Back in business...

OK.......I've figured out my technical difficulties enough. Now there's some catching up to do.
A month ago, the Chicklet and I visited the Chihuly exhibition at the botanical garden one last time. I purposely took this pic with the outline of the ocotillo fully visible. This sun sculpture has been exhibited elsewhere before. Chances are, this will be the only time it's juxaposed with an ocotillo.
Today is the first day of this fiscal year with the school district. Today our new VP was greeted by skyscrapers of books outside his office. Our Vice Principal of the last 2 years was transferred to another school. As a parting gift, our staff contributed to a handmade book for her. I dug into my bag of tricks to put this one together. I think it's the best book I've made to date.The concept was a handmade book of pocket pages. The staff was asked to suggest words describing Hilda, our VP. My partner in crime, Kelli, (music teacher extraordinare), helped me find some doozies for the letters "Q", "X", and "Z." An ABC set of custom flash cards were made, cut and then passed out to staff members. Written on the cards were personal notes, quotes, etc. and then they were tucked in the pockets.I am in love with beaded bindings. It took awhile to do this but I enjoyed every minute of it. Trying to remember the 5 hole pamphlet stitch after midnight was the least fun part but the handy dandy book with good instructions was nearby. Whew! The binding is painted canvas from the bit I did accomplish from an online class. The book title was printed on tagboard and sewn on the cover paper prior to gluing. The pockets were also sewn.Got some exercise painting these. As suggested by Kelly, artist extraordinare, I picked up Wausau 140 lb. weight cardstock at Kelly Paper. (Is that enough "Kellys" for you)? The 24" x 36" sheets took a day to arrive. Both sides of the sheets were painted and best of all, there's plenty left over for a couple more books.

Style....have I brought it up before? I have a style but I'm trying to pin point it. This book was a combination of techniques learned from at least 3 different instructors. When does it become a reflection of my style and not theirs? Thoughts like that go thru my head during my commute...
No worries. I'm not wracked by self doubt but I think it's good to question. Crap! Shades of my thesis committee from grad school.

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