Accidental Art

 

When we were at Julie and Dave's house for the Art Challenge Club meeting two weeks ago, we sat on the patio chatting before we went inside to reveal our art.  I noticed a line of four palm trees all lit up in the valley below so I decided to snap a photo of them with my iPhone.  I didn't realize that the phone was going to use a slow shutter speed and I moved it too quickly.  I realized it right away and was going to delete the photo but once I looked at it, I liked it.  It has a nice abstract look to it.

Here's the second photo I took holding the phone more steady.  Julie and Dave had some blue lights on their house causing the foreground to glow with a blue tone.  I like that affect too.  

Nice Sunset, No Rain

 

As I was driving to my friends Julie and Dave's house Friday evening, I saw promising clouds in the south eastern sky.  It looked as if a storm might be forming with the possibility of some rain.  However by the time the sun was setting, the clouds had thinned leaving us with a colorful sunset but no rain.  

The view to the northwest was especially nice.

Even the view directly north was looking very pretty.  Pretty sunsets are always welcome but we really could use some rain.  

Enjoying the View

 

I was at my friends Julie & Dave's house Saturday evening and once again enjoyed the view.  The view to the north looks out over the town of Paradise Valley.

The view to the south looks straight up at Camelback Mountain.  The mountain is looking good with the evening sun lighting it up.  

Regal Cactus

 

I loved the look of all of these organ-pipe cactus plants lined up so evenly along this wall.

Then after snapping the above photo, I rounded a corner and caught sight of this rather regal looking saguaro cactus.

These might be rather prickly plants but, they do have a certain beauty about them.

Mini Concert

 

My good friends Julie and Dave, hosted a fund raising event for the Phoenix Symphony on the patio of their home in Paradise Valley last Sunday.  It was a wonderful afternoon event with music provided by a string quartet from symphony performers.  The weather was perfect for this outdoor event which you can tell from the reflection of the mountains in the window behind the musicians.

As you can see, they had a pretty good turn out for the event.  There were more people behind me.  I think everyone had a good time.  I know I did.

Houses with Views

 

I recently photographed a couple of very nice houses. This one is painted white making it stand out from the desert scenery all around it.  The house sits in the Camelback Mountain foothills with the rugged mountain terrain behind it.

This house was found at the top of a hilly area in Paradise Valley with the Phoenix Mountain Preserve in the background.  Both houses have some dramatic scenery around them.  

Local Art

 

I mentioned several years ago that my good friend Julie  serves on the Paradise Valley Town Council.  On Thursday evening I attended the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected or in Julie's case, reelected to serve.  The town's council chamber was covered with paintings by a local artist named Barbara Lacey.  They were all so colorfully painted with such bright colors.  This one is called "Canyon Sunset".

Next to the painting was this bronze sculpture of Barry Goldwater.  That seems appropriate since Senator Goldwater lived in Paradise Valley all of his life.  This sculpture is by Joe Beeler.

Beauty & Sunlight to Start the Year

 

I have a few more photos from our New Year's Day brunch at The Hermosa Inn.  Above is the main fountain in front of the entrance to the resort.  

My friend Julie captured this close-up shot of the two goldfinches on top of the fountain.

They have made some nice changes to the garden area where weddings and other events are sometimes held.  I like the new fountain and the stone bridge.  

We found this relaxing spot near where the rose garden was located.  What do you think, a game of chess or just a lie down in the hammock?

Here's a view of the Christmas tree located in the patio dining area.  

Enjoying the scenery at the resort was a very pleasant way to start the new year.

Winter Roses

 

After our brunch on Wednesday, we decided to walk around the grounds of The Hermosa Inn.  We found a spot that had several rose bushes with some of the prettiest roses in full bloom.

I haven't seen such perfect roses in a long time.  I couldn't resist a few photos.

These beauties appeared to be thriving in this part of the resort's grounds.  

They were so fragrant we could smell them from a few feet away.  

New Year's Day Brunch

 

My friends Julie and Glenda and I had a lovely New Year's Day brunch on Wednesday.  We were blessed with lovely weather allowing us to sit outside.

We were at Lon's at The Hermosa Inn for our little celebration.  I've featured this place a few times before.  We always try to have a meal here in the spring to see the abundance of flowers around the grounds.  It looks like they have an abundance of flowers in the winter too. 

Carved Out of the Mountain

 

A little over a year ago I was with my friends on one of those special home and garden tours that happen in the spring.  After touring all the houses, we drove around up on one hillside to take in the view.  A long way across the valley, I zoomed in on a house I saw that looked like it was carved out of the side of the mountain.

I zoomed in a little closer and it certainly does look like the space for the house was actually scraped out of the side of the mountain and this very large house was fitted into the space.  

The funny thing is that I could never find this house again.  I wanted to get a closer photo but I simply could not find the place back again until....

...I finally saw a few days ago.  I snapped this shot with my iPhone, so I wasn't able to zoom in this time however, you can see the house to the left in this photo.  Now if I can find that road, I might be able to drive up there and get a closer look at this place.  The way that mountain appears carved around the house is very intriguing to me.

Inspirational Words

 

I found these words of inspiration on a shelf in a small cafe.  They must have worked their magic.  They inspired me to take a photo!

The Telephone & The Cartoonist

 

When I was at The Hermosa Inn on Saturday, I spotted this vintage telephone and wanted to get a photo of it. That's when I also noticed the framed comic above the phone.  It was drawn by Bill Keane the cartoonist who created the comic strip called  "The Family Circus".  That's one of his characters peeking from behind the door.

Bill Keane passed away at his home in Paradise Valley back in 2011.  Since he lived near the resort, I'm guessing he used to dine there quite regularly.

He also used to frequent The Sugar Bowl, an ice cream shop in Scottsdale quite frequently.  He used to feature that establishment in his comics from time to time.  

For those who don't know about this comic strip, click this link.  You will see examples of some of this work.

Spring Lunch in the Garden

 

My friend Glenda and I had our annual lunch at The Hermosa Inn and once again got to enjoy the beautiful garden.  It was a perfect day for dining outdoors and enjoying the wonderful food to go with the fabulous view.  It finally feels like spring has arrived.

Art Fills the House

 

Above is a view of the living area of the second home on the home and garden tour.  In this view, we can see a large sculpture located on the patio just outside.  I recognized the piece immediately.  It's one of Jun Kaneko's famous Dangos.  And, a beautiful one it is too.  

After spotting the Kaneko sculpture, I noticed the piece hanging on the living room wall.  I recognized that artist too.  It's a piece by Mayme Kratz, a local artist who works with natural materials to make creative and eye-catching works of art.  The natural contribution to the piece above is a selection of wings from cicadas. They have been arranged in a circular pattern and sealed in resin.  The home owner told me the piece was extremely heavy and they had to build a special brace for it to hang on the wall.  As a coincidence, I went to an exhibit of Mayme's work on Thursday afternoon.  I'll have some photos to share in the future.

These last two pieces were found in different locations of the house.   I don't know the artist for either of these pieces.  The one to the left is a great ballerina sculpture. 

I admired the minimalist nature of this piece so I snapped a photo of it too. It has a natural look that goes well with the Mayme Kratz piece in the photo above.

Tomorrow I'll spend some time in the back garden of this house.  There were some interesting things to see there too.

A Room With a View

 

The owners of the second house on the home and garden tour allowed visitors inside which is always a special treat.  I start with this bedroom and the fabulous view from that large window.

The kitchen area also had huge windows letting in all that Arizona sunshine.  That would be a very pleasant place to prepare meals. 

The living area was equally blessed with lots of light however, it still had space for a very modern fireplace.  The owners of this house were serious art collectors.  Tomorrow I'll show some of the artistic pieces I spotted on this tour.  

A Sure Sign

 

Seeing the Goodyear blimp floating in the sky is a sure sign that something big is going on around town.  I photographed it when I was walking around the Desert Botanical Garden.  It was way off in the distance but I zoomed in to get a photo.  I'm pretty sure it was floating over the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament at the time.  In fact, I saw it on TV at a friend's house.  She had the golf event on TV. 

My friend Julie texted this photo of the blimp as it passed by the "praying monk" rock formation on Camelback Mountain.  This was on Sunday afternoon and  the blimp was headed to west valley to float over the Super Bowl.  

The blimp got plenty of exercise over this last weekend.  

Amazing Skies

 

These photos were all taken by my friends Julie and Dave.  Their house affords them a much better view of the skies than at my house.  These photos were all from last Tuesday when we were having some on-and-off rain all day long.  

Around 5:00 PM, near sunset the clouds started to take on color.

At one time, Julie even caught a rainbow.

For just a minute or two, the clouds were all a brilliant pink and making everything around them glow with a pinkish light.  It was some of the most dramatic skies I've seen in a long time.  

Thanks Julie and Dave for capturing these fantastic photos and sharing them.  

Art Challenge Meeting

 

My Art Challenge group finally met again last Saturday night.  We've been working on the "Transparency" challenge since April but our meetings kept getting postpone due to COVID and clashing schedules.  My entry was the photo above.  I took this photo several years ago at the Tate Modern in London.  I had just had a glass of wine with a friend in the museum's bar and while leaving I noticed the opaque glass and how you could only see shapes and forms through it.  I had this photo printed on glass which seemed appropriate for this photo.  I love the way it turned out.

Here is Dave presenting one of his pieces, a collage of photos he's taken through glasses.  He had another collage of photos taken through windows with familiar views from around the world.  

I presented a second photo also and it was one you have seen before.  In fact, I made this one my photo of the year three years ago.  I love it and I now have a print version I can frame and hang somewhere.

About 3 weeks ago, it was decided to reveal several other challenge subjects so we could hopefully catch up with our art projects when we meet again in October.  Tomorrow I'll show what I created for another challenge.

Between the Walls

 

My friends Julie & Dave have an atrium in their house on Camelback Mountain.  A few weeks ago, I snapped this photo out the atrium window and when I looked at it on the computer, I was amazed at how lush and green it looked.  The slight reflection in the glass even adds a misty look to the whole scene.  Not what you would expect in the desert southwest.  

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Photos from the historic Mission Inn.