I added some watercolor to a sketch of the swan boats from the Boston Public Garden. Have you ever ridden them? It is really a slice of the past; the boats travel slowly, propelled by a pedaling pilot sitting within the swan. They travel through the Public Garden Lagoon, past the sights found in the famous Robert McCloskey book "Make Way for Ducklings".
I did a little research. The Swan Boats were introduced to the Public Garden in 1877 by Robert Paget, who combined the popularity of boating in the Garden lagoon with the new and popular mode of transportation, the bicycle. And, interestingly, Paget designed the swan boats with the opera "Lohengrin" in mind during which Lohengrin crosses a river in a boat drawn by a swan.
The fourth generation of the Paget family still runs the Swan Boat operation today. Check out the Swan Boat website from which I pulled a lot of my information.
As always, thanks for looking.
I had a lovely Mother's Day weekend earlier this month. I was in Boston's Public Garden in the morning, watching families walking about in various sized groups, pausing for photo ops with the swan boats as backdrop. When I sat on a bench to draw and paint, I was struck by the swan boats under the Garden's bridge, docked and waiting for riders. Between me and the boats was a natural alcove created by overhanging willows, and adjoining maples. I saw a repeated theme of hearts.. the sweeping necks of the swans framed by the bridge, the merging trees in the foreground, the weeping willow's graceful branches, and even the little reluctant squirrel in the lower right foreground. It was a morning filled with love, right down to the late-morning duck parade led by the Harvard jazz band which meandered through the garden to its destination near the bronze McCloskey Duck sculpture. Why does the parade mean love? Because I LOVE parades. I do. Have since I was a little girl.
Here's a link to Robert Preston in "The Music Man" because... I LOVE parades.
As always, thank you for looking. I love your comments.
