Tucson Museum of Art

Last week I talked about how I tend to roam around the historic El Presidio neighborhood whenever I'm in Tucson.  This week I'll show you the Tucson Museum of Art that is located in that neighborhood.  As you walk the streets around the museum, you are surrounded by old and historic buildings in a variety styles.  However, when you step through the doors of the art museum, you enter a building that is very contemporary in design.

I love how the main room forms a ramp leading down into the galleries below.  All of the walls are covered with art so you can make your way down while viewing some of the museum's collection on the way.

The last time I was there I enjoyed the painting above by Paul Brach.  It's called "City of the Sky #5" and hidden beneath that red overtone is a scene from Monument Valley in northern Arizona. There is a string of wild horses passing by in the lower part of the painting.

The painting above is by Dean Narcho, a Native American artist who studied with Jim Waid.  That is where he became interested in abstract art.

The museum also has a wonderful display of ceramic and glass sculptures. This one by Yoshio Taylor appealed to me.

I was impressed by this museum.  It's not as large as the Phoenix Art Museum but, it has a wonderful collection that seems to lean toward artists of the southwest.  That's always welcome.

Enjoying Historic Arizona

I mentioned in previous posts that whenever I find myself in Tucson, I always stop at the historic El Charro restaurant for a delicious meal.  It's one of my favorite places to go.  Because it's located in a historic neighborhood called El Presidio, the houses and buildings around the restaurant are also a draw.  I always make time to roam around the neighborhood and take some photos.  Many of the houses have been lovingly restored and have so many interesting details that appeal to me.  I'm especially fond of the one above with it's bright color, lush desert plants and that wonderful old door.

This one always piqued my interest.  I find it's variety of window shapes a very attractive feature.

Some of the places are very large and were probably the homes of wealthy, early settlers in the area.  

Some are awaiting some TLC but they still hold a rustic beauty that can't be denied.  

I love how colorfully many of them are painted.

And interesting things like atmospheric gates and beautiful entrances make me wonder what it looks like inside.

While I'm roaming the streets with my camera, sometimes I run into the curious who wonder what I'm up to.  This handsome fellow was watching me from the doorway so I snapped a portrait of him.  

There is an endless supply of picturesque spots in the El Presidio neighborhood.  Most of the structures date from 1860 to 1920 and the neighborhood is home to restaurants, offices, shops and the Tucson Museum of Art as well as all these wonderful old homes.  I'll be back here again, that is a certainty.  

The Collection!

I feel as though I'd be terribly remiss if I told you all about the Chihuly Garden and Glass place without mentioning "The Collection".  It seems that Dale Chihuly is quite the collector and he doesn't stop and collecting just one thing.  He seems to collect everything.  The restaurant at his wonderful museum in Seattle is where he displays his vast collection of "things".

We'll start the viewing with the accordions.  Quite a lot of accordions!  They hang from the ceiling of the restaurant creating a beautifully abstract design above our heads.

Chihuly started collecting things when he was just a boy but more recently has expanded his collection to include a vast array of vintage items like this collection of clock radios.  He is motivated by shapes and colors so I can see why this collection would appeal to him.  Do you see one up there that looks familiar?  I did.  They very much reminded me of the old olive green radio that belonged to my mother and dad when I was growing up.

Restaurant guests eat at glass topped tables and below the glass is another collection of vintage items like the toy cars and trucks above and the shaving brushes to the left.

How about a collection of vintage cameras?  Remember these?

You don't have to visit the restaurant with only the collection in mind.  You should also visit for the food.  The food was delicious and beautifully served.  I had an exceptionally good salad while I saw mouthwatering burgers and sandwiches pass by the table as I ate.

Remember long before cell phones and iPods how we used to listen to music on  pocket radios?  This was a collection that brought back all kinds of memories.  

Chihuly Glass in the Garden

Last week I posted about the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit in Seattle Washington but, I ended in the indoor portion of the museum.  This week I'll take you outside to the "garden" area of the museum.

Having seen two exhibits of Chihuly Glass in my home city at the Desert Botanical Garden, I wasn't prepared for the thick diversity of a northwest garden.  When I first stepped through the door of the conservatory into the garden, I was greeted with lush greenery and an abundance of colorful blooms.  Mixed in with all of that healthy vegetation was Chihuly's variety of glass sculptures that were also "blooming" out of all that green.

"The Sun" was shining brightly just outside of the conservatory.  This sculpture (or one just like it) was the centerpiece of the Desert Botanical Garden's first Chihuly exhibit way back in 2009.  Here it sits atop a hill covered in a fern-like plant with leaves that almost looked black.

These green and brown glass "blooms" blend in so well they look like tall and graceful sprouts popping up above the low growing plants.

This tower looks very much like the three towers that now grace the entrance to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.  Only this one is about twice as tall as our tallest one.

I hadn't seen a tower like this one before with nuggets of colorful glass climbing tall like a new kind of geode forming before our eyes.

Before exiting the garden and the museum, there is an area where glass blowing demonstrations are taking place.  There was quite a crowd of appreciative viewers watching the demonstration but, I was able to snap one shot of this artist as he spun a dark glass orb that was just out of the fire.

As I stated last week, visiting Chihuly Garden and Glass was the highlight of my short trip to Seattle.

The Artistry of Chihuly Glass

My main reason for going on my recent trip to Seattle was to see the Chihuly Garden and Glass center located on the grounds of the Seattle Center.  The museum is a maze of darkened rooms, each strategically lit to bring out the radiant colors of the glass creations.  Each room told a story of Chihuly's history with glass making from early inspirations to his elaborate creations to his sculptures and paintings.

Entering the room featured in the first three photos nearly took my breath away.  I spent quite a bit of time circling that raised platform full brilliantly colored glass in a huge variety of shapes and sizes.  I kept saying to myself "how can I capture this masterpiece of color and shape".

The next room was equally mesmerizing.  I call it the boat room.  There were two boats, the one above is filled with plant-like shapes of glass.  The reflective floor mirrored the boat as though it was floating on water.

The other boat was filled with orbs in dazzling colors and patterns.  They made me think of a cluster of planets in some galaxy far, far away where worlds of extreme colors exist and float like jewels sparkling in the black sky.

The two boats together created and almost overwhelming display.

Another room featured Chihuly's huge bowls each carefully lit to highlight the colors and patterns in each piece.

Two other rooms were filled with a vast array of chandeliers.  This one had an ocean theme and resembled a geyser of water shooting up from the deep waters filled with sea creatures. 

One like this one was at the very first Chihuly exhibit that was at the Desert Botanical Garden almost ten years ago.  It makes me think of the unusual cactus blooms that fill the garden in the spring.

Finally the darkened rooms opened up into this huge glass conservatory topped with a massive glass chandelier made up of plate-like disks in shades of yellow and orange.  

From the conservatory the display continued into a lush garden.  I'll have to do another post about the garden or this post would be way too long.  

As you can probably guess, I was completely enthralled by everything I saw.  Finding the right words to describe the beauty of this place is close to impossible for me.  I could spend days here.

Art in Palm Springs

When I finally got the tickets for the Sunnylands tour that I posted about the last two Sundays, I decided that even if I was doing a short trip to Palm Springs, I should add something else to the travel agenda.  I saw online that the Palm Springs Art Museum looked like a great place to visit so, that is where we went when we arrived in the city.

The building is a sleek modern building that sits snuggly against the mountains behind it.

The inside has a wide open feel when you enter with smaller exhibit rooms located to the sides.  The museum has a beautiful Chihuly sculpture that sits on a perch above the main lobby area and I love those golden tear-drops hanging from the ceiling.

What caught my eye when I researched the museum online was that they had an Andy Warhol exhibit going on.  I have to say, it was the very best Warhol exhibit I've ever seen.

The range of works was astounding with many pieces I've never seen before.  There was even a great video playing with interviews by some of the many people Warhol worked with and partied with.

One of the other things that appealed to me when I read about the museum online was their Kaplan/Ostergaard Glass Center where they displayed a vast array of artworks all created in glass.

The piece to the left simply mesmerized me. It is made of blown glass with oil paint by American artist Oben Abright.  It is so realistic, I thought he'd start talking to me.

One of the other pieces that intrigued me was this one by Richard Jolley.  It's called Translating Substance #30.

This one was very difficult to photograph because of it's location against a brightly lit window.  A flash would have helped but of course, flash is not allowed inside a museum.

So I settled for this close-up shot taken from the side.  It misses some of the colorful objects surrounding the life-sized glass model but you can see the facial features.

Every glass object in this gallery was worthy of a second look.  There were some truly brilliant pieces.

I was very impressed by this spectacular art museum.  If I find myself in Palm Springs again, I will certainly stop by for another visit.