Taliesin West, part 2

Frank Lloyd Wright had a special affection for all things Asian and he added these doors to the entrance to the theatre at Taliesin West.  The gong on the side is another Asian touch along with the ceramic figure on the roof.

In fact, there are several Asian ceramic scenes imbedded in the walls all around the property.

Here are two of them.

In addition to the students who are living on the property, there are several apprentices who also make Taliesin their home.  I'll show you the work of one of them later this week after theme day.

Taliesin West

Last Friday morning I took a drive out to Taliesin West to take the tour.  I had taken it before several years ago but, it was an evening tour and I wanted to get some photos so I decided to do it one more time.  Taliesin West was the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright and it is currently owned an operated by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.  It still serves as a School of Architecture where students earn a Masters of Architecture Degree.

Taliesin West was FLW's winter home and it was built specifically to suit him and his unique lifestyle.  For many years after the purchase of the land in 1937, there was no water or electricity and he, his wife, and his apprentices lived in tent-like structures and the hauled water to the site.

Tomorrow I'll show you a couple more photos from this interesting place.

Greek Orthodox

Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Scottsdale.

I love those ruffles around the church's dome.

Pink Scurvy

I found this bicycle parked at a  downtown bike rack and it caught my eye.  It says "Pink Scurvy Cruiser" on that back bar and "Paul Frank" on the front.  I looked that up on the internet and sure enough, there is a bicycle brand called a Paul Frank Pink Scurvy Cruiser and they run around $500.00. Quite a fancy bike, I hope it's securely locked to that bike rack.

Baseball Tribute

This sculpture is located inside the Phoenix Convention Center and was commissioned by Major League Baseball to commemorate the 2011 MLB All-Star game hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the city of Phoenix.

Hovering

Here is another photo from Sunday's early morning outing at the garden.  This is another one of the beautiful night blooming cactus flowers this time being visited by a honey bee collecting some pollen.  These flowers are so gorgeous it's a pity they don't last through the day after they've bloomed.

Pearls on the water

They look like giant pearls floating on the canal at the Scottsdale Waterfront but, they are part of an art installation on the water.  It seems there is always some kind of interesting art floating in the water or surrounding the walkway.

In this shot there seems to be a string of pearls.

Behind these gates....

....is a modest little house surrounded by a stunning garden.  It's unusual because of it's location.  This home is situated in the heart of downtown Scottsdale and is surrounded by businesses, galleries, and restaurants.  As far as I could tell, there wasn't a single other residence on this street.

The front is surrounded by the stucco wall and these wonderful old trees.

I was very tempted to walk through the gates and look around but luckily, the owner was out in front watering plants.  I spoke to him and confirmed that it was indeed a home.

Here is another view through the gates and you can just barely see the striped awning over the home's porch.

I kind of wish he would have invited me in but, since it's located directly across the street from a busy restaurant, I'm betting that he might be kind of wary of people peeking into his gorgeous yard.

Stunning Pink

Yesterday I joined Julie & Dave and Julie's mom Glenda for an early morning walk at the botanical garden.  Once again, that 7:00 AM time frame is perfect, nice and quite and uncrowded.  But what caught all of our eyes was this stunning pink night blooming cactus flower.  I don't think I've ever seen a night bloom in such a vibrant color before.

There were three popping out from the top of this cactus and they drew quite a gathering of photographers to capture their beauty.

I'm so glad we went, the blooms were pretty spectacular.

Night Bloomer

Friday when I was leaving The Hermosa Inn after lunch, my cell phone rang and not wanting to drive while talking, I pulled on to a side residential street and stopped the car to answer the phone.  The area is  full of large homes on very large lots mostly with desert landscape.  While I was sitting there, I noticed this night bloomer cactus in one of the yards with all those buds just ready to burst open.

Friday evening was our first 2013 meeting of the "Art Challenge" club at Julie (Scottsdale Daily Photo) and Dave's (Tamarindo Costa Rica Daily Photo) house in Scottsdale so I thought on my way home, I'll drive by here again and see how many of those buds have opened.

It was a tricky shot to get because it was very dark on this street and aiming the camera was.....well....tricky.  On the third shot, I finally got the whole cactus.   All the while I was hoping the owners of the home wouldn't get frightened by the camera flashes in their front yard and call the police.  (The house was completely dark so they were either in bed or not home.)

Wasn't it well worth the risk?  What a beautiful sight this is and virtually no one would have seen it if I hadn't snuck back there to get the shot!

Al Fresco

I think it was this time last year that I had lunch on the patio at the Hermosa Inn.  The weather was so beautiful on Friday that I thought it would be a perfect place for a nice al fresco lunch again.  I wasn't disappointed.  The food was great but that garden atmosphere was simply stunning.

Do guitars grow on trees?

I had no idea that guitars grew on trees, did you?

I took these two photos back at the end of March and I wasn't happy with either one but, the tree is so full now that you can't see the guitars any longer so these photos will have to do.

This tree is in front of business called Guitar Tree. I'm guessing that they sell guitars but, I couldn't find a web site, just a Facebook page.

The guitars in the tree are very eye catching in the winter months when you can see them.

Big chunk of glass

I was sitting at a table on a restaurant's outdoor patio waiting for my food when I aimed my camera at the fountain in the center of the patio.  I really didn't think the photo would amount to anything.  I was just killing time.  As it turns out, I kind of like it.  That water frozen in time looks like a big chunk of glass sitting there.

Encore Appearance

You've seen them before but, I'm bringing you the Chihuly Desert Wildflower Towers once again because I just heard that Chihuly will return to the garden on November 9th of this year.  I can hardly wait!  It will be a new show, not exactly the same as the last time but, I know it will be a photographers dream.  The show will run through May 11th of 2014 so think about a trip to Phoenix during that time. It will be well worth a trip.

Interesting Art Work

I found this rather interesting piece of art and noticed that there were several of these sculptures dotted all over the property of this site.  Where was it?

It was at the new offices of the Scottsdale Forensics Laboratory.  I wonder if the team of experts who work there are as busy solving crimes as the ones we see on all those CSI style TV shows.

Momma...

The botanical garden is open at 7:00 AM for members only on Sundays so I headed out early to see if those baby roadrunners had fledged yet.  They hadn't.  They were still in the nest but, they did look like they were getting a bit restless.  However, I was lucky enough to catch momma roadrunner bringing back a little breakfast for the kids!

I love that early morning "members only" period at the garden.  It's so quiet.  Just me and about 50 other camera laden photographers, some with lenses the size of a nice Harley-Davidson.

Cardon Bloom

I've posted photos of the cardon cactus before.  It's the giant in the cactus world native to northwestern Mexico.  The blooms of this cactus are very similar to the saguaro blooms except for those fuzzy stems.

The bloom above was located pretty high up so thank goodness for the telephoto lens.  The photo to the left lets you see the whole cactus and the flower is just about in the center of the photo.

I noticed after downloading the photo that I happened to catch a fly sitting just above the bloom.  That is one great telephoto lens.

Special Sighting

You might be wondering what is so special about this photo.  Well the only reason I've posted this photo is to show you that dark spot near the center.  See it?  It's a roadrunner nest.

Inside the nest were three young roadrunners who have not yet left the nest.  I happened upon these babies after I followed the trail of an adult roadrunner who ran past me with a lizard in it's mouth.  I followed to see if I could get his photo but he was too quick for me.  However, he led me to this nest where these three were waiting for a special treat.

Here is one more view.  You can see the one in front clearly and right over his head is the beak of another one and then way in the back you can see the full head and neck of the third one.  It was a special treat for me to see these beauties.  They are getting pretty big so it won't be long before they are out foraging on their own.

Bloomin' Cactus

The bloomin' cactus are blooming all over town!

There is a riot of color everywhere I turn.

Paolo Soleri, 1919-2013

I thought I'd post one more photo from Cosanti, the Paolo Soleri studio and home in Paradise Valley that I featured back in February.  This one is to honor Paolo Soleri who passed away on Tuesday at his home in Paradise Valley at age 93.  This photo is of one of his famous wind chimes.  The New York times paid him tribute in this article.  He may be gone now but his influence will live on.

Look who's back!

My favorite little feathered characters have made an appearance in my back yard again.  I'm so thrilled to see them.

Canyon Country

One last arrangement from the 2013 Arts & Flowers exhibit.  This arrangement is the creation of Laurie Stone of Fischerura Good Citizen Company.

It is in response to this Georgia O'Keeffe painting titled "Canyon Country".  I love that tall feather!

Most Creative

Although it isn't a piece that I would have gracing the dining room, it is a very creative work of art.  This was a prize winner for "Most Creative" and the designers are Sallye Schumacher and Betsy Stodola of Columbine Gardens Club.

It was inspired by this painting titled "Mountain Rancho" by Stuart Walker.

I like this one because it is so imaginative.

Broken Wings

I love the lilies in this arrangement by Elba Brown of Designs by E.

Elba was inspired by this piece called "Broken Wings" by sculptor Donald Lipski.

My Favorite

Of all the arrangements there, I think this was my favorite.  I love all the colors and the overall whimsical design.

It was inspired by this painting called "Folklore" by Victor Vasarely.  The floral arrangement was the creation of Elle Schifferer of Designer's Mark.  The painting is located in the Kids Gallery and there are many artistic games and projects in the room that were also inspired by this painting.  I was tempted to sit down and make something too!

That time of year again....

The Art's and Flowers exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum started this afternoon and I made my way over late in the afternoon to have a peek.  I thought this one was great simply for the artistry of it.  The painting is called "Lady with Beads" by Kees van Dongen.

The floral sculpture is by Mireille Helm of Everybody Loves Flowers.

I'm going back tomorrow because I only got to three galleries.

Desert Landscape

The headquarters for Univision, a Spanish language television network has a striking desert landscape to enhance it's building.  It's so striking that when I drove past, I turned around and went back wondering what was hiding behind these beautifully designed grounds.  The actual building is back there beyond those shades.  The grounds were so well designed that I didn't see the microwave dishes until I drove all the way around the property and then I could only see the very tops of them.  Nicely done!

Mid-Town Towers

The corner of Thomas Road and Central Ave is home to a number of Mid-Town high-rise buildings.  Three of those buildings occupy the corner area and I am standing on one of the top floors of one of those buildings looking out at the other two.  I've posted photos from this area many times because it's my part of town and close to where I live.  You can see two of those posts here and here and you can see a post featuring that fountain down there at the base of the two towers here.  Down in the left, bottom corner of the photo you can make out a sculpture.  I featured that sculpture here.  You can even make out the roof of the light rail station in the middle of the street between the two buildings.  You can see a photo I took standing at the station here.  And, here is a post featuring that stop again.

So, this is another post from my neighborhood, from a bird's eye view.

Goddess

This sculpture is located on a plaza in the Fifth Avenue art gallery area of Scottsdale.  It's titled "GAIA" by sculptor Tom Bollinger.  Gaia is the goddess or personification of the Earth in ancient Greek religion and the legend goes that she was the mother of the ancient heavenly Greek gods.  The description plate says that it is constructed of bronze, light, and lucite.

Theme Day: Pedestrian Crossing

I decided to feature the world's most famous pedestrian crossing and since that spot happens to be in London and not in Phoenix, I pulled up the web-cam that points to the crossing 24 hours a day.  You can pop on to this site just about any time and see a group of people trying mimic that famous Abbey Road album cover.  I even saw group pop out of a black cab around midnight, run to the crossing, snap a few shots and then jump back into the cab.

To see how other city daily photo bloggers have represented the theme, click here.