Before leaving the Heard Museum last Saturday, I made a pass through the gift shop. To me, the gift shop is like going into another gallery because of the many beautiful things there to see.
I found another new sculpture by the artist I've mentioned several times before, Roxanne Swentzell. This one is called "What's Precious". I love the expression on this little lady's face as she peers into the palm of her hand and something "precious" inside.
I've posted so many of Roxanne's work on this blog that I decided to create a label to identify the posts containing her work. If you want to see other posts, click the label below of "Swentzell".
While I was searching my photos to find all the "Swentzell" photos to put the label on, I came a cross an old photo that never made it onto the blog. This is another Roxanne Swentzell sculpture called "Emergence of the Clowns" that I photographed in 2017. This sculpture represents the ascendance of the Pueblo People into this world. The Koshare or Sacred Clowns are remembering the migration of the First People.
Just one more wonderful sculpture to add to my collection of photos of her wonderful artwork.
I noticed on Saturday that the Heard Museum has found a unique way to protect the beautiful flower planters from the direct sunlight.
I've admired those planters for a long time and posted many photos of the flowers pouring out of each of those planters. I was hoping they would survive the heat of our brutal summer months.
It looks like they are doing okay under those umbrellas. That puddle under the planters tells me they should be getting plenty of water.
After the lecture at the Heard Museum, I wandered through the main gallery again and snapped a few more photos from the Bob Haozous exhibit. Above is a small sculpture called "Market Chief". It's carved from African wonder stone.
I love this larger sculpture called "Portable Pueblo".
I admired the sketch above of Bob's grandfather, Juan de Dios Gallegos.
To the left is another sculpture called "Totem Princess".
Haozous has produced such a wide variety of art.
I found this very dramatic mural in downtown Phoenix along the Roosevelt Row Arts District. It was on the side of a building as you can see. This area is full of galleries, shops and places to eat. I'm not sure what was inside this building but I'm sure it was something artistic. I don't know the artists name but the mural is quite an attention grabber.
Taking part in Monday Murals.
I was at the Heard Museum yesterday for another of their Artful Mornings lectures. This time it was about the work of Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty.
She made this soft sculpture in 2021 working on it during the pandemic. It's called "Wakitantanka (Strong-willed) Pandemic Survivor". The curator explained how some of the details in the sculpture are made. Those copper "pennies" are actually tiny replicas of actual pennies. That front panel is woven from dyed porcupine quills. Other elements include glass seed beads, cloth and ribbon.
I did this close up so you could see the detail in that beaded mask. This statue was only 20 inches high so its head is about the size of a Barbie doll's head. The detail in the tiny mask is incredible.
One of the members attending asked how they gathered porcupine quills and she told us that Native Americans do things to scare the porcupines. That raises their quills quickly and they tend to lose some in the process. They gather up what is lost.
I love these lectures. I learn so much and I appreciate the art even more.
Here is another curious piece of art that I found at the Phoenix Art Museum on my last visit. This is called "Big Bobby and the Rest Motel".
The artist is Rodney Alan Greenblat (b. 1960).
The description says that Greenblat was a prominent figure in the New York East Village art scene during the 1980's. Having grown up in the 1960's, he uses exaggerated caricatures to capture the nostalgic experience of watching cartoons or stopping at quirky roadside attractions.
I think since I traveled a lot as a child and have seen my share of quirky roadside attractions, this resonated with me immediately. It gave me a nostalgic feeling of childhood explorations.
About two weeks ago, a friend and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum to spend some quality time out of the desert summer heat. In one of the galleries, they had an exhibit that included what I would call some rather unusual art projects. This very large balloon was part of a project back in 2015 that consisted of 26 of these tethered balloons stretched over two miles of desert near Douglas Arizona and all the way to Agua Prieta, Sonora Mexico.
Here is a photo of the project when it was up. The artist worked with the governments of both countries to allow the project to stay up for 5 days and host a binational art walk and symposium.
The images and colors of the balloons reference a common garden deterrent known as a "scare-eye balloon". Birds are fooled into thinking a predator is near and avoid the area. The artist's statement about the project reads:
"The purpose of this monument is to bi-directionally reach across the US/Mexico border as a suture that stitches the peoples of the Americas together."
I wish I had seen it in person.
Here is another odd thing I found on that Sunday drive around town. I saw a house surrounded by palm trees and a block wall and each of the palm trees was decorated in some way. I might add, the wall was decorated too.
As you can see, the tree that I got out of the car to photograph was still very much alive. The two next to it look like they've had their heads chopped off.
I couldn't find any reason for all the decorations. It must just be a random art project.
I took a short photo drive on Sunday hoping to capture some interesting urban shots. It was very hot on Sunday so I didn't get out of the car as often as I would have liked. I was driving through an area just east of downtown Phoenix when I spotted this corner market. We don't see many of these small, independent markets anymore so whenever I see one I have to take a photo. In this part of the world, Circle K and 7-Eleven's have taken over the small market industry.
I did see one customer come and go while I was stopped. I wonder if Adrian's Market sells a lot of Fiji water in there.
I was searching through some photos I took a few years ago on a drive through New Mexico when I spotted this one with a sort of mural painted on the side of the building.
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I cropped the photo to get a better look and sure enough, there is a mural painted on this building with lots of southwestern animals prancing across the shop's exterior. The shop is called "When Pigs Fly" a retail shop. The photo was taken in 2015 in Truth or Consequences New Mexico. A quick internet search and I see that the place is permanently closed now. Too bad, it has a great name and I like the whimsical mural.
The shop might be closed but it still makes a nice addition to Monday Murals.
A chocolate daisy soaking up some early morning sunshine is another happy sight to see.
We had our first monsoon storm of the season on Wednesday evening and it brought some rain to the desert. Thursday night it clouded up and got a bit windy but no rain fell in my part of town. Fingers crossed that we get some more rain. The desert can put it to good use.
Why then, does the power go out at my house every other July? And, why do they have to dig up the exact same spot in our parking lot every time it happens?
Back in 2021 I mentioned the outage in a post about the Kubota tracker they used to clean up the debris.
In July of 2023, I snapped this photo of the guys from the electric company when they arrived to try figure out what was wrong. Once again, it resulted in digging up the same spot in our parking lot and me spending the night at a friend's house.
And here we are once again on July 1st of 2025 with a big hole in the parking lot after another 12 hours without electricity in the middle of extreme heat July.
Now I might be looking at this a little too simplistically, but if this event happens almost like clockwork, every two years couldn't we find the cause and fix it or at least learn how to fix the problem in less than 12 hours.
Oh the joys of modern living!
Today is the day we Americans celebrate Independence Day. I've always loved the site of the flags flying and the fireworks at night.
This 4th of July seems a little more subdued to me. I can't help worrying about the sudden normalization of racism and hatred. I worry about the narrowing of civil rights and what appears to be a total disregard for those in need.
I've always felt a strong, patriotic connection to my American heritage but as of late, I feel it slipping away.
So, on this day of celebration, I am hoping our beloved nation can survive this current backward slide. Diversity, Inclusion and Equity are not bad words. They are the only thing that will save us.
That office building turned condos, is still not quite ready for occupancy. It's taking a long time to complete this conversion. The last time I pictured it was in July of last year when I thought it was almost ready.
Here is what the building looked like before all this work started. It's undergoing quite a dramatic change. This photo is from 2014.
I had dinner at my friend's David and Riley's new house last Saturday and I made another discovery with my new iPhone. That new "portrait" mode allows you to take a photo from a much further distance than you would for normal shot. That makes getting photos of the world's most reluctant subjects much easier.
Dogs are notoriously camera shy so if you can get the shot from further away before they realize they are the subject, magic happens.
This is Alexis. She's the alpha dog of this little trio. She's the smallest but there is no denying, she's the boss.
This is Teddy. He's such a happy dog. He's a bit of a slow learner but with that cute face, who cares.
This is Casper. He's the biggest dog in the group but he's perfectly happy to let Alexis rule the roost. He's such a sweet boy!
All of these dogs were rescue dogs. They each have different stories and backgrounds but they all are happy pups who have adapted quickly to each other and their new home. They are both loving and loved!
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I saw this mural around two months ago but every time I'd drive past there was a row of cars parked in front of it. Finally I caught a day with no cars. This desert mural was done by the artist who goes by MrDowntownPHX. I believe his name is Jesse Perry. This is on the side of Zong! Smoke Shop so all those desert creatures are smoking.
I was driving out of my complex when I noticed the tree trimmers were at work. This group was using a bucket lift to get to those tall palm trees. That 'bucket' is way up in there among those shaggy palm fronds.
Out in front, the trees are much shorter so this fellow just climbed up to get to work.
These fellows arrived early so they could get the job done before it got too hot.
It's time for me to unload a few of the extra shots that have accumulated in my files recently.
Above is a Great Blue Heron who is looking a bit scruffy. He was busy grooming himself which he obviously needed.
To the left is an old International truck that was hiding among the trees that day I went to the plant nursery. It's an intimidating looking vehicle.
About 3 weeks ago, there was a little excitement at my complex. We had a gas leak. There were five big fire trucks, two smaller fire trucks and a whole load of firemen asking us to leave our apartments. The whole thing lasted about an hour and the leak was coming from one of the gas grills in the courtyard. There is no gas going into the apartments so no worries there.
My friends David and Riley just moved into a new house. This photo was taken before they moved when they were measuring things. Their dogs were enjoying those tall windows that are low enough to the floor for the little ones to look out.
I thought I might pay him a little tribute and show all of the Pomodoro sculptures I've been fortunate enough to see.
Of course, the Cube here in Phoenix is one of them.
I saw this one in Milan Italy in a park setting. This one is a disc. It happened to be right next to the place I was having lunch in Milan.
This one is in front of the Vatican Museum. The tour guide I was with took us along a pathway across the courtyard area so I didn't get a close up view.
This one sits in front of the United Nations building in New York City. I spotted it after I had spent two hours touring the building.
He has at least three more of these large scale sculptures that I know about. One at Trinity College in Dublin, one in Brisbane Australia and one in front of the Farnesina Palace in Rome. I'm sure there are many more around the world. I'll always be on the lookout for them.
I did however, crop this one photo where it looks a bit like I might have found a two-headed dog! It was a fun encounter. Great Danes might look intimidating but they are truly gentle giants.
