Sunday, July 23, 2017

Week 83, 7-23-2017

Thoughts and Quotes: I don't think much about the past. I think about the future. I think about what I want to be doing tomorrow.   Dale Chihuly


Dale Chihuly is the master of blown glass - not those little unicorns and birds you see at booths - he's big time. We were fortunate enough to have an installation (yes, it takes an installation) at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, AR. Most of today's post will be the photos I took there. Crystal Bridges is the museum originated by the Wal-mart daughter, Alice Walton, who started with her personal art collection. Walmart is not connected to the museum; however, they gave a generous grant to sponsor free admission. Only the traveling exhibitions require an entrance fee. The artwork is all from American artists. I'll give you a sample of the permanent collection, but most we'll leave for another time. Even though you don't care for art, the building is worth the trip.

The original sketch


The finished museum


A few things, and then we'll get to the exhibit.

Thank You: To all who offered to have me come stay with them until the air conditioner was installed; for offers to have me over for dinner or bring my food so I didn't have to cook, and most of all to my Brother Jim, who lives an hour away, and offered to bring his travel trailer if I didn't want to drive down to stay with them. You touched my heart.

The house is deliciously cool now, and you can read my review of the company who did my work if you Google "Knight Heating and Air Nixa Mo". Great job and great price.

Knight brought me two portable air condioners on Monday. They have to be vented to the outside, so I chose the family room and my bedroom. My family room opens to the living room, dining room, hall and entrance, kitchen, and breakfast area, so that area could only cool to about 82. I can close off the bedroom, so Pepper and I holed up there on the loveseat at mid-70's. He slept and I read, so -

Tales: I finished the final book from the library.


And one from my stash


I must say that neither of these would be on my "favorites" list.

Things That Grow: Somehow a few things have survived the heat. This is what I brought in yesterday - my first little yellow squash. Today I'm having spaghetti made with ground beef and onions in the sauce; zucchini and yellow squash medley, a salad with the cucumbers and tomatoes - toss in some ripe olives, and I have my red, white, blue or purple, green, yellow or orange, fruits or vegetables for the day. Eating the rainbow.



Trips: The museum qualifies as a day trip, and a wonderful day trip at that. I hope you can see a Chihuly exhibit in person some day. The photos don't really do it justice. The dates for Chihuly are in the link at the end.

 The museum is surrounded by hiking trails,


                                                and a part of the exhibit was outside.

Chihuly in the Forest





When the sun shone on these, it looked like a forest fire.




I'll show you a closeup, then just imagine assembling this, piece by piece.








Of course, this is a partially landscaped forest, so there were distractions.







This is a paw-paw tree. I remember as a child we had a little saying about the possum in the paw-paw patch; picking up paw-paws and putting them in his pants pocket. Sorry, I don't remember the entire thing. You can read about paw-paws HERE.


When the weather is agreeable, you can dine al fresco in the forest.


Chihuly in the Gallery



He uses the blankets for inspiration







He tried painting, but went back to glass.



The light is coming from above. There are no lights inside the sculptures and none is coming from the bottom.










Sadly the best part of the exhibit did not lend itself to photos with no flash. Claire de lune was playing in the background and the colors kept changing. The sculptures are white and without a colored light, they looked like a fairy winter wonderland.





The sculptures in this room were inspired by Native American baskets. My photos were a disappointment in this light.















The grand finale was in the middle of the room so you could view it from both sides. The scultures started part way up a short wall, went across the base, and part way up the opposite short wall.







Tip: I had my hand extended over the glass base of this last sculpture, and I dropped my camera. As it dangled from my arm by its wrist strap, I was mentally thanking my son for teaching me to ALWAYS use my strap when taking photos. Good lesson.

You can buy a sculpture of your very own. This one is $8,500.


And this one is $7,500. I was thinking, "Gee, if I'd known, I could have chosen between a new air conditioner and furnace or a sculpture". Guess what my choice would have been.


A great exhibit, and I hope you'll have the opportunity to see it. Chihuly is known around the world. I saw him first at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. At first I wasn't sure if I liked this or not - and then I loved it.


One of these "chandeliers" was hanging in Crystal Bridges away from the exhibit.


If you stand directly beneath it and look up, it looks like this.


If Dale Chihuly has captured your fancy, and you'd like to know more, click HERE. Just for fun, click on "Artwork", then choose a style. Once you choose a style, there are arrows at the top right on the photo where you can scan through lots of examples. My favorites are Seaforms and Persians, but I think the Venetian and Rotolo are great also. Check out Exhibitions for more more examples and the other drop downs for additional information.

Here are a few things from the permanent collection - only a sample. And what's on view at any one time is about 23% of the total collection. They rotate items about every six months.

I loved this sculpture


but I was really impressed by the sculptor's treatment of her big toe.


The famous Washington portrait



I was surprised that a painting could be owned jointly by two musuems.



And I thought that Lafayette had red hair.



My favorite painting of all. The lanterns seem to actually shine.


Your first impression of this is YUCK! Take another look and you'll figure it out.


This is truly amazing. Larger than lifesize, but to scale, done with a 3-D scanner. He used his own hair and his own whiskers to make the stubble and the glasses are ground to his prescription. He's computer aged, and actually only 57 at the time of the sculpture.



And thank you to my model who agreed to help us see the actual size of the sculpture.


And the most unusual piece - a rectangle of individually wrapped green apple candy in the middle of the floor. As you pass by, you take one, unwrap it, pop it in your mouth, throw the wrapper back on the pile.




And we'll end with some images of this weird and wonderful building.









And here's the LINK.

STAY COOL

TAKE IN A MUSEUM IN YOUR AREA

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

EAT THE RAINBOW

HUG YOUR LOVED ONES

HOW ABOUT A POOL PARTY?

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE

6 comments:

  1. Wow Patsy what an amazing exhibition, I loved some of those glass sculptures. The chandelier was a delight, how wonderful would that look on a landing, a smaller version of course. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe I can have one if I win the lottery. Of course, I'd have to buy another house, too, as I'm only one story right now, so no landing.

      For sure, if you ever get the chance to see his work, it's worth your time.

      Delete
  2. What a fascinating exhibition, Patsy! The pieces are all spectacular, and I love the sketch, too. The vegetables look delicious. Your photos are beautiful, thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hello Dearest! Sorry I'm so late catching up. Fun life taking over - so always a good thing. And now getting ready to leave for another tourney so busy busy busy.
    I'm so happy you're nice and frosty (okay maybe not frosty) - but cooler with things being fixed! I'm sure Pepper is thrilled too. Lol And your garden is doing pretty darn well with all of that heat!
    But I love all of the art exhibit photos! That Chihuly is amazing!! Truly talented. And I loved all of the other exhibits too. I adore that painting with the lanterns that look like they glow! Annie would love the apple candy "art piece". ;)

    Such a fun post! Stay cool. Sending xoxo's

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am the owner of the model. Thank you for sharing your blog and my baby. Love your content!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're a lucky mommy. Beautiful models. And I'm glad you like my blog.

      Delete