When I stepped inside Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, I was somehow surprised at how beautiful it is. It might be both old and small but, it is well cared for.
The altar is beautifully adorned with statues and candles. In a side room I found some beautiful paintings and artifacts collected over the years. The church also had several beautiful stained glass windows.
I'm glad I finally went inside to take a look.
Just down the street from the blacksmith shop I featured yesterday is this historic mission. I've posted photos of parts of this Scottsdale landmark before but I don't think I've ever shown the whole front of the church.
This bench sits on the sidewalk in front of the church. While I was there, I decided I should go inside the church. I might have photographed this church before but, I had never been inside. Tomorrow I'll show you some photos from inside.
Old Town Scottsdale is full of lots of shops and restaurants and galleries but, there are also some historic buildings in the area too. One of them is the old blacksmith's shop. The building is an old adobe building and it still houses an active blacksmith.
Most of the work that is done at Cavalier's Blacksmith Shop is decorative ironwork but there was a time back around 1900, when wagon wheels and horse shoes came out of this shop.
The building is always fun to see when I'm exploring old town Scottsdale. Once or twice I've actually seen those doors open and people working inside.
There is a new art exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden. It just opened last week and it features the sculptures of Rotraut Klein-Moquay and artist who is known by her first name, "Rotraut". I hadn't heard of this artist before but I'm sure I've seen some of her works in my travels. She is a German-French artist and she now lives in Arizona.
Her sculptures are very large and are formed in a variety of shapes. They pop with brilliant colors.
The garden describes them as having the "energy of the seasons".
They are another colorful addition to the garden's desert plants.
Yesterday I mentioned that I attended an event at the Japanese Friendship Garden. Above is a photo showing how the paths were lined with pretty Japanese lanterns.
I enjoyed seeing the garden in the evening light. The garden is not open at night so this was the first time I had been there after dark. In fact, I haven't been to the garden in quite a while. It's time I change that.
Last Saturday evening I went to the Japanese Friendship Garden for their "full moon" celebration. The garden was beautifully lit with Japanese lanterns and adorned with banners and displays of kimonos.
There were also beautiful and colorful umbrellas displayed all around the garden. I was surprised by the size of the crowd enjoying the garden. I didn't expect such a big turn out for the event but I'm happy it was so successful. I'll post a few more photos tomorrow.
I saw this mural painted on a garage door in an alley in one of our historic districts. It looks to me like someone's dream car depicted on the garage door. It made me wonder what kind of car was really behind that door.
Taking part in Monday Murals.
The butterfly pavilion is open at the Desert Botanical Garden and I took a stroll through it yesterday. I was surprised to get such good photos of the two swallowtails. They are usually flapping their wings so fast that it's hard to get a good shot. Yesterday they sat perfectly still. The top photo is a Pipevine Swallowtail.
To the left is a monarch.
Above is a Giant Swallowtail and to the right is a White Peacock.
I'm glad I stopped in when I did and caught the butterflies in a cooperative mood.
I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today. I'm visiting an Oregon Winery.
I was driving in a neighborhood at the base of Camelback Mountain when I saw this scene and for some reason, it called to me to stop for a photo. I'm not sure what attracted me but once I had the photo, I did some artistic editing and came up with some very interesting variations on the this scene.
I think this one is my favorite.
What do you think? Was it worth stopping to capture this scene?
Last Saturday afternoon, I went to the Desert Botanical Garden to see the activities around the "Guelaguetza" event. As far as I know, this was the first year the garden celebrated this cultural event from Oaxaca Mexico.
There was lots of music and dancing and happy people.
And, there was lots and lots of colorful costumes. It was fun to watch!
I have a few more pieces from the current exhibit at the Shemer Art Center. First one up is my favorite. This is called "Very Shy" by Howard D Settel. His artist statement says he discovered digital art at age 77 and has created a body of work using an electronic brush.
I need to investigate this type of art more deeply. It looks fascinating.
Next is a piece in Gauche, ink and pencil on paper by Rowan Mastendrea. He calls this one "Transit". What an incredible combination of patterns.
Here's one to make you feel a bit dizzy, especially if you stare at it too long. This one is by Cindy Snider and it's called "Candy Stripes". It is an acrylic painting. I can't imagine painting those lines so neatly.
This one looks similar to something I might doodle only not nearly this neatly. It is by Helen Judith Witt and is created with India ink.
This last one is for all the photographers out there. This is by Joanna Proffitt and she calls it "Connection". What a spectacular photograph of reflections.
The second exhibit I saw at the Shemer Art Center last Friday was called "Geometric Repetitions" and it was all about repeating patterns. I walked into the first gallery and felt like I had entered my "happy place". I love patterns of all kinds and the gallery rooms were filled with just that.
That piece on the wall to the left is made of fabric and it was by Claire Victor. She had two other pieces in the exhibit shown below.
Aren't these simply amazing? The description says she's been making modern quilts for 22 years. She says she is inspired by the "tumbling block" pattern and by origami. These are truly works of art.
Tomorrow, I'll show you a few more pieces from this show. I loved it so much, I might have to make a second trip before the show ends.
Do you remember that big "Hairy Dog" mural I post back in January? Well, that dog grooming business has added three more small murals to the front of its building.
All three contain a group of dogs in a variety of sizes and shapes. The ones with the scissors, dryer and water hose appear to be greyhounds or maybe dachshunds, I can't be sure of either. That bulldog at the bottom of this last mural looks a bit frightened by the whole idea of scrubbing and blow-drying.
There is no signature on any of these but they certainly do fit the business perfectly.
Taking part in Monday Murals.
RunningI stopped at the Shemer Art Center on Friday to see the two exhibits they currently have up. I'll tell you about the first show today. This exhibit is called Two Voices and it is the work of artist Mary Ellen Mittelstaedt. The artist moved to Arizona from New Orleans in 2004 and it wasn't until 2010 when she began her artistic journey.
She didn't start painting abstracts with acrylics until 2016 so you might say she's a fairly "young" artist. However, her work really appealed to me.
I think this one might be my favorite. It's called Connect the Dots. I love the color combinations in all of these.
There is nothing like a great art show to stimulate my creative juices. Next week I'll show you some things from the other exhibit. It was based on a theme near and dear to my heart; patterns.
I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today. It's about an art exhibit too!
The City Daily Photo Bloggers theme for the 1st of October is "Rest, Sleep & Relaxation. Well, I'd say I was pretty relaxed in this shot.
To see other photos about "Rest", click here.
