The brightly colored Cabrillo Amarillo by Paul Kuniholm Pauper is part of the Percival Landing Plinth Project, an initiative involving 15 pieces of art. The public is invited to visit Percival Landing, view all of the pieces and then vote for their favorite. The winning art piece is then purchased by the City of Olympia and the are available for sale. More information about the project can be found here and more information about the artist is here.
The Lake Granbury Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden is a lovely blooming oasis even though the Texas heat wasn’t offering the most hospital environment. Those clever gardeners are well aware of their climate and have adapted to it. I was greeted by a cheerful volunteer who let me know that there was beauty to be had, even though the sun was drying everything up. And I did find beauty. There were some huge red flowers, a hobbit hole, a water feature, butterfly bushes with butterflies, a very wonderful arbor with squash (I guess it was squash) hanging from the top, plenty of honeybees, a cardinal, lots of art and darling walking paths. The Lake Granbury Master Gardeners work with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. I’d like to go back for a springtime visit!
In an attempt to avoid the Texas heat, today I went to the Dora Lee Langdon Cultural & Educational Center is located at 308 East Pearl Street, Granbury, TX 76048 in the AP Gordon House. The art exhibit that brought me in was a solo exhibit of Gene Gregory and I enjoyed his vibrant paintings. The property was constructed as the Gordon house in 1882 and is actually smaller than it had originally been since the owners “downsized” by removing some of the back of the building in 1956.
A list of all the historic Granbury properties can be found here.
The World’s Longest Floating Boardwalk is located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It was completed in 1985 and extends 3,300 feet including a bridge with a spectacular view of the lake on this unusually warm spring day. There were a handful of love locks on the bridge itself. Along our walk dear daughter made a ladybug friend.
Our visit to Coeur d’Alene also included a stroll through downtown with associated shopping and snacks. My favorite piece of art was the huge dandelion sculpture.
The Guardian Stone is Poulsbo’s newest public art installation and it is really lovely. My first thought was “oh, look, a sword in the stone! King Arthur!”, but no. It being Poulsbo, the piece is reflective of Norwegian history. The rock, steel and glass sculpture by Lisa Stirrett was installed in February 2016 at the Muriel Iverson Williams Waterfront Park. The nine foot tall piece is a nod to Swords of the Rock in Norway, though that piece is much larger (see a photo of that too). Really, it is captivating. You should go see it!
There I was driving around downtown Tacoma, looking for something to photograph. I was surprised at just how busy downtown was and while there were several photo worthy places, there was no ready parking. Discouraged I started home going past the Tacoma Dome since Pacific Avenue is still closed. I turned right into a traffic jam with a sea of people dressed in black. It was mostly folks in their 50s and 60s, some of which had kids (grandkids?!) with them. I was even more curious when I notice a small but serious group protesting. “Jesus said go and sin no more.” Once home, Siri informed me that Black Sabbath was playing their “The End” tour in Tacoma tonight. Oh that explains it. Black Sabbath is an English heavy metal band that was formed i n1968 (which explains the age of those attending). Since I was snapping photos out of my car window, I’m including “Washingtonia Domus” , the palm tree art just up the hill from the Dome.
It was a lovely day to start the new year and dear husband and I went to check out the ever developing Point Ruston. Hip Hop is a recently installed sculpture. The piece was created by Georgia Gerber. and her blog entry can be found here. Ms. Gerber also created The Gardner in Woodenville and Rachel the Pig at Pike Place Market. Mt. Rainier was out in her full glory!
On a back country in Parker County Texas road I found this wonderful cowboy art at the entrance to a private ranch. Here is the site via Google Earth.
Dear daughter was eager to show me the fence around the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown. The artisans barn was closed, but we did walk all around the barn admiring the fine and unique workmanship of the fence. We also admired the two freestanding cow sculptures. The barn was constructed in 1935 and began its conversion to its current use in 2004. The fence was constructed over a 30 year period and includes over 1,000 wheels. It was a lovely mini-adventure. More info can be found here.
We also stopped to see a two story barn on the way home.
Update 4.2016 We went back to visit the inside of the barn. So much great art and such nice people. 💙
I had a very late lunch today at the Ivar’s in Lakewood, WA. I enjoy Ivar’s not only for their tasty fast food, but also for their quirky sense of humor. More history on Ivar himself can be found here.