Tag Archives: Sculpture

Skywatch Friday – 4th of July and a bit of Art

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It is incredible how they time the fireworks. Here is a double stack.

Of course this being an American blog, you can expect some fireworks as we celebrated the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

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Triple Stack

A couple of my Brit friends posted “Happy Treason Day, You Ungrateful Colonists” on facebook. All in good fun of course. At least I think it was all in good fun.

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Quadruple Stack!!!

Enough of fireworks!!! How about a stainless steel tree!!

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Enough of fireworks and politics okay. How about a stainless steel tree?  It is a sculpture called “Yield” by the artist Roxy Paine installed at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Our World – New Route 66 Monument in Tulsa

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a bonus shadow selfie

Tulsa’s Howard Park right on Route 66 in the city’s gritty industrial west side has a brand spanking new monument consisting of three big sculpted pillars of Indiana Limestone by Utah artist Patrick Sullivan.

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The pillars depict Tulsa sights like Cain’s Ballroom, art deco architecture, the energy, aviation, and railroad industries and Native American heritage.

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I love stuff like this. This monument is here to stay. An F5 tornado may topple them but they are not going anywhere.

An article from Route 66 News with video and a lot of the backstory on the monument and the artist who created it.

Howard Park’s Facebook site

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday

 

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.

Digital Art Meme – Kwan Yin Sculpture at Tulsa’s Tam Bao Temple

Buddhist Sculpture Kwan Yin - glow squiggly lines ii 82%

I went on a lunchtime geocaching adventure in east Tulsa last week and on the way back to the office I saw a huge sculpture so I pulled off the road and took a photo of the statue. I would have got closer but a dog came bounding out and although friendly acting decided to move on. It turns out that the sculpture is of the Buddhist bodhisattva, Kwan Yin, who represents mercy, compassion, kindness, and love in the Buddhist religion. The sculpture is located at Tulsa’s Tam Bao Buddhist Temple.  The sculpture was erected by the Temple to express their appreciation to the people of Oklahoma and United States for the hospitality extended to the Vietnamese refugees who came here after the Vietnam war.

It is 57 feet tall and made of granite and is beautiful. I used Topaz Lab’s Glow software to add some texture to what was a flat blue sky.

The following is a short (1 minute plus or minus) documentary on the sculpture.

I live for serendipity. Don’t you?

Linking with Digital Art Meme

Weekend Reflections – Snowy Day

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I love a good puddle reflection

Well it was kind of a snowy day last Saturday. I dropped the kid off at his Improv Comedy class and then went over to the river to plod a few miles. It had snowed a little earlier that morning but had quit. Just the kind of snow I like.

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I used Topaz Glow – Whisker Wires effect on this photo – true confessions

So I did my thing, stopping and taking pictures every now and then.

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This sculpture is “Crossing the Prairie” by Glenna Goodacre. I happen to love this work. More true confessions I used Topaz on this photo also.

I don’t like cold weather that much but I don’t mind it when I’m running. I have the right kind of clothes for running in cold wet weather and my movement keeps me warm. I’m just hoping that we don’t get any ice. I hate ice. Except in my scotch, I like it a lot there.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

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.

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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.

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

Related articles