An Art Filled Weekend

 

This last weekend was another busy one for me.  It was filled with art and art events.  Starting on Friday when I went to the annual Celebration of Fine Arts event.  It runs from mid-January through March and I hadn't been there yet.  It was another fascinating day meeting and talking with the artists.  The space above belongs to Cindy Dimascio.  She paints with acrylic paints ads a little 3-D effects to many of her pieces.

On Saturday I went to the Heard Museum for another "Artful Mornings" lectures.  This time one of the curators talked about the different types of print making and featured several artworks from the collection.  This one is by Marwin Begaye and is a wood block print called Inner Strength.  It just won first prize in the recent Indian Fair and Market.

On Sunday I attended the Scottsdale Ferrari Art Fair.  This was a new event that happened over the weekend and featured over 100 galleries and art brokers with a few fancy cars scattered around the building.  This show was truly something to see.  There was every style of art you can imagine from all over the world.  There was so much to see it was almost overwhelming.  

Obviously I'll have more photos to show you over the weeks to come.  I was very busy snapping photos right and left.  

Speaking of art, I have a new artwork up on my love of art site. It's an unusual painting.

Faces!

 

I saw this building recently and I have no idea what it is or why there is a chainlink fence surrounding it.  The mural caught my eye.  I didn't see a signature but as you can see, I couldn't get very close.  I have to make a plan to visit it again to see if I can get an idea of what all those faces mean.

Update: I learned that this is the office of The Journey Venture Studio, a Healthcare Innovation Center.  It's in the process of reorganizing right at the moment.  Thanks to Stefan from Photos from Haninge for the update.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.

A Little Something for Spring

 

I was at the Heard Museum yesterday morning for one of those "Artful Mornings" talks and I arrived early so I took a stroll around the grounds.  I was drawn to the flower pots in the courtyard.  They were overflowing with beautiful colorful flowers.

I even met the lady to tends to the flowers and she seemed truly thrilled that I was enjoying them.  

A few minutes later I saw another photographer photographing the flowers.  I hope that gardening lady knows that lots of people are enjoying her gorgeous flowers.

"Kinky Boots" and a Driverless Experience

 

I have a couple of observations from the last week's activities.  I'll start with these very fancy boots spotted at that Habitat for Humanity event.  The theme for their dinner is "Blueprints and Bluejeans" so instead of dressing up in gala clothes, you wear blue jeans or denim and dress that up.  This lady got out the sparkly boots.

I finally rode in one of those driverless Waymo cars.  It went very smoothly and was ever so quiet.  However, there was one incident where another driver changed lanes to right in front of the car causing the car to have to brake.  There was no reason for the lane change so I'm sure that driver  did it on purpose.  The car responded quickly and smoothly and without any hesitation.  I wonder if the Waymo got a photo of the license plate number of that offending car.  I'm pretty sure everything is recorded.

Southwestern Art

 

Here in the southwest, we see lots of cow skulls used as decorative items.  I had never seen one that had been intricately carved in a lacy pattern like this one.  I saw this one at that last house from the home garden tours a few weeks ago.  This one was hanging in the garage/workshop of that artistic house.

I decided that my photo of it might be a good subject for a little artistic photo editing.  Here I gave it a metallic look.

But my favorite adaptation was this one with the floral decor.  It reminded me of Georgia O'Keeffe.

My version has a few more flowers and more color but I think I'll still call it my little tribute to Georgia O'Keeffe.  She is still an inspiration to the art world.

Tudor Style

 

I took a walk in the adjoining neighborhood on Monday afternoon and snapped a photo of one of my favorite houses on that route.  There is something about a Tudor style house that really appeals to me.  This one was looking very welcoming on this sunny afternoon.

They're Back!

 

Those two Canadian geese are back and scouting out our parking lot again.  This one was below my window on top of the carport cover and squawking loudly at its mate.  If history repeats itself, there will be little ones showing up toward the end of April.  They've become quite predictable.  

Busy, Busy Weekend

 

This last weekend was a busy one for me.  On Friday I attended the annual dinner for Habitat for Humanity at the Arizona Biltmore.  You can see above the crowds of people bidding on the many silent auction items.  I donated two framed photos for the auction and you can see one of them in this photo.

On Saturday evening I went to the Symphony Hall for another performance of the Phoenix Symphony.  I was able to catch a photo of the whole orchestra on stage while they waited for the guest pianist to appear. It was another excellent performance by our wonderful symphony.

Just before the symphony my friends and I had dinner at new downtown restaurant called Pa'La.  They cook everything they prepare in a wood burning oven.  We tried several dishes and all of them were delicious.  It's great to find another eating option close to Symphony Hall.

On Sunday afternoon, I attended a smaller musical performance put on by the Arizona Bach Festival.  Their mission is to bring the finest in Baroque music to Arizona.  They did Vivaldi's Four Seasons, one of my all time favorites and they were fantastic.  They performed in a church with surprisingly good acoustics.  It was a busy weekend but I loved every minute of it.

Historian, Scholar, Author, Publisher

 

I found another one of those "Black History" murals last week.  This one honors Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a man who was the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.  He was one of the first scholars to study the history of the African diaspora.  He has some very wise words to say on this mural.  Words we need to take heed of during these politically troubled times. 

It's Been Raining

 

We've had some rain the last three or four days.  Not a deluge but enough to maybe encourage the spring wildflowers to pop up. At least I'm hoping so.

We needed it.  It hasn't rained here all winter so things were getting very dry.  I took a drive out to Papago Park to see if I could get some good cloud photos. These were the result.  

More Garden Ornaments

 

One more post from that elaborate garden I toured two weeks ago.  This was another patio on the back side of the house.  You can see that pretty shade of blue carried on in this area.

One of the home's owners does a lot of work with ceramics.  In fact, there was a kiln located in the garage/workshop.  The yard was full of ceramic totems.

In the background, a small totem and in the foreground a ceramic cactus.  It looks so real, it blends right in.

This area was a far corner near the end of the tour.  

I have more photos of all kinds of unique things found on this property.  I'll probably post a few of them sometime in the future.  For now, I'll end the tour here.

Fire-Breathing Dragon

 

Here is another unusual sighting in the garden of the third home we toured two weeks ago.  A real fire-breathing dragon.  

This shot shows the wall that he sits atop.  Now that is a true conversation piece.

Following the Royal Blue

 

The area around the pool and fireplace that I posted yesterday, was dominated by beautiful royal blue ceramics and tiles.  

The blue tiles in this area were very appealing to me.  

This giant glass heart was also in an appealing shade of blue.  

As I said yesterday, there was a lot to see in this garden.

The Third Garden Tour

 

Last Tuesday, I started posting photos from the home garden tours that I joined two Sunday's ago.  There were three houses all together and so far I've only posted photos from the first two.  The third one was an eye-popper.  The home belonged to a family of artists and the garden was like walking through an art gallery.  I just counted up the photos I took at just this house and it totals 75!  There was lots to see.  Above is a photo of the entrance to this magical garden.

Just inside the gate above was the pool area. 

Facing the pool area we saw this two-sided fireplace next to a table for outdoor dining.

The other side of the fireplace was a cozy little sitting area.  This would be a good place to enjoy those chilly winter and spring evenings.

I love how the owners converted the frame of an old Singer sewing machine into a decorative table.  

That table was just the tip of the iceberg of artistic creations.  I'll show more tomorrow and will probably space some photos out over the next week or two.  

Emerald City

 

I took a little trip to Emerald City last Sunday evening.  It think it might have been my third time to see "Wicked" and it was well worth another visit.

I love the music in this show and there were some good voices in this production.  So I've seen this play at least three times but so far I haven't seen the new movie.  Have any of you seen it?  It it worth watching?

W.P.A.

 

I'm sure that anyone who's followed my blog for a number of years knows that I have a special love of art in all shapes and forms.  I spend a lot of time in art museums and I am a member of a group of local artists.  Consequently, I have a large number of photos of artworks from all the places I've visited over the years.  Many times I will photograph a particular artwork because I find it interesting even if I've never heard of the artist.  Doing research about those artists has been a fascinating project that I've undertaken lately.  I've decided to activate an old blog that I used to use to post photos of art pieces I've created.  I've renamed the blog "Sharon's Love of Art" and I'm going to post a new artwork once a week with a little bit of information about the work and the artist.  I've started today with a painting called "The Red Sleigh House" and here is the link to that site.  

The photo above is an example of how I intend to present an artwork on the 'new' site.

The painting above is on display at the Phoenix Art Museum.  It's called WPA and was painted in 1940 by the artist Mine' Okubo, a Japanese American artist who might be best know for the book she wrote entitled "Citizen 13660" about her experiences in a Japanese American internment camp during WWII.  Before being placed in the camp, she worked for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) at the start of the war.  She painted murals and created drawings for the WPA between 1940 and 1941.  The museum purchased this painting from the Okubo estate.  You can read more about her here.

If you enjoy art and learning about artists who aren't as famous as Picasso or Monet, check out my new endeavor. Thanks!

A Natural Desert Landscape

 

The second house we visited on last Sunday's home garden tour had mastered the perfect desert landscape.  Everything around this Spanish hacienda house was natural to our Sonoran desert.

Two important features were these two trees.  Above, a salvaged ancient ironwood tree dominated a spot fit for contemplative meditation.

On another side of the yard was this kumquat tree filled with tempting fruit.  

I loved the welcoming patio complete with a wood burning fireplace.  This spot was perfect for entertaining or just relaxing.

Let's not forget the pool.  This is Arizona and a pool seems to be an important feature for any desert home.  

The Pool and More

 

Yesterday I finished showing you the guest house at this property.  The photo above is looking at that guest house from the pool and garden area that is shared with the main house.

This view looks over the pool toward the main house with its grand patio at the top of those stairs and Camelback Mountain in the background.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of all those gorgeous red geraniums leading up to that patio.

Facing in the opposite direction is a lovely little pool house.  That's a perfect spot to get out of the bright Arizona sun after a swim in the pool.  

As we were leaving this gorgeous property, I stopped for one last photo of the apartment attached to the garage/workshop building.  I loved the very rustic, southwestern look of this building.  

I feel very lucky to have gotten to tour the garden and guest house on this very special property.  It was an opportunity not to be missed.