Wet Rocks

 

This is another photo that I found in my "Favorites" file.  I remember when I took this way back in 2013.  It was a rainy day at the Desert Botanical Garden.

This fountain made from a very large stone is surrounded by small stones.  I remember thinking that those stones looked so attractive all shiny and wet.  I especially liked that red one inserted among all the gray.

The fountain usually looks like this when I walk past it.  Those small stones aren't nearly as attractive when they are dry. 

One More to Celebrate

 

One more artist from the Celebration of Fine Arts.  This time it's Ray Tigerman who paints these southwestern paintings with bold and bright colors.

I remember his paintings from visits to this art show in previous years.  I like his style.

He had one sculpture in his little space that I liked very much.  

There is always a lot of art on display at this annual event.  I also enjoy talking with the artists.  That opportunity makes this event pretty special.

Positioning the Subject

 

I have two more photos from the "Favorites" file today.  This one was taken in May of 2014 when I spotted this cactus with an agave plant situated a few feet away.  I like the way they complimented each other.

Almost exactly a year later in May of 2015, I photographed the same cactus and this time it appeared centered with the agave plant.  The same two plants, just two different perspectives.  Which do you think works best?

Harvesting the Archives

 

The Photo application on my Macbook allows me to mark certain photos as favorites and files them in a "Favorites" folder.  A few days ago, I was wondering what all I had placed in the folder so I decided to have a look.  I found some real beauties that never made it on to the blog.  This one was taken in February of 2015 at the Desert Botanical Garden.

This one is also from the Desert Botanical Garden and it was taken in May of 2015.  A monarch butterfly enjoying a pretty purple flower.

This photo was also at the Desert Botanical Garden.  Obviously I get a lot of my "favorites" from the garden.  This spider lily plant grows out of fountain and I've only caught it in bloom two times.  This photo was taken in September of 2017.

Most of the photos in the favorites album have been posted before but these three never made it onto my blog before.  

Artistic Styles

 

Shannon Leigh has her own very distinctive style of painting her mostly western paintings.  I had to study that one to the right to see the cowgirl emerge.

I really like the style of Martin Blundell's paintings.  All those straight lines stacked up draws my eye into the painting to form such beautiful scenes.

Dale Terbush has a more realistic style to his paintings.  I admired this one with the brilliant sky very much.  By the way, that is the artist busy at work to left in this photo.

Adding a Touch of Humor

 

Bruce Marion is a painter who depicts a variety of wildlife in his paintings. This year he added a touch of humor with these two paintings of Jurassic Cowboys.  It never would have occurred to me to depict a cowboy riding a dinosaur. It looks like a life or death bronco ride to me.

Pete Tillack's paintings always contain something that is a bit out of place.  In the two paintings above  it's furniture placed in odd places.  He added a bit of humor with the small piece to the left of the lower painting.  It professes that "This is Not Art Yet it Has Appeal!"  I've seen that "banana art" joke before but I liked the way he juxtaposed it with his own art.

 This last piece is from artist and sculptor Parker McDonald.  He's added a row of brass song birds perched on a flute.  Very clever since the sound of birds is often depicted by the sound of a flute.

The Paint Carver

 

Brit Hansen is another artist I've admired at the Celebration of Fine Art.  She calls herself a "paint carver" and she explained to me what she does.  She paints a very thick layer of acrylic paint to the canvas and after it dries she carves away layer of the paint giving the remaining layer some texture.  The texture is hard to see in my photographs but it reminds me a bit of the brush strokes you sometimes see on a canvas.

These two paintings of hers really grabbed my attention when I stopped at her space.  And, I'm happy to report that they were purchased by a couple who were leaving the space as I stepped in.  I like knowing they are going to a good home.

Familiar Artists

 

Many of the artists who come to the Celebration of Fine Arts, come every year.  That makes their work very familiar to me.  Above is a painting by Barbara Rudolph.  She mixes a love of birds with a love of literature in her paintings.  She calls this one "Tall Tales Before the Flame Goes Out".  

To the left is a mixed media sculpture by Jeremy Firehammer.  This one has wood and fabric and metal and tiny lights.

Terrell Powell has very colorful paintings as well as a few very whimsical animal sculptures.  I love this polka-dotted moose.  

Seth Fairweather is another mixed media sculptor working with metal and other materials.  He's had sculptures similar to this one at the show before and I've always found them appealing.

Theme Day: White

 

The City Daily Photo Bloggers theme for March 1st is "White".  That's probably a subject that comes easy for all the northern and eastern bloggers who have been buried in snow.  For me, I had to do a bit of digging to find something appropriate.  I found this photo of a giant white rabbit that was part of the Desert Botanical Garden exhibit back in 2019 called "Wild Rising".  I posted the white elephant from that exhibit here.  

To see other depictions of White from around the globe, click here.

Celebration of Fine Art

 

I went to the Celebration of Fine Arts yesterday so I could spend some time among the artists and their beautiful works.  I've posted about this show many times before.  It always happens between January and the end of March with artists spending the whole time working and showing their art in the big white tents in north Scottsdale.  Above is the work of Eric Holt a heavy metal sculptor.  Most of his work is on a very large and grand scale but these smaller pieces caught my eye.  

I cropped the top photo a bit so I could show you two of the pieces that have a sort of "other-worldly" look to them.  This one has a title, "Thorn of Crowns".

I didn't see a name for this one. It's quite unusual looking too.  This artist was new to me.  I have more photos from the show.  In the next week or so, I'll show you more from some of the artists I see every year.

The Cascalote Tree

 

I took these photos at the end of December at the Desert Botanical Garden when the cascalote tree that I like so much was in full bloom.  I love to sit at one of the table under the tree and watch the birds and be bees loving all those pretty yellow blooms.  

I also enjoy seeing those yellow blooms against a lovely blue sky.

It's one of those trees that feeds all kinds of needs.  The bees are busy gathering the pollen, the tiny little verdin birds feed on the centers of the blooms and then the larger birds like to gather the blooms that fall to the ground.  It also feeds the human need for spring colors in the winter months.  It serves an abundance of needs.

Flat Top

 

This unusually shaped tree caught my eye recently and I had to turn around and go back to get a photo.  It's so full of green across it's width but I wonder what happened to it's top.  It almost looks like someone shaped it so it would grow this way.  I know that trees come in all shapes and sizes, I've just never seen one shaped quite like this before.

Posterity

 

I saw this shiny new McLaren parked in the valet spot in front of a new fitness center.  Valet's love to park the fancy cars right out front.  I can tell it's new because it still has the temporary license plate on it.

It appears that the car has been named "Posterity 44".  Actually, it turns out that Posterity 44 is a real estate agency.  A profitable one I'm guessing.

Clouds Over Camelback Mountain

 

I noticed all the clouds when I left the house to go to a store so I took this road because I knew it would give me a good view the clouds hovering over the mountains.  We had some wind and rain early last week and as the storm was clearing, we saw great swaths of clouds hanging low in the skies.  I always enjoy a good view of clouds over the mountains.

The Watercolor Treatment

 

I hadn't played around with some of my photo editing tools for quite a long time but this last weekend I decided to see if I could find an interesting photo to play with.  I remembered this photo that I posted at the end of January.  

 It is a good candidate for the watercolor treatment.

Then I tried the same technique with this photo that I posted two weeks ago.  

Of course, I didn't stop with just the watercolor effect.  I tried a few more.  I found this one appealing.

And this one was interesting too.  

I forgot how much fun it is to play with different styles.  I'll have to do that more often.

The Kid in Me

 

I went to Costco Saturday morning and discovered that the "kid" in me was alive and well.  I saw this little Mickey Mouse train set up with lights flashing and music playing and it stopped me in my tracks.  I stood there staring at if for a few minutes before deciding to snap a photo.  I'm sure this is set up to lure parents into buying it for their kids Easter celebrations and I have to admit, it beats a hard-boiled egg.

I'm constantly reminded by my aging joints that the years are piling up so it was great to know that the sight of Micky, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald could still put a smile on my face.

This is Not Sleepy Hollow

 

I would never call my neighborhood a "Sleepy Hollow" but Ichabod Crane showed up nonetheless.  I heard some noise out my window so I stepped out on the balcony to see what was happening.  That's when I spotted "Ichabod Crane".  I've seen many cranes show up around here but this was the very first "Ichabod Crane".  

They need to use cranes when an air conditioning/heat unit needs replacing.  On my building and the building next door, the units are hidden deep in the roof line of the buildings so they can't be seen from the street.

I must say that Ichabod Crane is great name for a crane service.  Very clever.

More Art

 

I have three more pieces from Sunday's art show.  This one is by Travis Ivey and it's called "Home for Chaos".  I liked all the straight lines and colors.

The artist for this one is Nick A Erickson and he calls this one "Carnival Ride".  This one would look good hanging in a bake shop. 

This one is my favorite of these three.  It's called "Bobcat's Burrow" and it was painted by Bethany Stephan.  If you look closely at the bottom of this narrow painting, you will see that bobcat peeking out.

Whimsical Ladies

 

These three paintings are by Gail MacFarland.  I'm not sure why they appealed to me so much.  Maybe it was the creative whimsy about each one. This one is called "Blue Doves in Crimson Leaves".

This one is called "Redhead at the Edge of the River".

This last one is called "Defender III".  They are all mixed media works.  I think that first one is my favorite but they are all interesting to look at. These ladies seem oblivious to the fact that flowers and birds and plants are living in their hair.