Design For A Living World

 I was left wondering about inspiration in my last post. It's a good starting point for today. After wandering the garden for a couple of hours we ended with a quick visit to Dorrance Hall and the Ottosen Gallery.

Currently on display through April 1st is the exhibition "Design for a Living World." Ten well known designers were challenged to create sustainable design(s) utilizing raw materials from 10 locations found around the globe.
The description states, "See how raw materials from around the globe are harvested, shaped, molded and woven into beautiful designs from nature. This world-class exhibit featuring the works of leading designers, tells stories of the people, plants and animals, and the importance of considering conservation when designing new products."

 

Walking into the gallery we encountered big cases with a bold black and white map of the world. Materials in their raw state were placed on their geographical location. Seen here, bamboo from the Hunan Province in China.

 

Each display was surrounded by large, colorful photographs highlighting the people and the material in their natural environment. Designer Ezri Tarazi used bamboo to make an array of furniture pieces. 

 

Light fixture. 

 

CD storage.

Book storage. I'd have a forest of these with all my books.

 

Designer Hella Jongerius worked with chicla latex from the Maya forest of Mexico. I watched the video of her process a couple of times. She came to know the properties of the material well through lots of experimentation. The chicla was fickle and fragile on its own. She found she could wind it on spools to create these sculptural forms.

She combined the chicla with her ceramics. What resembles raffia binding is the chicla wound around the form.

Chicla pressed onto the ceramic pitcher. It had a beautiful texture to it.

Kate Spade New York sketch and bag. She created hand bags from woven jipijapa fiber and morado wood from Bolivia.

I saved my favorite for last. Salmon leather from the Alaskan coast. I was caught off guard by the beauty of the leather. In its white state it could have been treated reptile skin.

Fashion designer  Isaac Mizrahi had the leather sent to a Paris atelier where it was made into sequins. The sequins were sewn onto organza fabric which was cut and sewn into this dress and coat.

The shoes he created were pretty amazing too. That man makes me crazy with his genius. This was so beautiful in its simplicity. Watching him explain his process on his video gave me a different perspective of him as a designer. Week after week of seeing him judge on Project Runway All Star, he comes off quite diva-ish. This was another side to him that I really responded to.

I plan to go back and give this exhibit another visit when I'm fresh.

I passed over way too quickly other designers like the gentleman that used these nuts to create exquisite jewelery.

While the objects displayed are creative and beautiful the deeper message about looking at the environment around us is equally inspiring. TIME magazine's cover story for March 12th spotlighted the 10 ideas that are changing our lives. Number 9-Nature is Over led with the quote, "Humans have had a direct impact on more than 3 three quarters of the ice free land on earth. Almost 90% of plant activity takes place in ecosystems where people play a significant role." Frightening? Perhaps. A kick in the butt? Why not? 

What can you find in your natural environment to put to use in an environmentally responsible manner?

Marissa

Desert Beauty

The end of this month marks 21 years since I moved to Arizona. That's a good chunk of my life. Arizona is in the news quite a bit lately. Not favorably. I tend to agree...This is home now. Little did I know know about monsoons, micro bursts, chollas, agaves, mesquites... and so much more when I first moved here. I did know "Prickley Pears." These are beauties. I had a free afternoon a few Saturdays ago. We've had the mugginess of the monsoon but not the relief of rain. Then the rain finally arrived in Central Phoenix.
I've wanted to visit the Desert Botanical Garden just after a rain and this was my perfect opportunity. By the time I made my way from Scottsdale to the east part of Phoenix, 10 minutes at the most, the sun was already out. I made my way to my favorite plant. The Mountain Aloe in the succulent garden. Hello, friend!Never be afraid to get in close. I never cease to enjoy the sculptural qualities of these plants.Just a touch of red on the toothy edge...Buds! Pods! Eye candy..."X" marks the spot.The saguaro blossoms have given way to the fruit. Every cactus had it's share of snacking birds.

It's been an education that never ends. Speaking of "education," School started this week for the Chicklet. Teachers went back in my district yesteday. I wasn't there.

August brings artist after artist to Phoenix for Art Unraveled. A week long bounty of art workshops. I participated in 6 workshops in the last week that included painting, collage, bookmaking, jewelery, polymer clay work and mosaics. What a blast!

I'll be photographing my projects in the next few days and sharing my projects. The Chicklet is making out like a bandit with some of the big ones destined for her walls. I hope she feels all the love and enthusiasm that went into the work. I had a blast!

Marissa

Saying Good-bye

Six monthes and 5 or 6 visits, we made our last trek to see the Chihuly sculptures at the Desert Botanical Garden last night. I was in the company of two tuckered out tweens. Oh well, I was on a mission to see everything one last time.
Night shots aren't my best but it was an advantage to be rid of all the "visual noise" in the background. At least that was a goal...
If I weren't working this week, I'd be there watching the pieces get dismantled. The whole process of how these are put together was intriguing. We were lucky enough to see some of the installation in progress.We stayed until they announced the garden was closing. It was such a nice evening to be out. We'll have to make it to the Flash Light Tour some night.

Got Chihuly?

Glass sculptures in the desert. The Chicklet and I finally made our way to the Desert Botanical Garden to see the Chihuly sculptures. We decided to go today hoping that there wouldn't be as many people as on a weekend. Our reservation was from noon-4pm. We got there about 1:30. I have never seen the parking lot so packed.

We enjoyed looking at license plates from all over the country and Canada. Snow bird heaven! You could tell who they were-the ones dressed in shorts and sandals... Me? I was in jeans with a long sleeve blouse with a jacket. The jacket didn't stay on long. The weather was perfect.
199 pictures later..... Look! It's the moon!
Yes, there were a lot of people but it wasn't bad at all. The Chicklet was excited to see the green mercury sculpture. Wow!
A few of these were clear but the polka dot pattern in the glass created a texture.
These caught our eye. Sinewy green glass, pink bulbous shapes with finger-like petals. There were surprises at every turn.

In addition to getting some close-up shots, I tried to take pictures of the sculptures interacting with the desert landscape. What's the point of having the sculptures here if they're not connected to the landscape?
We spent a good 3 hours wandering around the garden. I took a fair amount of time taking photos. It turns out we missed a sculpture or two because we didn't go on the Native Trail or by the Patio Cafe. Turns out there was a sculpture in each of those spots. We'll see those next time.

We made our way to the gift shop and lastly to Dorrance Hall. A few more glass pieces and paintings were in there as well as a video of Chihuly and the glass blowing process. Glass blowing is a trip! We had a Glass department in art school and it was amazing to see the process in person. It was quite a contrast to the textile department that I was in.

By the time we got back to the car it was 4pm. There were plenty of empty spots in the lot and the sun was changing. Our next visits will be in the early morning and another in the late afternoon. Everything changes with the light.

Marissa

A Little more Chihuly

The knobs in my house are pretty boring in comparison to these vintage knobs from Pioneer Village. A few years ago I found an accent picture in an Arizona Highway magazine of a lock on a trunk. I enlarged the image a few hundred times, copied it on a transparency and used the image in an Arizona themed book. I'll be playing with these knobs too.
More Chihuly... The colors are intense. The fluted shapes on this one are reminiscent of calla lilies.
Icey blue, shimmery, like a gorgeous sea creature.
You'll see this piece as you drive towards the parking. Maybe I need to get a better look to appreciate it. From afar, I see too much of the structure to be intrigued. Plus, the Patrick Dougherty architectural sculptures that stood here for the last year were demolished and removed. They were supposed to be in place until the elements took their toll. They looked pretty sound the last time I saw them but that was a few wind storms ago. The word is that they were no longer structurally sound. We were lucky to have had them while they were here.
See this cutie? It's a Long Eared Owl. One of the garden volunteers stood by the trail and pointed it out. It's range is Northern US and way up north in Canada. It's supposed to be rare to see here. Guess this is a real snowbird!
I wonder how long he'll stick around. I hope he's staying cool enough. It was in the mid 80's
again today!

Marissa

Week's End

The Chicklet's 4th grade class had their musical concert Thursday evening. I've given up trying to get a good pic of her performances. She's always in the back row and the size of an ant in a dark corner... Instead I got her with some of her classmates before their performance outside their brand new building. They had a great performance. Kudos to their music teacher, Mrs. Forrester!
OOOOOOOOhhhhhhh Noooooooooooooooooo! I have some catching up to do! With my Internet down at home I missed a thing or two.
Belated Happy Birthday Mizz Polsia!!!!!!!!!! Hope you had a fabulous day!
What was I thinking? A 1/2 hour bus ride with a bunch of 4th graders?
I spotted this box outside one of the buildings. EEK! Love it!
No sooner do you turn your back and where did the kids end up? In jail! Luckily, they were given a reprieve and set free. It was sunny and breezy. Pretty dusty too. The ride back to school was much quieter with tired kids. We only had time to see 1/2 of the village so the Chicklet and I hope to go again soon.
In the meantime, I took pics of windows....peeling paint....tools...Most of the buildings have been moved from other parts of Arizona to show what life was like in the state during the 1800's. As interesting as it was, I am biased. Growing up in California, our 4th grade history focused on the state's landscape and California missions. Although I have a hard time with how the native people were treated, I have had a fascination with the missions and have visited at least 1/2 of the 21 in California. Had I been around at that time would I have lived on a rancho???? I have a romantic attachment to the golden, rolling hills of my home state.

It'll be 20 years in August since I moved to Arizona. I figured that in four more years I'll have been here the equivalent of my years in CA. So many people here are from somewhere else. I'll never be a AZ native but I've seen a lot of changes in the time I've been here. With that in mind, the Chicklet and I went on a little excursion today.The Tempe Center for the Arts has come a long way from the time it was housed in the old pool house at Tempe Beach Park. The pool was filled in and the deck was a sculpture garden. I wonder what happened to some of the funky sculptures.
If you're driving on the the 202 Freeway in Tempe you'll see the distinct architecture of this building on the south side of the Rio Salado/Salt River.
The mechanics of the west end of Tempe Town Lake. If we ever have another wet winter like we had in 2005, the water will flow like a waterfall at this end.
For now there's a light flow of water creating wetland for birds and fish.Here's my bird... There was theatrical performance today so we lucked out and the gallery was open. In celebration of the TAC's first anniversary, they have an exhibition of works focusing on paper. The quality of the work was top notch. I saw some works of some local favorites and of some of my former art co-op colleagues. To be honest, I wasn't sure about picture taking, so didn't.
We wandered up the steps to the balcony area and then we stepped outside to an upper courtyard. Talk about a great spot to chill out. The court yard areas are north facing-perfect for being outdoors and avoiding the AZ sun. I'm going to make my way to the TAC more often. They have some great areas for hanging out and relaxing.

We hit the jackpot with our next stop. We made a quick trip to the Desert Botanical Garden. The construction is over and better yet, we got a sneak peek at the Dale Chihuly sculptures being installed. Some were already in place and they are stunning. Here's something to wet your appetite:This one was being assembled as we entered the garden. One of the volunteers let the Chicklet touch one of the glass pieces before he handed them on to be installed.This one is in place and another stunner. The exhibition is opening Sat. the 22nd with a special viewing on Friday, the 21st. I'll be making ticket reservations to see these in the morning light and evening light. I asked today and there are no sold out dates or times as yet. They are being sold for 4 hour intervals, 3 different blocks of time per day. The Chicklet is positively excited to see the exhibition. Me too!This bumper sticker seemed a good way to end our wanderings. The morning started out at Hebrew School. There's an adult hebrew class that some of the parents are taking. I haven't dipped my foot in yet but my friends were practicing hebrew vowels quizzing each other with flash cards. I have pile of the Chicklet's work sheets that are going to end up in my collages one day.

There's a lot more photos to share from today that I'll share during the week. gosh, it feels good to have some goodies to share.

God natt!
Marissa