Art in the high desert

Last week I told you about the history and restoration of the La Posada Hotel in Winslow Arizona. Two of the hotel's owners are artists, Tina Mion and Dan Lutzick, and many of their works can be found throughout the hotel.

The second floor gallery features many of Tina's paintings including this 18-foot piece called "A New Year's Eve Party in Purgatory for Suicides."

Another painting depicts some collectable spoons of famous American women.  These famous women are more known for their darker sides like Lizzie Borden and Typhoid Mary but, Tina has painted herself on to the last spoon.

Also in this gallery are paintings from her "First Ladies" series.

To the left is Nancy Reagan with a twinkle of "Ron" in her eyes.

And to the right is Jackie Kennedy.

There were a few others in the collection too.

Among the paintings were several sculptures by Dan Lutzick.  His works have a very southwestern look to them are created from common materials and found objects.

In addition to what is on display in the hotel, Dan also has a gallery called Snowdrift Art Space and it contains a large collection of his work.

All of this art inside this historic hotel made the visit almost like staying inside an art gallery.  Every guest finds themselves surrounded by history and art and good food and hospitality.  What a great combination.

The Lure of the Rails

In the sleepy little northern Arizona town of Winslow a historic hotel has been brought back to life to serve a whole new generation of travelers.  Their clients might not all be rail riders but, they are generally all lovers of historic places.  A recent road trip took me through Winslow so I decided to spend the night at this historic gem.

The story of the La Posada Hotel starts with Fred Harvey the man who is said to have civilized the west with his impeccable service at the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway.  Construction of the La Posada (meaning resting place) began in the 1920's with Mary Colter as the architect designing the hotel.  Colter was a rarity at the time, being a female architect and working in rather rugged locations.  She began working for the Fred Harvey company in 1905 and through her career created some 21 projects for Fred Harvey.  La Posada was considered to be her masterpiece.

The hotel is located right next to the railroad tracks as you can see from the above photo.  The yard of the hotel ends at that fence and the trains are on the other side.

The hotel was open for 27 years closing in 1957.  In the 1960's much of the building was gutted and used as offices for the Santa Fe Railroad.  Several times over the years that followed the building came close to being demolished.

Through the efforts of some local people the building was saved and in 1994, a partnership was formed to restore the hotel and bring it back to life.  The new owners are Alain Afield and is wife Tina Mion and Daniel Lutzick.

None of the three partners had any hotel experience but they have accomplished what many might see as an impossible task.  They have transformed this shell of a building into an Arizona destination.

Just to give you a peek at one of the rooms, the above photo is a shot of my room.  I love the rustic, old west feel.

The note on the night table made me smile.  It says "Many of our guests are train enthusiasts. For those who are not, we are providing complimentary ear plugs."  The trains do rumble through here all day and all night but to be honest I slept very well and hardly noticed them and I didn't need the ear plugs at all.

As well as it's historic features, the hotel also has become an amazing art gallery.  More about that in another post.

Museums and School Groups

Some of you may remember that I flew to San Jose California last December to visit a museum that I had visited many years ago.  It was the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and since I love all things Egyptian, I wanted to go again and renew my memories of the place (and, yes take photos too).  Whenever one visits a museum on a weekday you are bound to run into school groups out on field trips.  (It happens to me quite often at the Desert Botanical Garden and sometimes at the Phoenix Art Museum.) So it was no surprise that I had to share the museum and the grounds with school children, lots of school children.  For the most part, they were well behaved and followed instruction very well.  Since they were everywhere around the grounds, including them in some of the photos was inevitable. 

From the moment they entered the museum grounds, they were drawn to the reflecting pool just inside the gate.  Children and water, it's a natural combination.

The children were so engrossed in the water, that they didn’t see me snapping pictures in the distance.  However, I think that one of the adults caught sight of my prying lens.  He has a bit of a worried look on his face but, he soon forgot that I was there.

The children ate their lunch in the courtyard where lunch boxes and thermoses were balanced on stairs and on statues.  

While inside the museum, they asked a lot of questions and seemed to have an enthusiastic interest in the ancient history of Egypt.  Maybe there were some future Egyptologists in the group.  

London's Natural History Museum

Last week I had a post about a sparkly display that I saw at the Natural History Museum in London.  This week I thought I'd feature the museum itself.  The building was built in the Romanesque style and opened in 1881.  The exterior is composed of terra cotta tiles which were used primarily to resist the very sooty atmosphere of Victorian London.  Many of the tiles contain reliefs of flora and fauna.

The inside is quite spectacular with a central space crowned by a glass ceiling to let in the natural light.

Sitting in a place of honor on the landing of one of the grand staircases, is this statue of Charles Darwin sculpted by Sir Joseph Boehm.  (You can see him in the second photo down there on the landing.) He looks out over the main hall at the thousands of people who enter the building every day to view the the wonderful exhibits that depict the history of our world.

The Aurora Pyramid of Hope

There are so many interesting things to see inside the Natural History Museum in London but, I have to admit I went back twice to look at these beauties.  Called The Aurora Pyramid of Hope, this is a collection of 296 natural diamonds in a wide variety of colors.  It is said to be the most comprehensive natural color diamond collection in the world.  After a little research, I learned that the collection is actually owned by Aurora Gems Inc. and has been on loan to various museums around the world.  I'm glad I got to see them when I was there.  The display was in a large case and every few minutes the light would dim and a UV light would come on and all gems would glow.  Wikipedia has a picture of the gems glowing on their site here if you would like to see it.

Spoonbridge

One of my all-time favorite sculptures is located in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Center’s Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.  I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.  It was created by Claes Oldenburg in collaboration with his wife Coosje van Bruggen.  During the summer months, a fine mist sprays from the cherry’s stem and in the snowy winter months it takes on the look of being topped with whipped cream in a bowl of ice cream. 

I apologize for the graininess of this old scanned photo.  

Women of WW II

One of my favorite monuments in London has only been around for a few short years but it’s message seems to somehow resonate with me.  It is the Monument to the Women of World War II located on Whitehall.  The money to build the memorial was raised by a charitable trust along with the National Heritage Memorial Fund.  I love the simplicity of the monument which stands 22 feet high, 16 feet long and 6 feet wide.  There are 17 individual sets of clothing and uniforms around the sides of the monument symbolizing the hundreds of different jobs women worked during the war.  Most of those jobs were given up when the men returned home at the end of the war. 

The monument created by John W. Mills was unveiled on July 9, 2005 by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the 60^th anniversary of the end of the war. 

Cherry Festival

Isn't that the most beautiful basket full of cherries that you've ever seen?  That's exactly what I thought when we discovered that right across the road from Vill Barbaro (see last post) a Festa della Ciliegia (cherry festival) was going on.  We joined the crowds of mostly locals and wandered around enjoying the festive atmosphere.....and the cherries.

I discovered the festival looking out of the window of the villa and seeing all the tents across the road and we quickly decided that we should check it out.

There were rides for the kids like this steam powered tractor.

And there were a variety of classic cars like this one with all decorated with flowers and bows.  Way in the back of this photo you can see the cherry booths where the vendors were selling cartons of fresh cherries.  We took two cartons with us and enjoyed snacking on them the rest of the trip.

Among all the craft booths was this table displaying some antique scales.

There was also food and wine being sold and of course, all kinds of cherry desserts and treats.  It was fun to mingle with the locals and enjoy their hospitality.

Villa Barbaro

A short distance from the beautiful town of Asolo that I featured back in July of 2013 (you can see it here) is Villa Barbaro, a grand villa designed and built by Andrea Palladio.  The villa is still lived in today by descendants of Count Giuseppe Volpidi Misurata the founder of the Venice Film Festival who acquired it in 1934 for his daughter Marina.  In 1996 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Parts of the villa are open for tours.

We walked past the Fountain of Neptune and up the long driveway to the entrance.  Upon entering the villa, visitors are given a pair of jumbo sized, slide-on slippers to slip over our shoes while walking inside the villa.  I really wish I had taken a picture of those goofy, clown-like slippers but, photos inside the villa were not allowed and they had many attendants around to make sure you obeyed the rules.

I really think those shoes served a dual purpose.  I couldn't really lift my feet so I just scooted along polishing the floor as I went.

Photos were allowed on the grounds of the villa and that's a good thing because there were certainly grand views in almost every direction.

This vine covered walkway led to a fountain at the end.  

The family living in Villa Barbaro operate a winery and the grounds of the villa are surrounded by vineyards.  The photo above is a view from the villa grounds looking over the vineyards toward a church in the distance.

Next week I'll post a little about an event that was going on just across the road from the villa when we visited there.  It was another one of those unexpected things we stumbled on to as we roamed the Italian countryside.

Hidden gems in Venice

On the first day visiting Venice, my friend Janet's nephew arranged for a private tour guide to take us around the various parts of the city.  It was a very special treat because it was just the three of us and the guide and she kept us enthralled with everything we saw.  Above is a stone head that sits above a doorway in a private garden she was able to let us see.

At the Doge's Palace we saw this face with it's "Lion's Mouth" that was used at one time as a post box where people could post anonymous reports of crimes against the government.  They would slip them through the opening in the mouth.  Unfortunately is was often used to get back at someone for some domestic dispute so after a while the mouth was sealed up with copper.

Many hints at the Moorish influences in Venice can be found in statues and plaques attached to buildings.  Here we have a relief of a merchant and his camel located in Palazzo Camello.

Another statue sports an iron nose probably replacing one that broke off.  It is said to be a portrait of one of the Mastelli Brothers and can be found in Palazzo Mastelli.

This Arab fellow is located in Campo Dei Mori and is likely another trader who sold his wares in Venice.

Finding and learning about little jewels like these made our tour of Venice very special.

The Magic of Venice

One of the many magical things about Venice is...

...that you can point your camera in almost any direction....

....and get a fabulous photo.

I took well over 500 photos so this will probably not be the last on this blog from this most photogenic city in Italy.

Another "St. Louis Cathedral"

Last Sunday I featured the Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.  This Sunday I'm featuring the St. Louis Cathedral in St. Louis Missouri.  This one was designated a Basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1997.  Dedication for this church took place in 1914.

This church is know for its large installation of mosaics, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Installation of the mosaics began way back in 1912 before the church was even dedicated and continued until 1988.  That's a very long time to be completing the task but, if you step inside the church, you might understand why.








The entire church is covered with beautiful mosaics containing 41.5 million glass pieces in more than 7,000 colors and covering 83,000 square feet of space.

The mosaics in the side chapels and sanctuary were designed and installed by Tiffany Studios.  Those inside the main church were designed by August Oetken.

When you walk inside the church, it seems like every where you look it sparkles and shines.

I've seen spectacular churches in Europe but the St. Louis Cathedral can stand up against any of those grand churches.  It's well worth a peek inside.

A French Quarter Landmark

Located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River stands this grand church building.  It's official name is the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France but everyone just calls it the Saint Louis Cathedral.  It is actually one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States.

A church was built on this site in 1718 and a third church built in the same spot in 1789.  It was designated a cathedral in 1793 and was enlarged and substantially rebuilt in 1850.  Only fragments of the 1789 structure remain.

I took this photo around 18 years ago.  It's been that long since I've been to New Orleans.  I guess I need to go back again.