I saw this mural around two months ago but every time I'd drive past there was a row of cars parked in front of it. Finally I caught a day with no cars. This desert mural was done by the artist who goes by MrDowntownPHX. I believe his name is Jesse Perry. This is on the side of Zong! Smoke Shop so all those desert creatures are smoking.
I was driving out of my complex when I noticed the tree trimmers were at work. This group was using a bucket lift to get to those tall palm trees. That 'bucket' is way up in there among those shaggy palm fronds.
Out in front, the trees are much shorter so this fellow just climbed up to get to work.
These fellows arrived early so they could get the job done before it got too hot.
It's time for me to unload a few of the extra shots that have accumulated in my files recently.
Above is a Great Blue Heron who is looking a bit scruffy. He was busy grooming himself which he obviously needed.
To the left is an old International truck that was hiding among the trees that day I went to the plant nursery. It's an intimidating looking vehicle.
About 3 weeks ago, there was a little excitement at my complex. We had a gas leak. There were five big fire trucks, two smaller fire trucks and a whole load of firemen asking us to leave our apartments. The whole thing lasted about an hour and the leak was coming from one of the gas grills in the courtyard. There is no gas going into the apartments so no worries there.
My friends David and Riley just moved into a new house. This photo was taken before they moved when they were measuring things. Their dogs were enjoying those tall windows that are low enough to the floor for the little ones to look out.
I thought I might pay him a little tribute and show all of the Pomodoro sculptures I've been fortunate enough to see.
Of course, the Cube here in Phoenix is one of them.
I saw this one in Milan Italy in a park setting. This one is a disc. It happened to be right next to the place I was having lunch in Milan.
This one is in front of the Vatican Museum. The tour guide I was with took us along a pathway across the courtyard area so I didn't get a close up view.
This one sits in front of the United Nations building in New York City. I spotted it after I had spent two hours touring the building.
He has at least three more of these large scale sculptures that I know about. One at Trinity College in Dublin, one in Brisbane Australia and one in front of the Farnesina Palace in Rome. I'm sure there are many more around the world. I'll always be on the lookout for them.
I did however, crop this one photo where it looks a bit like I might have found a two-headed dog! It was a fun encounter. Great Danes might look intimidating but they are truly gentle giants.
These pretty pink ones are smaller than some of the other blooms.
The red ones are the most common ones I see in the garden.
The variegated ones are really pretty. I can't say if I like one more than another. To me they are all such pretty plants that seem to thrive in our desert heat.
I did see something that surprised me. I found one desert rose plant that was actually planted in the ground. I was talking with another member who was also admiring this plant and she said this is new. The garden thinks there is enough protection in this spot that it should be able to survive any winter frost that we might get. I'll keep my eye on this one.
We had a nice reprieve from the heat here in the desert over the weekend. It was nice enough to do an early morning walk at the Desert Botanical Garden. I arrived at 6:00 AM and found that a lot of other garden members had the same idea. It wasn't crowded but there were definitely more early risers than I've seen before.
The highlight of my walk was finding this family of quail enjoying a cool drink from one of the water features. In these photos we see Papa Quail and five of his "teenagers". It was a big family.
I love how their top-knot feathers are just now forming and looking a bit frazzled at the moment.
Here's Papa again looking quite proud of this large brood.
Momma Quail was there too, she just didn't get into any of my photos. I counted nine young ones all together.
This is a fairly new mural on the side of a restaurant on Camelback Road. The restaurant isn't billed as Mediterranean but they do serve a variety of fusion dishes and lots of things from a wood burning oven.
The mural is very long and I couldn't get it all in one shot. I photographed a mural on this wall before when it depicted a huge alligator. This scene is a lot more welcoming than that 'toothy' fellow.
The restaurant used to be called The St. Francis but now it has a new chef and has been renamed Oak on Camelback. This mural was painted by Tato Caraveo. It's a pleasant scene.
Taking part in Monday Murals.
I found this photo on the leasing company's site. You can tell from this photo that the building stands above all the other local buildings. There isn't much in this area over 4 floors high. This photo also has a great view of Camelback Mountain in the background.
I've used my iPhone lately to capture some flowers in various locations.
To the left is a petty mum that decorated the table at a restaurant where I met some friends from out of town recently.
Here is a pretty red hibiscus that caught my eye.
This pretty arrangement was on a table in the reception area at Symphony Hall the last time I attended a concert there.
The Google search says this is called an Egyptian Star Cluster. I saw it blooming these pretty pink blooms from a planter at the shopping center.
Flowers are a welcome sight wherever one goes!
A friend and I were leaving The Parlor Restaurant after dinner Tuesday evening when this scene looking toward their outdoor patio caught my eye. My post on Tuesday featured the wood pile for a different pizza place. The Parlor also has a wood fired oven for their pizzas. No, I don't eat pizza every night. Tuesday's photo with the big tree was taken about 3 weeks ago.
The Parlor had just opened the outdoor patio as we were leaving. When we arrived it was still too hot to sit outside. Once the sun had gone down, they turned on the misters and opened the patio.
I just love the big ficus trees that are scattered all around the old part of Town and Country Shopping Center in Phoenix. I stopped to get a photo of this on when I was on my way to Pizzaria Bianco just on the other side of the tree. I featured this pizza place way back in 2008 when it had been named "Best Pizza in the U.S". Back in those days, they only had the one location. Now they have several. This one happens to be the closest to me.
It takes a lot of wood to keep those wood-fired ovens pumping out pizzas all day long.
I was at my friend Glenda's house last week and while she took a phone call, I was wandering around and caught sight of this little menagerie of interesting animals. This room is decorated with all things related to the animal kingdom. I posted a photo of this room back in 2020 when we were slowly emerging from the pandemic. I love walking into this room because I always see something new.
I saw this beautiful mural along McDowell Road and was drawn to it to get some photos. It is beautifully painted and so vibrant with colors.
On the far end of the mural were these words in Spanish which translate to "Fighting is Voting". It is also the name of a grass-roots organization formed to educate and get-out-the-vote. A perfect message for any time but especially relevant these days. The artist is La Morena.
Taking part in Monday Murals.
The challenge for our June meeting was "Balance" and my creation is to the left. I call it "Kaleidoscopic Totem Pole".
Here are two more from the group. Above is Jim's piece. Sorry for the reflection. Those guitar necks are all cut out very finely and then set against a painted background. We kept it in the plastic wrap because it was so delicate.
To the left is Tim's drawing of the view from his studio at home. Tim usually does sculpture work but being an architect by trade, decided to use his drawing skills.
These are just a sample, there were several more great creations that I didn't get captured. It's fun getting together once again and even more fun getting those creative juices flowing again.
These works in clay caught my eye. They look like strange creatures from a galaxy far, far away. All of these are the creations of Meg Gizzi.
This one is called "Or a Receptiveness".
This one bears the name "Or Just to Make a Sound".
This one goes by the name of "I Seek a Certain Magic".
And, this last one is called "Favorite Colors (Myself with Others)".
There is no doubt that it took some talent to create these 'stoneware' objects. It also took some imagination to conceive their design.
However, having said that, they are a bit too extraterrestrial for my taste.
Although, they did make a fun blog post.
Our summer temperatures have arrived here in the desert southwest. We are supposed to reach 110 F degrees this weekend. The last three days have hovered between 106 and 109.
I'll have to curtail my early morning walks at the Desert Botanical Garden for a while. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a few rainy days that could bring those temperatures down.
It will be a while before I find any more pretty blooms like the Caper bloom above or the cactus blooms to the left.
Oh well, we live in the desert. We are used to it.
I'm going back in time with this post. Way back in 1982, I accompanied my parents to attend the dedication of the World Showcase EPCOT Center in Florida. For those of you who have not been to EPCOT, it is located next door to Walt Disney World and contains a multitude pavilions featuring man's achievements in art, industry and science. It also contains 10 international pavilions featuring customs, art and food from the those countries. While I was there, I collected a special glass from each of the countries represented. The glasses feature Mickey Mouse and few of his friends dressed in the attire native of the country they represented. In the photo above you see Canada, America, France, Japan and Morocco.
Here are the other five representing the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, China and Mexico. I was clearing out some clutter over last weekend and saw these fun glasses and I just had to get them out for a closer look. The poor things have been sitting in the back of a cupboard for years. I used to use them quite often but over the years they gotten relegated to the back. I'm trying to decide if I should part with them or put them back in the cabinet.
This is a photo that was used in the Bob Haozous exhibit at the Heard Museum that I posted about yesterday. There is a series of these huge sculptures that line the street just outside of Sky Harbor International Airport. Each one has a theme of air travel. The sculptures were created by Bob Haozous and they are located along 24th street where it curves around the end of the runway. I've admired them as I drive on this street for many years now. Behind the fence in this photo is the airport runway.
This is another example of one of of the sculptures. This one was recreated on the gallery wall.
I have wanted to get photos of these wonderful sculptures for many years but there is simply no way to get one. 24th Street is a very busy thoroughfare with no parking on either side of the street and jet airplanes taxiing right up to the fence on the airport side. I'm willing to bet that the photo above was taken by city staff who could park an official city truck with flashing lights near the art to take that photo.
So now I can finally post about these fabulous pieces even if it's only two of them and they are just reproductions.
