Heard Museum Indian Fair & Market, part 2

I had to show you one more post from the Indian Fair and Market even though I don't know the name of this artist.  I must have been so excited to see these beautiful figures that I totally forgot to pick up her card.  I do know that is was a young woman who made them.

She mentioned that this pot with the figures around the top was just completed the night before and she sold it as soon as the event opened on Saturday.  I didn't ask how much because I'm pretty certain it was somewhere between one to two thousand dollars.  I enjoyed admiring it from a distance.

Heard Museum's Indian Fair & Market

Last Saturday I attended the Heard Museum's Indian Fair and Market and discovered just how popular this event has become.  The crowds were so thick it was hard to see the items on display.  I did manage a handful of photos.  This piece of pottery impressed me.  It's from PAHPONEE of the Kickapoo & Potawatomi Nations.

And this necklace was extremely impressive and a big prize winner as you can see.

It was created by Charlene Sanchez Reano from San Felipe Pueblo in New Mexico.

Here is Charlene explaining to some guests how she uses shells, breaks them down into tiny pieces, polishes them and then sorts them by color.  The tiny pieces then get mounted together on a silver base to form the necklace.  Now that looks like labor intensive work.

And I saw Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. again.  Remember him from two years ago?

First Friday - Open Galleries

Last Friday was the first Friday of the month so after the Kids in Focus exhibit, I headed to a few galleries to see what I could see.

This one seemed to have a large array of very eclectic "pinatas"  hanging from the rafters.

The show was called "Mutant Piñata"  Indeed!

Another gallery has some interesting artwork all by the same artist, all very different.  There were paintings and the sculpture with the butterflies and some hand made guitars.  The artist is Rafael Navarro, a multitalented and creative man.

The body of the guitar mimics the body of a woman.

It was an interesting way to round out the evening.

Kids in Focus

On Friday evening I attended an exhibit of photos all taken by kids between 11 and 14 years old.  The show was the culmination of a series of creative sessions with children who have a background of some type of trauma such as poverty, homelessness, neglect and/or abuse.  The children are given a digital camera and then they work with professional photographers who volunteer their time to teach the children how to see the world in a whole new light.

I have to say I was very impressed.  These two photos were by a young man named Angel.  The top one was taken at floor level inside the lobby of an office building.

The second photo is a shadow centered on the new zen garden at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Excellent work!

This young lady is Angeline.  I wanted to ask her how she got that curled up flag photo but she was so busy talking to guests and signing her name in the book version of the show that I missed my chance.

Very creative work.

There was a pretty good sized crowd of people at the event.  A much bigger turnout than I had expected.  What a great program that teaches creativity and gives so much positive reenforcement.

Return Visit

When I walked into The Signature Galley in Scottsdale, I was hoping this painting would still be there.  I saw it a little over a month ago and I fell in love with it instantly.  But alas, I can't afford the hefty price tag so I'll have to admire it until someone whisks it away.  The painting is called Taos Skies and the artist is Charles H Pabst.

Pabst has been selling paintings since he was 14 years old and after obtaining a degree in Fine Arts from Arizona State University, he made Arizona his home and painting his career.

I love the way the paint in the sky is textured to almost sparkle under the lights while the blue on the bottom is smooth as satin.

On this trip to the gallery I discovered many more wonderful pieces also by Pabst.  All three of these would look great hanging on one of my walls.

I had a very, very busy weekend and I've accumulated a lot of photos to share.  So I'm going to save the rest of my Scottsdale Art Walk photos for future posts and start showing you some of the other things I experienced this last weekend.

Past, Present and Future

Continuing on my Scottsdale Art Walk from last Thursday, I stopped in at the Bonner David Gallery on Main Street to see an exhibit of paintings by Nocona Burgess.  Burgess is a Comanche from Lawton Oklahoma and he has a unique talent of capturing the essence of the Native American.

I love the bold colors used in these paintings. They really do bring the past into the present and the future.

You can see more of his work on this link.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  It's just a short drive north of Phoenix.

Encounter with a Bison

I encountered this life sized copper bison on the art walk at the River Trading Post in Scottsdale.  It is the creation of Mark Fischer of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.  This beautiful masterpiece took Mark 1800 hours of work to complete.  It truly is an amazing piece of craftsmanship.  You can see more about Mark Fischer here.

Scottsdale Art Walk

I decided to go for a walk along Main Street in Scottsdale yesterday evening and it just happened to be a Scottsdale Art Walk night.  So I went with the flow and started visiting one gallery after another. Over the next few days, I'll take you along with me on my gallery walk.

First up is this bronze sculpture by Greg Woodard. I was drawn to the uniqueness of this piece called Indian Head Penny.  Woodard was born in Prescott Arizona and is a self-taught artist.  I believe the gallery attendant said he now lives in Utah.

I told the lady at the gallery that it was worthy of being in the Scottsdale Museum of the West and she told me that he does have one piece in the at museum.  It's the one to the left called Buffalo Head Nickel.   You can see more of Gary Woodard's art here.

Pizza with a View

I had dinner at a new pizzeria located just up the street from me a few nights ago.  And, when I say "up" the street I do mean up.  My street heads up the mountain toward the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and this new place is at the very top with the preserve just across the road.  That made sitting on the patio facing the mountains a great option.

The place is called Base Pizzeria and they pride themselves on organic ingredients that have been locally sourced.  My pizza with crushed tomatoes and spicy sausage was delicious!  I'll be back for the view and the pizza.

I was there until after dark and I noticed all the flashlights I could see very high up on the mountain.  It always amazes me the number of people who go hiking up those mountain trails after dark.

Secret Gardens

I stop at the Royal Palms Resort often just to wander around the grounds and find all the little hidden spots.

There are secret passages with private gardens inside.

And fountains that only certain guests get to see.  These three photos were all taken on the west side of the resort.  I was recently there for a photo shoot and found more great places on the east side.  I need to go back and get some photos of those places to show you.

Theme Day: Where I Belong

This month's theme is "Where I Belong" and since Phoenix is my home, I think that's where I belong.  I love the warm days, the blue skies and the landscape dotted with mountains and buttes.  And, of course my favorite view of Camelback Mountain.

To see how other City Daily Photo Bloggers have expressed where they belong, click here.

Celebration of Fine Art....encore

A few more photos from my visit to the Celebration of Fine Art in north Scottsdale last Friday.

You might remember this artist because I've featured him before.  I was happy to see him again at this year's event.  He is always so cheerful and full of information about his art.  His name is Gedion Nyanhongo and I told you about him in this post from a few years ago.

I loved this piece that he created to celebrate to hard work of women.  The stone has been textured to form her dress and then polished to show her face and skin.

Gedion pointed out how he polished the stone in the back of the sculpture to form her feet.  I love it.  He told me that he lets a piece of stone speak to him and tell him what form it should take.  You can see more of his work here .

This last shot is just a peek into an artist's studio at the event.  Many of the artists have set up little spaces where they are working on pieces.  I loved peeking into this area and seeing all the paint brushes and other tools of the trade.

Celebration of Fine Art

I visited the annual Celebration of Fine Art on Friday.  That's the art event that happens every year between mid-January and the end of March.  It's located every year in north Scottsdale in a huge white tent that is set up especially for the event.  This year I noticed how the north end of Scottsdale is quickly engulfing the site so I'm not sure how much longer they can hold this event on this piece of land.  It will be interesting to see if it needs to be moved to a new location next year.

Above is a glimpse at the work of Pete Tillack from San Diego California.  The photo shows one of his works called "The Sweet Life" against a very striking red wall and there is a glimpse of another work featuring New York's Flat Iron building on the side.  That's Pete working on another piece to the left.

Syed F Ahmad works with glass and had some amazing and colorful pieces on display.  I love the series of panels above.

I really liked this painting of the dog splashing in the water by Barbara Rudolph.  The painting is called "River Rush".  Barbara has been coming to the Celebration of Fine Arts for several years and I always enjoy seeing her work.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting the gorgeous Oregon Coast today.

Game Night, 60's Style

I went to another Phoenix Sun's game with my friend Janet and there was a 60's theme going on.  

Even the ever popular "Dancing Grannies" got into the act doing a little swaying to some 60's rock songs.  I'm thinking this was a good group to dance to that music because like me, they were dancing to those beats back when they were first released!

The half-time show also had a 60's - 70's theme with Kathy Sledge of the group Sister Sledge performing songs including "We are Family".  Remember that one?

The entertainment was more fun than the game.  I do believe the Phoenix Suns are having the worst season ever!

El Adobe

This little shopping and office complex is located in Old Town Scottsdale and is constructed of adobe brick.  Makes sense since it's called "El Adobe".  It's a small group of businesses, an art studio and a salon and a lovely little garden in the center.  It doesn't get much more southwestern than this place.

Fountain at City Hall

I featured a photo of this fountain way back in 2009 but taken from a different angle.  It looks great from many points of view so I thought another photo taken on a nice sunny day would be in order.  The fountain sits to one side of city hall in a wonderful little park area where people enjoy their lunch or just spend some time out of the office buildings that surround it.

What's Blooming

Aloe plants are blooming right now.  I believe this one is called a Rigid Aloe.

I love the big frilly blooms on these plants.

And so do the bees!

Optical Illusion

It appears as though the foot bridge over Tempe Town Lake is under water on one end but, never fear, it's just and optical illusion.  You see, there is a negative edge water feature in the foreground.  It's part of the decor around the Tempe Center for the Arts.

You can see from this photo that the bridge is completely safe!

Holding Hands

I found this mural on the side of a building in the city of Mesa when I was there a week or so ago.  I drove around the building looking for an indication of what was inside but no luck.  I'm guessing it's probably a municipal building of some kind.

That background is a take on the Arizona state flag.  

Year of the Monkey

Scottsdale Fashion Square was having a Year of the Monkey celebration on Saturday to bring in the Chinese Lunar New Year.

There were graceful dancers in beautiful costumes.

Flag dancers, twirling their flags.

And, this lovely lady playing the Pipa, a Chinese stringed instrument.  She was very good and played some relaxing songs.

It was one of those shopping day surprises!


I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm featuring another visit to the Vatican Museums.

Curious Yellow

This bright yellow bike has been chained up on the corner of Camelback Road and 20th Street for several weeks now.  I've seen many bikes painted white in memory of a cyclist who was killed but I've never seen a yellow one.  I did some Google research and found and organization called The Yellow Bike Project in Austin Texas but, it sounds like they fix up old bikes to give away so I don't think this has anything to do with that project.

Since it's chained to a bike lane traffic sign, maybe it's some kind of warning mechanism.

Anyone out there have any ideas about this?