Ceramics Done by Young Hands

 

I have four more pieces from the Shemer exhibit of art created by High School Students.  The piece above is by Brooke Ford and it's called "Fruity Fruits".  It is incredibly realistic.

To the right is "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" by Amber Woods.  It is made with clay and acrylic paint.

This ceramic piece is by Nia Morris, a Senior.  This one is called "Theadore".  

You can see "Theadore" in the background of this one.  That handsome rooster is called "Roots of Strength" and it was created by Estefany Vazquez Saldana, a Senior.  

I have a few more pieces to show you tomorrow.

The Art of Teenagers

 

I mentioned in my post on Saturday that I went to the Shemer Art Center to see the latest exhibit which happened to be the work of High School students from all over the valley.  I was stunned by what I saw.  The amount of talent in these young people is incredible.  It makes me hope that they continue with their artistic endeavors.  

The piece at the top is by Gavin Lopez, a senior.  He states that he was inspired by a visit to St. Georges Chapel in England and by an English poem called Corpus Christi Carol.  He combined the two in this incredibly detailed drawing called "Corpus Christi".

To the left is a charcoal drawing called "Winnie" by Sloan Sessions, a Junior.  It is so finely detailed, I thought it was a photograph.

The one above is a blending of photographs of buildings in downtown Phoenix.  Anubis Ruiz Velasquez, a Senior created the photo using Photoshop.  It's called "Fracture Downtown."

The painting to the right is by Maggie Steimle who is a Junior.  She calls this one "Displacement".  She states that it shows how she felt after moving to a new place.  

A lot of talent went into each of these.  Tomorrow I'll show you some of the ceramics the exhibit had to offer.

My Happy Place

 

Today I just feel like talking about my "happy place".  I'm avoiding the news and thinking about all the things that make me happy.  My happy place here in my home town is of course the Desert Botanical Garden.  I decided to pull out a few photos that show why I love it so much starting with the beautiful Chihuly glass Desert Wildflower Towers that greet me every time I enter.

I also love the beautiful views of the Papago Buttes that frame the garden with their red and rocky hills. The view is even better in wildflower season with pretty blooms as a splash of color.

I also love all the things that bloom there.  In the May and June it's wonderful cactus blooms, the rest of the year it's an assortment of other pretty flowers scattered all over the garden.

I also love the variety of birds and other wildlife that make the garden their home.  Sometimes I sit in one spot for 20 minutes or longer just watching the different birds stopping by for a drink of water or some nectar from a flower.  

Today is a day to think of happy things. Tomorrow I'll deal with the news.

My Weekly Dose of Art

 

I visited the Shemer Art Center on Saturday.  I went to see a new exhibit of art work from high school students all over the valley.  I'll tell you more about that show next week.  First I want to show you a sculpture I found in the gardens surrounding the museum.  It caught my eye immediately because I recognized it as a sculpture I photographed many years ago.  It turns out it is by the same artist Tom Bollinger and it has the same name as the one I saw years ago however, I can tell this is a different piece.  You can see the original piece that I posted here.  The sculpture is called "Gaia" and Gaia is a Greek Goddess, the mother of all life.

I got a sort of self-portrait taking the photo of this sculpture.  You can see me in the reflection of the steel ball.  I'm standing out there ready to take the shot. 

Productive Way to Kill Time

I had my monthly appointment with the chiropractor on Thursday afternoon only I totally forgot that the time had been changed.  I arrived 40 minutes early.  So, to kill some time, I wandered around the parking area looking for things to photograph.  I concentrated on the planters full of red, white and pink geraniums. I took a few shots but wasn't happy with them because the light wasn't right.  

Then I turned around and looked up at the building and saw those clouds reflected in the glass.  The unusual thing was that the sky above the building was mostly clear.  I found my shot!

Those clouds gathered together while I was inside and then sprinkled on me on my way home. A light sprinkle of rain that was hardly noticeable except for the drops on the windshield.  

More Winter Roses

 

On a recent walk, I found a house that had an abundance of rose bushes in their front garden.  These roses look like they are loving the recent cooler weather.  They appear to be thriving.

It was great to see all these gorgeous blooms in one spot.  

A Spot of Color

 

When I was at the Heard Museum last weekend, I checked out the planters in the courtyard to see if there were any winter blooms.  I found one nasturtium bloom looking very sunny and peeking out from the green leaves around it.

Such a pretty flower.

In another planter, I found this tall bloom full of small white flowers.  

The internet says it's a Candle Larkspur.  It kind of looks like a tall, pillar candle.  

It was pretty chilly (by desert standards) all last week but these flowers seemed to be enjoying the cool weather.

Houses with Views

 

I recently photographed a couple of very nice houses. This one is painted white making it stand out from the desert scenery all around it.  The house sits in the Camelback Mountain foothills with the rugged mountain terrain behind it.

This house was found at the top of a hilly area in Paradise Valley with the Phoenix Mountain Preserve in the background.  Both houses have some dramatic scenery around them.  

Butterflies from the "Heardlings"

 

When I was at the Heard Museum last Saturday, they told us about a children's project they had been working on with the many children who visit the museum. They lovingly call those young visitors "Heardlings".  

Children create these little colorful butterflies and write messages on them and museum staff place them on the walls in the Grand Hall.

I think there might be some budding artists among those children.  A few of the butterflies had some original designs on them.

What a great project for the children and it compliments the Meryl McMaster exhibit just a few steps away.  I posted about the Meryl McMaster exhibit here and here. 

Blocking the Road

 

I found this mural on the side of a newly established Pizza restaurant in Scottsdale.  I like the colors and the southwestern theme but it appears to me that those two cars are blocking the road.  They need to turn around head down that road.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Back at the Heard Museum

 

I was back at the Heard Museum yesterday for another one of their "Artful Mornings" lectures so I took the opportunity to visit that wonderful "Space Makers" exhibit once again.  I posted about this exhibit last November here and here.  

It was a pleasure to see these colorful and wildly different works of art once more.

I thought I'd post two more pieces that I didn't feature back in November.  This one is called "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" and was painted by Mary Morez.

And this one is painted by Will Barnet and is called "Family & Pink Table.  It dates back to 1948.

Local Art

 

I mentioned several years ago that my good friend Julie  serves on the Paradise Valley Town Council.  On Thursday evening I attended the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected or in Julie's case, reelected to serve.  The town's council chamber was covered with paintings by a local artist named Barbara Lacey.  They were all so colorfully painted with such bright colors.  This one is called "Canyon Sunset".

Next to the painting was this bronze sculpture of Barry Goldwater.  That seems appropriate since Senator Goldwater lived in Paradise Valley all of his life.  This sculpture is by Joe Beeler.

Frida in Tile

 

During that time between Christmas and the new year, a friend and I drove out to the far northern reaches of Scottsdale and had lunch at the Four Seasons Resort.  That's where I saw this mural of Frida Kahlo made of tiles and mounted on a wall near the entrance to the restaurant.  I'm not quite sure if the tiles were painted before they were assembled on the wall or after.  Whichever it is still a nice mural. 

I also snapped a photo of the hotel's Christmas tree in the middle of the lobby.  I'm sure all these holiday decorations have been put away by now.  

The Large and The Small

 

I've mentioned before that I've been doing a lot of photo sorting and filing and sometimes scanning of old prints.  This is a perfect example of a very old photo that I recently scanned so I could add it to my digital collections.  At the time this photo was taken, the family dog was Brandy, a very friendly  and well loved St. Bernard.  We also had a new kitten named Smokey.  I found this photo I took of Brandy and Smokey getting to know each other.  They quickly became good friends.  This photo brought back lots of very fond memories.  Brandy might have bee a big dog but, he was certainly a gentle giant.  

Nature's Art

 

After my visit to "Knight Rise" (see yesterday's post), I walked that same narrow path back to the main part of the museum.  Along the way, I saw these little yellow flowers growing under the glass partition.  I thought it had a its own artistic look.

There was also an ocotillo plant and a cactus on the other side of the walkway and pushing through all those thorns were a few lantana blooms.  I thought that was another little natural artistic scene.

Whenever I visit contemporary art, I find myself seeing little artistic scenes everywhere I look.

Knight Rise

 

While I was at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, I took the opportunity to visit James Turrell's sculpture called Knight Rise.    

It can only be accessed through the museum even though it's on the outside.  Guests follow the little partially enclosed walkway I've pictured to the left to get to it.

Once there, I stepped into the circular space, sat down and enjoyed the view of the sky through the opening above.  The sky was look a bit 'lacy' on this day.

Knight Rise is one of many Skyspaces that Turrell has created all over the world.

Brains and Beauty

 

Thought Patterns by Monica Aissa Martinez

I went to see a fascinating art exhibit at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.  I actually heard about this exhibit on the PBS Newshour earlier last month and I wanted to see it before it leaves on January 19th.  The full title of the exhibit is "Brains & Beauty: At the Intersection of Art and Neuroscience".  

Red Mask by Rufino Tamayo

The exhibit used a series of artworks to emphasize how different things about a piece activates the aesthetic triad referring to sensory-motor, emotion-valuation and knowledge-meaning neural systems.  In the painting above our visual cortex takes in the color.  Our eyes can detect more than 10 million colors. The color red is especially effective in stimulating our brains in different ways.

There were two places in the show where the viewer interacts with a piece that contains cameras.  The one above is a camera that distorts what it is seeing into fragmented pieces but I could still make out me, taking a photo of me. The other piece used two cameras on each side of a person showing a split screen version of me from angles that I cannot see in a normal mirror. 

It was a fascinating exhibit that gave me lots and lots to think about.  I love viewing art and I think this exhibit might enhance the way I look at different pieces of art.  I might end up staring at different pieces even longer than I do now.

Beauty & Sunlight to Start the Year

 

I have a few more photos from our New Year's Day brunch at The Hermosa Inn.  Above is the main fountain in front of the entrance to the resort.  

My friend Julie captured this close-up shot of the two goldfinches on top of the fountain.

They have made some nice changes to the garden area where weddings and other events are sometimes held.  I like the new fountain and the stone bridge.  

We found this relaxing spot near where the rose garden was located.  What do you think, a game of chess or just a lie down in the hammock?

Here's a view of the Christmas tree located in the patio dining area.  

Enjoying the scenery at the resort was a very pleasant way to start the new year.

Winter Roses

 

After our brunch on Wednesday, we decided to walk around the grounds of The Hermosa Inn.  We found a spot that had several rose bushes with some of the prettiest roses in full bloom.

I haven't seen such perfect roses in a long time.  I couldn't resist a few photos.

These beauties appeared to be thriving in this part of the resort's grounds.  

They were so fragrant we could smell them from a few feet away.