Tag Archives: Art

Poems and Promises by Rosalind Cook in Honor of EG Camera Girl and Birdman

Poems and Promises Woodward Park HDR

Friday at lunch I hauled the Nikon over to Tulsa’s Woodward Park to take some pics of stuff. You know Spring type stuff, daffodils and such. I got those pics and I got this one. Actually, this sculpture is hard to photograph decently because it is dark and the shadows and all that so I bracketed it with three photos in succession each about 2 fstops different; under exposed, right exposed, and over exposed. I then combined the three pics with some software I had and I got something halfway decent.

At least we can see her face and the background isn’t blown out. If I were a photographer instead of picture taker I could monkey around a little more but this what I get. This sculpture is named Poems and Promises and it was gifted to the City of Tulsa back in 2010 by the Sculptor, Rosalind Cook, and her husband. I think it is incredibly beautiful!!

I got to thinking that I had posted this art before and sure enough I posted some film photos back in 2012 so I went back and checked it out and and what stunned me were the first two commenters: EG CameraGirl and Birdman. EG CameraGirl was a Canadian blogger whopassed away at the end of February as a result of car accident where her husband died and Birdman was from Maine and died of a heart attack just after retiring from a long career as a high school teacher.

They were both full of life and had unique blogs and were lively, interesting, and humorous comments and both very encouraging. I never met either one in real life but I feel that I knew them. I know that I miss them both. So this post is dedicated to them.

Our World – Tulsa Themed Art Piano

Tulsa Themed Piano

Seen through the window of the SIP Gallery in downtown Tulsa is this Tulsa themed piano. It has several Tulsa landmarks painted on it such as Cain’s Ballroom, the Tulsa Driller, the Praying Hands at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa’s CityPlex Towers, the Philbrook Museum, US Route 66, University Club Apartments, Bartlesville’s Frank Lloyd Wright designed Price Tower,  the Tulsa Skyline, and the Arkansas River. I think this is superb. I don’t have room for it but it would certainly be the gift for somebody has everything.

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Friday Fences – Binding Contract

Binding Contract Sculpture - Textures - Dingy Cream

There is a striking sculpture in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. A bronze sculpture named “Binding Contract” by Bradford J. Williams is in the middle of downtown and it kind of tugs at the heart a little bit. Two cowboys are shaking hands across a fence and you can tell that they are neighbors but more importantly you can tell that for both of them, their word is their bond. For those of us in the business end of things, our word is very important and so is the word of your counterparty. Contracts are very important and not to be neglected but all they are is a statement in writing of both party’s intentions. From the day a contract is signed the business relationship is tested all the time with situations that were not foreseen and one depends on the other person’s word that the relationship will continue.

I love the sculpture and the principal it represents.

I’m linking with Good Fences today.

And a Happy New Year to You!

Shadow Shot Sunday – The Gardens of Philbrook

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I spent part of my day off Friday roaming around the Philbrook Museum of Art Gardens there are lots of shadows there. One of my favorite trees is above. It has a very long branch that snakes horizontally and then splits. It makes for a great shadow.

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There is a bridge across a creek that makes a great shadow also.

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American Hippo by John Kearney

There is this car bumper sculpture of a hippo. For this I used the “In Camera HDR” function on my Nikon. I had an “aha moment” while working in the gardens on how it is supposed to work. This sculpture was kind of lost in the shadows and the HDR was able to pull it out so we can see it.

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“Negative Tree” by Menashe Kadishman

This is one of my favorite sculptures in the Philbrook Gardens but it is a bear to photograph on the shady side which is what I wanted to do because I wanted to put a real tree inside the negative space. The HDR function has maybe five settings so what the heck, lets max it out and I did. Maybe next time I’ll back it off a little bit. Maybe not though. Moderation in all things is itself excessive is what I say. Plus I can honestly say that this is SOOC.  I am not sure that means much in this day of super capable cameras. 

Linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

My other Philbrook Posts over the years

Packing it All In – A Very Full and Busy Day Off

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I had a day off today. I had it all to myself because Heather went off to an Autism Conference in Norman, Oklahoma and Logan had to go to school. So I kissed Heather goodbye at 6 am and made the kid breakfast and made sure that he was dressed and ready to go and off we went to his school. After I dropped him off I headed up to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center. Turkey Mountain gets all the press, and the people, but Oxley is a gem also and its North Woods Loop Trail is wonderful and deserted. In all the years I have been going there I have seen somebody else there once. I love Turkey Mountain, but the problem is so does everybody else.

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And this was my first trail run since my injury on Turkey Mountain back in September. I wanted somewhere that was flat with no rocks. Oxley fits the bill. Plus it is just flat out beautiful. Turkey Mountain will always be my favorite but Oxley is my go to place when I don’t want to deal with rocks and and hills, and lots of people.

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I got there about eight in the morning and I have to tell you that I saw lots of deer. I didn’t get a single photo of them. I saw them running through the brush, swimming across lakes and bounding around all over the place. You will just have to take my word for it.

Here is the data on my so called run. I ran quite a bit and walked quite a bit. I went looking for two geocaches and found one.  After my jaunt at Oxley I went home, cleaned up, and headed up to Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum. They have an Andy Warhol exhibit going on and I felt ah, well, so what until I actually looked at it and saw a bunch of art that I had only seen in magazines. Warhol’s screen prints of Marilyn Monroe, Mao Tse Tung, and John Wayne plus a bunch of other works. It was amazing. I always thought of Warhol has a lightweight celebrity artist but I’ve changed my mind. They didn’t allow any photography of the exhibit so you will just have to check out the link to see for yourself.

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After Warhol, I checked out the gardens of Philbrook. I don’t know what I like better, the gardens of Philbrook or its art.  Don’t make me choose is all I can say. The Tempietto above is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.

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Villa Philbrook, the heart of the museum, used to be a house. Not for me is what I say.

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Eric Baker’s glass and steel installation, Oklahoma Autumn, is my favorite work in the gardens.

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I was also taken by Theordore Van Soelen and his Tesuque (Dark Houses). You see my folks were living at the Tesuque Ranger Station when I was born. That was in the day before health insurance so Dad called the hospital’s in Santa Fe and Espanola, New Mexico and got bids on getting a baby birthed. Espanola won. It cost like $95 or something like that. I’m not like Ben Carson who is running for president so just take my word for it.

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I love the pottery from Acoma Pueblo.

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And the black on black pottery of Maria Marinez is wonderful.

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And here is something different. A catlinite pipe inlaid with lead. I’m not sure that smoking with that would be good for you. It sure looks like though.

fitbit november steps

So a pretty active day for me, so far about 18,800 steps or over nine miles. Not bad for a guy with a bum knee.  Actually they are both sore right now.

Jesus Wept - Pray for Paris

I didn’t hear about the news from Paris until pretty late in the day. How sad. I really don’t know what the answer is to radical Islam. They seem to have no regard for life.

Yogi Takez an Art Clazz

Friday night Heather and I met with our friends Jim and Leanna for dinner and drinks. Afterward we headed over to Pinot’z Palette on the Jenkz Riverwalk for an “Art and Wine” clazz.

My art needz a little polishing up. To the best of my recollection my last art clazz was in 6th grade at Harding Elementary School in Price, Utah which was not too long ago. I mean 1966 is just like yesterday, right. I think one should take a refresher course every 50 yearz to keep their Art Skillz sharp. UntitledAnywayz (I’m liking the z’s instead of s’s at the end of wordz right now. That’z allowable in Oklahoma if you are good at football. I’m not good football but I wish I waz.) This waz almost easier than paint by numberz. The instructor got up on a pedestal and basically told uz what to do every step of the way and they had already pencil sketched the owl shape we were working on that night.

It waz fun! We got to wear apronz so we didn’t have to be too neat. We mixed colorz and used three different brushez and even used the butt end of jthe brushez a little bit. They had wine available and we indulged and everybody had a great time and the resultz were good.

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So here are Heather and I (yez, I am smiling so shut up). I tried my best to make my owl not so feminine. And I wanted pluz sized eyez and a big beak. You know, not az big az mine but bigger than most.

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And here iz Jim and Leanna with their work. You can tell they both have true artistic tempermentz.

Anywayz, I think I’ll be having another session before another fifty yearz come. And I’m done with z thing at the end of wordz. I am not sure what why started but it iz irritiating the bejeeberz out  of me, and I’m sure you but once I the idea popped into my head halfway through writing thiz, I just had to do it.

Our World – Double Sided Art

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The Philbrook Museum of Art’s gardens has a number of sculptures that really add to the experience. of the gardens. Some of the sculptures are moved every now and then including the one above named “Negative Tree” by Menashe Kadishman. On the sunny side I couldn’t really make anything work.

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When I got over to the dark side, so to speak (lots of people  think I’m already there) I found a better fit. A positive tree paired with a negative tree.

Doing my research for this post I found out that the sculptor died last week. See the link under “Related Articles” below for more information.

Have you done any pairings lately?

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Earlier Negative Tree posts Here and Here