Phoenix Bird....Update

 

Here in the desert Southwest, we've reached that time of year when being outside is uncomfortable and for some dangerous.  I decided to scroll through some posts from years past during this time of year.  I wanted to see what photos I was out taking during the hot June days.

In 2009, I found a post showing this wonderful Phoenix Bird sculpture located at the entrance to Town and Country Shopping Center.  It's my favorite of all the different interpretations of this mythical bird.

I decided to get an update of that old photo and this is the result.

That plaque in the background reads:

"The Phoenix"

Symbolizing power, beauty and constant youth.

Dedicated to the memory of artist Paul Coze.  

Garden Wildlife

 

While I was walking around the botanical garden in Oklahoma City, I spotted this brown squirrel perched on a rock and looking like he was posing for me.  So, I obliged and took his photo.

Then he scampered over to a tree and was peeking out from behind the tree as though he was looking for me.  But, when I raised the camera he turned his head and looks straight up the tree.

A few minutes later, I saw him again and this time he seemed to have found something to nibble on.  He appeared to be used to having people around.  He was a born "ham".  

Will Rogers Airport

 

The airport in Oklahoma City is called the Will Rogers World Airport so it's understandable that there would be some type of tribute to Will Rogers.

In this case it's a bust of the man. The little plaque below says that it was created by Jo Davidson.  

For those who haven't heard of Will Rogers, he was a vaudeville performer and actor and later in life a social commentator.  He was born on the Cherokee Nation and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son".  

Also found in the airport was this Allan Houser bronze statue called "Prayer".  

The airport is small by today's standards.  It has only one terminal and 17 gates.  

It might be small but it was a pleasant place to wait for my flight.

History Mural

 

I saw this mural while I was in Oklahoma City.  It plays out some history of the state. I noticed when I was in an Uber for the ride to the airport that this mural ran quite a long way along the side of freeway.  I wish I had gotten a better look at it. It looks interesting.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Botanical Garden Art Exhibit

 

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I took a breather in the air conditioned part of the Crystal Bridge to cool down before I returned to tropical forest.  In that part of the bridge they had the requisite gift shop and they also had a gallery space for art exhibits.  The theme for the exhibit I saw was "Wings and Wildflowers: An Oklahoma Pollinators Art Exhibit". There were some great art pieces in this exhibit. These two above were my favorites of all of them.  The artist is Gina Alusi.  I think they are beautiful. They would look great hanging just about anywhere.

These two were very nice too.  I liked the thickness of the paint and iridescent colors.  The artist for these two is Nichole Montgomery.

I liked the brightness of these two.  They were painted by Paige Busick.

These two are the work of Kyna Burnett.  These two are digital illustrations full of different patterns and textures. The reflections in the glass were impossible to escape.  

This last one also had glass over it.  This watercolor was painted by Leslie Waugh Dallam.  I just loved those Ladybugs. 

Viewing all this art gave me something fun to do while I cooled off after the heat of the tropical garden.

Inside the Crystal Bridge

 

Inside the Crystal Bridge, I found a lovely waterfall and a lot of tropical flowers.

It was a treat to see all these wonderful plants.  Though, I will admit it was hot and humid inside this space.  I had to take a break in the air conditioned part and then go back a second time.

Heat and humidity aside, it was worth it to see all these wonderful plants.  I never get to see bananas actually growing on the tree!

Another Botanical Garden

 

Once I decided to go to Oklahoma City, I began looking for other things I might like to see in the city.  I discovered they have a botanical garden and it sits right in the heart of downtown.  

It's called Myriad Botanical Gardens and the beautifully landscaped gardens are free to the public.  However, there is an admission price to go into the "Crystal Bridge" pictured in these two photos.

I did go inside and found some very interesting plants and other amazing things.  More about that tomorrow.  

Five Buffalo and One Penguin

 

One thing I noticed right away upon arriving in Oklahoma City was an abundance of buffalo roaming the streets of the city.  Well, not exactly 'roaming'.  More like standing at attention in a variety of places.  This one was in front of an office building.

This one was standing in front of my hotel.

And this fellow was standing in the water feature in the lobby of my hotel.

This colorful buffalo was standing in front of the Sheraton Hotel across the street.

The Buffalo nickel was found in the historic entertainment district called "Bricktown".  All of these fellows were part of an art project called Spirit of the Buffalo and sponsored by the Oklahoma Nature Conservancy.  The project went from 2004 to 2006 so these artistic buffalo have been standing around the city for a long time now.

This colorfully painted penguin was not the least bit intimidated by all the buffalo.  He stood proudly showing off his colorful design.

He waddled all the way from Tulsa where he was part of a "Penguins on Parade" project  sponsored by the Tulsa Zoo.

Tall Buildings & Lots of Art

 

I wasn't thinking of Oklahoma City as being as cosmopolitan as it is.  There were lots of beautifully designed high-rise buildings and there was lots and lots of public art.

It seemed that everywhere I went there was always a piece of art to admire on every street.

Besides the grand Chihuly exhibit at the OKC Museum of Art, the museum also had a very, very tall Chihuly sculpture in its lobby window.   

Beauty was everywhere I turned.

Chihuly: Master of Artistic Glass

 

I made a quick trip to Oklahoma City last Friday specifically to see an exhibit at the OKC Museum of Art.  I had read that the museum had the biggest exhibit of Chihuly glass works outside of Seattle.  I saw the exhibit in Seattle several years ago.  I love his work so much I decided that a trip to Oklahoma City would be an adventure.  

My only past views of OKC has been from the freeway while driving through the city on trips to my home town in Illinois and back to Phoenix.  I've never actually been in the city before so this was a new experience. I was only there for two days but I saw quite a lot and enjoyed my time there.  The city was impressive in many ways.

The Chihuly exhibit was well worth the trip.  Once again I got to enjoy his artistry with glass and bold colors.  This is just a peek at the pieces on view.  I'll show some of the other things I discovered in OKC over the next week.

I think this was my favorite display.  So many wonderful shapes and colors piled into this boat.  I sat in the room for a few minutes to soak up the magical beauty of it all.

I'm Not in Detroit

 

I was in Oklahoma City for two days last weekend but the first mural I observed happened to be in a pizza place where I stopped for lunch on my last day.  This very busy "Detroit Born" mural was up high on one of the walls.  The place served three types of pizza, Chicago style, New York style and Detroit style however, this was the only mural so Chicago and New York lost out.

The pizza slice I had can best be described as mediocre but the 90's music playing in the place was right up my alley.  When I heard Kate Bush singing, I wanted to sing along.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

At the Butterfly Bush

 

The Desert Botanical Garden has a plant they call a butterfly bush located at one spot in the garden.  It always draws in the butterflies.  This bush must be especially sweet because the butterflies really do love it.

I can always find butterflies fluttering around this bush.  On this day, they were all queen butterflies.  In fact, we have a lot of queen butterflies in the Phoenix area.  They are the dominate species around here.

Standing Woman.....in Ceramic

 When I was at the Tucson Art Museum a month ago, I saw this sculpture in a small sculpture garden and I thought I recognized a particular artist's style.  

It looked as though the Standing Woman might be related to the Nude Man who wanders around the many galleries at the Phoenix Art Museum.  I say "wanders around" because I never know where I'll find him when I visit the museum.  They move him around quite a bit.  He first appeared on my blog in 2011 and then I revisited him in 2018.  I was happy to find his "ceramic" relative at the Tucson Art Museum. Both sculptures are by Viola Frey.  

Desert Fern Tree

 

The Desert Fern Tree is one I hadn't paid much attention to in the past but all those fuzzy balls on it caught my eye.  They look sort of like tiny cotton balls.

It's sometimes called a feather bush because of its feathery leaves.  It grows tall enough to produce some shade and it blooms with those fuzzy flowers in the late spring.

I'm not sure how the bees get to any nectar in such a 'hairy' bloom but they must have their ways.  There were plenty of bees buzzing around this one when I saw it.

I'm flying off to Oklahoma City today.  It's a short trip, only one night returning late Saturday.  I'm not taking my computer with me for this short trip so I've posted ahead.  I'll fill you in on this short trip next week.

Shade for the Plants

 

One day last weekend, I stopped for lunch at the cafe at the Heard Museum.  I noticed that they had put some umbrellas over those over-flowing planters.  What a great idea since they sit in the direct sunlight and our temperatures are now soaring into the triple digits.  

We could all use a little shade at this time of year!

Canary Date Palms

 

If I turn around from where I was standing when I took the photos in yesterday's post, I see two very large Canary Date Palms.

The palms shade this are quite nicely.  It's another benefit of this little garden space.

When I'm enjoying the peace and quiet of this little garden spot, I sometimes play around with the the camera trying to get some interesting shots through the palm fronds.  This time I got a very nice sun glare.  

Another Look at a Favorite Spot

 

The last time I featured a photo from this favorite spot at the Desert Botanical Garden was back in 2022 when things were finally opening up again after the two years of pandemic shut downs. This is a little pocket spot at the garden and they had it closed off for two years.  When it was opened again it was looking a bit plain.  Back in January, I saw that someone had placed a dead palm frond in that big water pail.

When I was there a week ago, I saw that they had removed the palm frond and planted something in the white pot.  A little green is improving the look.

I decided to back up and get a broader view of this spot.  The ledge sits on the back of one of the garden's office buildings in a section of the garden that gets very light traffic.  It's always quiet and peaceful back there so it's a good place to sit for a while and listen to the birds.