Category: Art and Design
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Scenes from Padova Italy Part 1
Orto Botanico or the Botanic Garden of Padova is just off busy plaza Prato Della Valle. Tucked away from busy roads even in 27C heat, here it is cool in the shade. It’s perfect for a jet-lag nod-off on one of the benches. Focused on rare plants in the Veneto region of Italy, the garden dates…
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Dutch Designer Marcel Wanders Part 3
As promised in Dutch Designer Marcel Wanders Part 1 and Part 2, here are pictures I would not have taken before I saw the Marcel Wanders Pinned Up exhibit at the Stedelijk and a bit about what’s different. Wanders emphasized stories in his work usually by adding the human form. That got me to thinking about…
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Dutch Designer Marcel Wanders Part 1
On our recent trip to Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to go to the Stedelijk Museum, a design museum, where I was introduced to the copious work of distinguished Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. I had never heard of him by name but was familiar with his knotted chair and his Zeppelin light. His products have…
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Thinkering at Hôtel Droog
While you can find the unexpected there, Hôtel Droog also has an exhibition space with some pretty smart art. “Reframing Ambition” by Thomas Lommée & Christiane Högner was the current show. I loved this ever so clear part of their statement: The exhibit was composed of a number of installations. One called Thinkering was an installation of shelves like…
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The Unexpected at Hôtel Droog
I found Hôtel Droog (Staalstraat 7b) listed in the “Distinctly Amsterdam” section of the National Geographic book Walking Amsterdam: The Best of the City. The hotel part is a one-bedroom attic apartment on the top floor. The Droog part is a design emporium, designed interior, exhibition space, and café. The interiors turn your expectations upside…
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From Ill-Matched Threads to a Single Cloth
It all began with reorganizing my few studio shelves for easy access to the art tools I use most. A yellow Kodak slide carousel box on the middle shelf did not qualify. Opening the lid revealed a round row of slides (upside down and backward) with clear labels (title, artist, medium, size) on the top…
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Arizona Cactus Garden at Stanford
When I sang praises of the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, friends suggested that I check out the cactus garden at Stanford. Two attempts to find it and 3 different maps later, I can say it is fantastic! Originally planted in the 1880’s this garden has some pre-historic looking specimens. As you can tell…
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And More Ruth Bancroft Gardens
The Ruth Bancroft Gardens were so fun to visit. I keep coming back to my photos from the trip. I will miss their sale this weekend but I do have even more pictures to enjoy. Sculpture ran throughout the Ruth Bancroft Gardens. Some whimsical: And some seriously playful: Unfortunately, I did not write down the names…
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More Ruth Bancroft Gardens
Last weekend I visited the Ruth Bancroft Gardens in Walnut Creek, CA. The last post I shared a few of the photos I took of this amazing place, and there are more to edit. I found myself passing over the meta photos. Though they showed the beauty of the place accurately, I was more excited…
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Ruth Bancroft Garden Visit
The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA is the land of giant succulents. Planted 40 years ago after the walnut trees died in a working orchard, today’s specimens span many varieties and ages. Handy tables underneath the expansive shade, winding paths around islands of cacti, and human-scale sculptures hidden everywhere make this garden far more…
