Happy Easter!!

 

One of my friends took my photo at the Habitat for Humanity fund raising event last weekend and I took that photo and changed the background to drop me into a fairytale-like "Easterland".

I hope you all are enjoying the day!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  

Resort Visit

 

Last Saturday I attended a fund raising dinner at the Omni Montelucia Resort in Paradise Valley.  According to the photos in my file, I hadn't been to this resort since 2016.  

This rocker with his guitar is still there rocking out on one skinny leg.  I posted a photo of him back in 2012.  He's been standing there for a very long time.

I had donated several items for the event's silent auction and this is one of the items.  A photo of a white rose that I had printed on canvas.

When I was filing away my photos from that night, I saw that back in 2011, I had donated another photograph for a silent auction at that very same resort.  However this one was for a different non-profit organization. I don't remember which organization this event was for.  Too long ago. I hope my photos made it to good homes!

New Cozy Corner

 

Last summer I had a post about a local pub called Postino's that I frequent with several friends.  I mentioned that they had changed the chandelier over the corner where we usually sit.  My friends and I were there this last weekend and we noticed that now that whole corner has been updated with a new sofa, new wall paper and new artwork on the wall.  I like it.  It looks even more cozy than it did before.

The Blooms Around Me

 

I've been noticing pretty, spring blooms in a variety of locations.  The pretty flowers in the top photo are on a vine in my friend Glenda's yard.  That vine is just bursting with blooms.

To the right are some blooms that have attracted a hummingbird.  I was seated close to these blooms while having lunch at the Heard Museum.  I couldn't believe that hummingbird got so close.

These orchid blooms were sitting on a desk in a local salon.  They were too pretty not to get a photo.  

It's fun to find all these blooms in so many diverse places.  

Celebration of Fine Art Purchase

 

When I visited the Celebration of Fine Arts two weeks ago, I made a purchase from artist Myron Whitaker who is from Kannapolis North Carolina.  It wasn't the first time I bought a piece from Myron.  The new one is in the middle of the photo above.  I bought the one on the left two years ago and the one on the right about five years ago.  I love the different ceramic pieces he creates.  When I saw that one in the middle, I knew it would look perfect next to the others.  

It makes a nice addition to my very full bookcase.  If I ever get another one, I'll have to find a new home for some of the older pieces.

Espiritu

 

I mentioned in Sunday's post that my friends and I had dinner in Mesa at a new restaurant.  The place is called Espiritu and it specialized in seafood with a Mexican/Asian mix of flavors.  

The place was small with a very "goth" look to it.  I snapped these two photos from our table toward the bar.  I love those dripping candles.

The food was great. We loved everything we had to eat.  

While we were there we noticed that a lot of people left via a back door and since parking was back there, we decided to go that way too.

The passageway toward the parking lot was narrow and very eclectic.  I just had to turn around and snap another photo.  This would be a good place to visit around Halloween.  

A Mural With a Surprise Connection

 

When we were in Mesa last Friday for the Symphony, we came across a mural that surprised my friend David.  It's a mural depicting the sign for a restaurant his family had owned a long time ago when he was a kid.  The neon sign for the place became an iconic symbol around Mesa.  I remember seeing it when I lived there.  Sadly, it's gone now but happily, now it's preserved in this nice mural.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Symphony Night

 I went to the Symphony Friday night with my good friends David and Riley.  It was a great combination of music and performances.  The guest pianist was Conrad Tao.  He played Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra.  It's a complicated piece and it was amazing watching Tao's fingers scampering over the keyboard in a blur of melodic precision.  I snapped his photo as he came back to the stage for a short encore piece. 

This performance was at the Mesa Art Center so we had dinner before the performance in Mesa.  We chose a new place that turned out to be very good and very eclectic.  I'll write more about that experience in a future post.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting a church I walked past many times but never visited before.  

Horses, Horses and....a Little Burro

 

Susan Hartenhoff, one of the artists at the Arizona Fine Arts Expo produces a lot of paintings of horses.  There were a few paintings of other animals but clearly, horses are her favorite subject.

I think my favorite was the painting of the horses of many colors in the photo above.  The painting below it looks like a photograph.  She does beautiful work.

Marless Fellows also paints horses but it was the very cute little burro that caught my eye.  The painting is called "Favorite Chair" and it reminded me of my childhood when we had our beloved English Bulldog who also had a favorite chair.  

Animal Kingdom

 

The Arizona Fine Arts Expo was full of beautiful art and many of them featured animals from all over the world.  These two pieces are the work of Martin Bourbeau.  He calls his work "paint sculptures".  He is from Minnesota.

This herd of elephants is an oil painting by Katherine L Wilson.  

This very handsome elephant is the work of Alex Chitura.  Alex is from Zimbabwe and he has produced some amazing sculptures that had landed all over the world.

This beautiful lion is the work of Gina Ribaudo.  Gina is from Mesa Arizona and she paints murals as well as canvases.  

It was a jungle inside those big tents.  

Heading North in Search of Art

 

Last Saturday was a beautiful day here in the desert.  It was a tiny bit chilly after two days of rain and wind but it was sunny with a sky full of big, puffy clouds.  I decided it was a perfect day to travel out to far north Scottsdale to find that other arts event called The Arizona Fine Arts Expo.  

I didn't expect to get stuck in a bit of stop and go traffic on the way.  I took the opportunity to snap a photo of that Frank Lloyd Wright spire that sits at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.  

I snapped the shot right out the windshield while I sat in a long line of cars.

Once I got past that busy intersection, I was hoping the traffic would thin out a bit but it seems many people had the same idea to get out and enjoy the weather.  So, here is another shot taken through the windshield while at a traffic light. Those clouds make everything look great.

Finally I made it to the big white tent to enjoy the art inside.  However, I just had to snap another photo of those fabulous clouds against that gorgeous blue sky.

Once I was inside amongst the art and artists, I still stepped outside between the tents to take in a bit of nature's artwork.  It turns out that nature's art and man's art complement each other very nicely.

Theatre Night

 

Last Sunday night I attended one of my Valley Broadway Series shows at Gammage Auditorium in Tempe.  This time it was "MJ", the musical about Michael Jackson.  I wasn't sure what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I snapped this photo of the stage just after arriving at my seat.

My friend Julie snapped these two shots during the standing ovation.  All of the actors were excellent, the dance moves were amazing and the staging was brilliant.  All in all, a good show.

Canadian Geese: 2024 Spring Update

 If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you probably remember that every spring a pair of Canadian geese find a spot somewhere around our parking lot to build their nest.  As far as I know, no one has found the exact spot. However, they start hanging out in the parking lot at the beginning of March.  When I returned home on Saturday, this fellow was sitting in the middle of the driveway.  I stopped the car and had a little chat with him.  I told him he should move because it wasn't safe to sit in the middle of the road.  He listened but didn't budge.

His partner was up on top of the carport cover watching the whole conversation.  If things go as usual, there will be little ones sometime toward the end of April.

Amazing and Unique Art

 

I loved the work of Seth Fairweather at the Celebration of Fine Art.  The one to the right was my favorite.  If I was rich and had the wall space, I would have bought this piece. I'm not sure why it spoke to me but it did.

This last piece was very eye catching. It was constructed with both steel and glass.  It looks a bit dangerous.

To top off all the art I've seen in the last week, I drove way north in Scottsdale on Saturday to visit that other art expo called the Arizona Fine Arts Expo.  I have lots more art to share in the weeks to come.

The amount of artistic talent in this world of ours is amazing.  

Artist at Work

 

Another artist from the Celebration of Fine Art is Becky Pashia.  She paints with oil paints and creates these impressionistic works.  She is from Bayfield Colorado.  

The piece above was one of my favorites from Cathy Sheeter, a scratchboard artist.  I would love to see a demonstration of this type of work.  Her pieces were so perfect, they looked like photographs and all are made by scratching away a layer of color to reveal another color below.  

Her works were simply amazing.  I love that cute raccoon in the middle. You can read about scratchboard art on her website.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I stumbled upon another school in London.

Celebration of Fine Art 2024

 

Last Saturday, I made the long trek out to far north Scottsdale to attend the Celebration of Fine Art.  There are two of these huge art shows out in the north desert.  Last year I went to the one even further north but this year I went back to the one I usually attend.  These shows run from January through March and it's an opportunity to meet with the artists and for them it's an opportunity to sell their works.

The artist above is Beth Zink.  I saw the woman to the left taking her photo so I took the opportunity to get them both in the scene.  Beth works with acrylic paint and as you can see, she paints a lot of desert plants and scenes. I'm sure she gets inspiration from around her home in Cave Creek Arizona.

This exhibit was new to me.  I hadn't seen this artist at the show before.  Veronica and Gabriel work in the fine art of "Repousse".  Here is a quote describing that type of art from their website.

Repousse refers to a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief.  This technique is very ancient and has been extensively used all over the world, as they require only the simplest tools and materials, and yet allow a great diversity of expression.

I think this artist was also new to the event. This is an acrylic painting by Ray Tigerman from Tubac Arizona.  Tubac is an artistically inclined town south of Tucson and near the border with Mexico.  His pieces all had a Native American look to them. Tomorrow, I'll show you some more art from the show.

Shadows Revisited

 

When I left the Phoenix Art Museum last Friday, I walked across the street to meet my friends for dinner before we went to a play.  As I walked along the side of the art museum, I noticed the shadows of the palm trees on the museum wall.  That's when I remembered the I had posted a similar photo years ago.

I posted this photo way back on May 1st 2009.  It looks like those palm trees that line Central Avenue have grown quite a bit in the passing 15 years. It won't be long before the only shadows will be of the palm tree trunks.  

Guarding the Art

 

When I went to the Phoenix Art Museum last Friday afternoon, I discovered an exhibit that was "curated" by a group of art museum employees.  They spent a year working on the project and selecting artworks from the museum vaults that represent the diversity of the staff members and their collective interests in learning.  The works in the exhibit were as diverse as the people who selected them. Here are just a few that I saw.

I think the one above was my favorite.  I don't recall ever seeing this painting before.  It is by Paul Pletka and it's called Woman with Jar.  It was selected by Destiny, a gallery attendant.  

This painting is by Ed Mell, a well known local artist who passed away just last month.  It's called Sweeping Clouds and it was selected by Juan Jose, a gallery attendant.

These two pieces are the work of Michael Cajero and the two together are called Defend Yourself, Cabron.  These two characters were created with gift wrap and wire. The piece was selected by Savaughna, also a gallery attendant.  

I loved the idea behind letting staff members choose the pieces of art and while choosing them learn about all the aspects of planning and designing an exhibition.  What a great opportunity.