An Arts Festival With Pizza

 

Last weekend I attended the fall Art Festival at the Shemer Art Center.  It was a beautiful day for the event with lots of sunshine.

The wide lawn at the center is a prefect setting for the event with the Camelback Mountain looming in the background.  There was a lot of art, jewelry, pottery and other items for sale.  I managed to come away with a beautiful, hand-woven scarf.

They had one food vendor on site for this event and it was one I had never seen before.  It was a pizza making place with a real wood-burning pizza oven attached to the truck.  I didn't have a piece but I did ask some people how it was and they gave it a big thumbs up.  A mobile, wood-burning pizza oven!  Clever and unique!

The Chorus Line

 

This Rotraut sculpture is completely different than the others around the garden.  Here we have a whole row of colorful dancers.  Or maybe they are reaching for the stars too.

This one looks good when the lights are shining on it at night.  It also offers a lot of photographic opportunities from many points of views.   

A Few More Twisted Sculptures

 

Here are a few more of the Rotraut sculptures that are on display at the Desert Botanical Garden.  Many of them don't have names such as this white one.  They just say "Untitled".  

These two do have a name, they are called "Playing With the Stars" which also happens to be the name of the entire show.  

This last one is called "Felix".  It looks like someone dancing exuberantly. 

Tomorrow I'll show you one that is a bit different from these. 

Entertaining Evening

 

Sunday evening I joined my friends for a lovely evening of dinner and music on the patio of the Hermosa Inn.  It was a little chilly to be outdoors but they cranked up the gas heaters so it felt pleasant.  

The entertainment was provided by Esteban, a local guitarist who has charmed crowds all over the world.  He was joined on stage by his two daughters and his son for a an evening of wonderful music.  He did his versions of some great classics from Bach to The Rolling Stones. It was great to see him perform again.  

Dave walked up close to get the shot to the right.  A classic Esteban pose.  

Notorious RBG

 

I recently found this mural honing Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  What a well-deserving subject for a mural honor.  What a brilliant mind in such a small and fragile body.  It was a very sad day when I learned of her passing; an even sadder day for the country.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Capturing the Sparkle

 

I was at the Desert Botanical Garden Friday evening and I took the opportunity to snap a photo of this sculpture with a dark background.  This one is jet black but the finish has sparkles in it and every time I took daytime photos, it was impossible to see the sparkles.  This one is a bit better.

This is another of the Rotraut sculptures that are currently on display at the garden.  I wrote about them back in mid-October when they first arrived at the garden.

I haven't developed a fondness for these sculptures yet.  They are very nice but it might take a while for me to adjust to their shapes and colors in this desert setting.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I have a visit to a historic California hotel.

Attracting my Attention

 

The robins are back at my place again.  I was photographing them when a neighbor stopped to tell me that he enjoys seeing the robins too.  He told me that someone told him that their diet is a little different than it is in the midwest and that's what causes their breast feathers to not be quite as red as they are back east.  I don't know if that's true but I suppose it's possible.  

While I was photographing the robins, I began to hear a tapping sound coming from close by.  It took me a while to find this Gila Woodpecker but I finally spotted him pecking away on the side of a palm tree.  The birds were vying for my attention on this day.  

The Dancers

 

I have one more post from the Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Desert Botanical Garden.  This time I'm featuring the dancers who were performing traditional celebratory dances.

This pair were the stars of this performance.

After the dance ended, the participants had to go back to their graves. It was a beautiful performance.  There was so much going on at different places in the garden it was hard to see it all.  I'm glad I got to catch scenes from most of the performances.

A Huge Ofrendas!

 

Yesterday I said that the Desert Botanical Garden went all out for the Day of the Dead celebration at the garden and that included the altar or ofrendas they created this year.  They usually have a large altar but this year's was simply huge.  I had to use a wide-angle lens to get it all in.  

I particularly liked the sand painting at the very front of the altar. The colorful flags hanging from the ceiling added to the festive look of the ofrendas.  

Dia de los Muertos

 

The Desert Botanical Garden went all out for this year's Day of the Dead celebration.  They had decorations, food, entertainment and vendors situated all over the garden.

I loved the giant arch they created at the garden's entrance and I had to get a photo of the wonderful greeters.  

There were beautiful costumes, decorative face painting and flowers and music everywhere.  I went Sunday afternoon and enjoyed seeing how everyone was in a festive mood.

I decided that I needed a floral headdress so I would blend right in with the crowds of people.

Theme Day: Soft

 

Did it seem to you that October just flew by?  It certainly does to me.  Here it is the first of November and the blogger's theme for today is "Soft".  My sister Judy was kind enough to send me this photo of her cute dog all cuddled up in his very soft bed.  I wouldn't mind having a cuddly soft bed like that myself.  And, the cute cuddly dog to go with it would be a bonus!

To see other blogger's soft photos, click here. 

Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween is a time for pumpkins to be turned into jack-o-lanterns.

I found this group at the Desert Botanical Garden when I went last week.  They certainly have the look of Halloween carved right into their faces.  

The Gang is All Here

 

I drove past my former neighbor's house to see if the Halloween gang was once again cavorting in his front yard.  And there they were, all present and accounted for.  

It looks like this year, the ladies in red were putting on a little fashion show for the rest of the crew. There's no end to what this group will get up to.  

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm looking at California critters.  

Pumpkins & Skeletons

 

Here's an unusual Halloween decoration.  A combination of pumpkins and skeleton features.  He might be a strange creature but at least he's a friendly one.  That sign behind him reads "In this house we believe Black Lives Matter, women's rights are human rights, no human is illegal, love is love, kindness is everything".  I think I like these people.

Here is another skeleton I found.  This one is a giant seated in a giant chair.  It's funny seeing the things people come up with to celebrate Halloween.  

Halloween and Fall Decorations

 

I took a stroll around my apartment complex to see what decorations I could find and I found quite a few.  It appears that many of my neighbors are celebrating the season. 

Some decorations were just simple door hangers.  

Others were fully committed to the Halloween spirit.

This place appears to be haunted by a rather creepy figure trying to get in through the patio.  

Making Work Fun

 

The non-profit organization I work for held an employee retreat last Monday and it was day full of fun activities.  It was also an opportunity to meet employees from all over the state.  

I didn't expect to see a dinosaur among the participants but there it was wandering around and meeting all the team members.  

My favorite activity was a presentation by Liberty Wildlife, an organization that rehabilitates injured wild animals.  They brought along this handsome fellow.  He's a great-horned owl and you can probably see that he has damaged wing.  Since he can't be released to the wild, he now works with the volunteers at Liberty.

The group also brought along this red-tailed hawk.  Another beautiful bird that lives at the facility.

I enjoyed their presentation very much. 

Theatre Night

 

Last Thursday I joined a friend to see the Phoenix Theatre production of "Bandstand".  I snapped this photo as I was walking to meet my friend at a restaurant for dinner before the play.  

When we returned to go to the play, it was dark and this is where I spotted that mystery shadow I featured yesterday. You can see just a sliver of that bench and wall on the far right of this photo.

Mystery Shadow

 

I spent quite a bit of time looking at this shadow on the wall trying to figure out what was making that triangle shape.  I finally figured it out.  Those lights in the ground that are shining up are catching the ends of that bench and casting the shadows at an angle on both sides forming the triangle.  It had me perplexed for a while.  I love a good puzzle. 

Mural Memorial

 

Here is another garage door mural.  This one appears to be a memorial to someone who has left this world however, the person isn't named.  I'm guessing the person reflected in the left lens of those glasses might be the one being honored.  There was no signature on this one.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Strange Garden

 

I went to the Desert Botanical Garden Friday evening to attend an event called "Strange Garden".  The last time they had this event was back in 2019 and it featured characters made from pumpkins.  I featured posts of those here and here.  

I was looking forward to seeing similar creative creatures but the event was a little different this year.  

To the right is the decoration at the garden entrance.  

The "Hocus Pocus" ladies were entertaining the youngsters.

There were skeletons and goblins strategically placed around the garden.

And, there as a display of reptiles and night creatures like this very handsome owl.  I thought this was a great-horned owl but the handler said it was an Asian owl that had been living at the shelter for many years and is very used to large crowds of people around her.  She is a beauty!

This event was very different than the pre-pandemic events.  This was very much a family event and there were lots and lots of kids all dressed in costumes and having a wonderful time.  

Blogger note:  I found 14 comments that were made on posts in October of 2014 in my Spam folder yesterday.  All were legitimate comments made by followers that were previously posted.  Clearly, there is something strange going on with Blogger these days.

Signs of Fall....For Sale

 

We don't have the beautiful fall colors like many of you have been posting here in the desert but the local retailers are making sure we know that fall has arrived.  

The stores would like it very much if we would fill our homes with reminders of the season.  

I think I'll just admire them from the distance.  Although, there was a time when I would have found those dishes with the tiny pumpkins on them very tempting.