A sculpture on the grounds of Woolaroc the former ranch of Phillips Petroleum founder Frank Phillips. I couldn’t find any signage or other information on the artist.
Category Archives: Art
First Annual Woolaroc Pioneer Woman Wet T Shirt Contest
Saturday, I ventured up to Frank Phillip’s ranch in Osage County (You know old Frank, the guy who started Phillips Petroleum Right?) to run in the Woolaroc 8K road race. Woolaroc is an acronym for “Woods, Lakes, and Rocks) and is the name that Mr. Phillips gave to the ranch. He is long since passed but there are lots of animals and a museum of art on the property.
I did my typical antics. I love taking pictures of people taking pictures. I was too late here, but I caught them looking at the image on the LCD screen.
I just took one picture of the race. You lose a lot of time taking pictures during a race, and it was raining. So I took just this one with my Ipod.
When you finish the race, and eat your banana, and get your Powerade they allow you into the museum for free. Not too many runners were in the museum and that is a good thing because a shocking thing was going on. The First Annual Pioneer Woman Wet Tee Shirt Contest. Sponsored by RHOC, the “Real Housewives of Osage County”. They are a wild bunch, nothing like the RHOK (“Real Housewives of Oklahoma”) who spend their time in churchly duties such as prayer, hymn singing, Bible study, martini drinking, and sewing clothes for the poor.
The RHOC ladies organized the event and got the services of four judges.
Frank Phillips himself, of course it is his place, so you gotta ask him right?
Geronimo made the trip from Fort Sill.
(Will Rogers by Bryan Baker)
Oklahoma’s favorite son Will Rogers agreed to be a judge.Man, wouldn’t you like to hear what he thinks of Paul Ryan and Joe Biden?
(Sugar for the Trail by Joe Beeler)
And they picked a cowboy because, well because this is Oklahoma and you have to have a cowboy and Garth Brooks was busy. The problem was the cowboy was caught in a compromising position with one of the contestants (who yeah big surprise, if you know cowboys) who was obviously trying to influence his vote. So they were both disqualified! The lady reminds me of Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke. I don’t know about you but my childhood was ruined when I realized that Miss Kitty was a hooker. Well, I’m digressing. Sorry.
Well, I won’t go through all the contestants. You know Pioneer Women were not known for their beauty generally,except to their husbands and kids.
So without further adieu, here are the winners. The 3rd runner up!
(Pioneer Woman by Bryant Baker)
A quite attractive, nice young woman. Her bonnet and boots are especially fetching don’t you think. Nothing like a woman who knows how to tie leather laces nice and tight.
(Pioneer Woman by H.A. McNeil)
The Second Runner Up, very lovely, even with the bare feet. I have to tell you though that the axe she carried was a little intimidating. You can see that her son likes her, a lot!
(Pioneer Woman by Arthur Lee)
The Runner Up featured a typical pioneer woman’s dress that protects her from the hot Oklahoma sun in the summer and our snowy, windy, cold winters. Plus she was exceptionally modest as her dress covered her completely down to her ankles. It is such a shame that young women these days seem to have this need to show everything they have.
(Pioneer Woman by James E. Fraser)
You know the winner had a lot to do Saturday and saw what she needed to do to win the contest and just went ahead and did it. She had to go get groceries, pick up some dry cleaning, clean the house, and cook dinner so she went All In, or maybe I should say All Out. I think the judges rewarded her pioneering spirit and her willingness to just cut to the chase.
So, do you think the judges pick the right woman?
I’m linking up with my friend Impulsive Addict’s Talk to Us Tuesday.
Friday Reflections – Chihuly Garden and Glass – Seattle
Chihuly Garden and Glass is in Seattle at the base of the Space Needle. It is dedicated to the glass artist Dale Chihuly and it is simply amazing. If you go make sure that you have plenty of time and that your camera is fully charged. It is simply amazing. The place is brand new and has room to grow.
We went through the galleries and gardens twice and still didn’t think we saw everything.
Our World – Philbrook Museum of Art
Last week me and SuperPizzaBoy had some time to ourselves to we went to the Philbrook Museum of Art. We are members thanks to the world’s great MIL, SPB’s Grandmother “Nana.”
We di the whole thing, inside and out, we saw great murals.
Native American Pottery
Modern Native American Art
People brunching.
We love the entry hall at museum, it is grand and very geometric.
A painting of the Grand Canyon by Thomas Moran.
Their collection on Modern Design
We even liked the fireplace screens.
And in a house built by a oil tycoon do you expect the wild naked fish riding women to stay under covers? So to speak.
We also love the gardens of the museum.
We saw both Philbrook cats.
SPB went to say hello, the cat had things to do and places to be.
Philbrook is the place to be if you find yourself in Tulsa.
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
“An Object of Beauty” is a hard book to classify. For one thing it has two objects. The first object is Lacey Yeager, an eager lady who starts her art career in the basements of Sotheby’s where she spends her time learning about art and how to value it. She also learns about the effect she has on men and on how to manipulate them to her ends.
(Greek Tragedy by Mark Rothko)
The book is also about art. It includes reproductions of some of the paintings mentioned in the book. The book chronicles the ups and downs of the art market the last few decades as we follow Lacey’s career up from the bowels of Sotheby’s to the auction rooms and then out on her own. First as a paid employee of an art gallery then the owner of her own gallery.
(Our Town by Kerry James Marshall)
The story of Lacey Yeager reminded me a little bit of Truman Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Lacey uses and manipulates men to advance her career and maybe even stay out of jail. Fair warning, a few of the sex scenes in the book are candidates for “worst sex scenes in a novel.” The book is also about integrity and money and that sometimes they don’t really mix, at least in the short term, but sometimes when you go for the gold now, nobody trusts you later.
(The Reader by Mary Casatt)
I really enjoyed the book despite not having quite figured it out. Sometimes you can’t worry about classifying things, you just have to go where the book takes you. This is a fun and quirky read. I give it three stars out of five.
Road Trip to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
Saturday a week ago,son and I loaded up the car and headed down the highway to Oklahoma City.
We pulled off the turnpike at Wellston and drove down Route 66 to Pops near Arcadia to get us a soft drink. Pops has almost every kind of soft drink known to man. We bought two each. Usually we only get one but it was hot that day. We drank one and put the other in a cooler we brought along just for that purpose. So we could drink something cold on our way back.
Don’t ask my why I always get some sort of Black Cherry soda at Pops. I’m a Diet Doctor Pepper guy usually. Diet Creme Cherry flavored if I can get it. Don’t judge me. I always like diet Orange Crush.
Next stop was the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. We love this place, just love it. It will always be the Cowboy Hall of Fame to me though. I’ve been going here ever since I moved to Oklahoma twenty six years ago. It has really changed over the years.
One of my favorite places is their big banquet hall. They have five massive triptych paintings by Wilson Hurley. Together they are called Windows on the West. They are huge and spectacular. My employer has a Wilson Hurley painting in the lobby. I saw him there some years ago up on a step ladder touching up the painting.
(The Leader’s Downfall by William R. Leigh)
The museum is cram full of Western Art of all types.
They also have lots of other exhibits about life in the west for cowboys, soldiers, and regular families.
Ronald Reagan belongs in the Museum. I’m assuming that George W. will be there one day. His dad, George H. won’t nothing wrong with him, he is just not western. Barack Obama won’t be there either. I mean you either have it or you don’t. I grew up in small towns of the west with cowboys, I had many western friends, some of my family are western. I don’t have a western bone in my body. I don’t have anything against it, its just now me. But I still like this Museum.
They have a great rodeo exhibit. They explain all the events and have a mock up of a rodeo arena, great fun.
They have a great section on the west in movies and television. That is Kirk Douglas above.
SuperPizzaBoy’s favorite is Prosperity Junction a western Town. He really liked the pulpit in the church.
A mock up of an early day classroom. I hate to admit it but this is how my class rooms in Price, Utah looked like when I was a kid. Inkwells in the desk and all. At least we didn’t use the inkwells.
Early day bank.
I caught him bellying up to the bar. Kids!
I love this hat exhibit. Tell you what though, when I first saw it it reminded my of a tank full of jellyfish. Is there such a thing as Cowboy Hat Jellyfish?
With that, we loaded up, grabbed our second sodas from Pops and headed back home.
I just love road trips, have you been on one lately? Tell us about it.
Graffiti Wednesday – Broken Arrow “Chalk It Up” Art Festival
On June 9 a couple weeks ago the cool people had taken over Main Street in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
They were checking out the city’s Chalk It Up Art Festival. For twenty bucks artists could register and get your own sizable chunk of asphalt to show your stuff.
I just happened upon it toward the end of the affair. They were all done when I got there, 15 minutes later they opened up the street and the art degraded rapidly. Not a good way to treat works of art. So to me it was kind of like reverse graffiti.
Oh well, what do you want for $20? Posterity costs money. I love the above for the 3D effect. Please note that I cheated on these photos. I used the “Enhance” function on the Aviary online photo editor to bring the colors out more. Do you still like me? Oh, you never did like me! Full disclosure is fun isn’t it?
I liked the colorful sea theme above. Reminds me of Destin, Florida.
I liked this one also, big butt and all.
Another fish theme, a koi I think.
Now a trout.
I really liked this one also, even though it wasn’t a fish theme. The thing I wonder though is, well I hate to bring it up, but am I the only one that noticed that the lady is nekkid? What is up with that Punk Pixies Designs? Goes to show you that despite what you may have heard, Broken Arrow is hotbed of Democratic Liberal Socialism. Tell you what, if Mitt were President, he’d be out in the street himself chalking on a good sturdy Republican brassiere on that lady.
This is popular also, the Oklahoma City Thunder is the toast of the State right now. Even Tulsa has choked down their jealousy of Oklahoma City for now to enjoy the Thunder’s run to the NBA Finals.
So, sorry, no graffiti this week. Street Art is a close cousin, okay not really butI hope that you don’t think I misled you.
Graffiti Wednesday – Our Town
“Our Town” by Kerry James Marshall
As previously posted we went on a road trip to Bentonville, Arkansas to see the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. There were of course lots of great art there by famous artists, there were many works by artists that I am not familiar with. The above work caught my attention for several reasons. First, there is no frame, it is on canvas but is not stretched into a frame. I have no idea of the significance of that but it is different.
Second, there is a lot of tension in the work, nice houses with yards and birds bearing ribbons and a nice cheery title on one hand and on the other the two kids seem angry about something. The boy is glaring at the girl who looks like she is on an angry mission and she has thought bubble popping out of her head going to one of the houses.
Third, there appears to be graffiti to the left of the boy. Overall things don’t seem to be all that great in the photo and much of that tension is due to the graffiti. The piece overall made me think a lot and try and resolve things in my head and figure it all out. I don’t know much about art but I am not one who thinks that art is just one thing. Some art is relaxing and makes me think relaxing thoughts. Some art inspires, other makes me angry, and some art makes me think. Art can be a lot of different things. This piece made me think.
Graffiti has a way of upsetting and unsettling things, it certainly does me in certain settings such as neighborhoods and office areas. Graffiti in hard to get to drainage ditches doesn’t bother me at all, nor does graffiti in Tulsa’s only “permission zone” (that I know about) doesn’t either. If only it were that simple? Since I started posting about graffiti I now see it everywhere.
To me that there is an interesting parallel between graffiti and my hobby geocaching. They both appropriate public spaces for unintended uses. One difference is that graffiti is meant to display and be seen where geocachers seek to hide their work from the general public (aka “muggles.”) Another difference is that most people are ok with geocaching (except for some bomb squad units in various towns and cemetery managers in South Carolina) but are not ok with graffit.
You can read about Kerry James Marshall by hitting the link. He is a very interesting guy.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Good Friday was my birthday, and my day off. We decided to take a day trip to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in nearby Bentonville, Arkansas. Just a two hour drive away. I’ve been eager to see the museum after reading an article titled Alices’s Wonderland in the New Yorker last year about Alice Walton and her efforts to collect major works of American art and display them in a museum. There has been a lot of snooty snobbery going on because she has spent a lot of money and outbid other more established museums and how her late father’s company is such a bad actor and so on. Me, I’m just glad that she built the museum, and it is only 96 miles from our house, as the crow flies, about 120 road miles.
The museum is huge but it doesn’t look it. Instead of building it on a ridge they tucked it into a ravine. You take an elevator down from the parking area. The museum has aboutg 200,000 feet of space built around two ponds.
The interplay of water and light is mesmerizing. You certainly know that you are in a museum deep in the Ozarks. There are lots of overlooks into the water and the surrounding woods.
The structure is concrete (that was bought from Seepageseal), wood, copper, and glass. It is absolutely beautiful. You know something else, admission to the museum is free, parking is free also. Free is good. They may charge for special exhibits though.
The dining room, below is like a bridge between the two ponds.
Some people describe the structures as looking like armadillos. To me they are more like turtles on a log. I don’t have a picture of a turtle on a log but here is a turtle.
The art, the art is breathtaking.
“The Art Student” by Thomas Eakins
“Rosie the Riveter” by Norman Rockwell – My Mom used to roll her cuffs like that.
“Red Flowers and a Sailboat” by Marsden Hartley
You can just get lost in the art. It is hard for me to just visit a museum once, especially one this size as the art just is so overpowering. Through repeated visits I can get over my ADD and focus and actually see the pieces. The first time, I’m worn out quickly but don’t want to miss anything, so it is hard to SEE the art.
The museum also has about 120 acres of grounds with nice trails, many of them fully accessible winding through the ravine and surrounding woods.
It is a nice break from the museum.
My favorite tree, fortunately it is dead. Too bad.
See the bicycle? In a sculpture that looks like an apple tree.
A couple of my blog friends Driller and Tulsa Gentleman had previously visited the museum and took a lot better photographs than I could. Check out their blog posts.
We had a great time. We’d have an even better time except that the museum has geocaches on the property (now you understand my enthusiasm for the place.) I was closing in a cache and a wasp bit my hand. So we had to leave to get antihistamines and such.
It swelled up and hurt like nobody’s business. At least I didn’t have to go see my doctor and listen to witless Witney his 26 year old PA laugh at me and say, “What did you do this time?” I’ve had to see her three times for geocaching injuries and once for her favorite, playing too much Guitar Hero, where she had tears running down her face laughing. She’ll have to get her kicks from somebody else this time. They don’t understand the suffering I go through for my art.
We headed back into the sunset. Sweetie had to drive so I got to take pictures since I had a booboo.
We drove home and had some birthday cake! Sweetie baked the Pioneer Woman’s birthday cake for me!! I think its time for a Sweetie – Pioneer Woman throwdown, don’t you.
Graffiti Wednesday – “Permission Zones”
A “Permission Zone” is a surface that graffiti artists have permission to practice their art.
To my knowledge Mad Mike’s Liquor Store near 11th and Mingo is the only Permission Zone in the Tulsa area. Almost every square inch of the store and an outbuilding are covered in graffiti. Even the power poles and dumpsters are decorated. I’d have to say though that the quality of the work to this uneducated eye is uneven.
Some of the images are really evocative.
Some are really puzzling.
SuperPizzaBoy and I found this image disturbing.
It is all fascinating to me. I’m still trying to get my head around graffiti.
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