Caged!

When I was at the art museum last weekend, I suddenly realized that I had never posted an image of this sculpture that sits outside the museum.  It's called Jurassic Age by Chinese artist Sui Jianguo.  He's noted as one of China's most important artists whose work is often described as a symbol for China's transition from communism to capitalism.  The words "Made in China" appear on the belly of this caged beast which some see as a reflection on global commercialism with limits on freedom.

The artist says:  "The reason I enlarge the toys to such an enormous size is to highlight the political economic system behind them.  Dinosaur toys are designed by a company in a western country, produced in China and then commercially distributed around the globe."

The Return of Black Cloud

Back in 2013 I posted images of this art piece by the Mexican artist Carlos Amorales.  It's called Black Cloud and was inspired by the annual migration of Monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico each year.

Once again the entry hall at the Phoenix Art Museum has filled up with 25,000 black butterflies and moths.  

Carlos Amorales is a highly celebrated Mexican artist.  He was chosen to represent Mexico in the 2017 Venice Biennial which is one of the highest international honors for an artist.

I can't imagine how long it takes to fix all these black paper butterflies to the walls and ceiling.  That must be quite a job.

For the Love of Color

This colorful mural is on the side of a studio near downtown Phoenix.  It's by artist Carrie Marill who goes by the name of Punk Wasp.  Carrie's artwork is full of patterns and bright colors and she also has a line of jewelry.

Hay Fields

Yesterday I mentioned that my friend Glenda and I visited some of the Scottsdale art galleries last Thursday and I wanted to show the work of one artist who really appealed to me.  The artist is Jean Luc Messin and he's been represented by Brennan Fine Art for a number of years.

For such common farm scenes, these struct me as exceptionally beautiful.  You could see every blade of hay and some of the hay bundles were raised with heavy paint so they almost had a 3-D effect.

I love the stormy skies in these paintings and this one with fields in the background and tire tracks in front made me feel like I could walk right into it.

Mr Messin lives part time in France and part time in Scottsdale and these scenes were inspired by the area in France where he spends part of the year.  I think these are wonderful paintings.  I'd be happy to capture a photo this good.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting a tiny historic spot.

Let There Be Light

Last week I checked a web site about things to do around town and I found a link to a new gallery in Scottsdale that was featuring the photography of Bob Carey.  I went to the website for the gallery, Fiat-Lux (which means "let there be light") to check their hours and learned that they are only open to the public on Thursday nights which happens to be the night of the Scottsdale Art Walk.  And further, they are only open Thursday night from 7 to 9.  Well I was intrigued by a gallery that could keep such sparse hours so my friend Glenda and I decided to check it out last Thursday.  We were sadly very disappointed.  Here's the gallery, all lit up but, where I'm standing there was a chain across the entrance (which I almost tripped over in the dark) and no sign of life.  We even waited around for 15 minutes thinking maybe they were just late but, no one came.  Apparently, one night a week for just two hours must be too much for the gallery owners.  If I sound a little miffed it's because I am.  I wanted to see that show and it only goes until the 6th and I have other plans next Thursday.  Of course, they might not be open next Thursday either, who knows.

Glenda and I didn't let it spoil the evening.  We visited some other galleries and ended the night in the Aridus tasting room where we indulged a bit of wine tasting.  They have some pretty darn good wines so the evening ended on a high note.

Pueblo People

I had lunch at the Heard Museum last Sunday so while I was there I visited my favorite little garden spot with the red wall.

The sculpture is by Allan Houser and it's called People of the Rio Grande.  It's described as paying tribute to the Pueblo People who are presented as mysterious and ethereal.

It looks pretty good with that red background.

Hot Mess

I do enjoy contemporary art and I'm always interested in new and different things.  However, I will admit that there are always pieces of art that I just don't get.  This is one of them.  I don't think the artist is necessarily at fault.  I think it has more to do with my own sense artistic style and interest.

The Phoenix Art Museum has opened a new exhibit called Hot Mess Formulation by the contemporary artist Sheila Pepe.  Ms. Pepe is best known for fiber based, large scale installations.  The piece I have pictured (yes, all three photos are one piece) is called "91BCE Not So Good for Emperors" and it goes from the gallery floor all the way to the second floor of the museum.

The description for this piece says "Here the improvisational, drawing-like quality of Pepe's work becomes inextricably bound with her use of materials linked to family traditions such as crocheting passed down from her mother, to shoelaces referencing her grandfather's work repairing shoes."

So now you know as much as I do.  I'm certainly not sorry I went to see it.  I guess I just can't appreciate it as much as another person might.  You can form your own opinion.

Theme Day: Rock & Roll

Theme Day has arrived again to City Daily Photo Bloggers and the November theme is Rock & Roll. This was a tough one for me.  I haven't been to a "rock" concert in ages and ages and all my music has been moved to iTunes on my iPod so what can I photograph.  Then I remembered that I still had a few CD's stacked up somewhere that didn't get tossed when I moved so I dug through them a came up with some old Rock & Roll standards.  Anyone recognize these albums.  I'm not sure why these are still hanging around.  They've been uploaded to iTunes long ago.

If you would like to see how other City Daily Photo bloggers are picturing Rock & Roll, click here.

Happy Halloween

Yesterday I mentioned that the Desert Botanical Garden had a rather whimsical display of pumpkins called Pumpkin Alley.  Since today is Halloween, I'll show you the pumpkins who've donned their Halloween costumes.  These three witches are tending their bubbling cauldron. (Anyone else thinking "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble"?)

While this pumpkin has jumped on her broom and taken off in search of children to scare.

I have to say that this was one very clever holiday display!  Bravo to the planners!

Pumpkin Alley

I went for a walk at the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday morning and I found something new to photograph.  The garden had a family event this last weekend called Strange Garden and they created one path that was called Pumpkin Alley.  These two orange fellows were pointing the way.

This bell-shaped archer was attempting a trick made famous by William Tell.  The fellow with the apple was saying his prayers.

This poor gourd has stumbled into a "jumping cactus" and he has those little balls of thorns attached to his back side.  It looks like his friend is pretty freaked out by the sight of his friend's dilemma.

This group of rotund squashes were having a fun time in this big tree.

This group has set up camp and are roasting marshmallows over the campfire.  

What fun arrangements.  I'll have a few more tomorrow.

Dinner Guests

My friends Julie and Dave hosted one of our cooking and eating dinner parties Friday night.  There were six of us and we all helped with the preparations and then sat down to an excellent meal.  Julie has a big kitchen so there is room for all six of use to chop, mix and cook.  Julie had her Halloween decorations out and I especially liked these three characters who were watching us while we prepared the food.  Their heads "bobble" a bit so they could nod their approval.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Travel can offer up some wonderful surprises!

Pumpkin Season

It's definitely pumpkin season right now.  I'm seeing piles of them everywhere I go.  

Some of these will be turned into jack-o-lanterns and find themselves glowing in front of houses on Halloween night.  For the adventurous cooks, some of these will end up being pumpkin pies and other pumpkin treats.  I bet there will even be some who go to the trouble to dry the seeds for snacking sometime in the future.  With all those possibilities in mind, I'm betting most of these will end up big smiles or scary grins.   

More Halloween Decorations

Here are a few more Halloween decorations I've spotted in my ramblings around town.

This scary fellow was floating above the lawn of a nearby home.

This set of jolly looking pumpkins were gracing the front steps of a house around the corner from the scary guy pictured above.

This snowman shaped pumpkin lantern was sporting a witches hat and  not one but three big grins.

And this worn out skeleton was for sale in the Desert Botanical Garden gift shop.  He looks like he's given up on the whole holiday thing.

Butterflies of a Different Color

This year, instead of having only monarch butterflies in the butterfly pavilion for the fall exhibit, the Desert Botanical Garden has shared the pavilion with a few other colorful butterflies.  The one above is called a White Peacock.

This one is called a Common Buckeye.  I think he's too pretty to have that 'common' moniker attached to his name.

I also spotted this Gulf Fritillary flitting about in the enclosure.  

And, this Pipevine Swallowtail was also showing off his colors.  Mixed in with the monarch butterflies, these beauties made a colorful assortment to admire.

Those Royal Monarchs

The monarch butterfly pavilion is now open at the Desert Botanical Garden so I made a visit over the weekend to see how they were doing.

It was a toasty warm day so they were happily flying to and fro within the pavilion.  They seemed to be enjoying the plants and flowers around them.

For the first time, they were sharing the pavilion with some other butterflies.  I'll show you a couple of their 'house-mates' tomorrow.

The Gang in the Old Neighborhood

I took a drive over to my old neighborhood over the weekend to see if my former neighbor had his family of skeletons out for the Halloween season.  As you can see he did!  The gang was all there.

Even the family dog (or is that a cat) was present and accounted for.

I went back after dark to see how they looked at night but, I thought they were a little dim to the naked eye this year.  However a long exposure has them lit up pretty well.

I'm glad I stopped back.  Those stragglers hanging out on the cars in the driveway weren't there in the afternoon.  Maybe they just stopped by for a visit.

The Blue Man

This mural has a parking area next to it that makes it easy to see from the street.  It's a blue man playing darts on the side of a beer can.  It's on the side of a pub called H.B. Hanratty's.  I have a hard time hitting a standard dart target, hitting a target on the side of a beer can takes a special talent.  Possibly only a talent available to "blue" people.  The artist for this mural is Isaac Caruso.  

Before and After

Last month I told you about my Art Club's meeting when we all got a lesson on pottery glazing.  Above is a photo similar to the one I posted of my three pieces and how they looked before they were fired.  Friday night at our meeting we got the finished products.

I love all three pieces.  They are each so different and each one looks completely different than they did before the firing.  In fact, it's like magic how much they changed.  That bowl that looks so pale in the top photo is a stunning royal blue.  That plate looked like one solid color but it turned out with a bit of a pattern on it that I like.  But, my favorite is the vase.  The two colors couldn't be more different than they looked before and I love all the patterns in the glaze.  I would jump at a chance to do this again.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting an Arizona winery.

Unique Conversation Areas

The lobby of the Renaissance Hotel is very long making room for several seating areas where guests can relax.  Each one of these areas was carefully designed based on the "Rooted Rising" theme and the hotel's overall history.  This area features a huge art piece called "Here Comes the Sun" with the images taken from vintage post cards that would have been for sale back in the early 20th century when the hotel was new.

This area is dominated by a painting called "The Relaxed Roadrunner" by artist Steve Hickok.  He's enjoying his desert environment.

This painting is also by Steve Hickok and it's called "Wink".  I love how they incorporated that black and white theme into this little seating area.

The artist Steve Hickok has actual roots that trace back to Arizona.  He is a direct descendant of Wild Bill Hickok who was a great uncle.  Steve was born in Phoenix and visions of the desert and Native American art forms have helped to shape his artistic style.

I snapped this last shot when the elevator doors opened and I was greeted by this whimsical photo panel on the back of the elevator wall.  One of these days, I'll go back to the hotel and check out the other elevators and see what artistic influences can be found in them.

Artistic Touches

I'm following up from yesterday's post with two more of the artistic pieces from the recent remodel of the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Phoenix.  This steel and iron sculpture is behind the front desk and represents the downtown skyline of Phoenix.  I was able to pick out a couple of the buildings, especially that giant sun burst that sits atop the city hall building.  They didn't know the artist for this piece because it's one that has been with the hotel for a very long time.  They've just moved it to amore prominent position.  The wall behind it is composed of resin lizard tiles.  There was another wall in the lobby that also had the same tiles.

The bright blue glass sculptures are secured to a wall on a landing that leads to the lower-level and the conference rooms for the hotel.

This one represents the precious water that is vital to being able to live in a desert environment.

I'll have more scenes from inside the hotel tomorrow.