no effects reflects

I saw the building reflection above while in downtown Phoenix today, one of the best building reflection effects that I've seen. The actual building being reflected (below) has narrow vertical windows.

No mirror effects here, this is literally just pointing my camera skyward and snapping the picture. Great building design, enhanced by the placement of the palms.

This building somehow seems to catch different reflections in each of its windows.

closer view of one of the window reflections... really looks like framed art and yet its just a mirrored window... amazing.

textured reflection

I kept my car parked today and rode the new light rail into downtown Phoenix for my class. Very nice. Similar to San Jose and Portland light rails. Easy to use -- there are ticket kiosks at each stop where you can buy various types and durations of passes. An unlimited day pass runs $2.50. I think they are on the right track here with transit and the revitalization of downtown Phoenix.

Desert Botanical Garden (continued)

A few more snaps of the Chihuly glass at the Desert Botanical Garden...

desert plants & melted sand

I have Thanksgiving week off from work and decided to combine a trip up to Prescott (to bring my mother down to Tucson for Thanksgiving) with a stop at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. I've been meaning to visit there for some time (new thing #62), but held off for a while so I could visit when the Chihuly blown glass art exhibition was displayed (new thing #63). Click on pics for larger views.

Incredible green glass agaves next to real agaves!

Columnar blown glass intermixed with columnar cacti

reminds me of a bunch of Night Herons, well... at night

Very nice gardens and plant specimens

I think I saw this creature on an original Star Trek episode?

Very peaceful blue agave setting

Great ball of glass plates

Gives new meaning to the expression Float Your Boat? That's a 14-16 ft boat by the way...

a nice mix of glass and plants

I'm guessing the cacti grow toward the sun and the glass is reaching for the moon...

Most of the glass art is illuminated by small spotlights at night with one very large exception pictured above. This piece is call the Saffron Tower and is 27 ft tall, made out of a bunch of yellow neon tubes. This thing was BRIGHT.

This is the ball featured in my night shot at the start of this sequence. Boy, this looks fragile. According to one of the staff, the glass exhibits showed up in three semi-trucks and each individual blown glass piece had to be painstakingly assembled into the big art pieces such as the one pictured.

This display of Chihuly intricate blown glass art works placed among desert plants is really something to see -- I recommend seeing it if you find yourself in the Phoenix area!

The Chihuly glass will be at the Desert Botanical Garden from November 22nd, 2008 through May 31, 2009. Reservations are recommended. There are three different entry periods per day: 8-12, 12-4, and 4-8. I recommend the 4-8 period which lets you see a mixture of daylight and nighttime settings. The plants by themselves are very cool. The blown glass art work by itself is cool. Together they are are outstanding. [My pics are just a sampling, there is a lot to see -- plants and melted sand.]

#43 Herd it at the Heard

I was in Phoenix this weekend for some errands and decided to tour a few spots that I haven't been to before, one of which was the Heard Museum . The Heard Museum displays the best of traditional and contemporary Native American art. I really liked the above Sculpture in one of the courtyards.

Notice the blown over Palo Verde tree in the background? A storm had just recently passed through Phoenix and there were trees down all around the downtown area.

A very round and very straight fountain, I like how it moves water from one area across dry rocks and then pours water down below [ocean, clouds, rain?].

a couple taking a break outside

I actually liked the carved stone Tufa mold by Ric Charlie even more than the resulting casting shown below.

Now is this a good representation of the Trickster, or what? Even has a can of pork, whiskey, & bible in one hand. One of the exhibit rooms had lots of interesting murals running around the top wall of the room.

This basket is by Terrol Dew Johnson (b. 1971) Tohono O'odham (2001).

This is just a very brief sampling of art at the Heard, with an emphasis on the outdoor sculptures. The inside collections display really nice examples of traditional and contemporary Native American art in all types of media. Well worth a visit.