Happy Sighting

 

I'm always happy to see cute little cactus wrens out and about.  They are such busy little birds and they aren't shy when a camera is pointed in their direction.  This one was happy to sit still and pose for me.  

Downtown Phoenix

 

I was in downtown Phoenix for the symphony last Saturday evening.  I happened to exit symphony hall on the opposite side of the building and I snapped these two photos along the way.  

To the left is that great sculpture that sits in the lobby of the convention center and just outside symphony hall.  I've featured this sculpture before.  It's by Louise Bourgeois and is called "Art is a Guaranty of Sanity".  

Above is a photo taken from across the street and you can see this sculpture through the windows.  To the left, right behind that vine covered wall is the little garden outside symphony hall where I took this photo earlier this year.

There are lots of patterns included in the architecture of the convention center.  It makes for great photo ops.  

Museum Employee Art

 

As I mentioned yesterday, here are three more employee art pieces that were on display at the Heard Museum.  

The one above is three individual round canvases painted by Sylvia Richardson a sales support specialist.  It's called "Messengers: Cicada, Butterfly & Dragonfly".  They were painted in acrylic paint.

To the left is a piece called "Airborne Worm Dance II" by Jay Payestewa - Daugherty who is a shop associate and buyer. This one is a mixed media piece.

This last one is painted by Rebeka Peshlakai who is the Institutional Giving Coordinator.  It's called "Hi Dad".  Her message said it was a painting of one of her dad's favorite fishing spots.  I particularly love the way she painted the clouds and cliffs in this one.  

I'm always impressed by the amount of talent that makes up our world.  

The Lecture Room

 

I took this photo in the room at the Heard Museum where the Artful Mornings lectures are held.  You can see the beaded bag and the soft sculpture I featured yesterday on the table.  About once a year, this room is filled with art works that are created by members of the Heard Museum staff.  You can see three of them behind the speaker.  

Here are two closer views.  The one above was painted by John Bulla (deputy director & COO) with help from Laura Beckman.  I know it looks like it might be composed of beads but it's actually acrylic paint.  That must have taken hours and hours of work. It's called "Baxter Jax - Sun Dog".  

I really like the one to the left also.  It was painted by Nolan Lightfoot (security officer) and it's called "The Hunt".  If you look closely in the bottom left corner, you will see a figure in a red shirt among all that yellow.  It made me think of someone making his way among a forest of aspen trees.  

I'll show you a couple more tomorrow.  

Artful Morning

 

Yesterday morning, I was at the Heard Museum for another Artful Morning lecture.  This time it was about artist Jamie Okuma.

Ms. Okuma has been working with beads since she was 4 years old and her artistic career has evolved into fashion and what is called 'soft sculpture'.  

She created the outfit and the beaded bag to the left.

Here is an example of a soft sculpture.  It also contains a lot of beaded work.

She created this beaded bag for the 2025 Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market.  The whole thing is carefully beaded.

Here's a view of the other side.  More beading this time in a pretty floral design.  

You can see more of her incredible work and designs here.  She has some beautiful designs for both men and women.  

Tall Eucalyptus Tree

 

There is a very tall eucalyptus tree located in the courtyard area of Biltmore Fashion Park.  It's been standing there since the beginning of the mall which was 1963.

Just recently, I notice a little plaque on the side of the tree.

On closer look, I discovered it was a memorial plaque to someone named Ruben Mendez. I tried to find out who this was but could find no link of someone named Ruben Mendez and Biltmore Fashion Park.

I might take a wild guess that he might have been a landscape gardener or grounds keeper.  

It's an interesting little memorial.  I have no idea when it was placed on the tree.

Dog Lover?

 

Something tells me that the owner of this Jeep is a dog lover.

What a cute spare tire cover!

All Lined Up

 

The last time I visited this spot at the Desert Botanical Garden, someone had taken everything off of this shelf.  I've mentioned before that I enjoy seeing how the shelf gets arranged with plants and water buckets throughout the year.  On my most recent visit to this spot, there were two plants on the wall along with a row of water bukets.

Someone did a careful job of lining up those buckets in a nice, neat row.  I look forward to my next visit to see how the line-up changes.

Fast Forward...

 

My new passport arrived last week and it prompted me to take a look at all my old passports.  As you can see, I now have 50 years worth.  If you want to get a "fast forward" look at yourself aging over the years, just take a look at the photos on all your passports.  It's a sobering experience.  

17 Years Ago

 

17 years ago I did several posts about a little enclave of homes built where a date farm used to exist.  The buildings at Palma Viva at one time belonged to the Phoenix Date and Citrus Company.  Some of the buildings housed workers while others were business offices.  Today, they have all been converted to homes. 

Last Sunday, I took another look around the place.  All those years later, it looks very much the same.

The place has remained well-kept and shaded by those very tall palm trees and the many old eucalyptus trees that dot the area.  

There is only one entrance into this enclave and that entrance is through a very narrow opening in a wall.  It's not a place you happen drive through.  You have to make the effort to find the entrance.  That gives this place a sort of isolated feel even though it's right in the heart of the city surrounded by busy streets.

Art Challenge Fun

 

My art challenge group met on Saturday night to reveal our creations based on the challenge "Ornamentation".  My mixed-media piece is above.  I used a photo I took of a unique looking twig on the ground and I trimmed the photo and placed it on a painted canvas so that it would look like a large piece of driftwood or tree branch.  Then I used some sparkle paint to add the "ornamentation." My original photo is to the left.

The architect in our group created tis homage to architecture using a little inset of different architectural styles and then mimicking the shapes, lines and curves in a sort of Calder-like collection.  I like it!

One of the joys of this little group of friends and artists is the variety of art pieces created.  Our group produced watercolors, silver work, creative jewelry, and ceramic tiles with beautiful designs.  Our get-togethers are always so much fun!

This was our 85th art challenge.  If you want to see more of the creations from the past, click the "art challenge club" label below.  

Shades of Purple

 

On my afternoon walk at the Desert Botanical Garden, I found some things blooming in shades of purple which happens to be a favorite color of mine. Above is an artichoke thistle showing off with its lavender blooms.

The blue potato bush was also sporting some purple blooms.  According to Google, this is also called a Paraguay Nightshade.

There were a lot of purple daisies scattered around the garden.

I hadn't seen any lemon beebalm in the garden for a number years so I was happy to see a few of them making an appearance.

Purple flowers always make me happy.

More Butterflies

 

There were more butterflies in the Desert Botanical Gardens butterfly pavilion besides all the malachites I posted yesterday.  There were quite a few white peacock butterflies playing among the greenery.

I only saw this one great southern white butterfly.

I did see only this one monarch butterfly in there too.  That was a bit of a surprise because we usually don't see any monarchs in the pavilion until the fall series.  

Malachite Heaven

 

Our recent weather predictions have things heating up this coming weekend so I decided to make an afternoon visit to the Desert Botanical Garden before our heat starts to limit outdoor adventures. I hadn't visited the butterfly pavilion this spring and it's going to close next week so I made sure to go.  I was rewarded with an abundance of one of my favorite butterflies, the malachite.  

In the past, I'd be lucky to see one malachite butterfly but on this occasion, they were the predominate beauties flying around the pavilion.

Not only were they abundant but, they were also cooperative.  They landed frequently and posed with their pretty wings wide open so I could get a number of photos.

Let's just say that for a few minutes, I was in a bit of malachite heaven!

Roosevelt Historic District

 

I happened to be in the Roosevelt Historic District last weekend so I took the opportunity to snap a few more photos of some of those grand old historic homes.  I love the huge porch on this home.

Here is another one with a big porch.  These must have been affluent homes back in the 1930's and 1940's when this neighborhood was new.

The porch on this one appears to wrap around the side of the house off to the right.  This area has some really grand looking houses to admire. I enjoy just driving around here and finding the ones I like.

Winged Observations

 

I enjoy watching and listening to the birds I find around me.  Here are a few I've seen in the last few days.  This Gilla Woodpecker was chipping away on a palm tree in the courtyard where I live.  I heard him first and then I saw him.

This little sparrow was singing his heart out just outside my balcony.  I moved rather stealthily to get the photo and not scare him away.

I spotted this busy little hummingbird hovering around some aloe blooms.  I was able to get several snaps of it before if flew off in another direction.

When I took a walk past the golf course, I saw this heron sitting on the water's edge and watching the aquatic activity.  

I love having such a variety of birds near where I live.

Towering Over

 

I took a turn down a residential street that sits just behind a big commercial area and was struck by the sight of this modest house towered over by a very tall building.  It almost seemed like that building was sitting in the back yard of that house.  

A little further down that same street, I saw two houses with very large trees in their front gardens.  

They are living in the shadow of tall buildings but the tree-lined street still has that residential quality.  

Beautiful and Delicious

 

A few weeks ago, I was talking with my friend Riley and he mentioned how he sees gorgeous fruit tarts in grocery stores and bakeries but when you purchase one it just never tastes as good as it looks.  On Saturday night, David and Riley had a small dinner party at their house and Riley decided to try his hand at making a fruit tart.  This is the result.  Isn't it beautiful? And, believe me, it was delicious and nothing like the ones you buy at a store.

Riley did most of the cooking while David arranged the table and the flowers and did the serving.  The two of them are a great team and the perfect hosts!