Holiday Tableau

 

When I was getting out all the Christmas decorations for the season, I came across some of last year's Christmas cards.  You might remember the little Christmas tree pop-up card my sister sent me.  I posted photos of it here.  I also found the Santa card that a friend sent me.  I thought they might look cute together so I set up a little tableau using a white towel as a back drop.  

I think it looks kind of cute.

Since the back drop was all set up, I decided to photograph two of my favorite Christmas decorations.  

First is my little glass Christmas tree.  I bought this tree in 1998 when I was working in Chicago.  It served as my holiday decorations for my home away from home.

I also photographed my little, sleek Santa.  I bought him on my 2013 trip to London in the village of Amersham.  He is currently standing guard in the window at my front door.

I love the little things that bring back fond memories.  

Fall Colors are Showing

 

While all the holiday festivities have been going on, I started to notice that some of our trees were starting to show their fall colors.  Last Sunday, I stopped at a big corporate center to take a few photos.

These trees have quite a bit of brownish-red in them.  I bet if I had seem them one week before, they would have been totally yellow. 

I'll be keeping my eyes out for more around town.

Christmas Eve Dinner

 

I enjoyed a lovely Christmas Eve dinner at my friends David and Riley's new house.  They had the place decorated beautifully. I loved the silver tree.

It was a fun evening with lots of stories of past Christmas celebrations and other memorable events.  When friends get together, laughter is in abundance.

We even had Christmas crackers!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Of all the Christmas trees I've seen this season, this was my favorite of them all.  I found it at one of my favorite grocery stores, A J's Find Foods.  I think someone from their floral shop put it together and they did a fine job.

I hope everyone who sees this post is having a wonderful Christmas Day. 

Happy Holidays to all!

There Are Christmas Trees Everywhere

 

We see all kinds of Christmas trees at this time of year.  Here are a few I've observed.  

This one is sitting on the lawn in front of St. Francis Xavier Church in Phoenix.  It appears to be formed on a cone-shaped frame and I'm not sure what that light at the top does.  

I found this tree in the book store at the Heard Museum.  It was full of handmade ornaments and surrounded at the base by some very colorful stuffed animals.

I saw this tree glowing inside a restaurant that left its doors wide open.  It was a kind of warm and welcoming scene.

Giant Balls & Other Decorations

 

I've seen all kinds of holiday decorations this season.  These giant ornaments were in front of a restaurant at Biltmore Fashion Park.

Here is another holiday tableau that I saw at the Phoenician Resort last Saturday.  

Above I found some very elegant and sparkly reindeer pulling and equally sparkly sleigh in front of someone's house.

Across the street from the house above, I found a giant, inflatable reindeer standing guard at this house.  

There are quite a variety of decorations out there.

Holidays at the Resorts

 

On Saturday, my friend and I went to three of the big hotels here in the Phoenix area to see how the holiday decorations looked.  Our first stop was the Arizona Biltmore and I was encouraged when I saw this pretty tree as I entered the lobby.

However, when I turned the corner I saw that they had the same ugly brown trees they used last year in the  main part of the lobby.  Last year I called it a decorating blunder.  I did notice that they didn't use quite as many of those 'brown' trees as before so I guess that's a good thing.

We moved on to the Phoenician which sits on the border of Phoenix and Scottsdale on the side of Camelback Mountain. They had lots and lots of holiday decorations everywhere we went.  This tree decorated the main lobby.  Those are some giant ornaments.  

They also had little decorations scattered all around the resort.  I liked this little Christmas village scene near the elevators.  

In the area where the shops are located, they had one space set up as a cute Santa Land for the kids to enjoy.  That's a great photo backdrop the one wall.  

Our last stop was at the Global Ambassador Hotel.  They had a much more low-key set of decorations.  Just two trees like the one to the left located on either side of the door and a vast amount of poinsettia plants outside the door.  You can see a glimpse of them to the left in this photo.

But, what they lacked in decorations, they made up for in food.  We stopped for lunch in their French restaurant where I enjoyed this utterly delicious quiche and greens.  

It was fun to roam around these places to check out how they celebrate the holiday season.  

The Perfect Gift

 When I was at my friend Glenda's house last Thursday, she pointed out this little nativity set she just got in the mail from her sister-in-law.  Isn't it adorable?  Glenda is a true dog lover.  She loves all dogs in all shapes and sizes so this gift was simply perfect for her.

Glenda's house is decorated for the holidays.  I love her skinny Christmas tree.

When I was at her house the week after Thanksgiving, we sat in the living room in front of the fireplace.  Well, not exactly.  She found this fireplace video on YouTube and had it playing on her TV.  It was surprising how just the look of a fireplace gave the room a warm glow.

Close, Closer, Closest

 

I'm revisiting that poinsettia tree at Biltmore Fashion Park today.  I pictured it back in November when it first went up.  This photo is a little closer than the one posted here.  

For this shot, I stood at the base and pointed the camera straight up.

For this one I just focused on all those lovely poinsettia plants.  

Red is the color of the day!!

Nice Entrance

 

 Since Phoenix is not what you would call a 'walkable' city, we tend to spend a lot of time in our cars.  Since I like seeing new things and experiencing new environments, I sometimes make a point of driving around a bit when I'm out running common errands.  One day last week, I was on my way to the grocery store and it was such a beautiful day, I decided to take a long way to the store and explore some streets I hadn't been on before.  That's how I found this house with the walled front garden.  I stopped to take a photo because I liked the pretty tiles around the door and the tall, ceramic planters.   With all that greenery on the wall and through the door, it looked like someplace other than the Arizona desert.  

Making the Season Bright

 

The small shopping center on the corner of Camelback Rd and Central Avenue has done a very nice job of lighting for the season.  Whoever put those lights on the palm trees did an excellent job.  

More Radical Clay

 

When I was at the Phoenix Art Museum a week ago, I made another pass through the Radical Clay exhibit that I told you about last month. The one I've pictured above is called "Dream Flight" and was created by Tanaka Momomi using a multitude of layers of feather thin clay.

This one looked like an old log that has been decaying in a forest somewhere.  It's called "Big Birth" and was created by Fatumura Yoshimi.  It's amazing how much it looks like a piece of wood.

I loved this one.  It has an other-worldly look to it like it had just landed from outer space.  It's called "Form of the Progenitor".  The artist, Tamita Mikilo is inspired by motifs from temples and mosques and illustrations she sees in science magazines. It contains fractals, catenary curves and logarithmic spirals. It's an amazing piece.

This one is called "Leaf Vessel" and was created by Inaba Chikako. It's another graceful and delicate piece.

This exhibit of clay sculptures was truly amazing.  It takes pottery-making to whole new level.

SantaLand

 

Scottsdale Fashion Square may be shifting toward the ultra-high end shops but it still had a SantaLand available for those who want photos with Santa.

Every year they put up an elaborate Setting for the Santa photos in the food court area of the mall.  This year Santa has a gold "throne" to sit on for the photos.

I did snap a photo of one of the shop window displays that I liked.  That's a very cute polar bear playing with those ornaments.  

Luxury Goods

 

Last Friday before my lunch at AZ88, my friend and I stopped at Scottsdale Fashion Square to do a little shopping.  That mall is the biggest mall in the Phoenix area and is anchored by three well known stores, Nordstroms, Macy's, and Dillards.  However in between those stores, many of the small specialty stores once seen have now turned into the ultra-luxury stores we think of in places like Paris.

Above you see the new Hermes store where the average silk scarf costs around $800 with some reaching an amazing $3,000....for a scarf!

Here we have the Christian Louboutin store where a pair of plain black heels or a pair of trainers can cost you around $1000.00 and a pair of boots around $2000.00.  My friend and I have started calling this stretch of the mall "millionaire's row".  

I didn't snap a photo at the Louis Vuitton store but there was a line of people waiting to enter the store and a clerk with an iPad taking the names of the people in line.  It made me wonder if they were doing a quick credit check before letting those people into the store. 

While most malls have died out, this one seems to be thriving with its march toward the high-end luxury market.  That's Scottsdale!  

Holiday LIghts

 

 Not far from where I live is an office complex called The Esplanade.  I noticed recently that they have a lot of holiday lights up so I made a point of stopping for a closer look.

The walkway between the two office towers is covered in lights.

Walking under the lights, I see a Christmas tree at the far end.

So I walked all the way to the end to get a good look at the tree.

I like it!  They did a good job with this year's decorations.

A Silver Christmas

 

I stopped at AZ88 for lunch yesterday and was interested in seeing how they decorated for the holidays.  This year they have a silver tree put together with petal-like pads that are covered in sparkly and reflective material.  

They have two projectors that are shining light on the tree from two sides so at night it must send sparkly light all over the restaurant.

Maybe I should stop by at night to see how it looks.  

The Art of Philip C Curtis

 

I don't think I've ever posted any photos of paintings by Philip C Curtis on my blog before. I'm surprised that I haven't because I have a special fondness for his work.  Curtis was born in 1907 in Michigan and he studied law before enrolling in a the fine arts school at Yale University.  He went to work for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of President Roosevelt's New Deal law.

In 1937 he was sent to Arizona to organize the state's first Art Center in Phoenix.  That art center later became the Phoenix Art Museum.  In 1947, he made Arizona his permanent home.  He lived in Scottsdale until his death in 2000.  

As you can see from the paintings I've chosen for this post, he was a surrealist painter.  I think the museum's description of his style is perfect:

"Drawing inspiration from the Arizona Desert and through the lens of magic realism, he created landscapes and figural compositions that often included Victorian-style subjects to complete his surrealist fantasies about human life and relationships."

The newly remodeled wing of the Phoenix Art Museum has a gallery dedicated to the works of Philip C Curtis.  Many of the paintings in that gallery I had seen before in different locations but it also had some new ones that I hadn't seen before.

So let me tell you the names of the paintings I've shown here starting from the first photo.

1. Two Way Parade

2. The Band Concert

3. The Farewell

4. After Dinner Speakers

5. Casino

I really enjoy seeing Curtis' work so it was great to see so many all together in one place.