Filed under: Art, Blogging, Cats, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Arizona State University, Art, Blogging, Cats, Coffeehouses, Phoenix, Photography
Yay, I’m off work today! I had to deliver my photos to Art for Health this morning so I decided to take the whole day off. Tony is off, too, so after we took the photos in, we went to Fair Trade Cafe and here I am blogging away from there while he is on his laptop. Of course, we had some of their good food along with the coffee.
Tonight my friend Cindy and I are going out to dinner to celebrate her birthday, which was last week. Yesterday was my mother’s birthday and tomorrow is my friend Michelle’s birthday. One more day of work tomorrow and then it’s the weekend, as well as First Friday!
Here’s Ebony, one of the many outdoor kitties, asleep in his kitty treehouse in the oleanders. If I were a cat, this would be the perfect place to spend a spring afternoon.
Hope you’re having a relaxing fun day or have one coming up very soon!
Candace
Filed under: Art, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Arizona State University, Art, Community Outreach, Phoenix, Photography
This coming Friday is First Friday at the downtown Phoenix galleries. It’s also the 6th annual Art for Health fundraiser benefitting the Arizona State University Nurse-Managed Health Centers and it is held at Grace Lutheran Church, which houses one of the clinics. I have 2 photos in this juried show (that’s the limit), which is also sponsored by ASU’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts (from which I got my degree although it had a different name then). Last year was the first year I participated and I was happy that both of my pieces sold. Hopefully, the same will happen this year because, basically, if your work doesn’t sell, there are no proceeds going to the clinics.
Here’s my 2 pieces for this year, both of which I have shown on my blog before (Grackle and Bridge).
So, if you’re in Phoenix, come on over to Grace this Friday night (3rd Street and Portland) and buy some art to help fund these clinics that serve the uninsured. Or at least, come to First Friday before the weather gets too unbearable…this may be the last pleasant month for awhile. There are a lot of good galleries down on Roosevelt Row and the surrounding area, all within walking distance of this church.
Candace
Filed under: Art, Music, Phoenix | Tags: Art, Downtown Chamber Series, Music, Phoenix
Well, we went to a garden party last night, which I mentioned in Thursday’s post. It was the Downtown Chamber Series‘ 10th Anniversary Celebration. The event was sold-out. Twelve musicians spent all day cooking and baking for 70 guests as a fundraiser for the series and then played for our listening pleasure, too. The food and wine were great, the desserts were awesome, the music was wonderful, as always, and the setting was beautiful. It took place in the lovely garden at the Alwun House. The Phoenix New Times recently stated that, “Alwun House arguably sired the entire downtown arts district.” The Alwun House has been around since 1971 but the big downtown arts district has only existed for the last few years. I finally got to meet Kim Moody, the Founder and Director of Alwun House, after hearing about him for many years.
I know, flash photography, ick.
Mark Dix, Founder and Director of the Downtown Chamber Series, plays viola for the Phoenix Symphony. He works very hard planning, organizing, and working at all the (6) chamber concerts throughout the year.
The Alwun House garden is pretty yet slightly bizarre.
Thanks, Mark, and everyone, it was fun!
Candace
Filed under: Art, Music, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Art, Downtown Chamber Series, Music, Phoenix, Photography
for buds, blooms, blossoms, berries…
It’s also the season for fundraisers. Tomorrow night we are going to the Downtown Chamber Series‘ 10th Anniversary Celebration. Musicians who play in the series, mostly Phoenix Symphony players, will not only be performing but will be cooking for the guests. The urban garden party will be held at the Alwun House, one of the original downtown Phoenix galleries. This is the first time they have done anything like this so it should be fun and we are looking forward to it. It’s a great organization that promotes art and music in downtown gallery settings.
Next weekend I’ll be participating in another fundraiser, Art for Health 2009. I was in this fundraiser last year and enjoyed it so I am happy to be able to participate again. I’ll be mentioning it in a future blog over the next few days.
After a little bit of a hot spell, with temps above 100 degrees, it’s cooling down to normal temperatures again. Tonight is beautiful so I took a few shots in the yard and the weekend is supposed to be even nicer.
Candace
To continue with yesterday’s post, Deborah gave me permission to post the rest of the photos I had taken of her Earth Day zine. I want to learn how to do this sort of intricate folding. I keep meaning to but then I just take pictures instead…it seems to require more patience than I can summon.
Below you can get an idea of the complexity of the folding; some pages open up into entirely different directions of folding.
I didn’t show every page but you can get a general idea of all the fun things packed inside.
Hope you had a green day!
Candace
What are you doing for Earth Day? We’re encouraged to “think tree” and dress accordingly at work, as long as we keep it professional. I do have just the thing to wear, a blazer that looks kind of rainforest-y with one of my butterfly pins on it.
My cousin, Deborah, sent me the most beautiful limited edition Earth Day zine she made…dedicated to trees. It’s a complexly folded little booklet, filled with all sorts of fun facts about trees, poems, tree projects, links relating to trees, illustrations, little attached envelopes with fun things inside including a bay leaf and a yummy recipe for potatoes roasted with them (easy enough that I could do!). Of course, the zine smells great with a bay leaf in it. I was going to post some photos of the zine but then realized I hadn’t asked her permission so I will just show you the cover for now. I keep coming back to this zine and poring over it.
And Google, of course, is in the spirit of things with its doodle.
I love checking Google everyday to see if they are commemorating something and this is an especially nice doodle.
If you can’t think of anything Earthy to do but want to do something to mark the occasion, join the Earth Mosaic Project and upload a photo that you have taken during the 24 hour period of April 22, 2009. They will then create a giant photo mosaic of the Earth for all the world to see and you will feel a part of the world community! You have to use a photo taken on 4/22 because the EXIF data from your camera will record the date you took the pic. It sounds fun and, hey, it can’t hurt.
Do something green,
Candace
Last Saturday, I was excited to receive two lovely watercolors from Angie, my blogging amiga. Angie has a husband, two handsome sons, teaches art in a bilingual school, knits, sews, photographs, blogs, does all sorts of fun arts and crafts projects including mosaics and, obviously, she also paints very well. I’ve learned all sorts of things about México from Angie’s blogs and emails.
Such lovely, subtle colors in her watercolors. I especially like that Angie sent me paintings of plants native not only to her area but also to mine.
We don’t have any agave (in our yard) but we do have aloe, which is related to agave (according to my readings anyway).
WB thinks the aloe is valuable enough to guard.
I had to go into my neighbor’s yard to find a prickly pear and his poor cactus has some sort of blight for which it is being treated.
Angie has some beautiful photos on her blog that illustrate the rich culture and history of México. This is one of my favorites: I just love the crispness of the fresh laundry against the blue sky and the timeless quality of the photo.
¡Gracias, Angie!
Candace
Filed under: Art, Phoenix | Tags: Arizona State University, Art, Coffeehouses, Parks, Phoenix
On Thursday, the Downtown Civic Space Park opened in Phoenix. Today we went to check it out, new camera in tow. Okay, I like the camera better than the park. It’s very urban and stark right now. I imagine that, as time goes on and the trees they have planted mature, it will become more aesthetically pleasing.
The new park is adjacent to the downtown campus of Arizona State University and is the result of a collaborative effort between the city of Phoenix and ASU. The goal is to have a special place that will benefit residents, students and downtown visitors. It is also right next to a light rail stop, Phoenix’s new public transportation project.
The most unique (and controversial, as it was almost vetoed) feature of the new park is a wind sculpture by international artist, Janet Echelman. “The artist was inspired by Arizona’s distinctive monsoon cloud formations and Saguaro cactus blossoms, the state flower, to create a vortex-like form which hangs from the two rings. In addition to the rings, the sculpture features light-weight netting that billows and moves with the wind, capturing the dynamic beauty of desert light and the movement of gusts and breezes. Specialized lighting will give the work and the park a landmark presence at night. The net will be made of durable polyester twine with integral colors in blue and violet. The stamen-like core of the sculpture will be yellow.”
Some other buildings in the park complex include:
Then off to a neighboring coffeehouse, which is one of my favorites, Fair Trade Cafe, where all the coffee is fair trade and they also sell merchandise from coffee-producing countries.
I found a gift there for my mother’s upcoming birthday, which was an unexpected bonus.
The camera got a breaking-in. I’m still using it in the automatic mode since I have yet to read the manual. So far, I like it a lot.
Candace
Filed under: Art, Music, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Art, Music, Parks, Phoenix, Photography, Scottsdale
Look down there…
No, look up there…
The first photo is from Steele Indian School Park, the second from Scottsdale Civic Center.
Last night we went to see Etta James, no photography permitted, of course. It was great…she was funny and interacted with the audience a lot and the music was awesome.
Today I finally got this…after waiting quite awhile (and prepaying, which makes the waiting a little more stressful).
So, as soon as I learn how to use it, I hope it will open up a new photographic world for me. It’s been about 10 years since I messed around with apertures and shutter speeds on my old film camera but I’m hoping all that will come back quickly. It kind of makes me want to shoot with my old Nikon again, too, especially since I realized today there was still a roll of film in it, half-used. Meanwhile, my trusty point and shoot will still be with me daily for those times when you just have to have a camera close by.
And it’s almost Friday, so how much better can things get? I hope you are having a good week.
Candace
Three friends (Jere, Barb, Jan) and I, who used to work together, meet for our birthdays (as well as other times). For years, we have exchanged gifts over dinner and have enjoyed both giving and receiving. This year we decided that, because of the economy, we would disband the gift-giving and reconsider it again in 2010. Instead, we are making charitable donations to animal organizations in the birthday person’s name since we are all animal lovers. All charities are having a difficult time of it right now so, hopefully, our small donations will benefit them a little. We did also give the birthday celebrators a very small token gift so they would have something to open.
Tonight we celebrated Barb’s and Jan’s birthdays at My Florist in central Phoenix. My Florist is…oddly enough…a former flower shop where they also make Willo Bread, which is used by many restaurants in town. It’s an attractive restaurant with delicious food but a little pricier than we had hoped. They also have a piano player some nights but not tonight…at least not while we were there.
The recipient organizations for tonight’s birthdays were The Arizona Humane Society and Liberty Wildlife. We were still able to enjoy each other’s company and some good food and drink so who needs any other gifts?
Candace
