Monday, March 18, 2024

Amazing and Unique Art

 


I loved the work of Seth Fairweather at the Celebration of Fine Art.  The one to the right was my favorite.  If I was rich and had the wall space, I would have bought this piece. I'm not sure why it spoke to me but it did.















This last piece was very eye catching. It was constructed with both steel and glass.  It looks a bit dangerous.

To top off all the art I've seen in the last week, I drove way north in Scottsdale on Saturday to visit that other art expo called the Arizona Fine Arts Expo.  I have lots more art to share in the weeks to come.

The amount of artistic talent in this world of ours is amazing.  

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Artist at Work

 


Another artist from the Celebration of Fine Art is Becky Pashia.  She paints with oil paints and creates these impressionistic works.  She is from Bayfield Colorado.  


















The piece above was one of my favorites from Cathy Sheeter, a scratchboard artist.  I would love to see a demonstration of this type of work.  Her pieces were so perfect, they looked like photographs and all are made by scratching away a layer of color to reveal another color below.  














Her works were simply amazing.  I love that cute raccoon in the middle. You can read about scratchboard art on her website.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I stumbled upon another school in London.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Celebration of Fine Art 2024

 

Last Saturday, I made the long trek out to far north Scottsdale to attend the Celebration of Fine Art.  There are two of these huge art shows out in the north desert.  Last year I went to the one even further north but this year I went back to the one I usually attend.  These shows run from January through March and it's an opportunity to meet with the artists and for them it's an opportunity to sell their works.

The artist above is Beth Zink.  I saw the woman to the left taking her photo so I took the opportunity to get them both in the scene.  Beth works with acrylic paint and as you can see, she paints a lot of desert plants and scenes. I'm sure she gets inspiration from around her home in Cave Creek Arizona.

This exhibit was new to me.  I hadn't seen this artist at the show before.  Veronica and Gabriel work in the fine art of "Repousse".  Here is a quote describing that type of art from their website.

Repousse refers to a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief.  This technique is very ancient and has been extensively used all over the world, as they require only the simplest tools and materials, and yet allow a great diversity of expression.


I think this artist was also new to the event. This is an acrylic painting by Ray Tigerman from Tubac Arizona.  Tubac is an artistically inclined town south of Tucson and near the border with Mexico.  His pieces all had a Native American look to them. Tomorrow, I'll show you some more art from the show.


Friday, March 15, 2024

Shadows Revisited

 

When I left the Phoenix Art Museum last Friday, I walked across the street to meet my friends for dinner before we went to a play.  As I walked along the side of the art museum, I noticed the shadows of the palm trees on the museum wall.  That's when I remembered the I had posted a similar photo years ago.

I posted this photo way back on May 1st 2009.  It looks like those palm trees that line Central Avenue have grown quite a bit in the passing 15 years. It won't be long before the only shadows will be of the palm tree trunks.  

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Guarding the Art

 


When I went to the Phoenix Art Museum last Friday afternoon, I discovered an exhibit that was "curated" by a group of art museum employees.  They spent a year working on the project and selecting artworks from the museum vaults that represent the diversity of the staff members and their collective interests in learning.  The works in the exhibit were as diverse as the people who selected them. Here are just a few that I saw.

I think the one above was my favorite.  I don't recall ever seeing this painting before.  It is by Paul Pletka and it's called Woman with Jar.  It was selected by Destiny, a gallery attendant.  

This painting is by Ed Mell, a well known local artist who passed away just last month.  It's called Sweeping Clouds and it was selected by Juan Jose, a gallery attendant.


These two pieces are the work of Michael Cajero and the two together are called Defend Yourself, Cabron.  These two characters were created with gift wrap and wire. The piece was selected by Savaughna, also a gallery attendant.  

I loved the idea behind letting staff members choose the pieces of art and while choosing them learn about all the aspects of planning and designing an exhibition.  What a great opportunity.  

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

A Sea of African Daisies

 

After last Friday's trip to the garden, I headed to lunch and on the way discovered a house with a yard completely covered with African daisies.  

This is the time of year that they splash their warm yellow and orange all over the Phoenix area.  Some places more than others.  


This particular house had the whole front yard covered with these sunny blooms.  It was quite a treat to see.  

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Busy Bees

 

On my way out of the Desert Botanical Garden, I was drawn to this large Texas Mountain Laurel plant near the entrance.  It was full of blooms and the bees were loving it.  




It seemed like every single bloom had one or two bees happily buzzing around it.  

I love the pretty purple blooms on this plant and it seems the bees love them too.  

Monday, March 11, 2024

The Butterflies are Back

 

I made my way to the Butterfly Pavilion at the Desert Botanical Garden.  The pavilion had just opened last week and I wanted to enjoy some time with the pretty butterflies fluttering about.  I was lucky to spot this malachite butterfly right away.  They tend to be rarer than the painted ladies also pictured in this shot.

In fact, there were quite a lot of Painted Lady butterflies on this trip to the pavilion.  They seemed to be the dominate species on display.  

The pavilion is full of flowers for all the butterflies to feast on.  In this particular case, I was trying to photograph a pretty white butterfly sitting on this bloom.  It few away just as I clicked the shutter.  All I was left with was the flower.  It turned to to be a rather nice flower photo so I've kept it in the mix.  

Sunday, March 10, 2024

A Busy Friday

 

I had a very busy day last Friday.  I made a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden, then I went to the Phoenix Art Museum, then I met friends for dinner and then all of us went to a play.  I have lots and lots of photos to share over the next week (or two).  I'll start with my trip to the garden.  I knew I was in trouble when I arrived to find no place to park.  I ended up in the over-flow lot.  I knew that the garden would be very busy but I ventured in anyway.  I wanted to see what was blooming. In the photo above I captured a healthy display of brittlebush blooming with its yellow flowers.  


Some pretty Perry's Penstemon was also blooming in front of the cactus garden.


















The yucca were also starting to spring to life with their clouds of white blooms.  This one is called a Spanish Bayonet.  Those sharp leaves do look a bit weapon-like, don't they?

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Another architectural discovery is made in London.


Saturday, March 9, 2024

Patiently Waiting

 

While I was at the Western Spirit Museum, I stopped at the little sculpture garden to see if there might be any new sculptures on display.  This new one caught my eye.  It's called "Waiting for His Lover" and was sculpted by Paul Moore. He looks like a very patient man.















I also wanted to check on that rust wall that I like so much.  It forms such a nice background for this sculpture garden.

















I like to check out the patterns made by the water that periodically flows down that rusty wall. The rusting creates its own little abstract artworks.

Friday, March 8, 2024

From Illustrations to Fine Art


 When I was in Scottsdale last weekend, I stopped at the Western Spirit Museum to see an exhibit of works by an artist named Tom Gilleon.  He is an artist who started his career as an illustrator for Walt Disney Imagineering where he created many illustrations like the one pictured above.  


Later in life, he moved to Montana and was inspired by the western landscape and people to paint scenes with a western theme.  His work received notice and praise and he now has paintings in many museums and businesses across the United States.  

His paintings fit in perfectly with the Western Spirit Museum's collection of art.



He has also begun working with digital art.  There were two digital art pieces among the exhibit.  This one featured this mountain and the piece changed from a bright daytime scene into and evening scene and finally a night time scene.  It was interesting to watch. It was also interesting to learn how his career evolved.  

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Saguaro Cactus Gardens

 

I was in Scottsdale last weekend and made a stop at the Western Spirit Museum.  On the walkway behind the museum are two patches where saguaro cacti have been planted in even rows.  This patch is framed by the condos on the left and the museum wall on the right.

This patch is just a few feet away and is lined up against the museum.  To the right you might be able to see a pile of dirt.  That's the beginnings of the work to expand the museum building.  The museum has just started a project to build a new addition to the museum.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Old House Turned Art Gallery

 


I think I've mentioned before that the Shemer Art Center is located in an old, historic home along Camelback Road in Phoenix.  

The center gets its name from Martha Shemer whose portrait you see above the fireplace.  She saw that the house was for sale in 1984 and asked if the city would maintain it as a community art center if she purchased the home and gave it to the city.  They agreed and the Shemer Art Center was born.

In 2010, the city decided it couldn't afford to run the center any longer so a group of dedicated people formed a non-profit organization to keep the the center alive.  

Today the center provides art classes, workshops, lectures, exhibitions and events.  All the exhibitions feature artwork created by artists living in Arizona.  


Even though the rooms have been turned into gallery space, there are still many features of the historic home available to admire.  I love finding these little details when I visit the center.

By the way, those paintings in the top photo are the artwork of Ed Mell a very well known artist who I'm sad to say, passed away very recently.  He was a well loved and admired figure in Arizona. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Not the Whole Picture

 

I recently discovered a few photos in my files where I had taken a photo but framed it so only part of the scene was photographed.  Most of the time, I do this for an artistic point of view but, sometimes it's just to make the photo more ascetically pleasing.  This photo for example is of a very rustic door that I like but to the far left there was an ugly sign announcing what was behind the door.  So, I took the photo showing only the interesting part of the door.












These two photos were both taken at the Desert Botanical Garden. I took the photo above because the upside-down stuffed grasshopper tied to the maintenance cart steering column amused me.

I framed the photo to the left exactly this way to catch the western door, light fixture and the cactus near one of the garden buildings.  I don't think I've ever taken a broader view of this building.  I should do that sometime.  






















Monday, March 4, 2024

Alien Object

 


I took this photo back in September and I framed it so it looked like some alien object had landed near Camelback Mountain.

I was going to post it on my blog but I realized I didn't have a full perspective on it and I needed to go back and get another photo so you could see this object in full after viewing it as an alien.













I finally managed to do that when I visited the Shemer Art Center a week ago.  

This is a 3D printed sculpture called "Debutante" by artist Kevin Caron.  

The description says it is 3D printed Ryno & PLA Pearls.  I looked that up to see what it meant.  I couldn't find anything called "ryno" but I found something called "Rhino" that has to do with 3D graphics.  PLA Pearls is described as a polyester blend filament.  

I may have read the researched descriptions but actually, I really don't understand it.  I think I'd have to watch a 3D printer in action to gain a better understanding.  I've always been visual learner.  

It still looks like something alien, doesn't it?

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Traditional Craft, Modern Perspective

 

When I was at the Shemer Art Center last weekend for the "Furry Friends" event, I stopped inside the gallery to see the latest exhibit.  It's a show called "Modern Makers and Materials".  There were some very interesting pieces in the show.  I loved that lidded vessel made of turned wood in the left front.  The wood was cut so intricately, it looked like it was beaded.  The artist is Brian Lensink and piece is called Fancy Pants.


In the background of the photo above you see this piece called "Heaps of Trouble: Redactions" by Nancy Gifford.  

















This fabric piece is called Compartments #32.  The artist, Aryana B Londir said this work addresses the emotional, physical and mental experience of living through a pandemic.  

















I loved the story behind this last piece by Donna Atwood. It's called "Acapulco Necklace" and it's made from the shards of a much loved teapot.  She fashioned the pieces in sterling silver to create a necklace she could wear and continue to enjoy the colors of that teapot.  I love that she took something beloved that had broken and fashioned it into something that will last forever.  

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  This one goes way, way back in history.