Tag: art

The Old Man and the C’s

A close-up of four horseshoes at the edge of the parking lot for horse trailers at Granite Mountain in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 9, 2024. Origina: _Z721039.NEF

I’m a big fan of public art, even if it’s very much with a lowercase ‘a’, even if it’s just a bit of whimsy. This photograph is me feeling playful at the end of a wonderful walk with Bear at Granite Mountain, I love how they lined the parking area for horse trailers with old horseshoes. Perhaps they’ll regret it down the road if it makes it more expensive to resurface the lot, but I like the reminder that not everything ā€“ and everyone ā€“ needs to be some flavor of beige.

šŸ“·: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-200mm
šŸ—“ļø: January 9, 2024

Bear vs. The Nemesis

Our dog Bear looks at a mountain lion sculpture in the distance on the Camino Campana Interpretive Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 18, 2023. Original: _ZFC8905.NEF

Sadly this is about as close as I’ll ever get to an actual mountain lion. Thankfully this is about as close as I’ll ever get to an actual mountain lion. Bear usually wants to stop and stare at the animal sculptures at Fraesfield, he knows they aren’t real but can’t quite make out what they are. It’s the mountain lion that really gets his interest, there is also a jackrabbit and a javelina nearby. This morning he walked right on by, there were lots of people and dogs with it being Christmas Eve so I think he was a little too distracted to appreciate art.

šŸ“·: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50mm DX
šŸ—“ļø: December 18, 2023

Escaping the Shadows

The sculpture known as Mountain Climber hangs on the outside wall of the firehouse in front of Cavalliere Park, surrounded by plants and shadows, in Scottsale, Arizona on October 21, 2022. Original: _Z727221.NEF

A piece of public art known as Mountain Climber hangs outside our local firehouse at the entrance to Cavalliere Park. Donated to the city by Flip Weber, the steel sculpture was created by artist Alan “Dale” Wright, who interestingly grew up in my beloved Portland before later arriving in Scottsdale.

I’ve been meaning to photograph the sculpture since I first saw it but it’s taken me a while, and even once I went to the park specifically to photograph it I had to come back for a second try as the dinky tripod plate I had been temporarily using on the Nikon came loose and I didn’t like my handheld shots too much. I took a close shot too but I prefer this one, taken late in the day right before the sun got blocked by the mountains. The higher parts of the park were still lit so I wandered up for a little hike and some nature photography.

I’ve since ordered a proper L-bracket for the camera.Ā It was the second time the little bracket had come loose, Iā€™m a slow learner but I can learn.

Pups Old and New

Our dog Ellie basks in the sun beside the dragon statue at Irvington School in Portland, Oregon on December 10, 2017. Original: _DSC7223.ARF

I’ve posted similar shots of Ellie before, sitting beside the dragon at Irvington School in December 2017. Originally I meant to post it to mark the four year anniversary of leaving our beloved Portland, and when that date passed the anniversary of our arrival here in the desert, but I was pretty tired after work each night and the posts went unwritten. I was in the middle of writing it yesterday under the better-late-than-never philosophy when my wife came in and said the black lab being fostered up in Cave Creek she had her eye on was still up for adoption, and he was cat friendly, and we could meet him that afternoon ā€¦

ā€¦ and we pick up 6 year old Bear in an hour to bring him home. Rather than nattering on and never getting this up I’ll just say how grateful I am for every moment I got to spend with the goofball above and how much I’m looking forward to getting to know the newest member of the family.

Art in the Park

A large seed pod sculpture sits in front of a palo verde and a leaning saguaro at George Doc Cavalliere Park in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 16, 2020. Original: _CAM5533.arw

Dotting the short hiking trail at Cavalliere Park, a multi-use park near our house, are seed pod sculptures by Jeff Zischke. I love how naturally they are placed in the landscape, they remind me of animal sculptures we saw years ago at an Audubon Center in Maine. This is one of the larger ones, sitting just uphill from the basketball courts, near a saguaro as obliging as it is beautiful as it leans over to more easily fit into the picture.