Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Art In The Desert


Being a creative, I've always loved Art. Fine Art, Casual Art, Indigenous Art, Nature Art...you get the picture. 

Needless to say, finding "new" Art in our new home has been fun. Sharing some pics from some must see places in the greater Phoenix area we've visited since we've gotten here. 


If you come in the Winter, Spring or Fall, a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden is worth the time. You can of course go in the Summer but you need to be appropriately prepared for the heat!! Hat, water, etc.  It's filled with native desert plants, more of which bloom than people think, and has all the varieties of cacti and succulents from the Sonoran desert. 

But this is about Art, and it was wonderful to see a bit of the Northwest in the Southwest with this Dale Chihuly installation at the entrance. Consistent with what Chihuly does in using natural elements as inspiration, glass was blown into these giant cacti that blend right in to the garden. 


Selfie time!



Right now the Garden also has an exhibit by artist Jun Kaneko. We went just in time since the exhibit ran from October through April.

“Kaneko’s sculptures challenge the physical limitations of the ceramic firing process and are meant to spark interaction with the natural environments,” says Director of Planning and Exhibits Elaine McGinn. “His bold forms and dynamic colors will be stunning juxtaposed among our desert landscape.” 
The attraction of Kaneko’s ceramic art is that it can be viewed without much contemplation. The gently shaped forms are glazed with colorful stripes, dots, spirals and squares. Kaneko uses the surface of the large shapes as a canvas for painting. Included in the exhibition will be artwork of his most recognizable Dango, (Japanese for “rounded form”) and Head sculptures, which range as high as 11 feet tall. 
Naturally, I loved this black and white sculpture. My signature colors! 



Paolo Soleri's Cosanti Wind Bells

In the heart of a lovely residential neighborhood in Paradise Valley, you'll find the studio of Paolo Soleri, an Italian Architect who moved to the area in the 1950s and began Cosanti which is parts working studio, art  exhibit, experiment, kind of hard to describe. What they make there are ceramic and bronze bells that are beautiful in their organic nature and are both perfect and imperfect at the same time. They also have olive trees throughout the property and the olives are pressed into oil by another local place we're going to visit soon. The bells range from small to huge ; inexpensive to "art collector prices". 



 You can see in the background how art is incorporated into the structures that house the studio. No surface is left untouched.


The day we visited , there were no artists in residence but you can often see them actually making the bells.



I love how nature is incorporated.



Selfie time again! 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Mumster Special Orders and Field Trip to Melrose Vintage

Floral Box and Tag

The Mumster is keeping me busy commissioning gifts for friends and family. I think I’ve created a cigar box monster so here’s another one I did while visiting her. This one’s for my Auntie.

She also wanted some tags to match the boxes I made for her so darn, I had to make tags!

Altered Box Matching Tags
I don’t know about you but wherever I go I have to check out a local craft, scrapbook, or vintage store. I found all three in one in Melrose Vintage in Downtown Phoenix located at 4238 N 7th Ave.  It’s in an area appropriately called the Melrose District which is filled with vintage and antique stores. If you visit it’s 7th Avenue between Camelback and Indian School Roads.
Melrose Vintage Sign
It’s a great shop filled with vintage furniture and furnishings and then there’s the whole scrapbook store within a store!
Melrose Vintage Front

I was tempted by many things but limited myself to things that can fit in my suitcase!
Melrose Vintage Inks
The scrapbook store has everything. A wall o’inks.
Melrose Vintage Interior

Tons of mixed media including 7 Gypsies, Tim Holtz, Teresa Collins to name just a few.

Melrose Vintage Paper

And my downfall: paper, paper, paper!

If you’re a local and you haven’t been here, what are you waiting for?