Theme Day: Vanishing Point

 I love taking photos with a "vanishing point" and I have many in my archives.  Finding one I hadn't posted before was the challenge for me.  It looks like this one might fit the bill.  I took this a few years ago on drive out to Fountain Hills, the town just east of Scottsdale.  I remember seeing this long stretch of desert road and no one else on it so I stopped, went out to the center of the road and snapped the shot low to the ground.  The road just vanishes out there somewhere.

To see other bloggers Vanishing Points, click here.

Collection of Public Art

While looking through my stash of photos from the town of Fountain Hills, I discovered that I had a few photos of some of the public art that is located all around the complex of municipal buildings.

Above is a humorous sculpture taking the shape of a bench.  It's called "Need a Lift" by Randy Hand.

To the left is a Doug Hyde sculpture called "Santa Clara Wedding Vase Gift".

This sweet sculpture is called "Good News" and it was created by George Lundeen.

And, here's my favorite sculpture.  It's called "Precious Cargo" by sculptor Jason Napier.

The town has quite a collection of beautiful art surrounding it's government and public buildings.

Traveling the Open Road

This might look like I'm headed out on the open road but I'm actually within the city limits of the town of Fountain Hills Arizona.  Fountain Hills is located on the far east side of what we call "the valley" where Phoenix and all the other cities and towns surrounding Phoenix are located.

The town of Fountain Hills has a lot of roads through the rolling hills of this area.  They have a rural feel but they are dotted with the homes of the town's residents.  I did a post about the famous fountain located in Fountain Hills back in 2013.

When I visited here in 2013, I was impressed by the views and the rural feel of this area of town.  In the photo above, I could see the mountain landmark to the east of Phoenix that we call Four Peaks.  It is part of the Mazatzal Mountains which are located within the Tonto National Forest.  The mountains are approximately 40 miles northeast of Phoenix.  In the winter, we sometimes see snow on top of these mountains.

The Power of Thought

Fountain Hills is another community that is part of the Phoenix Metro Area.  It's located east of Scottsdale and gets its name from the famous fountain located in the man-made lake at the center of the town.

On a drive out to Fountain Hills, I discovered that a sculpture that I admired back in 2010 was now a permanent fixture at the Fountain Hills Civic Center.  It is called "The Power of Thought" by artist Victor Issa.

I featured this sculpture in a post back in 2010 when I first saw it at the Celebration of Fine Art and at that time I said I hoped it would be purchased and displayed permanently somewhere in the area.  I'm thrilled to see that it was.

Festival of Arts

Yesterday, I went to the Fountain Hills Festival of Arts with my friend Janet.  Boy, was it busy!  And, hot!  Walking around under the bright sun between the rows of art booths on an almost 80 degree (27C) day had me feeling like summer had arrived.    The Fountain Hills festival is one of the biggest in the valley and must be running very close to the size of the one in Tempe.  I took the above photo when the Fountain Hills fountain was erupting.  See it in the background?

There were so many beautiful things to look at and if you had lots of money, there were a few very expensive items like a stunning table made from one large piece of rustic looking wood inlaid with veins of turquoise.  It was marked at $16,000.00!
But this wall decoration made from thin pieces of stone with little pockets in it for live plants was less expensive.  I didn't buy either but it was fun to look.

But I did buy this great jacket with the colorful patches down the back and a shorter set of patches on the front.  And, I think it will go very well with the amber necklace, earrings and ring I purchased too.  It's hard to tell in the photo but it's made of three colors of amber from Poland. In fact, the husband and wife who were selling the jewelry were also from Poland.

It was a fun day in the sun!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I travel just a short distance from Phoenix to visit the old west.

Big pile of rocks

How would you like this big pile of rocks in your backyard?  This is a house located on the west side of Fountain Hills in an area of rocky terrain.  All of the houses in this area have big rocks like this surrounding the homes.

There is also a very nice view from this area.  This is looking southeast.

The Big Fountain

Here is a close up view of the base of the Fountain Hills Fountain that I featured yesterday.  I like the misty look with all that water falling around it.

I also liked the reflection of the spray in the lake water.

Fountain Hills

I took a drive out to Fountain Hills (east of Scottsdale) to bring you a photo of the famous Fountain Hills fountain.  This fountain was built in 1970 by Robert P McCulloch, the same man who brought the London Bridge to Lake Havasu City one year later.  The fountain is the fourth tallest in the world but, in 1970 it was the tallest when it was built.  Since then, it has been surpassed by fountains in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, St. Louis Missouri, and Karachi Pakistan.  The  Fountain Hills fountain sprays up to 562 feet in the air when all three pumps are engaged but, most of the time they only use two pumps so it rises up to 330 feet.  

Fountain Hills Arizona has grown up to a population of about 23,000 people who have homes in the rolling hills of the McDowell Mountains east of the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.  When I was standing there taking these photos I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen the fountain from ground level for maybe 15 to 20 years.  I have seen it several times from the air as we approach Phoenix for landing.  It seems to be right in the flight path.

I'll show you another Fountain Hills scene tomorrow.