A Tale of Two Roses

 

Right after that short downfall of rain that I mentioned yesterday ended, I walked past the spot where the garden has several rose plants.  That's when I saw this beautiful rose.  What could be prettier than a perfect rose covered with raindrops?

I snapped the photo above with my camera and the one to the left with my iPhone using the portrait mode.  I like them both.

This rose was also looking very nice covered with raindrops so I snapped this one with the iPhone using the normal photo setting.

Then I snapped a second shot with the portrait mode on.  

I like them all!  That probably has nothing to do with photo techniques and everything to do with the beauty of the subject.  A rose always makes a good subject.

Caught in the Rain

 

I went to the Desert Botanical Garden on Sunday for a nice walk and at one point I had to take cover to get out of the rain.  My weather app said there was a 40% possibility but that usually means it will pass us by.  This time it didn't.  It was quite refreshing and I enjoyed every minute of it.

And it did last just minutes.  It came down really hard for no more than five or six minutes and then it was okay to walk once again.  

I got some great photos to share this week.  Those overcast skies provided some great light for taking photos.  

Biblical Garden

 

I think this might be a chapel that belongs with the church I mentioned in yesterday's post.  This is where I found that statue.  

The main church must be a very popular because that parking lot I turned into was HUGE.  

I would say that the parking lot was of Biblical proportions and now I see that the little garden is a Biblical Garden.  

And all of this was hidden so far away from the busy street that I had no idea it was there.

A Visiting Butterfly

 

Taking a wrong turn can sometimes lead to interesting discoveries.  I turned on what I thought was a street but turned out to be a huge parking lot for a church.  But I'm glad I made that turn because otherwise I wouldn't have discovered this lovely statue that reminded me of my encounter with a butterfly last weekend.

I can assure you, I wasn't wearing heels or a dress when that butterfly landed on my arm but the magic of that encounter is nicely represented in this sculpture.

This was found in a little garden attached to the church.  A garden I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't made that wrong turn.

Always Blooming

 

I can always count on the Toothpick cactus to have at least one bloom on it whenever I visit the Desert Botanical Garden.  

I zoomed in on the bloom and caught three bees lining up for their turn at the flower.  Don't they look like three jet planes lined up to take their turn landing at the airport?

Butterflies!

 

The fall butterfly exhibit was open on Sunday when I was at the Desert Botanical Garden so I took the opportunity to visit with these beautiful creatures.  There were lots of them to enjoy.  Above is a Monarch butterfly.

Here is a pretty Red Admiral.

I saw this Buckeye hanging out on the wall.  His wings look a bit tattered.

And once again, there were lots of my favorite butterfly the Malachite.  You can also see a Zebra Longwing in the background.  

One of those pretty Malachites landed on my arm and stayed there for a while.  It was tricky getting the photo with one hand but I managed it.  I enjoyed my visit with this little fellow.

Puddle Reflections

 

We had quite a bit of rain over the weekend so when I was entering the garden Sunday morning, the air was so crisp and clean that I couldn't resist another photo of the Chihuly glass sculptures that greet visitors.  

Then as I was leaving, I saw a puddle of water in front of those sculptures.  It wasn't a big puddle but I decided to see if I could get a reflection shot in that little bit of water.

It's not the best reflection shot but it was fun trying.  Right after I snapped this photo, two kids came running up the walk and then stomped right through the puddle.  That ended my attempts at reflection shots but those kids were having a great time.  Kids and puddles, they go together.  

More About Super Bloom

 

The new art exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden is called Super Bloom and features lots of spaces at the garden that have been converted into oversized garden murals.  

There are also several of these glass "greenhouses" scattered around the garden.

This is the work of a group called Graphic Wilding and the two artists that make up the group, Lee Baker and Catherine Borowski.  

I love this quote from them: "We've always wanted to bring art to people, rather than wait for people to come to art. Art doesn't have to wait behind gallery doors, it can meet people where they already are."

The photo above is inside the exhibit hall.  It sort of looks like a stream running through a garden with odd shaped cushions posing as rocks and pebbles.  

To the left is another of those glass houses, this one with a purple hue.  

Busy Weekend....

 

I was lucky to have been invited to the season opening performance of the Phoenix Symphony on Saturday evening.  I snapped a quick photo of our new conductor Paolo Bortolameolli and the guest pianist, Olga Kern taking a bow after she played a Rachmaninoff concerto brilliantly.  Of course she was accompanied brilliantly by our wonderful symphony orchestra.

On Sunday morning I went for a walk at the Desert Botanical Garden to see the new exhibit that opened this weekend.  It's called Super Bloom and it features these wonderful displays of all kinds of flowers blooming all over the garden.  I'll have more about this exhibit in the next few days.  I took a lot of photos and they still need a bit of editing.

The "art season" has arrived with all kinds of things on the upcoming schedule!

More From "The Way We Came"

 

I have three more paintings from the exhibit I mentioned yesterday.  This painting is by Quincy Tahoma and is called "The Navajo Country".  It was painted in 1948. The description card said that the large herd of sheep might indicate that this family had some wealth.  It also shows how the herding work is a family affair. I think this one has a lot of appealing charm.

This painting is by Joan Hill and was painted in 1970 and is called "Cornstalk Shoot of the Cherokee".

This last one was painted by Milland Lomakema and was painted in 1969.  It is a very contemporary view of a Ceremonial Dance Scene.  I love the "edginess" of this painting.  All those angles appeal to me.

There were so many more wonderful works of art in this collection of 70 paintings from the William P. Healey gift.  I can't wait to see even more.

"The Way We Came"

 

Just last June, the Phoenix Art Museum received and incredible gift of 185 paintings from the William P Healey Collection.  It is the largest gift of Native American art to the museum in its 65+ year history. Healey was an life-long collector of art with a special interest in western art.  He developed his collection in "close consultation with Tony Abeyta" and that partnership ensured that cultural insight guided the collections.  The museum recently opened an exhibit of 70 of those works of art.  The painting above is called "Celebration from the Underworld" and was painted by Tony Abeyta in 1998-99.  I love Abeyta's work and have featured a few of his paintings on my blog before.  You can see two of them here and here.

Many of the artists featured in this exhibit are known to me from my frequent visits to the Heard Museum.  The one to the left is by Harry Fonseca and was painted in the 1980's.  It's called "Coyote Chief with Pink Clouds".  I did a post about Fonseca a few years ago here.

This last piece is by Kay WalkingStick and is called "Winter Passage".  It was painted in 2017.  I posted about Kay WalkingStick back in March here and again in January here. 

These three artist were familiar to me but I was very impressed by some others not so familiar.  I'll post some photos of those work tomorrow.

Night View

 

When I was in downtown Phoenix for the opera a couple of weeks ago, I snapped a few night shots.  The blue glow at the top of the Hyatt Regency caught my eye.

Also catching my eye was the sheer size of the Sheraton hotel.  

Both hotels were sort of looming over where I was standing.  They were in opposite directions so I had tall buildings on either side of me.

Kim Chong Hak

 

The Phoenix Art Museum has two new exhibits up and I recently stopped by to take a look.  Both exhibits were fascinating but I didn't have enough time to really study them so I will be going back again.  The first exhibit was of the work of a South Korean artist by the name of Kim Chong Hak.  His paintings were big and bold and full of life.  He has a somewhat abstract painting style but the images almost come alive when viewed.  Above is one called "River" that was painted in 1987.  

This one is called "Snowy Mountain" and it was painted in 2008.  It almost looks like a photograph one might take of the very tops of some high mountains.

This one wrapped around a corner and it is just bursting with colorful flowers in all shapes and sizes.  It's called "Pandemonium" which seems quite appropriate.  It's a riot of color and charm.  It makes you feel happy just to look at it.

 

Random Snaps

 

I snapped a photo of these gorgeous chrysanthemums that I saw at my local Whole Foods store.  I just thought they were so beautiful in their perfect fall colors.  They almost look a bit unreal but I assure you they were real plants.

I snapped this shot when I went to the opera a week ago.  The Herberger Theatre always has an art show going on in their lobby area and this wonderful rooster caught my eye.  It was painted by Margaret McNeal and it's called "Roger Rooster" and a fine looking rooster he is.

I snapped this photo while I was stopped at a traffic light. I glanced over and saw this crazy looking wiring running along the street.  That is one huge mess of wires and other things.  I need to drive by here again to see if it still looks this way or if this was some sort of temporary arrangement.

Misleading Name

 

I had an appointment way up in north Phoenix one moring a week ago and on the way home I decided I should stop somewhere and pick up some lunch to take home.  Then I remembered that a place called the Sicilian Butcher was up that way.  I had heard people say the place was great and I thought a nice deli sandwich would be perfect.

I thought the name suggested a place full of all kinds of meats.  I was wrong, it's an Italian restaurant through and through.  You can tell from the photo above that I was there early.  It was around 11:00 AM and the lunch crowds had not yet arrived.  However, there were several people waiting in the take-out line and one of them told me how delicious this place was.  She said she comes here about once a week.  

I loved the way the place was decorated.  Rolling pins hanging from the ceiling in the take-out room.  Cutting boards on the wall in the dining room.  And, you might be able to make out how the dining room was separated into two sections by hanging meat cleavers.  Very clever decor.  

By the way, I ended up taking home some eggplant Parmesan instead of a sandwich and it was delicious.

A Bit of Plagiarism

 

Someone has added some detail to a utility building located behind a high-rise building along Central Avenue.  I recognize that image as Banksy's "Girl With Red Balloon" and since Banksy isn't working in Phoenix, I'm certain this is a copy.  I wonder if the person who did this actually had license to use the image.

Taking part in Monday Murals. 

Wandering in the Garden

 

A few more photos from my wanderings in the Desert Botanical Garden last Tuesday.  The purple flowers on the soap bush were in full swing.

Since we had so much rain, I was hoping for a puddle or two that might yield a nice reflection.  This was the only one I found.  I think our dry ground was soaking up the water as fast as it could.

This beautifully shaped agave plant caught my eye so I snapped a photo of it too.

My camera always finds lots of things to photograph when I'm wandering around the garden.

Celebrating the Fall Season

 

When I arrived at the Desert Botanical Garden last Tuesday afternoon, I was greeted by this spectacular display of pumpkins, gourds and branches.  I thought it was quite attractive.

When I was leaving, the setting sun was lighting up the other side of this huge display and the colors of all its content were absolutely glowing.  

I saw lots of other interesting fall displays around the garden and I saw the places where pieces from the next art exhibit will be set up.  The new exhibit opens on October 9th and I look forward to checking it out.

Camelback Mountain, Two Views

 

At the beginning of the week, we had lots of rain and much cooler temperatures.  I snapped the above photo on Monday looking at Camelback Mountain from where I live.  I liked how the top of the mountain had some sunshine on it while the darker clouds were still hovering around.

On Tuesday we had some more rain but later in the afternoon it started to clear.  I decided to take a walk at the Desert Botanical Garden so I headed that way around 3:30 in the afternoon.  I climbed up the steep trail where I could get a view of Camelback Mountain from the south and looking north.  An added bonus was all the big, puffy clouds in the sky.

I enjoyed all those clouds scattered across the sky.