the eyes of the future...

"Messenger", Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ  (2/21/2013)

You may remember my post from last year, "The Raven Rocks".  At the time, I thought it would be cool to try to catch a picture of it in the snow.  This morning the opportunity presented itself following a snow storm on Wednesday night.  

I took this photo after sunrise while waiting for more dramatic lighting that didn't materialize.  I still like the shot though -- shows a little snow on the top of the raven.

The sculpture now has the phrases "The eyes of the future are looking back at us" and "To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle" written under the wings.  [click picture for larger view]

Wise sayings, don't you think?

There is also now a plaque with info about the sculpture (also see my Raven Rocks link above).  I like the fact that this sculpture was made of salvaged concrete unearthed during the road widening project.

We had snow falling at noon on Wednesday, rather a rare thing in our desert.  Sure our mountains always get snow, but snowfall in any amount that reaches the desert floor is always a pleasant surprise.  It was amazing how many smiles appeared at work as people looked out to witness snowflakes tumbling down.  :-)

desert hammerhead

Hammerhead Shark Mural, 22nd St east of railroad overpass (2/16/2013)

twin beaks?

mural SW of 4th Ave & 6th St, Tucson, AZ (2/9/2013)

Happy Valentine's Day

4th  Ave, Tucson, AZ (2/9/2013)

I don't know who does their outside windows, but there are often some very nice window paintings at Delectables on 4th Ave in Tucson.

cat on a mural

a portion of the huge wall mural in Haggerty Park, Tucson, AZ (2/9/2013)

This is just a portion of the wonderful "Together We Thrive" painted mural by the Tucson Arts Brigade in Haggerty Park on 4th Ave in Tucson.

[Links: Perth Daily Photo recently posted some wonderful photos of a centenary celebration at the University of Western Australia which featured a very cool light show projected on the side of a building.  The pictures intrigued me enough to do a little searching to see if anyone had made a video of it.  Success!  Here is a video of the light show (be sure to watch for the giant peacock).  Incredible.]

evening shutterbug

Neon Bug Sign, Tucson, Arizona (2/9/2013)

Neon Bug Sign, Tucson, Arizona (2/9/2013)

I recently noticed this beauty on top of an east Tucson pest control company.  Very nicely done!

up on the rooftop, tap, tap, tap...

Mantis climbing over building at the Sculptural Resource Center, Stone Ave, Tucson, AZ (2/2/2013)

Built By The People And Dedicated To The Advancement Of...

12/31/2012, Boston First Night Celebration, Ice Sculpture

Every year at Boston's First Night celebration they have several large carved ice sculptures.

This sculpture was particularly timely since the US federal "fiscal cliff" stalemate between Republicans and Democrats was still in progress (and still is, sigh).  Before nightfall, the sculpture looked as above, seemingly showing the Republican and Democrat icons celebrating the release of doves.  The carved stone inscription on the Boston Public Library in the background seems appropriate.

12/31/2012, Boston First Night Celebration, Ice Sculpture

Revisiting the sculpture later at night, a crowd of frozen protesters has appeared, or, perhaps they were raising their arms in celebration?  Hard to say, politics can get quite chilling at times.  Many interpretations could be make of this cold piece of carved art -- that makes for good art, right?

Happy New Year!

12/7/2012, 4thAve, Tucson, AZ

Here we go, flying off into a New Year again!  Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride!

carved palm tree heads

12/15/2012, Tucson, Arizona

I drove past these guys Saturday morning, did a double-take, and had to circle back around to take a few pictures.  I've seen wood stump carvings before, but I don't think I've personally seen any carved out of palm trees  -- very interesting texture, almost looks like pressed sawdust from a distance.

tilting at windmills

12/2/2012, Tucson, Arizona

This picture shows two things:

1. A cool looking windmill made out of bicycle fenders at the Whistle Stop Depot
2. That my lowlight handheld camera shake is very questionable 

neighborly conversation

11/10/2012, 6th St near train tracks, Tucson, Arizona

here's looking at you

8/14/2012, Tucson, Arizona

I'm aways amused by this reflection/diffraction pattern in the window of the Covington Gallery in east Tucson.  The smiling face appears and disappears totally based on your viewing position.  Unintentional, but nice.  Its actually just a clear window.

keeping an eye on the parking

9/15/2012, parking lot SW of 4th Ave & 6th St, Tucson, Arizona

the Raven Rocks

9/12/2012, East Speedway Blvd sculptures, Tucson, Arizona

These cool new sculptures are associated with the recent road widening project of East Speedway Blvd between Camino Seco and Houghton on my side of town.  The rock cairns on the left, made of large boulders, were created by artist Simon Donovan and stone carver Will Chamberlain.  The large raven with 19 ft wingspan was created by artist Caryl Clement of Wheat Scharf Associates.

9/12/2012, "Messenger" by Caryl Clement

While I was taking pictures this morning a woman walked up and introduced herself as the artist of the large raven, Caryl Clement.  She just happened to be walking down the sidewalk on her way to work.

Caryl said that the raven sculpture is made out of concrete footings excavated during the road construction project and then shaped by Mark Yaglowski.  Caryl also mentioned that the land right behind the sculptures is city property and in a flood plain so it is likely to maintain a great view of the Santa Catalina mountains behind the sculptures.

9/12/2012, Cairns by Simon Donovan with Will Chamberlain

My picture of the cairns doesn't do justice to their height -- it almost looks like they are the small rocks you see marking trails.   They're not, these are all boulders.  Very cool.

as seen from the road

I really like both sculptures and think they complement each other nicely.  I think its great that our road construction projects put a little of the budget into various diverse forms of public art.  The road project also turned out nicely, two lanes each direction with bike lanes, rubberized asphalt for low noise, sidewalks, and several other nice features for traffic flow and safety.

[Links: The City of Tucson has put together a presentation with some great road art pictures (some Tucson, some not): An Introduction to Public Art in Transportation.]

Two horse mural at the feed store

8/26/2012, Feed Store near Dodge & Fort Lowell, Tucson, Arizona

This feed store mural goes nicely with the real vegetation growing next to the wall.

the eyes have it

8/25/2012, Toole Ave near 6th Ave, Tucson, Arizona

Kind of like something you would expect to see on the Simpsons?

[Links: Check out the incredible paper art creations of Tucson artist Nick Georgiou which he makes out of cut newspaper and paperback books -- amazing work!]

metered art

8/25/2012, 6th Ave & Toole Ave, Tucson, Arizona

kinetic butterfly sculpture

8/25/2012, Toole & 6th Ave, Tucson, Arizona

I noticed this very cool kinetic butterfly sculpture on the corner of Toole Ave & 6th Ave this morning, it was apparently installed back in May of this year.

Its a 20 ft tall, 6 & 1/2 foot wingspan kinetic sculpture made by Ned Schaper (aka Mat Bevel).

It wasn't in motion when I saw it, but here is a link to the Bevel Butterfly Company which has some nice night videos of it in flight (once on their site, click the center of their screen two times to get to first video).

noon colors

8/19/2012, 7th St, Tucson, Arizona

I really like this stained glass sunshade -- colorful and dynamic as we rotate under the Sun.  I wonder what it looks like from inside?

8/19/2012, 7th St, Tucson, Arizona

The shade appears to have an angle adjustment, presumably for different seasons of the year when the Sun is at different angles to this south facing wall?

[Links: The current Sept/Oct issue of AAA Highroads magazine has a nice article by Lorraine Darconte on Tucson's All Souls Procession.  I'm pleased to say that they used two of my event photos in the article.  The online version of the article can be viewed here.  Here are my past blog posts covering the annual All Souls Procession, in case you've missed them.]