While on Granbury’s 4th Saturday Gallery tour I noticed this sculpture piece next to the Dora Lee Langdon Cultural & Educational Center at 308 East Pearl Street, Granbury, TX 76048. The piece is titled BiFocal Buddies and it is life size art by artist Art Blevins. At first glance I thought it was three near-sighted guys staring at a cat in a tree. In any case they must have left their glasses at home.
And here is a pretty picture of a tree with Lake Granbury in the Twilight.
It has been a summer for seal. Every time I have dined on the waterfront, I see their little heads pop up. When I took my very first kayaking adventure, there was a harbor seal nearby. And there they were at the Vancouver Aquarium. And yesterday I found their likeness on some new to me art titled Floating Life forms at 1515 Dock Street. The seals are joined with other aquatic life in a series of six bronze balls by Tacoma artist Ed Kroupa. The News Tribune article tells me that “The Tacoma Arts Commission in 2012 selected Kroupa through its Public Art: In Depth program, which teaches local artists how to make art for the public rather than solely go off their own creative vision.”
The craftsmanship is really worth seeing in person and I love that my city values the arts. There is a fascinating video showing how the art was made and more of Ed Kroupa’s works can be found here.
I went back to the Red Elm Café to visit with an old friend and now a new friend. While there I noticed this terrific artwork on the wall of the Basket Nook On MLK Way between South 10th and South 11th. I suspect that the art is temporary until somebody develops the lot and considering the good things that are happening I’m guessing new construction will happen sooner than later. But for now I’m enjoying it.
Dear daughter and her fella needed a marriage license, so much of Monday, June 26, was devoted to paperwork, but we still took some time to check out Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. I had it in my head that I would see large topiary in the shape of animals, but we never did find the large bird I was expecting. For the record, that was my fault for not being ready with a map and not having wifi. We did get a glimpse of a topiary carousal horse and found this great insect. The joy of the park was the stunning view of part of a city skyline over the lake and the lush greenery. While strolling around we also we enjoyed the very friendly Canada geese with their gawky teenagers (in geese years). And there was some delightful art and unusual plants.
Dear daughter and I went to revisit the Himalayan Blue Poppies at the Weyerhaeuser Rhododendron Gardens in Federal Way before they completely faded away for the season. In the United States, these poppies only grow in parts of New England, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, so we are lucky.
While we were they we checked out the adjoining Pacific Bonsai Museum, which we had been through a half dozen times. This time though there was a really great exhibit titled Natives. Per the brochure “each display in Natives is a composition of four artists — the bonsai artists, the kusamono artist (Young Choe), the ceramicist (Victoria Chamberlain) and the visual artist (Iuna Tinta)”. In case you don’t know (I didn’t) a kusamono artist creates potted arrangements of wild grasses and flowers in unique pots or trays. So each display has a bonsai, a companion kusamono (accent), the ceramic art (often using minerals from the depicted region) and a visual piece of art, all of which are centered around a particular place. It is a marvelous exhibit and worth some real time. The exhibit runs from April 8- October 8, 2017 and more information can be found here.
And, of course, there are some photos of the blue poppies and other foliage from the gardens.
The Artist & Craftsman Supply Store at 612 St. Helens in the Antique Row area of Tacoma opened in November 2016. Dear husband and I finally made our way down there and really we were very impressed. Dear husband has been in many an art supply store, but he declared this to be the best stocked that he has ever seen. We picked up some Easter basket stuffers, a book, some paint and some photo-transfer sheets. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable and I’m positive we’ll be back.
Artists & Craftsman is an employee owned company with many stores, mostly along the country’s coasts. There is a website for the company. The Tacoma Artist & Craftsman store has a Facebook Page with information on upcoming events and sales. Educators receive a 10% discount.
The building, constructed in 1928, was originally the Wagner Motors Building with Silas E. Nelsen as the architect. It was the dealership for Studebaker – Erskine. It continued to have an automobile orientation until 1949 when it became a carpet distributor. I remember it being the Mandarin Antiques Store. Artist and Craftsman occupies most of the lower level of the building.
Update one week later. It finally stopped raining for a few minutes and I got a photo of the outside of the building.
The Oregon Convention Center features some wonderful public art and one of my favorites is Principia, the world’s largest Foucault Pendulum. The Convention Center’s art guide says this about the piece “The dramatic Foucalt pendulum hangs from the north tower and swings across a 40’ halo of suspended gilded rays. Directly below, a 40’ blue terrazzo floor is inlaid with brass rings and colored stone “planets” depicting a fantasy solar system.”. It is a beautiful creation and I suspect that many people don’t notice it gently swaying over head nor the terrazzo floor underfoot.
Very short videos can be seen here and here. A brief explanation of the history and importance of the Foucault Pendulum can be found on Wikipedia. A fun way to see the art is to go to the convention center’s 360 page and look at the Exhibit Space, Pre-conference Halls A & B.
bird head with forks
Gear Art
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Auburn has some terrific public art and today I braved the cold rain to capture two of the best. The delightful piece is called “Gear Ball” and it is by Jenny Ellsworth. It is made of truck parts and is part of the Auburn Downtown Sculpture Gallery.
Greg Bartol and Deborah Drllevich’s Silverware Ostrich earned the People’s Choice award in 2015. It is a great piece from a car drive by, but I’m so glad I got out of the car to really take a look at it. It is made out of silverware!
More about art in Auburn can be found here. I plan to go back when the weather turn nice (hopefully soon!) and see all the other pieces!
Dear husband and I were recently in West Seattle and I took the chance to check out some folk art, roadside attractions. The first stop was at 5274 44th Ave. SW, Seattle, WA and that home had some wonderful tree carvings in the front. Dear husband especially enjoyed the fairy hanging out on the chimney. The roadside attraction info can be found here. This is a private residence, but the art can readily be seen from the street.
The second stop was the nearby Walker Rock Garden at 5407 37th SW, Seattle, WA. I remember going to see this rock garden more than 20 years ago when it was open one Mother’s Day. I was so impressed. Here are some older photos from when I begged a peek. The amazing rockery was created by Milton and Florence Walker and the property has since sold. I’m not sure of any future plans, but it would be so wonderful if it was again opened up to the public on special occasions. The roadside attraction information can be found here and there is an Atlas Obscura entry, with some good photos, that can be found here. This is a private residence and not open to the public.
Today was the celebration of the Lunar New Year in Tacoma’s Lincoln District and I took the chance to snap some photos of the new signage that reflects the revitalization of the district. An article on the revitalization project can be found here. I love this district and am really looking forward to how the revitalization project proceeds. It was also a joy to see how some of the more recent immigrants are positively shaping the country.