Nick’s royal blue pick-up truck coming toward us. His wife was leaning out the window waving her arms and trying to flag us down.

We pulled over and Nick ran up to our car. He said “I have something for your god-son,” and pulled out a small white pipe. He explained he had recovered the pipe from a ship that had purportedly been set ablaze by Blackbeard the Pirate. Nick thought my godson, Tim, would like it. No doubt, Tim will love it!

I have never before experienced this level of friendliness, excitement, exuberance and generosity on a vacation. What an island! Maybe we should keep it a secret. No way, this is a story to share as an example for how the world used to be, in some cases still is, and definitely the way it should be!

The Outer Edge Grill, located by the Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town, ended up being one of our favorite spots. It is right on the water and is a wonderful place to experience a simple, local flavor for lunch or dinner or to have a drink and dreamily watch the boats, water birds and other creatures.

We had lunch at The Outer Edge Grill several times, enjoying each visit immensely. After one bite we concluded their conch fritters were most likely going to be the best on the island. Cracked conch and grilled grouper made for savory meals.

Everyone at The Outer Edge was very friendly. We enjoyed talking with Hermie and particularly with Stanlika. After my mentioning all the fried food on the island, Stan suggested to special order anywhere to have our food grilled, which was a great tidbit for the rest of our trip.

It was fun checking out the boats coming in and out of the small marina during the week. There were a few fishing boats and some rather large, luxurious vessels as well. Some of the names were Les Belles, Carcharia, Island Hope, Liquid Gold, Island Dream, and Endless Adventure. Home ports included Miami, Coral Gables, and Nassau among others.

Rowdy Boys at the Winter Haven Resort in Clarence Town is by the water on the other side of the small peninsula by the marina. The food was very good and the family that owned it was extremely friendly.

We met the grandmother Chloe and her husband, a granddaughter Justine who waited on us and one of the sons. One afternoon we offered to buy Chloe a drink. She chose a concoction called SkyJuice, consisting of gin and very sweet coconut milk. She soon began sharing some of her family history. She also shared that her son Ben had taken the owners of the yacht Les Belles (see above paragraph) deep-sea fishing. Ben had learned they had no plans and were simply planning their laid back adventure day by day. What a wonderful way to travel the sea!

Chloe and her husband had owned and operated a pineapple and banana farm, which had been destroyed by a hurricane a few years ago. She had tears in her eyes as she shared some of the hardships her family had experienced. Their three boys had argued somewhat loudly through their younger years and had been given the nickname of the ‘Rowdy Boys.”

Rowdy Boys Construction now builds throughout the Bahamas and had finished The Winter Haven Resort and Rowdy Boys Bar and Restaurant just over a year ago for their parents and family to run. We look forward to visiting Rowdy Boys and this family again.

The Forest Restaurant is three miles south of The Whistling Duck. We had a wonderful dinner of cracked lobster, cracked conch, peas and rice and mashed potatoes here one night. The proprietors, Dudley and Patty, were great.

One afternoon we called in to special order grilled grouper and chicken sandwiches, which were awesome by the way. When we stopped by to pick up our picnic lunch, Dudley waited on us. I shared that my stomach had been off all morning. He insisted on making me a club soda and blackberry brandy to fix me up. They were out of club soda, so he used ginger ale. I told Dudley I did not want any alcohol to no avail as he insisted I drink it straight down. I did so reluctantly and was pleasantly surprised at the taste. Thirty minutes later my stomach felt fine. Nothing like a good ol’ local Bahamian medicinal beverage to fix you right up!

We stopped in a few of the small roadside stores to buy water and a handful of food items during the week. Everywhere we went the people were genuinely friendly. We had nothing but extraordinarily wonderful “encounters” with Long Island folk the entire week.

The Oasis Bakery outside of Clarence Town has wonderful home-baked breads, including whole wheat and multi-grain, cookies and decadent local desserts. You can order sandwiches for takeaway (the island term for “to go”) or eat outside at the bakery. We observed it was common for small establishments to have a small bar onsite, and the Oasis was no exception.

Our favorite afternoon ended up being an impromptu stop at Max’s Conch Bar in Deadman’s Cay. You can’t miss Max’s as there are international flags waving on each side of the road and a few junk cars, one of which has been spray painted with “Max’s Conch Bar” on both sides.

We sauntered in for a tropical drink and lunch. We placed an order for a white wine and a tropical punch with Liz. Liz and her husband Gary own Max’s. She seemed truly happy to see us and to meet us.

Sitting and sipping our thirst quenching cocktails we watched ingredients being chopped for what turned out to be fresh, homemade conch salad, by none other than Gary, who wielded a machete sized, razor-sharp knife as deftly and swiftly as anyone I have ever seen.

We knew we just had to have some of this fresh island delicacy and placed two orders. Kathy had never had conch salad before. She loved it just as much as I did and it was the best I had ever tasted.

One of us asked how Max’s had come to be. Liz told us Gary had often used a spear gun when he had been a fisherman. When he missed his target he would retrieve his spear, often swimming right by sharks. His fellow diving mates thought he was crazy and nicknamed him “Mad Max” after Mel Gibson’s movie. Therefore, Max’s Conch Bar, named after the crazy fisherman!

People constantly came and went while we consumed our delectable lunch. We figured Max’s must be one of the spots for socializing, food and drink. The decor is about as native as it gets. The round, wooden shack has numerous posters of various Kalik and other island beer girls showing off their healthy, curvaceous bodies. Shells, coral, bright colors, and checker boards with bottle caps as game pieces are scattered about in island designer fashion. The bar is even a rare internet hot spot and there is no charge for signing on.

During our last afternoon we stopped to check out the Long Island Library and Museum. We enjoyed browsing through the various albums depicting and explaining various aspects of the history, culture and traditions of the island through the years. There are examples of some of the local craftsmanship, historical news articles for the Bahamas, and even some homemade condiments for sale near the exit. It was certainly worth the $3.00 fee for the educational and fun experience.

We decided we had to return to Max’s for dinner our last night on Long Island. This was without a doubt our best meal on the island. Grilled conch and marinated mutton were Liz’s suggestions and they were incredible. In the Bahamas, mutton is either sheep or goat.

Mutton this night was goat, which was a first for me and it was mout-watering. Gary whipped up some mango daiquiris, made with a secret blend of five rums and fresh mango, which were absolutely the best daiquiris I have ever tasted. The four of us had a wonderful time getting to know each other a little. We talked about all sorts of topics from the Bahamas to the U.S., to drinks, to food, to family and friends, and even shared a few personal fun stories about our prior lives. We were sad to say good night, though it was almost 11 p.m.

Even though our visit was only for one week, there are seemingly endless stories we could share from our week on “The Other Long Island,” truly an incredible quiet island getaway.

Though the island is laid back and peaceful, there are actually many things to do. Four activities we did not get to do were scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, snorkeling on one of the coral reefs, and touring one of the numerous island caves. These are already on our “to do” list for our next trip to the island.

During our all too brief visit, we took walks on several beaches, including Lochabar Beach, Galloway Beach, the beach by Dean’s Blue Hole, and a few whose names we do not know.

Incredibly, we saw a total of two people and a dog while walking on these beaches. They were the softest sand and most scenic stretches of beach, complete with various types of rock formations, I have ever seen.

Feeling the plush sand beneath our feet and between our toes, the colors of the water, seeing sea turtles, shell hunting, the scenery up and down the coast, and the miracle of no people, made our beach experience one that could not have been more relaxing, soothing and invigorating.

If stretches of secluded, quiet beaches are one of your prerequisites, the beaches of Long Island make it one of the best romantic islands I can possibly imagine.

If you require shopping, upper end amenities, constant service, and living in the lap of luxury, you probably want to look for a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton type resort. These are not to be found on the quiet island getaway of Long Island.

If you prefer quiet adventure travel and dream of feeling like you have gone back in time, don’t care about updated or high-tech infrastructure, love beautiful desolate beaches, want to interact with real, friendly and unassuming people, and simply want to relax more than you ever thought possible, you will want to check out Long Island in the Bahamas.

Quiet and secluded are apt descriptive terms for Long Island, Bahamas. Keep this in mind if you’re considering a family vacation.

I have never felt so completely relaxed and filled with such inner peace as I did while on Long Island. This sentiment was echoed by my lovely soul mate. Kathy and I can’t wait to go back to “The Other Long Island,” an incredibly wonderful and beautiful quiet island getaway.

Note: If you’re looking for a secluded and romantic quiet island, start planning your trip to Long Island now! (See below to Book Empowered Travel!).

(The code for Deadman’s Cay airport on the southern tip of Long Island, Bahamas is LGI. The code for Stella Maris airport on the northern tip of the Long Island, Bahamas is MYLS).

[ad_2]

Source by Peter Hobler

June 11, 2022
View: 381

[ad_1]

Let’s take a look at some common flow plans for food preparation that you’ll discover inside the kitchen. The most basic, and most desirable, flow plan is the straight line, also known as the assembly-line flow. Materials move steadily from 1 procedure to another in a straight line. This type of style minimizes backtracking; it saves preparation time and confusion about what’s going out of the kitchen area and what’s coming back in.

The straight-line arrangement functions nicely for little installations because it can be placed against a wall and adapted to the cooks’ duties. Wherever there isn’t enough room to arrange food preparation in a straight line, a well-liked and efficient option is the parallel flow. There are four variations of the parallel style:

1. Back to back. Gear is arranged inside a long, central counter or island in two straight lines that run parallel to every other. Sometimes a four- or five-foot room divider or low wall is positioned between the two lines. It’s primarily a safety precaution, which keeps noise and clutter to a minimum and prevents liquids spilled on 1 side from spreading onto the other. Nevertheless, placement of a wall here also makes cleaning and sanitation a lot more hard. The back-to-back arrangement centralizes plumbing and utilities;

you may not need to install as many drains, sinks, or outlets, as both sides from the counter can share the same ones. A back-to-back arrangement in which the pass window is parallel to (and behind one of) the production places is sometimes recognized as a California-style kitchen. When the pass window is located perpendicular towards the production line, it might be referred to as a European-style kitchen area style. The benefit from the European style is that each cook on the line can see the progression of multiple dishes that make up 1 table’s order.

2. Face to face. In this kitchen area configuration, a central aisle separates two straight lines of gear on either side from the room. Sometimes the aisle is wide sufficient to add a straight line of worktables among the two rows of gear. This setup works well for high volume feeding facilities like schools and hospitals, but it doesn’t take benefit of single source utilities. Even though it’s a great layout for supervision of workers, it forces individuals to perform with their backs to one another, in effect, separating the cooking from the food from the rest from the distribution procedure. Therefore, it’s most likely not the best style for a restaurant.

3. L-shape. Wherever room isn’t sufficient for a straight-line or parallel arrangement, the L-shape kitchen design is nicely suited to access several groups of gear, and is adaptable for table service restaurants. It gives you the ability to place more equipment inside a smaller room. You’ll often find an L-shape design in dish washing areas, using the dish machine positioned at the center corner from the L.

4. U-shape. This arrangement is seldom used, but it’s ideal for a little room with one or two employees, such as a salad preparation or pantry area. An island bar, for example the ones in T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants, is an additional example of the U-shape at perform. There are also circular and square kitchen area designs, but their limited flow patterns make them impractical. Avoid wasted room if you can, by making your kitchen area rectangular, with its entrance on one of the longest walls to save steps.

The a lot more foodservice establishments you visit, the more you’ll realize that the back from the house is really a separate and distinct entity from the rest of the business, with its own peculiar difficulties and unique solutions.

Correct flow planning occasionally means breaking each kitchen area function down into a department, of sorts, after which deciding how those departments ought to interact with every other. They must also interact using the other, external departments from the facility: your dining room, bar, cashier, and so on. A great way to begin the design process-both for the overall company and for the kitchen-is to create a bubble diagram. Each region (or workstation) is represented being a circle, or “bubble,” drawn in pencil within the location you’ve decided may be the most logical for that function. If two different workstations will be sharing some equipment, you might let the sides of their circles intersect slightly, to indicate where the shared equipment might greatest be located.

The finished diagram will seem abstract, but the exercise permits you to visualize every perform center and think about its needs in relation to the other centers. You are able to also lay a kitchen out utilizing a diamond configuration, situating the cooking area at one point of the diamond form, and other crucial areas in relation to it at other points. Notice that this layout minimizes confusion (and accidents) with a separate kitchen entrance and exit. This allows the people who bus the tables to deliver soiled dishes towards the dishwashing area without having to walk via the entire kitchen to do so.

An alternative to drawing diagrams is to list every perform center and then list any other work middle that should be placed adjacent to it. Conversely, list any perform center that ought to not be next to it. For instance, it is most likely not a great idea to have the ice maker and ice storage bin adjacent to the frying and broiling center.

[ad_2]

Source by Franco Zinzi

June 4, 2022
View: 890

[ad_1]

The first President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, delivered fifteen Discourses over a period of 18 years to the Academy’s student body and faculty members. Orated in 1769 at the opening of the Royal Academy, the first Discourse introduces progressive advice on the subject of Art. The totality of Reynolds Discourses encapsulate the comprehension of an adept in his field. Rich with useful insights and poignant analogies, it is clear that he possessed an intellect of the first order with which he described the practical mechanics of painting. Upon analysis the lectures have great relevance for today’s artists and to that end a careful synopsis of all discourse will clarify and elucidate its key points.

The first Discourse is structured around the theme of diligence. Reynolds opens with words of praise to the reigning monarch and illustrates the need of the British Empire to have, “an ornament suitable to its greatness”, that is to say, an Academy of Art. With the customary platitudes fulfilled, Reynolds moves on to define his notion of the Academies purpose, namely to, “furnish able men to direct the student”, and to be, “a repository for the great examples of the Art.” These statements exemplify Reynolds conception of the primary function of the Academy, its means and its ends. Lamenting the loss to Britain of potential artists of noteworthy talent, Reynolds reasons that it was due, in part, to the lack of an Academy and the works of Art which such an Academy would be the repository for. He elaborates with a beautiful soliloquise placing the emphasis for artistic instruction primarily on the tangible examples of great Art in preference to tutorial direction. Reynolds adds;

“How many men of great natural abilities have been lost to this nation for want of these advantages! They never had an opportunity of seeing those masterly efforts of genius, which at once kindle the whole soul. Raffaelle, it is true had not the advantage of studying in an Academy; but all Rome and the works of Michael Angelo in particular were to him an Academy. On the sight of the Capella Sistina, he immediately from a dry, Gothic, and even insipid manner,..assumed that grand style of painting, which improves partial representation by general and invariable ideas of nature.”

Sir Joshua resolves his position explaining that an Academy should not thrust a foreign attitude upon the student, because such a forceful attempt will have the opposite effect, namely in deterring the student from adopting a view that they are not ready to accept. On the contrary, in Reynolds view, an Academy should be an environment within which a student can adopt the particular views and practices that are amenable to his or her own particular outlook and aptitude. Speaking on the subject he remarks;

“Every seminary of learning may be said to be surrounded with an atmosphere of floating knowledge where every mind may imbibe somewhat congenial to its own original conceptions. Knowledge, thus obtained, has always something more popular and useful than that which is forced upon the mind by a private precepts.”

With this said Sir Joshua delivers a cautionary aside. Observing the fact that Continental Academies had by his time collapsed, Reynolds outlines the London Academies distinguishing quality and its saving grace adding;

“As these Institutions have so often failed in other nations; and it is natural to think with regret, how much might have been done, I must take leave to offer a few hints, by which those errors may be rectified… The Professors and Visitors may reject or adopt as they shall think proper” (namely) “It will not be as it has been in other schools where he that traveled fastest only wandered farthest from the right way.”

What exactly was Reynolds idea of the right way? This he defined as an adherence to the “Rules of Art as established by the practice of the Old Masters.” On this basis he entreats the students of the Royal Academy to regard the works of the Old Masters to be the very acme of Art instruction, advising that they should use; “those models as perfect and infallible guides; as subjects for their imitation.” Continuing the subject of “the right way”, Sir Joshua had some very strong things to say in defense of the Rules of Art, in effect consigning those unversed in the procedure of The Rules, to the wastes of mediocrity. In this capacity Reynolds was a zealous advocate of the need for careful and disciplined practice along lines parallel to those of the Old Masters. Sir Joshua regarded this as the touchstone of Art instruction, adding;

“Every opportunity… should be taken to discountenance that false and vulgar opinion, that Rules are the fetters of genius; they are fetters only to men of no genius; as armour which upon the strong is an ornament and a defense, upon the weak… becomes a load, and cripples the body which it was made to protect.”

When fully acquired Reynolds adds that such, “Rules may possibly be dispensed with. But let us not destroy the scaffold until we have raised the building.” This analogy implies that before a student can advance towards a level concordant with that of the Old Masters they must first acquire a thorough understanding of the “Rules of Art”. The remainder of Reynolds first discourse centers on his warning which cited that, it was due to wandering from the, “right way,” by failing to properly observe the “Rules of Art”, that resulted in the collapse of academies in other nations. In this vein Sir Joshua advises the Academies teaching faculty to remain vigilant against its young students tendency to seek a short cut to excellence. The expedient to which he refers to is that of bypassing hard and careful craftsmanship due to the deterrent of the great effort involved in its regular maintenance and pursuit. Reynolds explains further that the student is;

“Terrified at the prospect before them, of the toil required to attain exactness. The impetuosity of youth is disgusted at the slow approaches of a regular siege, and desires… to find some shorter path to excellence, and hope to obtain the reward of eminence by other means than those, which the indispensable rules of art have prescribed… there is no easy method of becoming a good painter.”

Reynolds defines the students short cut as the desire to acquire; “a lively handling of the chalk or pencil” which “they will find no great labour in attaining” and “after much time spent in these frivolous pursuits, the difficulty will be to retreat; but it will be then too late and there is scarce an instance of return to scrupulous labour after the mind has been debauched and deceived by this fallacious mastery.” There is an obvious touch of irony in Reynolds use of the word “mastery” in this context. As a fitting contrast to those students who would seek mastery through less assiduous means, Sir Joshua proceeds to delineate the difference between the short path and the intensive labour exerted by the Old Masters in the production of their Art.

“When we read the lives of the most eminent Painters, every page informs us, that no part of their time was spent in dissipation. When they conceived a subject, they first made a finished drawing of the whole; after that a more correct drawing of every separate part, – heads, hands, feet, and pieces of drapery; they then painted the picture, and after all retouched it from the life.”

Reynolds goes on to explain how the effect of all this labour underpins a result that simply appears to be effortless in the finished painting. This appearance of ease serves to conceal the great exertions applied by the Old Masters to the task of painting, and deceives the eye and the intellect of the student into believing that a quick path will obtain an equal result. This, Sir Joshua explained, is an erroneous conclusion, one which seduces the student into following a route that fails to reach is intended destination. Sir Joshua observes; “The pictures thus wrought with such pains now appear like the effects of enchantment,… as if some mighty genius had struck them off at a blow.” Recall that this current precaution links back to Reynolds desire to avoid the source of other Academies failure. Driving the point home still further Sir Joshua entreats his students to avoid what he considered to be the main defect of; “the methods of education pursued in all the Academies.” Reynolds proposes that a student should first learn to draw exactly what he perceives, because otherwise he will risk repeating the errors of students in the failed academies. Such students, Reynolds claims, added extraneous artifacts to the subjects at hand, artifacts which being supplied by imagination served to distort the true structure of the visual form. Putting his case with eloquence, Reynolds states;

“The error is that the students never draw exactly from the living models they have before them. They change the form according to their vague and uncertain ideas of beauty, and make a drawing rather of what they think the figure ought to be, than of what it appears… grace and beauty… was not acquired by the ancients, but by an attentive and well compared study of the human form.”

Sir Joshua advances the pre-eminence of drawing, with an eye for precision, by giving as an example a particular drawing made by Raphael, entitled, ‘The Dispute of the Sacrament’. In this drawing Reynolds points out that in rendering the form of a hat upon the heads of different figures, Raphael does not deviate from the path of correct draftsmanship; “even at a time when he was allowed to be at his highest pitch of excellence.” Elaborating on the theme of precision and faithful observation, Reynolds begins to conclude his seminal discourse to the Royal Academy. Beseeching its audience, in the most delicate and unassuming manner, to regard the importance of diligent application to the task of acquiring the skills of true and precise draftsmanship. This, as has been demonstrated, was Reynolds conception of the basis of successful painting, one which he formulated into a “Rule of Art”, which he envisioned to be the principle that would save the Royal Academy from deterioration. Reynolds explains that;

“This scrupulous exactness is so contrary to the practice of the Academies, that it is not without great deference, that I beg leave to recommend to the consideration of the Visitors; and submit to them, whether the neglect of this method is one of the reasons why students so often disappoint expectation and being more than boys at sixteen become less than men at thirty”

As a final testament to the great and obvious concern expressed by Reynolds for the welfare of his students and Art in general, Sir Joshua finishes his first Discourse by expressing a moving personal sentiment. This being Reynolds final recorded word in a lecture on the subject of Art for almost a year, Sir Joshua considers the future course of the Academy, envisioning its potential to aid the development of civilization toward a new Renaissance, he states;

“Permit me to indulge my wishes and to express my hope that this institution may vie in Arts with that of Leo the Tenth; and that the dignity of the dying Art… may be revived.”

With these poignant words, Reynolds concludes his first Discourse to the Students of the Royal Academy.

[ad_2]

Source by Michael P de Bono

May 24, 2022
View: 435

[ad_1]

Belize offers a good choice of yacht charter and this includes bareboat, luxury crewed, skippered yacht charter, monohull and catamaran charter and both sail and motor yacht charter. Belize is the only official English-speaking country in Central America.

Belize was a British colony for more than a century and was known as British Honduras until 1973. It became an independent nation in 1981. The Maya civilization spread over Belize between 1500 BC and AD 300 and flourished until about AD 900. European settlement began with British Jews, privateers and shipwrecked English seamen as early as 1638. The early settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras grew from Belize Town and St George’s Caye into a colony of the United Kingdom during the late eighteenth century. In the early nineteenth century the settlement was called British Honduras, and in 1871 it became a Crown Colony. British Honduras became a self-governing colony in January 1964 and was renamed Belize on June 1, 1973. Full independence came on 21st September 1981 after delays caused by territorial disputes with neighbouring Guatemala, which did not formally recognize the country.

A yacht charter in Belize enables you discover some of the most unspoiled islands of the Caribbean. The luminous turquoise waters of the Belize archipelago are made up of over 200 deserted tropical islands and coral atolls and boast some of the most pristine beaches in the Caribbean. Belize has become a popular spot for yacht charters and diving vacations. Most yacht charter companies have catamaran fleets because the shallow draft will assure easy navigation.

The coast of Belize encompasses has an unlimited abundance of wildlife and sea life waiting to be discovered. Schools of tropical fish, Manatees, and coral gardens abound here making snorkelling and diving expeditions an exciting adventure. There are many archaeological and national parks along with marine reserves in Belize. Check with your yacht charter company for help in making plans for land expeditions to the Mayan ruins or the rainforest.

Belize International is the main airport and is only little more than two hours from 3 gateways in the United States. San Pedro, Ambergris Caye or Placencia are reachable by a 15 minute commuter plane with several connections a day. English is the official language and is widely spoken, as is Spanish. Other languages include Creole, German, Mayan and Garifuna. US Dollars are used and major credit cards may be accepted in hotels, restaurants and some shops.

The yacht charter season in Belize is restricted by the hurricane season to the months of November through to May. From mid-December to May the trade winds blow. Temperatures are always around 25Āŗ – 30Āŗ C.

Most people are very comfortable sailing the waters of Belize but it does come with some challenges. Navigation is relatively easy and by line of site. The most difficult part is learning how to read the shallow waters and recognize coral. It is imperative to keep a proper watch at all times. Bare boating outside the reef is prohibited. The outer reefs are not well charted or marked making for the danger of running aground. Once inside the atolls the shoal waters are full of coral rock formations that lie in so many areas and in such numbers that the charts simply do not give clear insight to their locations. Communication on VHF is also non-existent, with mobile phones the most reliable means of communication, search and rescue is not very reliable and all this combined makes bare boating outside the reef untenable. However with so much to see within the barrier reef venturing beyond is not necessary.

Ambergris Caye is the largest island in Belize and the most commercially developed. Ambergris Caye has been the hub of maritime trade in Belize for hundreds of years. In the last twenty to thirty years the incredible surroundings of Ambergris Caye has led to a large growth in both the Belize dive and scuba trade, yacht charters and ecotourism.

The main town of San Pedro still maintains itself as a quaint fishing village although here one will find a lively nightlife. San Pedro only has a few streets with interesting shops, a few homes, and several restaurants and bars. The airstrip is also located here, so getting to your charter yacht is literally a stone’s throw away. The island is home to tropical savannahs, sparkling white beaches and mangrove forests. It has become the most popular tourist destination in Belize.

The amazing coral reef system lies half a mile east of the shoreline and runs the entire length of the island. It is the second largest barrier reef in the world and has made the town of San Pedro the dive and water sports capital of Belize and Central America. It is easy for snorkellers to discover hundreds of species of fish right off the beach. Surrounded by lush tropical gardens, the transparent waters of Ambergris Caye are a paradise for divers, snorkellers, bird watchers and fisherman alike.

Begin your yacht charter in Placencia and you can explore the southern half of Belize. Placencia is known for its lovely white sandy beaches and beautiful mangroves. The main street is a three-mile stretch of sidewalk in which there are a few local services, including a laundry service and small grocery. However if you are planning to leave on your yacht charter from Placencia, it is a wise idea to have provisions planned in advance with your yacht charter company. The grocery store is not equipped to handle the needs of a charter boat. In most cases the provisions that you order are flown in from Belize City. This is not an active spot for nightlife and restaurant dinners. This is paradise on earth, very tranquil and serene. Many sailing connoisseurs have compared their experience of Placencia to memories reminiscent of the BVI 30 years ago before it was developed. Placencia is also the gateway for a land-based tour of the many cascading waterfalls and the archaeological ruins of the Mayan culture.

If sailing south from San Pedro or north from Placencia there are numerous beaches that provide great yacht anchorages. There are hundreds of cayes to explore with clear waters and white sandy beaches. Some are deserted while others have amenities for tourists. Those places that are undeveloped will offer complete solitude to those looking to get away from civilization on their yacht charter. Whilst there are too many to mention them all individually here are a few highlights to give you an idea of what awaits you on your yacht charter in Belize.

Caye Caulker is a four mile long island is divided in two and lies just about a mile east of Belize’s Barrier Reef. This is a quiet town with friendly people and some nice restaurants. The most popular dive destination is Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley. A boat must be hired to visit and it is approximately 30 minutes north of Caye Caulker. With so much to see at various depths, all levels of snorkellers and divers can be accommodated here.

Caye Chapel is the island that is home to the rich and famous and boasts a new state of the art marina and championship golf course. It was developed for those searching seclusion. This is the most exclusive island in Belize where every amenity is available. The marina welcomes yachts up to 45 metres in length. Once here there are many picturesque beaches and exotic wildlife to discover as well as the natural beauty the island views has to offer.

St George’s Caye is located south of Caye Caulker, this island is one half mile from the barrier reef. St. George’s Caye is quiet and serene and a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Very few services are offered here with just a restaurant, hotel and a bar. The diving is incredible with visitors sighting many dolphins just before descending down the caye’s wall.

Goff’s Caye is a tiny island on the reef just north of the main channel, English Channel. It has good snorkelling and a beautiful beach.

English Caye has a lighthouse that marks the south side of English Channel. This island offers superb snorkelling 1000 feet south on a huge coral patch.

Rendezvous Caye is a jewel of an island also located right on the reef. Another beautiful beach with excellent snorkelling all around, this is also a good location for scuba diving on the 60 foot outside wall. It is not however a safe overnight yacht anchorage with its coral all around but a ‘must see’ day stop.

Bluefield Range provides a safe yacht anchorage and the two fish camps usually offer a choice of fresh seafood for dinner.

Colson Cayes is another safe anchorage with several fish camps. The Cayes offer a shallow lagoon to explore by dinghy with plenty of coral nearby for snorkelling.

Tobacco Caye is a fine overnight anchorage, unless in a northerly wind. There are several choices for basic meals and a few bars on the island. There’s a dive shop for those who enjoy scuba diving and plenty of good snorkelling.

Laughing Bird Caye is just 11 miles from the coast of Placencia; the caye is located within a “faro”, an atoll on a continental shelf. It is steep sided and encloses a central lagoon. The attraction is the diverse variety of coral reefs. Because of the large amount of visitors steps have been taken to ensure the reefs and lagoon will be protected. There are mooring buoys and channel markers in place to protect the fragile ecosystem.

South Water Caye is about 25 miles from Placencia. South Water Caye is a reserve protected by the World Heritage Organization. Like the other marine reserves in Belize it has an amazing array of underwater life and palm trees that line the waters edge. The clear blue waters of South Water Caye give way to white sandy beaches.

Sapodilla Cayes is another marine reserve that sits in the most southern portion of Belize’s barrier reef. It is comprised of 14 mangrove and coral islands with unspoiled white sandy beaches. The waters are very shallow with some areas being less then 5 metres. On Huntington Caye you will discover the lighthouse and a Belize Guard Station. The beaches here are the nesting grounds for turtles. Lime Caye is often the most crowded with tourist boats arriving from Punta Gorda. The best place to anchor the yacht and spend the night is either Nicholas or Frank’s Caye. The incredible reef system with an abundance of colourful fish species will provide for a great snorkelling experience, even for beginners. Because Sapodilla is off the beaten path it is not over run by tourists and remains a magnificent and pristine group of islands that have very little in the way of amenities.

Just 25 short miles south of the Sapodilla Cayes lies the port of Livingston on the Rio Dulce of Guatemala where you are required to check in and out of Guatemala. A local restaurant provides a great stop along the way where they’ll pull your choice of fresh fish out of the live trap at the dock.

Outside the Barrier Reef there are some well-known dive sites that are popular. Since bareboat yacht charters are not permitted to venture outside the reef, it is in your best interest to hire a local dive company if you wish to go there. If your yacht charter is crewed, then have the skipper contact the local dive company to make arrangements for a meeting place in order to explore with an experienced dive master.

Glover’s Reef Marine is located 36 miles off the shore of Belize. It is a group of islands encircled within a turquoise lagoon and surrounded by a coral reef that has one of the richest tropical marine environments called Glover’s Reef Atoll. All six sand cayes within the atoll are privately owned. The diving is legendary and cannot compare with any other place in the world. There are over 80 square miles for snorkellers and divers to explore with an incredible variety of fish. The southern part of the atoll is a conservation area that is used for research and recreational activities. Visitors are forbidden from taking anything from the area. Dive boats require a license to be there and divers must register with the reserve manager. There is a resort located here as well but amenities for boaters are limited.

Lighthouse Reef Atoll is the farthest atoll from the coast of Belize. There is one charming colonial style beachfront resort located on the island and the primary focus of activities is diving and relaxing on the beach. The famous “Blue Hole” is actually located in the centre of the Lighthouse reef lagoon. The 400 foot deep hole is perhaps one of the most amazing underwater experiences in the western hemisphere. Some of the best wall diving exists here and many consider it the greatest dive site in Belize. Coral surrounds the entire 75 square miles of Blue Hole. Visibility is an amazing 100 feet in clear turquoise waters that are calm with no currents running. If considering a dive here hire a local dive master to meet your boat and take you there. He will have the expertise necessary for a safe diving experience.

[ad_2]

Source by Ken Jones

May 20, 2022
View: 423

[ad_1]

The adage that the smallest changes make the most impact is undeniably true, more so when it comes to interior design. A mirror here, a painting there or a plant near can bring a whole new look to the same four walls. It doesn’t matter if the home is brand new, old or just-moved-in; a few interior design tricks can breathe fresh air to any dwelling.

One of the leading architects in Chennai recommend a few tips to redesigning an apartment without putting a burden on the pocket.

  • Choose pastels and light hues.

The drawback of living in a metropolitan city like Chennai is the lack of space which means homes and apartments are getting smaller. Tiny rooms have the disadvantage of feeling claustrophobic and cramped-in. A manageable trick to give the illusion of space is using light colours for paint. Besides creating this visual impression, try to add mirrors which face windows. The reflection of natural light will convert any room into a magically massive place.

For those, who have homes with big rooms, try using darker shades on walls. It will bring a cosier and more intimate appearance to it.

  • Mirrors are for more than bouncing light.

Yes, mirrors can make a room look bigger than it is, but they are also brilliant ways to remodel a home. Instead of an average frame, choose a decorative and ornate one and hang the mirror on an empty wall. The frames will give the same impression as a painting or object of art. Another idea is to combine small mirrors in varying dimensions and make an art piece out of them.

  • Amalgamation is in vogue.

From patterns to colours, from art to dĆ©cor, the ‘in’ thing for home interiors is mixing it up. Most abodes have a plethora of items tucked away somewhere. The idea is to take out those family heirlooms, or flea market finds and showcase them in all their glory. Remember a residence is a reflection of the person who lives in it. So, don’t be shy from placing an old pendulum clock next to a contemporary Ikea couch, if you feel like it.

Take the concept a level up by piling patterns on patterns. Mix a sofa furbished in geometric material with a cushion that has an abstract design. Throw pillows and rugs of subtly changing hues to bring warmth to the living space.

  • Slip covers can do wonders.

A simple, inexpensive and gorgeous way to transform a house is slipcovers. Without spending a lot, the entire character of the furniture can be modified with covers. Plus, they ensure that not a single worry of damaging, dirty or destroying the precious fabric enters the head. In a dwelling that is occupied by kids, furniture covers should be the go-to way to redecorate. The only condition is to choose a more comfortable and casual style rather than a sophisticated and chic one.

  • Natural material baskets for the win.

Space to store stuff is always running out in a home especially those that have children. A budgetary strategy to this conundrum that also brings a hint of sophistication is baskets made of natural material like wicker. They can be used to store toys, games, books, towels, etc. The organic touch and warm hue of the baskets weave a modest look. Over and above, they can also be utilised in the kitchen to store fruits and vegetable. The cherry on the cake is their sustainability!

  • Being eco-conscious is the best choice.

With the much-needed hue and cry about climate change, it is high time homeowners start taking more green steps to revamp their living spaces. The easiest method, as per designers, is to add plants to a home. They help renew the area while aiding in keeping the planet healthier. Small plants are not heavy on the wallet at all, plus they bring colour and texture to the blandest rooms.

Another advantage is that they balance the air and humidity in the space in which they are kept and can be used for small or large areas of the flat!

A Last Idea For Home DĆ©cor:

Architecture firms in chennai say that families always have some possessions that are boxed away and never given another glance. Even still, when the time comes to redecorate, they look for more new items. Their advice is – stop running to the mall, give a good look to what is already there. Side tables can be refurbished to make bedside tables. Old coffee trays can be kept on the dining table for extra dimension. Trunks can be employed as bookshelves. Antique plates can be hanged on walls.

The list of ideas and inspirations are endless when it comes to re-doing the interiors of a home, and most of them need not take a lot of time or investment!

[ad_2]

Source by Uma Nathan

May 6, 2022
View: 399

[ad_1]

“No openly gay man has ever won the Oscar; I wonder if that is prejudice or chance,” So said Sir Ian McKellen earlier in 2016, querying the political inclusiveness of the Academy Awards. “My speech has been in two jackets… ‘I’m proud to be the first openly gay man to win the Oscar.’ I’ve had to put it back in my pocket twice.” Both of these performances, the first in ‘Gods and Monsters’ (1998) and ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring’ (2002) were certainly Oscar worthy, and both proved to be finer performances than either of the winners of the respective years. Though McKellen may have been bereft of an Oscar, his filmography would be enough to please any actor.

Though he has amassed an impressive amount of credits, he had made few film appearances prior to his turn as John Profumo in 1989, which he made aged fifty. Previously, his attention was held in the theatre, for services of which he was knighted for in 1991. Selected credits included Salieri in ‘Amadeus’, the titular doctor in ‘ Dr.Faustus’ and his extraordinary Max in ‘Bent’. Years spent working for the Royal Shakespeare Company during the seventies would serve him well as an actor, working well in his stead later in his life as a film actor.

With a beautiful baritone voice and verbosity few Oxford professors possess, McKellen has proven to be to a worthy character actor, the apple of directors Peter Jackson and Bryan Singer’s eyes. It was, however, his work with Bill Condon that would prove his worthiest collaborator film, the two films they made two of the strongest performances McKellen has given in any medium, his first McKellen’s breakthrough role in Hollywood, the second one of the finest performances any performer has given in their late seventies. Other film parts McKellen has played are magical savants, clerical bigots, tormented convicts and persecuted addicts.

10: Six Degrees Of Separation (1993,Fred Schepisi): “I’m going to buy a copy of ‘Catcher In The Rhye’, at the airport, and read it” echoes Geoffrey Miller in his light South African accent. Talking to Will Smith’s Paul, McKellen throws the line away, both flippant and assured, hints of racial insecurity and pride there in his voice. Pirouetting the room as Smith delivers a monologue echoing the voice of Holden Caulfield, Miller acts vaguely suspiciously of the guest both Ouisa Kittredge (Stockard Channing) and Flan Kittredge (Donald Sutherland) welcome with open arms.

As befitting a White stereotype from South Africa in the mid-nineties (Nelson Mandela’s release had only been three years prior), Miller paints himself as a liberal, though is privy to mild racist remarks. Asked why he stays in South Africa, Miller responds” One has to stay there. To educate the black workers. And we’ll know we’ve been successful when they kill us. ” McKellen leaves it up to the audience to decide whether this remark is meant seriously or with tongue firmly placed in cheek. Perennially smirking as Paul Poitier (the self-proclaimed son of Sidney Poitier) attempts to con his hosts. Whether knowing or not, McKellen plays Miller as a parvenu, uncomfortable around the sound of blood, more concerned with wine than a person’s ailments.

McKellen cleverly allows Sutherland and Channing take most of the thunder, adding small gestures to the side of their performances, allowing audiences to interpret as they choose the thoughts and motivations of his character. A strong supporting role.

9: X-Men (2000, Bryan Singer): There was a time when comic book movies werenĀ“t the hot property they are now. Nowadays golden treasures Martin Sheen, Jeremy Irons, Helen Hunt, Amy Adams and Glenn Close pop in and out of the comic book world and nobody blinks an eye-lid. And Ian McKellen is largely to thank for that. Even more so than Patrick Stewart (Stewart already had a foot in the mainstream, thanks to Star Trek), a Shakespearian actor of his calibre brought credence to the world of comic book movies, a mere three years after George Clooney visibly embarrassed himself with his Bat credit-card.

“I’ve always felt that ‘X-Men’ was about something serious. It wasn’t just fantasy.” he told reporters. Director Bryan Singer, promoting his third film Ā“X-Men: Days of Future PastĀ“ told The Los Angeles Times Mckellen responded well to “the allegory of the mutants as outsiders, disenfranchised and alone and coming to all of that at puberty when their difference manifests. Ian is an activist and he really responded to the potential of that allegory.” Both director and star were openly gay men and related to the persecution of said mutants in their personal lives, as well as the obvious recognition that Magneto (nee Erik Lehnsherr) survived an ordeal at a concentration camp. True, Michael Fassbender and Matthew Vaughn went further with this psychological probing a decade later, but the ground steps were laid by McKellen and Singer, without whom the comic book world would not be the property it is today.

Capable to manipulate and control metallic objects, Magneto proved a strong character to play. “Why do none of you understand what I’m trying to do? Those people down there- they control our fate and the fate of every other mutant! Well, soon our fate will be theirs. “He screams at Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). ItĀ“s diabolical, but his point is justified. Unlike other Marvel villains, greed isnĀ“t what motivates Magneto, injustice and retribution are. McKellenĀ“s first entry into the public consciousness of pop culture, he would play Magneto in four successive films, his successor Michael Fassbender modelling his accent on a tutorial McKellen gave on Ā“Macbeth ‘in 1979.

8: Jack and Sarah (Tim Sullivan, 1995): Playing a recovering alcoholic is a must for any actor worth their salt. Nicholas Cage and James Coburn took home statuettes for their alcoholic turns, Peter O ‘Toole was rarely better than his inebriated turn in ‘My Favourite Year’, Daniel Craig has spent more time battling vodka than villains as James Bond! McKellen’s William is an altruistic helper, crippled by a former life of excessive drinking, but once sober, proves more capable of paternal instinct than Richard E.Grant’s Jack.

McKellen plays for broad laughs as he carries the newly born child high in the air, much to the shock of the baby’s grandmothers (played by Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins). But his sincerity is there, and once brought to attention, he gains the family’s trust.

McKellen brings s touch of tragedy to the proceedings, woken on the staircase, whiskey perennially laced into his drinks. Unnaturally thin, McKellen’s boney appearance makes him an undesirable babysitter. But his courtship with the equally flawed Jack allows audiences to placate their differences and warm to a generous hearted man, fuller with love than booze.

Under seen and underrated (Grant was perhaps too atypical looking to take off as a romantic heart throb in the manner of Hugh Grant), it has a warm heart attached to the film. McKellen recounted in 2000″ Jack and Sarah hasn’t enjoyed the same success as other English middle-class comedies shot in Notting Hill, but it was fun to be living at home in London and on a local location with so many talented old friends.”

7: Cold Comfort Farm (1995, John Schlesinger): There are few men as ferocious as Ian Paisley, but McKellen’s Amos Starkadder could bring the fury of God down on any man worthy of sin. ‘There’s no butter in hell’ he screams at a congregation of rural workers, evoking an afterlife so terrible, a life so miserable. “Amos Starkadder, the hell-fire preacher to his congregation of “Quiverers”, is a parody of the non-conformist preachers I remember from my childhood.”McKellen later reflected. “One of his attention-grabbing tricks was suddenly to stop the flow of his sermon and, gesturing to the back wall of the church, gasp: “I can see the children of Israel!” The congregation’s heads would turn round to follow his pointing finger. Amos would have admired that. “

Eccentric to the extreme, Starkadder bellows with provincial syllables, the fear of God by his side. One of McKellen’s more obviously comic performances, Starkadder is complete with putrid yellow teeth. Hair shaken, voice over his parishioners, McKellen’s parody is pitch perfect. “The quivering worshippers were played by local extras and Schlesinger wanted to shoot on their upturned faces early in the day, before boredom might set in.” McKellen remembered. ” Before I had finished, the extras were released and the sermon was preached to the few loyal professionals who stayed behind to give me the eyelines. Fortunately my voice took on a new strength and the resulting scene even makes me laugh.”

He’s not the only one. Arguably the funniest scene in the film (and the starry cast includes raconteurs Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margoyles and Stephen Fry), McKellen’s sermon wickedly comic. Laughter has rarely been this sinful!

6: Apt Pupil (1998, Bryan Singer): Bryan Singer, talking to The Hollywood Reporter spoke of his interest in McKellen “With Ian McKellen, we were actually introduced by a mutual friend early on. I had a list of a number of the sort of obvious older, European actors… I wanted, like with Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects, to have this character played by someone who wasn’t as familiar to mainstream audiences, which Kevin wasn’t at the time.” McKellen’s nationality was another contributing factor: “I also thought that Ian brought a degree of British charm and flamboyance to this otherwise stoic German character. ” The two collaborated well and made three X-Men films together following their Stephen King adaptation.

Situated as a Nazi War criminal, McKellen’s Kurt Dussander is both vindictive and repentive. One senses that he feels the crimes he has committed, but know he has a darker side to him waiting to burn out from the edges. McKellen plays well off Brad Renfro’s Todd Rowden, a child with a harrowing obsession with Dussander’s past. McKellen wrote a tribute to Renfro on his website following Renfro’s untimely death in 2008.

Dussander is tenacious and retaliatory; a Nazi uniform is merely a uniform, Dussander is a menace in his own right. Threatening the child with exclamation “To the whole world, I am a monster. And you have known about me all this time. If I’m caught, when those reporters stick their microphones in my face it will be your name that I will repeat over and over again. Todd Bowden, Todd Bowden… “one senses Dussander is only a foot away from enacting a vengeance far nastier than any bullet could paint.

McKellen succeeds as the ageing terror, both frightful and plaintive. Merely fifty seven at the time of filming, McKellen is markedly convincing as a man encompassed by his seventies.

5: Scandal (1989): By McKellen’s own admission, he was never the first choice for a romantic lead. Too effete to be a sex symbol, too verbose to evoke mystery, simply too plain looking to radiate a sex appeal fellow thesp Anthony Hopkins radiated. Therefore, it is a great surprise to watch him play the part of lover as John Profumo, the balding middle-aged subject of Christine Keeler’s (Joanne Whaley) affection. The film proved a scapegoat for McKellen: admitting to The Hollywood Reporter, the part of a heterosexual lover seemed appealing: “The assumption is when you’ve come out that you’ll never be able to play anything but gay characters again. So, I thought that was a nice message to the world that a gay actor could play a straight man.”

True, much of the film is open to speculation (the real life Profumo Affair is shrouded by hushes and whispers, as befitting a member of the Conservative Party), though the consequences may have been the trigger behind his resignation in 1963. McKellen is perfectly cast as Profumo, much as the Secretary of the State of War would be the last person to suspect eliciting an affair with a nineteen year old model, so McKellen plays the ordinarity and mundanity devoid of suspicion.

“I have nothing to hide” he insists to Stephen Ward (John Hurt), an affectation that makes it hard to disagree with his feity. McKellen’s eyebrows leers over Keeler’s like a child longing for a sweet, an insatiable, carnal desire of inner indulgence. McKellen’s regal aristocratic nature works for the film’s benefit, the sixties in his grasp, his party on his back. The Pet Shop Boys (real life nineteen eighties friends of McKellen’s) wrote the film’s title track ‘Nothing Has Been Proved’, perhaps a returning gesture after McKellen guest appeared in their 1987 video ‘Heart’.

4: The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring (2001, Peter Jackson): Arguably McKellenĀ“s most fondly remembered character, McKellenĀ“s performance won him the applause of every critic in town, both as Gandalf The Grey and Gandalf The White. While Tolkien is universally adored these days, it, frankly, wasnĀ“t always thus. Unless you were Robert Plant, admiring Tolkien simply wasnĀ“t cool before 2001 and few fantasy films of recent decades had shown any worth, both Ā“The Never-ending Story ‘and Ā“HighlanderĀ“ suffering from appalling sequels and overindulgent exercises. Hence, McKellen, with his lack of Hollywood pizazz, was not New Line CinemaĀ“s first choice for the role and pushed Peter Jackson away from McKellen to Sean Connery. Connery declined, as did Christopher Plummer, and Jackson reinstated his original choice in the film. And the result could not be any better.

As sweet as it would have been to hear ConneryĀ“s Scottish soliloquies, McKellen masters the role, the pose, the stance, the joviality, the intrigue, the esoteric nature of the series. As wretched as The Hobbit prequels were, nobody complained while McKellen was onscreen.

Although he played Gandalf six times, his debut remains his most memorable, a fiery speech opening the audienceĀ“s ears to the perils of Mordor, a fiery fall by the hands of the Balrog. He plays it serene and stoic, but battle heavy and world weary also. ItĀ“s his best performance as Gandalf. DonĀ“t believe me? Then believe the Academy; they nominated him for supporting actor.

Best known for one perennially iconic line, McKellen re-used it a decade later visiting students at Oxford University in 2014. “‘If you don’t work hard, if you don’t do your revision, you know what will happen,” he asked, before holding himself with an imaginary staff. “You shall not passĀ“. Reading Fantasy provides long supporting advice.

3: Mr. Holmes (2015, Bill Condon): Sherlock’s indubitably very much in vogue at present. Robert Downey Jr took time away from his Iron Man paraphernalia to chase vagabonds throughout an opera house, Benedict Cumberbatch (literally) brought the old detective into the twenty first century, Johnny Lee Miller brought a heroin lock into Sherlock, Hugh Laurie’s House tipped his hat at the detective, David Mitchell wore an overtly large hat as the sleuth: all in their own way sharing a debt to Basil Rathbone.. Even with McKellen’s worthy credentials, originality would prove difficult Perfect then that Bill Condon allows McKellen to portray an ageing, reflective Holmes, harrowed by time, incarcerated by his memories. McKellen allows his younger contemporaries away with their showier portrayals, yet by doing so, he comes up with the most original and interesting Holmes since Rathbone pipe smoked his way through mysteries.

“I’ve decided to write the story down; as it was, not as John made it. Get it right, before I die.” he dictates to his younger companion Roger, irate his endeavours were altered by John Watson from fact to fiction. Fully aware that the life of a sleuth is not the subject of Hollywood films, he jokes “When you’re a detective, and a man comes to see you, it’s usually about his wife.”

McKellen, although nearly two decades younger than his character, brings a world weary sadness only age provides. One senses this is a man who has seen it all, lived it all, gave it all and felt it all. It’s there in McKellen’s desolate eyes, it’s there in the shake of his voice. McKellen and Condon prove a fine pair, the second of three collaborations the two would embark on (their third will be Disney’s live version of ‘Beauty and The Beast’ starring Emma Watson’). An excellent second collaboration, it had a similar quality to it as their first film, one which will be discussed dutifully

2: Richard III (1995, Richard Loncraine): Ian McKellen cut his teeth with the Royal Shakespeare Company, finessing his Macbeth’s, salivating his Juliet. His Richard III is magnificent, a superb re-imaging of Shakespeare’s great play, replacing the regal castles with Reichian symbols and nineteen thirties Nazi gear. Lauded when staged for the Royal National Theatre, McKellen and director Richard Loncraine re-adapted it for the big screen (both received writing credits for their work alongside the bard).

McKellen’s presence is steelier than the bullets that fire throughout the film’s finale, steamier than the fires that burn throughout. Eschewing the traditional image of Richard as physically immobilised, McKellen’s Richard stands above all his men, each an ant he can stamp on at any point, each a little person in his grand plan. Utilising the trick Kevin Spacey would later adopt for Frank Underwood, McKellen speaks to the camera, each aware of his nefarious plans. “Now is the winter of my discontent” he tells to a jovial audience as the film opens, a side glance to the camera with “That dogs bark at me as I halt by them” suggests all is not well in the state of his mind. Prone to nervous laughter, prone to violent tirades, no one is ever sure what Richard will do next.

McKellen is excellent, his involvement behind the scenes as both co-writer and uncredited producer works to make this the finest Shakespearian film adaptation of the last twenty five years. Talking to the BFI Southbank London in 2016, McKellen reflected ” “Neither of us [[Loncraine and McKellen]] made a penny from it, we gave all our salaries to make it and I’m very proud of it.” Dispute not with that: that would be lunacy!

1: Gods and Monsters (1998, Bill Condon): Talking in a correspondence, McKellen claimed that “Gods and Monsters was one of the most enjoyable films I have been involved with — partly because of the crew and cast whom Bill Condon (director and Oscar-winning screenplay writer) gathered together but also because of the subject matter. I knew nothing about James Whale until I started reading about him for the film and meeting some of his old friends. I admire his talent and his achievements as a film director and his honesty in being openly gay in the Hollywood of the 1950s when honesty of that sort was not thought to be the best policy.”

Bringing the role forth from a very personal place in his heart, McKellen gives every ounce of his soul into the performance as James Whale. Whether he’s himself or Whale or a combination of both is irrelevant, it is his honesty that matters most and what translates best onto the screen. Few actors have given such an honest performance in their lives; McKellen does.

An ageing man, ever infatuated with his youthful gardener (Brendan Fraser), McKellen brings a certain impassive dignity into the proceedings. Witty to the outside world (he recounts that his gardener has “never met a princess before, only queens” to Princess Margaret), but tortured within his confiding’s (“Hatred was the only thing that kept my soul alive. And amongst the men I hated… was my dear old dumb father, who put me in that hell in the first place.”), Whale is a chameleon, much as McKellen is. Perhaps McKellen’s most personal film role, McKellen brings Whale alive in a way that even the infamous director never brought Frankenstein’s Monster alive. Yes, that’s as Meta as it gets!

McKellen was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal, losing to Roberto Benigni, a greater disservice than McKellen’s loss to Jim Broadbent in 2002. But where statuettes come and go, celluloid remains implanted. James Whale will be forever eulogised and commemorated for McKellen’s work, as Whale’s life inspired McKellen to play him effectively. For once, art and life met centre of the proceedings; surely that’s better than any Oscar could ever be?

[ad_2]

Source by Eoghan M Lyng

May 5, 2022
View: 367

[ad_1]

Web-based artist networks, art marketplaces, and online art galleries are helping artists who are selling art online, a more and more common practice as time goes by. More often than not, selling your art online on your own can be an experience that disenchants many artists with the prospect of selling art online using any tool; even a personal website can be difficult to manage in comparison to an online gallery account.

The online art market is growing considerably, and with online art sales on the rise, it is proving to be an increasingly fruitful avenue for artists, even compared to traditional methods for selling art as an artist. Previously established networks like those used by online art marketplaces and gallery settings have many things going for them that personal websites do not, namely the ability to draw on greater authority rankings that help them appear higher on search engine results. Larger sites draw a large portion of the market of online art buyers looking for artists who are selling art online. These buyers are already seeking art to buy online, and are open to the prospect of purchasing directly from the artist. Selling your art online can be difficult if you are only selling from your own personal website. Increase the scope of the audience who can potentially see your work by including your pieces in an online art gallery or marketplace!

Traditional galleries have the problem that they are highly localized in their traffic, whereas with the online revolution, someone in England can buy a painting or sculpture piece from an artist in Hawaii, arrange for shipping, and pay the artist directly. Galleries also have limited wall space, which is not an issue when you’re selling your art online.

Many websites have sprung up to help artists with the task of selling art online; they often charge a nominal fee, some one time, some annual, and some taking a commission of each sale an artist makes, but no matter the payment model being used this is often much less than an artist would pay to display their work in a traditional brick and mortar venue. A virtual listing for a piece of art allows the artist who is selling art online to display at least one image, often more, of their work as well as a description of the piece that can be key word optimized for better search engine exposure, and contact information for interested buyers. The advantages of selling your art works online are numerous, and center around the several ways that you can save both money and time. Your worries over maintaining a physical gallery space are over if you decide to work on selling your art online! No more rent and maintenance worries, no more adjusting your schedule to fit that of the gallery, with online art sales it is all between you as the artist and your buyer, and that is as it should be.

Compared to selling art pieces online, gallery sales are a lot harder to come by. But just because there is greater potential for an artist selling art online to make more sales does not mean that these sales will come without a little effort on the part of the artist. The way the internet works for someone selling art online it is all about your ‘findability’. So when someone searches for something using a specific word or phrase, the websites which are ranked best for those terms come up in order of relevance and importance. The better you describe your work when creating a listing on an art sales website, the better chance you have of making a sale. Now this does not mean that you should find a list of popular search terms for selling art online and cram as many of them into your description box as possible, but rather select a few that are most closely associated with your piece or gallery as a while, and work those into your description text.

Making a sale using your new online gallery pages can be fun if you want it to be. This does not mean that marketing yourself effectively will not require a little effort on your part, but if you let yourself enjoy the challenge, it can be a very rewarding way to see the fruits of your labor ripening on the vine. Promote yourself and your work through social networking sites like Facebook and Google+ with links to your gallery and pictures of your work (make sure to use watermarks to protect your unsold pieces) and encourage your friends and contacts to share these with their contacts as well. Selling art online doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming if done correctly, so stay tuned for more information how to sell your art online and all the benefits you can expect to enjoy!

[ad_2]

Source by Juliette Traversen

April 20, 2022
View: 380

[ad_1]

An easterly drive on Long Island’s Route 25A reveals an opening in the foliage just over the Nassau-Suffolk County line on the left side and a splotch of water known as “Cold Spring Harbor.” That water, of both the fresh and salt types, defined it, sustained it, and became its raison d’etre.

“Water is the defining characteristic of the place now called Cold Spring Harbor,” according to Robert G. Hughes in his Images of America: Cold Spring Harbor book (Acadia Publishing, 2014, p. 7). “To the indigenous inhabitants, it was known as Wawapex, or ‘at the good little water place.’ The European settlers of the 17th century named the area after its abundance of freshwater springs.”

Like a mirror, that water reflects its changing color and character as it does—slate gray on cloudy days, cobalt blue on clear ones, and orange and reds near its shores on autumn ones. It also reflects its history. It served as a draw and became the means to sustain the lives of those who settled there.

Only a few hundred yards beyond this view, the road arcs to the left and threads its way through the hamlet, which is very small. But so, too, are gens. This one sparkles through its harbor and exudes its history through its nature, museums, and restored buildings. It is a living example of how its purpose has evolved as a result of time, transportation, and technology. And a day spent here will demonstrate that.

Cold Spring Harbor History:

Located on Long Island’s North Shore-specifically on the western edge of what was once Huntington’s 1653 First Purchase-Cold Spring Harbor arose because of its water artery, providing the many means by which it developed over the next three centuries.

Power, the initial one, turned the mills that cut the locally grown trees, supplied the wood to construct farms, and ground the grain they grew, all made possible by the dam across from the Cold Spring River that John Adams erected in 1682. Aside from these saw and grist mills, there were also those that wove and created paper.

“Dams at the edge of large ponds and lakes generated power to run grist, saw, paper, and woolen mills where local grain, trees, and wool were transformed into food, logs, paper, barrels, and woven materials, such as broadcloths, blankets, and coverlets,” according to the CSHFHM News: The Newsletter of the Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum (Winter 2015).

Water also positioned Cold Spring Harbor as a delivery port, its next significant role, when an Act of Congress appointed a surveyor of customs on March 2, 1799. He was entrusted with the “power to enroll and license vessels to be employed in the coasting trade and fisheries and to enter and clear, and grant registers and other usual papers, to vessels employed in the whale fisheries.”

Devoid of any appreciable land-based infrastructure, the country relied on rivers and seas for passenger and cargo transport during this time. In the case of Cold Spring Harbor, water served as its channel for schooners to deliver rice, coffee, sugar, wood, coal, sand, and gravel to New York City and destinations beyond, specifically those along the East Coast and as far as the West Indies in the Caribbean. The integral role Cold Spring Harbor played in coastal trading is reflected by the 99 ships registered there in 1883.

And its waters became the threshold to the whaling ships that sailed even further afield.

“From 1836 to 1862, nine ships sailed from Cold Spring Harbor, all on voyages lasting up to two years,” according to Hughes (op. cit., p.8). “Wool from the local mills, barrels from Bungtown, produce and meat from local farms, and other local products were used to outfit the ships for their months-long journeys to as far away as Alaska.”

Although the discovery pf petroleum in Pennsylvania soon obviated the need for whale oil and its associated products, along with the whaling industry that hunted it, the Long Island hamlet continued its blacksmith, shipyard, and sail-making activities.

But its idyllic, water-side setting gave rise to another of its significant purposes-tourism-during the Gilded Age. Escaping summer heat and seeking leisure-oriented pursuits, they traveled by water-supported steamers from Manhattan and stayed in elegant, multiple-facility resorts, such as the Glenada, Forest Lawn, and the Laurelton for weeks at a time. Water, again, provided swimming, boating, and fishing sports.

Seafood, needless to say, was abundant in the form of oysters, fish, and clams-so much so, in fact, that the latter’s bounty was reflected by the very “Clamtown” designation of the harbor’s east side.

While the grand resorts have since disappeared, its tourist industry, primarily of the day trip type, continues in a compact town which brims with significant sights, colonial shops, and restaurants, and whose entire business district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

SIGHTS:

Cold Spring Harbor’s diverse sights serve as its natural and manmade imprints.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory:

Founded as far back as 1890 when the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences established a field station on Cold Spring Harbor’s western shore so that students could study nature instead of books, the laboratory offered it first course in biology and has since shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, and plant and quantitative biology. It spawned eight Nobel Prize winners.

“(Its) education programs introduce students to the newest ideas, discoveries, and technologies in biology and the life sciences, and allow them to work alongside some of the most innovative scientists in the world in an open, collaborative environment,” according to its website. “We offer programs for children, teachers, college, high school, and graduate students, as well as established scientists.”

For the tourist or day-tripper, 90-minute campus tours are scheduled.

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium:

Founded in 1883 by the State of New York and now a nationally recognized historic landmark, the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium took up initial residence in two leased woolen factory buildings at the head of the harbor.

“The fish hatchery was an immediate success,” according to Hughes (op. cit. p. 32). “Its first superintendent, Frederic Mather, introduced brown trout from Germany. Soon, thousands of pounds of fish were being grown and released into local rivers and lakes.”

In 1982, it reinvented itself as a nonprofit environmental education center, aquarium, and working trout hatchery dedicated to increasing the awareness and understanding of the state’s freshwater ecosystems. It contains its largest collection of aquatic reptiles, fish, and amphibians.

Several exhibits enable the visitor to gain greater understanding.

The Fairchild Exhibit Building, for instance, serves as the facility’s entrance, gift shop, and aquarium. In the latter guise, it displays blue spotted sunfish, bowfin, black bullhead, and crayfish, and, in its larger turtle tanks, spotted, bay, snapping, spiny softshell, wood, and northern diamondback types. Its “New York Amphibia” exhibit, featuring frogs and salamanders, is the largest living collection of native amphibians in the northeast.

Outside are trout, warm water, and turtle ponds covered with nets to protect them from hungry heron and osprey attacks.

“The hatchery and aquarium’s turtles and warm water fish are kept in water that originates in St. John’s Pond, located south of the hatchery and east of St. John’s Church,” according to the facility. “This water flow is raw lake water; no processing or filtration is used. The temperature of the water ranges from 34 degrees in the winter to over 80 degrees in the summer. The warm water fish thrive in water which reaches such temperatures.”

Two round, self-cleaning ponds hold brook and rainbow trout that ranges between 1.5 and 2.5 years in age.

Visitors may either feed or altogether catch fish in the Tidal Raceway, whose water empties into Long Island Sound. Bait is available for purchase and there is a per-pound fee for any catch.

The Hatch House and rearing pools, located across from the main facility, serve as the incubation and hatching areas of brook trout eggs that are taken in early November and produce life the following month. After a four-month period, they are moved to the rearing pools themselves, which are considered the intermediate facilities between the Hatch House’s troughs and the larger, outdoor Trout Ponds.

The Walter L. Rose II Aquarium Building, the fish hatchery’s second such indoor display, houses more than 30 different species of freshwater fish native to New York State, such as smallmouth bass, yellow perch, channel catfish, brown bullhead, chain pickerel, green sunfish, and lake trout. Newly hatched turtles from the outdoor Turtle Pond are also displayed here.

Behind the building is one of the five artesian wells that supply the hatchery with fresh water.

Bungtown School:

A wooden marker behind the fish hatchery faces the upper parking lot of St. John’s Parish, location of the so-called “Bungtown School,” or the first West Side Schoolhouse at the head of Cold Spring Harbor. Built in 1790 and initially measuring 24 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 14.5 feet high, it gained additional notoriety when President George Washington, traveling from Widow Platt’s Tavern in Huntington to Oyster Bay on April 23 of that year, passed through Cold Spring Harbor and observed its construction.

According to the now-legendary story, he stopped, lent a hand in raising one of the rafters, and even left a silver dollar for the workers.

The single-room structure was functional, but hardly opulent: long, wooden benches on either side faced equally-wooden plank desks that were fastened to the wall beneath the windows. Warmth was provided by a large fireplace. Grades varied according to age, which ranged from five to 21 years.

While the curriculum consisted of reading, writing, grammar, spelling, arithmetic, and geography, and employed both slates and copy books, it also included religion. The day, in fact, began with either a prayer or a Bible verse reading after students, who themselves chopped the wood, warmed themselves at the fire.

Increased enrollment soon necessitated increased size-in this case, to 51 feet in length. Aside from education, the school became the breeding ground for those who ultimately entered the whaling industry. The stoppers used to seal the wooden whale oil barrels, or “bungs,” earned it its “Bungtown School” name.

Nevertheless, serving its purpose for more than a century, it was closed in 1884, its last class taking place on December 21 of that year.

St. John’s Episcopal Church:

The Bungtown School briefly served a secondary purpose-namely, as a location for Cold Spring Harbor’s Episcopalian services until the definitive St. John’s Episcopal Church was constructed there in 1835 after area founders had each pledged $2,000 for the project.

Fabricated by means of the post-and-beam method, with hand-hewn timbers fitted with mortise joints and pegs, it featured plastered indoor walls, cedar shingle-sheathed outer ones, and Tiffany stained glass windows. It was consecrated two years later, in April.

In 1950, it was relocated further north and 40 feet east of the landfill. Twelve years later an addition enlarged it.

St. John’s Pond and Nature Sanctuary:

A seemingly oval gem of blue tranquility surrounded by dense greenery and dotted with ducks gliding across its glass surface, St. John’s Pond and Nature Sanctuary, to the side of the church, not only reflects the sky, but almost appears to mirror the souls above it.

Created by the lower dam and surrounded by steep, farming-prohibitive terrain, it features some of Long Island’s oldest woodlands. It is the perfect setting for solitude and communing with nature.

Cold Spring Harbor Library and Environmental Center:

Propped above the town with commanding views of the harbor, the imposing, 26,500-square-foot Cold Spring Harbor Library and Environmental Center occupies five acres of Cold Spring Harbor State Park and reflects the ever-increasing size of community patrons, now representing some 8,500 local residents.

It traces its origins to 1886, when it stored its book collection in a tenement house. At the turn of the century, the Post Office served this purpose. In 1913, it moved into a brick structure and 73 years later it took up residence in the East Side School. The current rendition opened in 2006.

A carpeted Reading Room, almost resembling a study in a palatial mansion, is located on the left side after entry. Its atmosphere is further completed by its leather easy chairs, marble fireplace, and Stokely Webster’s painting, “Punta della Dogana,” hung above the mantel. A rocking chair-adorned outside terrace offers views of the harbor and its moored boats.

The oil-on-linen “Reflections II: Lloyd Harbor View” painting by Pauline Gore Emmet in the Quiet Room expands the facility’s gallery-feel, but of historic significance here is the wooden plaque that lists the 43 names of those from the two Cold Spring Harbor school districts who fought in the Civil War between 1861 and 1866.

The three-floor library’s other facilities include a Children’s Room, a Storytime Room, a Hands-On Learning Center for Crafts, a Tween area, an Environmental Center, a Local History Room, an Archives Room, and the newly-opened, teen-targeted Underground.

Cold Spring Harbor State Park:

Both part of and next door to the library is Cold Spring Harbor State Park, which, according to its own description, “is comprised of 40 acres of hilly terrain that offer scenic vistas of Cold Spring Harbor. It features a mixed hardwood forest with notable large oak specimens that measure three feet in diameter, as well as thickets of wild mountain laurel.”

Topographically steep, it requires a rigorous climb of dirt and wooden steps to reach and continues up a slope, passing giant tulip trees and mighty oaks that loom over gnarled groves of mountain shrubs before descending to the pond on the other side, offering views of horned owls and red-tailed hawks. Various songbird migrations can be seen during the spring and the fall.

As the northern trailhead of the Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Tail, it extends to Bethpage State Park and, eventually, to Long Island’s South Shore.

Along the Waterfront:

The Town of Huntington ramp is located across Main Street (Route 25A) from Cold Spring Harbor State Park. But a walk to it may be met with an olfactory waft of fish-scented air before the water surface and the slowly moving boats rounding the sandspit are actually viewed.

Like floating buoys, they mark the threshold to this North Shore Long Island hamlet. A small parcel of grass serves as the ideal place for a picnic here. Fishing poles protrude from those hoping for the day’s catch and the evening’s dinner.

A walk further into town reveals another harbor-eyes-view, but its tranquility is a sharp contrast to the commemorative cross-of-sorts encountered-a World Trade Center artifact dedicated to the memory of local victims lost during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and erected by the Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department. “All gave some, but some gave all,” it philosophically proclaims.

Closer to the sidewalk is another, but more ancient reminder-an historical marker advising that “Israel Ketchum of Cold Spring Harbor, while jailed for counterfeiting, revealed a plot to assassinate Washington in June of 1776.” Ill-intentions apparently always existed, regardless of how far back they occurred.

Another historical marker, on the corner at the beginning of the town’s c luster of shops and restaurants, reminds of its once-prevalent mills.

“Paper Mill, built by Richard Conklin circa 1782, produced fine linen paper–site at (the) end of Mill Dam and Bridge, northerly 250 feet,” it advises.

While the mill itself no longer exists, much of the town’s architectural heritage has been preserved.

“Cold Spring (its original name) was, over 200 years ago, much as it is today,” according to the Fall 2019 edition of the CSHFHM Newsletter. “The same harbor, the same hills, the same valley through which Bedlam Street and Black Street ran and which today are known as Main and Spring Streets. It was a community where commerce was strong.”

Aside from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium at the entrance to the town, there are several other important attractions here.

Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum:

Like the public library, the town’s fire house had several locations before it occupied the present one, and the museum building that preserves and interprets its history survived more than a century before it could do so.

Its first location, in the Harness Store, but known as the Teal Building, was chosen on April 11, 1896 by the Cold Spring Harbor taxpayers, and its Hook and Ladder Company #1 served a one-mile fire district. Moving to a new, larger fire house constructed in 1906, it became a co-resident with the Phenix Engine Company, which itself had protected the community since 1852.

In 2007, local citizens saved the original Teal Building from demolition, at which time it was acquired, relocated, restored, and preserved, and, as the front portion of the current museum, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We invite you to step into the past,” its brochure states. “Visit our nationally registered firehouse. See and feel the texture of the wainscoted walls and ceilings. Delight in the tiny sounds of the museum’s century-old nickelodeon. Let your imagination take you back to a time when neighbors stood side-by-side in this small whaling port and fought the ravages of fire.”

The museum’s equipment includes a Phenix hand tub, a Ford Model TT chemical truck, and a 1939 American La France Engine. Other artifacts and displays encompass a Pompier ladder, signal lights, balls, copper and brass extinguishers, fire grenades, leather buckets, and fire gear.

The cupola that adorned the fire house as far back as 1930 is located outside, behind the museum. Discovered in pieces after the District’s Board of Commissionaires voted to have it replaced it with an aluminum one, it was painstakingly restored to its present condition.

Methodist Episcopal Church and Preservation Long Island:

Across Main Street and not far from the Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum is the Methodist Episcopal Church, another of the town’s buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Constructed in 1842 by Israel Valentine, a local craftsman, during the whaling era on a site acquired from Judge Richard M. Conklin, who himself was one of the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Company’s partners, it was subjected to various architectural modifications, particularly to its front faƧade and steeple configuration, throughout the years.

At the time, the town’s Main Street, reflecting tis pre-motorized days, was a path only wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to occupy and it passed right outside the church’s front door.

After serving the congregation for 149 years, the building was closed and acquired by Preservation Long Island in 1996 for use as an upper-level exhibition gallery and a lower administration office.

Founded in 1948 as the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, but amending its name in 2017, it states its mission is “to work with Long Islanders to protect, preserve, and celebrate our region’s cultural heritage through advocacy, education, and the stewardship of historic sites and collections.”

With more than 8,000 objects, it possesses one of the most significant regional assemblages of material culture in New York State. Its exhibition gallery has showcased four centuries of fine and decorative arts, architecture, and historical documents. Some of its past exhibits have centered around landmarks, maps, photography, and antiques.

The Whaling Museum and Education Center:

Of Cold Spring Harbor’s many attractions, the Whaling Museum and Education Center ranks as one of its more significant ones. This is aptly reflected in its very mission of “engaging the community in exploring the diversity of our whaling heritage and its impacts to enrich and inform our lives.”

It totes itself as “the only museum open year-round which explores the whaling history of Long Island.”

‘Long Island boosts a particularly vibrant whaling heritage,” according to its website. “Historically, whaling was one of Long Island’s most important commercial industries, significantly shaping the economic development and social foundation of the region, as well as contributing to American’s emergence as an international power in the 19th century. One of the three whaling ports on Long Island (along with Sag Harbor and Greenport), Cold Spring Harbor… offers a microcosmic view of the quintessential 19th-century American whaling town.”

Cornerstone of the museum is New York State’s only fully-equipped, 19th-century whaleboat. Constructed of white oak and featuring canvas sails and American hemp ropes, the 1,000-pound vessel is 28 feet long and six feet wide. Typically crewed by a half-dozen, it was provisioned with18 to 22 oars, and was last used by the Daisy, a New Bedford whaling brig, during one of the final American whaling voyages from the Caribbean to South George Island in the Atlantic between 1912 and 1913. The more than 143 whaling ships that made some one thousand voyages from Cold Spring Harbor, Sag Harbor, and Greenport during the era were each equipped with between three and five such boats that were only lowered to the water after a whale sighting.

“… (The full-sized) ship had three masts, carried four or five small boats, and had the largest crew,” according to the “Golden Age of Whaling” article in the Amityville Record (July 13, 2021). “There were six men per small boat, and ship keepers (steward, cook, cooper, blacksmith, or carpenter) stayed aboard the vessel when the small boats were chasing whales. The ship was built to travel the longest distance and could stay at sea for three to four years.”

Crew occupied their time during long stretches by etching images into whalebones.

The last Long Island-based whaling ship sailed in 1871, but never returned.

Other museum exhibits include a ship model of the Charles W. Morgan, the skull of an orca whale, a diorama depicting Cold Spring Harbor during the 1850s, maritime art, and one of the northeast’s most significant scrimshaw collections. The era is brought to life with re-creations, such as “James General Store,” “Chores on Deck,” and “Life Below Deck.” Other displays include “Waterproofing a Whaleship,” “Whale Oil Barrels,” and “Cooking with Whale Oil in a Trypot.” Video monitor films enhance the experience, with documentaries like “The 38th Voyage of the Charles W. Morgan.”

The museum’s 6,000 object and archival holdings preserve Cold Spring Harbor’s maritime history and its 2,800-strong library collection consists of primary and secondary volumes and manuscripts from the town’s whaling fleet, ship logs, journals, records of Long Island coastal trade, and documents from the Cold Spring Harbor Custom House.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center:

The DNA Learning Center, the educational arm of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, is the town’s last major attraction, but is considered the world’s first biotechnical museum.

“Since the DNA Learning Center was established in 1988,” according to its website, “we’ve been advancing genetics education for students and families. We deliver biotechnology instruction through laboratory field trips for students in New York and beyond. More than 700,000 middle and high school students have experienced our hands-on approach to science instruction over the last 30 years. We offer in-person field trips and summer camps on Long Island and in New York City.”

SHOPS:

While shopping may not carry historical connections, Cold Spring Harbor’s very structures prove to be preserved pockets of its past.

“… Many of our shops and businesses are located in buildings that once served as the homes of ship captains,” the Fall 2019 edition of the CSHFHM Newsletter explains. “Our beautiful harbor now welcomes visitors who arrive by yacht and serves recreational boaters, baymen, and fishermen.”

Antiques, art, souvenirs, trinkets, and candles are all sold in shops that line Main Street, which almost exudes a New England atmosphere.

Country Club Studio, for instance, bills itself as offering “gifts with a Tiffany touch.” A waft of scents and fragrances meets the visitor as he enters the Heritage and Candle Home. And Kellogg’s Dolls’ Houses displays and sells meticulously-assembled, museum-quality doll houses made from 3/8ths-of-an-inch birch plywood.

RESTAURANTS:

Cold Spring Harbor dining depends upon the meal and the monetary means. The Gourmet Whaler, for example, offers lighter, lunch fare, such as tacos, wraps, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and quesadillas. Sweetie Pies on Main, serving “fine coffee and incredible edibles,” offers croissants, mini-pizzas, bagels, quiches, and salads, along with sweet-side satisfactions like muffins, cookies, scones, and pastries with cappuccinos.

Two restaurants offer more elegant selections.

Grasso’s, the first, was established in 1994 and takes the diner “on a journey from a quaint 1850 town to a hip, New York-style restaurant and jazz club serving New American cuisine,” according to its self-description.

Its menu includes appetizers of grilled hearts of artichoke and Prince Edward Island mussels; Gail’s grilled peach and classic Caesar salads; grilled Atlantic salmon, chicken parmesan, and Long Island duck entrees; and tartufo, gelato, tiramisu, and triple chocolate mousse cake desserts.

Harbor Mist, billed as “Cold Spring Harbor’s finest steak, Italian, and seafood restaurant,” is the second local upscale eatery. Its menu features items such as clams on the half shell, mozzarella caprese, Mediterranean salad, sesame seed encrusted yellow fin tuna, pork chops Michelle, filet mignon, and rack of lamb. Both restaurants have extensive wine lists.

Although it is compact, a day in Cold Spring Harbor is naturally, historically, and culinarily rewarding.

Bibliography:

CSHFHM News: The Newsletter of the Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum, Winter 2015.

CSHFHM News: The Newsletter of the Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum, Fall 2019.

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium website.

Cold Spring Harbor Fire House Museum website.

Cold Spring Harbor Library and Environmental Center Newsletter, July-August 2021.

“Golden Age of Whaling.” Amityville Record. July 13, 2021.

Hughes, Robert C. Images of America: Cold Spring Harbor. Charleston, South Carolina: Acadia Publishing, 2014.

Preservation Long Island Biennial Report: 2019-2020. Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

Preservation Long Island Notes Newsletter. Cold Spring Harbor, New York: Fall 2020.

The Whaling Museum and Education Center website.

[ad_2]

Source by Robert Waldvogel

April 18, 2022
View: 410

[ad_1]

The Hope/Clark Fork area stretches along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille from the Pack River to the mouth of the Clark Fork River, the major waterways that feed mighty Pend Oreille. Lake Pend Oreille is one of the West’s largest freshwater bodies of water with several islands near the Clark Fork estuary, including the islands off Hope and the Hope Peninsula, Warren, Cottage, Pearl, Eagle, and Memaloose Islands, as well as the Islands at the end of the Clark Fork River, called the Clark Fork Flats, which includes Derr Island. There are three major peninsulas that thrust into the lake: Sunnyside, the Hope Peninsula, and Sagle. Sagle is actually more like an area the lake wraps around, but nonetheless is a major abutting feature of Lake Pend Oreille.

It is important to note that the histories of the two communities are closely tied to one and other. They have a shared past of railroads, mining, and logging, and sportsman activities. More recently, both Lake Pend Oreille and the Clark Fork River have been a draw for tourists seeking the mountain/lake lifestyle. In recent years the area has attracted national public attention, being featured on several broadcasts, in articles, and by developers. The most famous golf course in this part of North Idaho, Hidden Lakes, was purchased by Jack Nicklaus, and is slated to open in 2009 as the Idaho Club. However, with the federal and state owning over 70% of the land, growth has been measured.

Glacial Floods and Lake Pend Oreille

The most prominent feature of Hope and Clark Fork, Idaho is Lake Pend Oreille. With 111 mile of coastline and 148 square miles, it is one of North America’s prominent lakes, and the nation’s fifth deepest. Formed by cataclysmic floods when the mile high Ice Age ice dam broke time after time, the features of the land and lakes of Bonner County and Western Montana all the way to the coast in Oregon were formed by these monumental floods. Just one of these deluges was ten times the combined volume of all the rivers on earth, with walls of water moving at super highway speeds. To learn more about the Ice Age Floods visit Ice Age Floods Institute.org

Centuries before white man discovered the region, the Kalispell and other Indian tribes, such as the Flatheads, inhabited North Idaho. Visit North Idaho History The first white men to trade in North Idaho were the intrepid adventurers “Big Finan” McDonald and explorer and “land geographer” David Thompson, who established the first permanent wooden structure in 1809 on the Hope Peninsula, taking advantage of Lake Pend Oreille and the Clark Fork River. This trading post, Kullyspell House, is still standing as a stone building on the shores of the lake. Kullyspell House still stands on the Peninsula, Idaho’s most historic home. It sits at the end of Kullyspell Road. As you turn right on David Thompson Road, you will pass several white houses on the left. This grouping of summer homes is the family retreat of the Kienholz family. Ed Kienholz is easily one of our nation’s most famous artists.

The first true transportation the region enjoyed were the steamboats of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which brought its first engine and hardware from Portland, building the 108-foot Mary Moody in 1866.

As the railroads came into the area, Northern Pacific Railroad built the 150-foot Henry Villard in 1883 to supply the men laying the rails. Steamboats continued to be an integral part of transportation around Lake Pend Oreille until the 1930s. Later in the era, steamboats became popular excursions, much as Pend Oreille Cruises is today, and dignitaries staying at Hotel Hope and other resorts would spend days on the water.

In 1864 Congress granted the Northern Pacific Railroad a charter to build a line from Lake Superior to Puget Sound on a route north of the 45 parallel. In 1872, the Clark Fork Pend Oreille route was chosen. With the railroad came the people who established the towns of Clark Fork and Hope.

Railroads came to prominence in the 1880s, as local construction began on the northern transcontinental line in 1881. Trestle Creek, at more than a mile long, became the line’s longest structure. It was at this time that Hope became the center of railroad activities and the largest city in the county. Along with Chinese Coolies, over 4,000 rough and ready railroad workers lived in a tent city along the Clark Fork River. Railroads brought people, and the lumber industry, which began to service the rails and trains, became the stalwart of the North Idaho economy for the next 100 years.

History of Hope, Idaho

At first Hope was just a stopping point along the railroad, but in 1890, the Northern Pacific moved its division point west from Montana to the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. Hope was incorporated on July 17, 1891. East Hope was incorporated on June 28th 1902. Hope was a busy port in its early days. Steamboats crossed the lake carrying supplies and mail to mining sites around the shore before roads were built. The boats were used to carry supplies up the Clark Fork River to Cabinet Gorge while the railroad was being constructed. The lake had long supported a fishing fleet, bringing in tons of fish every day. The populations were decimated by the introduction of tiny krill. The Federal government added these small shrimp in an attempt to increase fish populations; the experiment had the opposite effect. Recent years have seen a small recovery in fish populations, and now Hope is the center of some fine sports fishing.

Hope began to grow in 1882 when the Northern Pacific came through and in 1900 set its Rock Mountain division point in the hillside village. Incorporated in 1903, the village was named in honor of the veterinarian who tended the construction horses. A wise and kindly man, Dr. Hope was widely respected. Hope was the largest town in the area during the 1880s, achieving prominence as the Rocky Mountain division point on the Northern Pacific line. Engines turned around in the large roundhouse, and the railroad built shops, offices, and a “beanery” there.

The Hotel Jeannot, now known as Hotel Hope, was able to capitalize on this business with its location right above the depot, and with its tunnels providing easy access for passengers to the hotel. Many say that the tunnels were used to entertain the Chinese “coolees,” working on the railroads, who were normally not allowed in the establishments that served the locals and travelers.

In contrast to Hope’s early boom, Sandpoint grew slowly following completion of the railroad. An 1883 visitor found only 300 people in town, and nine years later another traveler reported that “Sandpoint is made up of between three and four dozen rude shacks and perhaps a dozen tents.” The town experienced tremendous growth, however, following the turn of the century.

When the division point moved to Sandpoint, Hope began to decline. Hotel Hope continued to draw people until the 1960s, partly because the picturesque setting of the town beside Lake Pend Oreille attracted many tourists. Some of them prominent: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, Gary Cooper, and Bing Crosby.

The original Hotel Jeannot (Hotel Hope) was a wooden structure which burned down in about 1886. It was then that Joseph M. Jeannot started on his fireproof commercial building, which he shared with his brother Louis. He constructed one section at a time, and added on over the years, finally completing the three-bay, two story hotel in 1898. The rectangular building has two full stories above two separate basement sections. The facade is divided into three approximately equal bays which vary in design and building materials indicating that the hotel was built in sections over a period of years. This theory collaborated by the analysis of the structure during restoration as well as through oral accounts. The first section to be built was the first story of the east bay with its walls of rock-faced random-coursed granite ashlar with beaded joints. Next came the first story of the center bay with its lower facade walls of poured concrete. Following this, or possibly built at the same time, was the red brick second story over the center and east bays. The west bay was the last to be built, either all at once or in two stages. The first floor is of poured concrete with the second floor of red brick.

Various businesses have occupied the building over the years including a saloon, a restaurant, a general store, a meat market, and even a post office. The vaulted meat cooler adjoining the west basement was probably built when Louis ran his general store and meat market in the period from 1895 to 1897. Hotel Hope still stands as a testament to the times.

J. M. Jeannot’s hotel and saloon were not his only business interests. He was also involved in mining and had several claims across Lake Pend Oreille in the area of Green Monarch Mountain. Hope had a large Chinese population which had arrived with the railroad, and Jeannot supposedly took advantage of this source of cheap labor for his mines. According to one of Jeannot’s friends, he allowed these men to use the meat cooler under the hotel as a clubhouse. They gained access to this room through the small tunnel which connected it to the railroad depot, thus bypassing the more obvious entrances. This vault in the hotel is one of the few sites left in Hope which may be connected with the large number of Chinese who used to live in the town.

Jeannot’s mining operations as well as his losses at gambling led to his unstable financial condition which may have been one reason the hotel took ten to twelve years to complete. According to one source, the construction was held up for more than a year when Jeannot lost all of his money in a bet on William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Uncertain finances continued to plague Jeannot and he mortgaged and remortgaged the hotel over the years between 1907 and 1918, eventually losing the building in 1918. A friend paid off the debt in 1920, and ran the hotel until her death in 1968.

Today the era of lumber and trains has been supplanted by tourism and manufacturing in Bonner County, and Hope and Clark Fork have become known as an artist colony. This is in great part due to Ed Kienholz.

Born in 1927 at Fairfield, Washington. He studied at schools and colleges in the Inland Northwest. He first earned his living as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, as the manager of a dance band, as a dealer in secondary cars, a caterer, decorator and vacuum cleaner salesman. In 1953 he moved to Los Angeles.

In 1954 he made his first reliefs in wood. In 1956 he founded the NOW Gallery, and in 1957 the Ferus Gallery with Walter Hopps. In 1961 he completed his first environment Roxy’s, which caused a stir at the documenta “4” exhibition in 1968. His retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1966 provoked the County Board of Supervision to attempt to close the exhibition. The theme of his environments is the vulnerability of the private life of the individual to intervention by the environment and social convention.

In 1972 he met Nancy Reddin in Los Angeles. In 1973 he was guest artist of the German Academmic Exchange Service in Berlin. He moved to Hope with his wife Nancy, and around this time also established himself in Berlin . His most important works during this period were the Volksempfänger (radio receiving apparatus from the National Socialist period in Germany). In 1975 he received a Guggenheim Award.

He died in 1994, but his wife, Nancy Reddin Kienholz continues as a world-renown artist, frequently visiting Hope.

Because of their notoriety, and the astonishing beauty of the area, we now have over 600 artists in our enclave.

The Kienholz couple befriended many wealthy patrons in Berlin, and over the years, two families have also created their own family retreats on the Hope Peninsula. As you turn from David Thompson Road on to Kullyspell Road, the Max Factor group of homes is on your right. These go down to the beginning of the property line for Kullyspell House. The other family is the Groenke family. Klaus Groenke is the managing director and part owner of Trigon Holding GmbH, a Berlin based international real estate company. He is also reported to be a leading share holder in Coca Cola Company, and a regional board member of the Deutsche Bank Berlin/Brandenberg. They built the Groenke Estate, a 150 acre compound at the end of David Thompson Road that becomes Kienholz Road. It is here that a full section of the Berlin Wall stands, encased in lexiglas, graffiti and all intact as it was before its fall. Recently the family sold half the estate, where many multi-million dollar homes have been built or are planned.

Today Hope, Idaho is a tourist and summer lake destination, with numerous artists and eclectic folk. It is a bedroom community to Sandpoint, and is considered by many, with its spectacular lake and mountain views, to be among the most picturesque areas of North Idaho. In fact, many travel magazincalled the journey along the cliffsides from Sandpoint to Hope one of the most beautiful drives in the world.

History of Clark Fork, Idaho

While totally distinct towns, many in North Idaho think of Clark Fork and Hope as one community. In fact, the two share the same Chamber of Commerce website: [http://www.poby.org/]

The City of Clark Fork also became a viable town in the early 1880’s as the construction by the Northern Pacific Railroad continued through the nearby Bitterroot and Cabinet Mountains. This small community has been geared towards mining, logging, sawmills, farming, Forest Service activity, fish hatcheries, dam construction, fur trapping activity, collegiate studies and homes for teens. Also, for most of its history the railroad maintained a station and section crew in Clark Fork. Clark Fork was incorporated 1912. Today the University of Idaho Clark Fork Field Campus is located there.

In the 19th century the Clark Fork Valley, like the shores of Lake Pend Oreille around Hope, was inhabited by the Flathead tribe of Native Americans. It was explored by Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition during the 1806 return trip from the Pacific. The river is named for William Clark. A middle segment of the river in Montana was formerly known as the Missoula River.

Much of Clark Fork’s story over the following years had to do with crossing the river. The bridge fording the Clark Fork River provided one of the only passes to the north, and with the steamboats bringing miners making the arduous journey to the Kootenai gold rush, this was one of the only ways to travel. Before a bridge was built, Clark Fork had a ferry to make the crossing. Early ferries were nothing more than logs lashed together. Later, some records indicate a ferry was operating in 1893, but this was a decade after the Northern Pacific line was put in place, so it is safe to assume there was a brisk business with ferry crossings during construction.

It is important to be reminded that the Cabinet Gorge Dam was not in place then, and reporters at the time wrote in 1916 that “The Clarksfork river handles a volume of water much larger than the Snake river. At times during high water, the flow amounts to as much as 94,000 cubic feet per second. The average width of the river is about 1300 feet. The velocity of the river at certain times is very large, about eight miles an hour. Due to this it is necessarily very hazardous to operate a ferry at Clarksfork at any time and very dangerous and at some times impossible to operate a ferry at all.”

Certainly this ferry crossing created a need and a place for travelers, not only to cross, but at times to rest, restock supplies, and take advantage of the occasional saloon.

Until WWI there was a lot of sawmill activity, then to a lesser degree through the 1950s. Early sawmills include McGillis and Gibbs, Lane and Potter. From the start until the late 1950s, mining operations played an important role in the community’s economy. The Whitedelph mine and mill located near the Spring Creek fish hatchery began operation in 1926 until it closed in 1958. It yielded galena ore assaying principally in silver, lead and zinc. The Lawrence mine was located on Antelope Mountain near Mosquito Creek and near the University of Idaho Clark Fork Field Campus. Area hills and mountains had numerous small mining holes tended by small operations and prospectors.

[ad_2]

Source by Gary Lirette

Back to Top
WhatsApp chat