We entered West Virginia shortly after leaving the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful green in some areas seen from the highway, but I was not so sure about some of the industries.
Then on to Kentucky
Kentucky Folk Art Center - Morehead State University - We didn't get to see the thousands of pieces in their collection due to building cooling problems, but we did pick up a few things in their great museum store. Apparently they have a noteworthy collection of folk art.
Highway 70 in Kentucky passed through horse county and the iconic white fences below.
The highway is also on the Bourbon Trial that passes through many bourbon distilleries.
The highway is also on the Bourbon Trial that passes through many bourbon distilleries.
Walking issues - Some of you have asked how's the ankle? To be honest, I have spent a bit of time with my swollen foot elevated during the entire trip and in the heat of Portland Maine I reclined for three days trying to recover from simply walking. I was not sure how seeing the museums of Kansas City would work out, but thankfully I managed to limp trough them well enough to enjoy myself.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
We only saw a few sections of this great museum, but I was greatly impressed! If we were not pushing towards home I could have returned here for a few more days.
There were great museum curator comments along with the titles on most of the work that I found interesting so included some of these in quotes.
We only saw a few sections of this great museum, but I was greatly impressed! If we were not pushing towards home I could have returned here for a few more days.
There were great museum curator comments along with the titles on most of the work that I found interesting so included some of these in quotes.
A few Moore Outside
Interior Lobby
Ghana, lives and works in Nigeria, Dusasa I, 2007, Created from recycled liquor-bottle tops that have been flattened and stitched together using copper wire. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
"In Interior with a Book, Richard Diebenkorn integrates flat, abstract planes of color with more realistic passages suggesting three-dimensional space. The right two-thirds of the canvas present a landscape, sky and interior space configured as a pattern of horizontal bands of color. Perspective or the illusion of receding space is achieved through the intersection of these horizontals with the diagonal lines of the window frame. The careful placement of a chair, book and trees completes this illusion of depth.
The empty chair and open book suggests the absence or eventual presence of a solitary figure, creating a quiet mood of anticipation."
The empty chair and open book suggests the absence or eventual presence of a solitary figure, creating a quiet mood of anticipation."
"The sweeping gestural brushstrokes and dramatic black and white contrasts seen in in Turin characterize Franz Kline's mature work. His goal was to create a dynamic equilibrium through asymmetry and the interaction of black and white. Close looking reveals that upon a white ground, black and white paint have been applied to the surface in equal importance. Kline used commercial house paints and brushes as large as five inches wide to create these emphatic gestures.
Named after a city in northern Italy, Turin evokes both architectural structures such as bridges and grinders and the surging of energy of the metropolis."
Named after a city in northern Italy, Turin evokes both architectural structures such as bridges and grinders and the surging of energy of the metropolis."
Sam Francis - "Loosely painted in red, purple and black, punctuated by luminous flashes of bright yellow, Untitled gives voice to the dynamism of the soul in action. The drips and splashes, dry-brushed area, and soft-edges pigments saturating the paper record the motion of the artist's brush and express both the tension and release. Typical of his work from the late 1950's Francis leaves more than half of the painting essentially white. These "open" spaces may represent sudden enlightenment, a reflection of the artist's engagement with Zen Buddhism."
"In Woman IV, a figural form, frontal and iconic, fills the surface of the canvas. The woman had enormous arms and breasts, bulging eyes and appears to either grin or grimace. Painted in intense and garish colors, she shifts, reassembles and merges into a field of painterly brushstrokes. Dramatic brushwork, overpainting, scrapes and scrumbles create a myriad of layered effect that set the canvas in motion and record the dynamic painting process.
De Kooning identified the complex fusion of references present in Woman IV: ancient fertility goddesses, Mesopotamian idols, Venus, the traditional female nude, contemporary women, the pin-up of the early 1950's and even abstract forms of nature.
Fully aware of the ambiguity of form and the content in his paintings, he observed: "Content is a glimpse of something, an encounter like a flash." De Kooning's Woman IV. like the others in this series, is not definitively interpreted. Instead, it remains open, inviting speculation, while suggesting the artist's intense engagement with the concept of woman."
De Kooning identified the complex fusion of references present in Woman IV: ancient fertility goddesses, Mesopotamian idols, Venus, the traditional female nude, contemporary women, the pin-up of the early 1950's and even abstract forms of nature.
Fully aware of the ambiguity of form and the content in his paintings, he observed: "Content is a glimpse of something, an encounter like a flash." De Kooning's Woman IV. like the others in this series, is not definitively interpreted. Instead, it remains open, inviting speculation, while suggesting the artist's intense engagement with the concept of woman."
"Cornfield of Health II expresses
A liquidity of paint, rich colors and delicate black lines enliven the softly brushed forms in Cornfield Of Health II. Just below the center and to the right floats an ovoid of yellow with a blue and black center. A signature motif in Gorky's work, this shape recalls a cell and its nucleus, thus evoking the eternal flux of life."
Arshile Gorky 's poetic understanding of nature's organic, undulating forms and varied colors. The painting was inspired by the artist's experiences at this wife's family farm. There he looked deeply into the grassy fields as if you magnify nature in all its lush detail. "That is my goal,"Gorky said, "to achieve fluidity, motion, warmth and the pulsation of nature as it throbs." A liquidity of paint, rich colors and delicate black lines enliven the softly brushed forms in Cornfield Of Health II. Just below the center and to the right floats an ovoid of yellow with a blue and black center. A signature motif in Gorky's work, this shape recalls a cell and its nucleus, thus evoking the eternal flux of life."
"Pink and Indian Red was created in the first of Adolph Gottlieb's mature styles: the Pictographs. During this period, Gottlieb and many of his fellow painters responded to Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung's notions about archetypal images and the collective unconscious. The simple, archetypal forms in this painting are related to those found on prehistoric cave walls, in African and Oceanic art, In American Indian art and in the art of ancient Egypt and Assyria. They underscore Jung's idea fthat all cultures share an intuitive vocabulary of fundamental forms and symbols. The painting's rich, early palette, primal forms, loose grid and shallow space make it as a key work within mythmaking phase of Abstract Expressionism."
"The French symbolist poetry of Stephane Mallarme and Charles Baudelarie often inspired William Baziote's favorite poems, Baudelarie wrote, "you shall love what I love and that by which I am loved: water and clouds, night and silence, the vast green seas." A comparable mystery can be felt in Baziote's painting. Here, the crescent boon confronts a seahorse-like creature floating in a mottled, vaporous realm of sea or sky. The two forms appear to be suspended in a silent act of mutual reverence. The delicate line meandering at the top of the canvas may suggest a passage of the soul, the graceful movements of the moon and its companion or lyrical cadence of Baudelaire's poem."
"Neil Welliver was one of America's leading contemporary landscape painters. His painting are as much about the covering of a flat surface with rhythmic shapes as they are about a direct observation of trees, mountains and streams.
The artist sketched from nature in the Maine landscape where he lived and then returned to his studio to produce large-scale painting. Late Squall presents a grand view of Mount Megunticook in winter. It revels Welliver's interest in capturing the fleeting, ephemeral quality fo light and pervasive mood."
The artist sketched from nature in the Maine landscape where he lived and then returned to his studio to produce large-scale painting. Late Squall presents a grand view of Mount Megunticook in winter. It revels Welliver's interest in capturing the fleeting, ephemeral quality fo light and pervasive mood."
Tracer is one of the 79 silkscreened paintings Robert Rauschenberg produced between 1963 and 1964, whose imagery is derived from everyday information -- photographs, newspapers and magazines. Tracer alludes to the Vietnam War Incorporating American symbols of war and patriotism. Rauschenberg is considered a pivotl figure in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. He unites the disparate imagery of Pop with the bold brushwork of Abstract Expressionism.
The beauty of this painting is Marion Bloch, for whom, with her husband, Henry, the Bloch Building is named. According to Mr. Bloch, the couple engaged Andy Warhol's services and took a suite in New York's elegant Pierre Hotel. The artist arrived, not with paints and brushes, but with a Polaroid instant camera. To their surprise, he photographed Marion against a blank wall in the bedroom and departed. Back in the studio, Warhol selelcted one image of Marion, expanded its scale and photo-silkscreened the portrait on canvas.
Wayne Thiebaud - Starboat (Tugboat and Riverboat) is painted with Thiebaud's characteristic sensuous colors and thick impasto. The boat and its reflections are rendered with delicate brush strokes. See the sky boldly defined by a yellow and green horizon line, are laid out in broad swatches with a palette knife. While Thiebaud's work has been associated with Pop art because of its focus on the everyday objects of popular culture, he sees it as a part of a long realist tradition."
Pop Art - Pop Art has never been on my favorites list. Although I lived during its era of popularity, I felt it was fun but often flat and often very formulaic in its execution. Andy Wahol and Wayne Thiebaud can create work that has a painterly quality that often appeals to me . The work on the wall below leaves me cold.
Clytie Alexander - "Hear the drumbeats of Indian classical music. Imagine the patterned walls of Muslim architecture. Feel the heat of California's Mojave Desert and the coolness of engineered systems. These are the artist's experiences that influenced this work. Painted on a rectangular aluminum panel perforated by a dense grid of drill-pressed holes. Diaphan 15 is hung several inches from the wall. Light passing through the holes bounces off the wall and reflects the panel's vivid orange hue."
"What do you think is hatching inside Subodh Gupta's Egg - could it be a new India? Gupta transforms everyday objects into artworks that critique and challenge our understanding of contemporary Indian life. Egg is made from Humble materials, the cooking and serving wares used in millions of Indian homes. The egg has many meaning in India, from fertility and nourishment to it ancient religious symbolism as the Brahnamda (Cosmic Egg), from which the universe emerged."
"Susan Rothenberg is one of several artist who helped reestablish figurative painting in the wake of Minimalist abstraction. Against the hard-edge, geometric approach of Minimalism, Rothenberg and others reinvested the image with the emotion of the human condition. The sooty palette, elemental forms and flickering surfaces of Endless express a somber yet dynamic vision.
In Endless, Rothenberg depicts an inverted figure tumbling in an ambiguous, painterly space. The figure is the artist herself- tentative and vulnerable, fragmented and floating. The figure is also every person struggling physically and psychologically to live in the world. Rothenberg has said, "I want life to be the journey that gets you to the realest place in your psyche. That's what you should be able to paint."
In Endless, Rothenberg depicts an inverted figure tumbling in an ambiguous, painterly space. The figure is the artist herself- tentative and vulnerable, fragmented and floating. The figure is also every person struggling physically and psychologically to live in the world. Rothenberg has said, "I want life to be the journey that gets you to the realest place in your psyche. That's what you should be able to paint."
New Works by Tom Price
"Presence and absence. The words imply opposite state of being. Something or someone is either present or absent. But can these two contradictory conditions occur at the same time?
In a new body of work, English artist Tom Price explores this theme. What appears to be present may actually represent absence, while the reverse is also true. The hollow bodies made of coal, record a person, but the person is not here. Small disks and vine-like forms that seen to float in the resin are crack and void.
In his rok, Price investigates new uses for typically industrial materials. using coal. a form of carbon, one the basic building blocks of our universe. Price casts life-sized bodies and geometric voids. A more modern substance, resin is pushed to a past it's limits, creating fractures and melting globs of tar.
By using unusual material, yet in recognizable and simpler forms, Price ask us to look at the world with fresh eyes. We consider our relationship to the environment and the presence of the now and the absence of the past and the future."
"Presence and absence. The words imply opposite state of being. Something or someone is either present or absent. But can these two contradictory conditions occur at the same time?
In a new body of work, English artist Tom Price explores this theme. What appears to be present may actually represent absence, while the reverse is also true. The hollow bodies made of coal, record a person, but the person is not here. Small disks and vine-like forms that seen to float in the resin are crack and void.
In his rok, Price investigates new uses for typically industrial materials. using coal. a form of carbon, one the basic building blocks of our universe. Price casts life-sized bodies and geometric voids. A more modern substance, resin is pushed to a past it's limits, creating fractures and melting globs of tar.
By using unusual material, yet in recognizable and simpler forms, Price ask us to look at the world with fresh eyes. We consider our relationship to the environment and the presence of the now and the absence of the past and the future."
Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Court - The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
It is my desire to view nature through nature's eyes...to truly become...a part of the very earth, thus to view the inner surfaces and the life elements.
---Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi was one the most innovative artists fo the 20th century. He made drawings, ceramics, photographs and sculptures. He designed chess sets, stage sets, furniture, lights, gardens and urban playscapes. His collaborations with creators such as the visionary architect Buckminster Fuller and the pioneering dancer Martha Graham are legendary. The unifying thread in all of these endeavors is Noguchi's devotion to nature --nature as origin, fact, material and mystery--and our place in it.
Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904. His American mother was a writer and editor, while his Japanese father was a poet. he spent his childhood in Japan, his youth in the United States, his maturity in New York and Europe and much of his later life in Japan."
LOVE, LOVE his work!
It is my desire to view nature through nature's eyes...to truly become...a part of the very earth, thus to view the inner surfaces and the life elements.
---Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi was one the most innovative artists fo the 20th century. He made drawings, ceramics, photographs and sculptures. He designed chess sets, stage sets, furniture, lights, gardens and urban playscapes. His collaborations with creators such as the visionary architect Buckminster Fuller and the pioneering dancer Martha Graham are legendary. The unifying thread in all of these endeavors is Noguchi's devotion to nature --nature as origin, fact, material and mystery--and our place in it.
Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904. His American mother was a writer and editor, while his Japanese father was a poet. he spent his childhood in Japan, his youth in the United States, his maturity in New York and Europe and much of his later life in Japan."
LOVE, LOVE his work!
Isamu Noguchi, American, 1904-1988, Ends, 1985, Swedish granite, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri - Ends is made up of nine pieces of granite arranged to form a cubic structure. Its richly textured surface, including cylindrical drill-bit voids and smooth pegs reveals Isamu Noguchi's deep understanding of stone and the sculpting techniques. On one of the four sides Noguchi used a traditional Japanese technique. He inserted bamboo into a hole and filled it with water. The expanding bamboo split the massive stone.
Noguchi made both ancient and modern sensibilities his own as he touched the life of nature and the nature of life. The sculptures in Noguchi Court speak of the body (Avatar and Endless Coupling), the world (Mountain Landscape (behcn) and Night Land). life-giving water (Fountain) and the cosmos (Energy Void and Ends). Although he worked in several materials, stone was the closest to his heart. His intent was not to impose his voice upon the stone, but to let the stone speak."
The Plains Indians - Artists of the Earth and Sky - great exhibition from the Plains Indians
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Wow! What an incredible exhibit! I have not seen so much art from the Plains Indians at one time and I was impressed greatly with their ceremonial clothing and beadwork especially. This work was left me nearly speechless with awe.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Wow! What an incredible exhibit! I have not seen so much art from the Plains Indians at one time and I was impressed greatly with their ceremonial clothing and beadwork especially. This work was left me nearly speechless with awe.
Most Famous of All Plains Indian Sculptures
"This carving depicts a lunging horse in its last moment of life, and the red triangles represent the animal's bleeding wounds. Successful warriors danced with such objects in performances honoring horses wounded or killed in battle. Renowned artist and veteran warrior Joseph No Two Horns (1852-1942) is believed to have created this work, possibly with help from another carver."
"This carving depicts a lunging horse in its last moment of life, and the red triangles represent the animal's bleeding wounds. Successful warriors danced with such objects in performances honoring horses wounded or killed in battle. Renowned artist and veteran warrior Joseph No Two Horns (1852-1942) is believed to have created this work, possibly with help from another carver."
Joseph No Two Horns (He Nupa Wanica), Hunkpapa Lakota (Teton Sioux), Standing Rock Reservation, North or South Dakota, 1852-1942, Horse Effigy, ca. 1880, wood (possibly cottonwood), pigment, commercial and native tanned leather, rawhide, horsehair, brass, iron, bird quill, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Robe, Eastern Plains artists; probably Illinois, Mid-Mississippi River Basin, circa 1700-1740, Native tanned leather and pigments, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri - A great mythic Thunderbird composed of geometric motifs appears on this famous early robe. The balanced and rhythmic composition is constructed from elongated shapes and lines.
"Red Cloud Owned this Headdress - According to documentation from 1882, the great Lakota chief Red Cloud owned this headdress. Each eagle tail feather represents a distinct honor earned in war. Together they symbolize bravery, political stand, and leadership. Eagle feather headdresses with long trailers are among the most spectacular objects of Plains ceremonial regalia. They transformed a warrior on horseback into a bird in flight."
"Red Cloud was photographed in this Scalp Shirt - Red Cloud, one of the most famous Lakota chiefs, was photographed in this garment called a scalp shirt. The fringe of human hair symbolized brave deeds and also represented the people of the tribe whose safety the wearer pledged to protect. Small patches of glass trade beads on the dark-blue painted panel allude to stars in the night sky. Many remember Chief Red Cloud for his bravery as a warrior and also his great abilities as a statesman."
The Powerful Buffalo
"This sculpture portrays the buffalo as a symbol of reproduction. It also celebrates the animal's physical strength. Straddling a ridged phallus, the bull is rooted to the ground. The monumental animal looks straight ahead with nostrils flaring. Its stance is one of might and potency. From the time Cheyenne people migrated onto the Plains, they considered the buffalo a sacred relative. The regeneration of the herds was central to the tribe's physical and cultural survival."
"This sculpture portrays the buffalo as a symbol of reproduction. It also celebrates the animal's physical strength. Straddling a ridged phallus, the bull is rooted to the ground. The monumental animal looks straight ahead with nostrils flaring. Its stance is one of might and potency. From the time Cheyenne people migrated onto the Plains, they considered the buffalo a sacred relative. The regeneration of the herds was central to the tribe's physical and cultural survival."
"This man's shirt is constructed mostly of trade materials. Hudson's Bay red woolen cloth forms the body, and European glass beads embroider the ornamental stripes. Still the shirt remains open at the side, like animal skin war shirts. The beaded rosettes continue to symbolize the sun and moon. The profuse use of weasel fur fringes indicated a proven war veteran wore the garment."
Favored One-Piece Boots
Southern Plains women favored one-piece boots over a combination of moccasins and leggings. They wore these with painted-hide and later, trade-cloth dresses. The blue and green stained leather serves as a striking background for beadwork and rows of metal buttons. The complex linear, box-like designs on the top fo the moccasins contrast with the running triangular and rectangular bands.
Southern Plains women favored one-piece boots over a combination of moccasins and leggings. They wore these with painted-hide and later, trade-cloth dresses. The blue and green stained leather serves as a striking background for beadwork and rows of metal buttons. The complex linear, box-like designs on the top fo the moccasins contrast with the running triangular and rectangular bands.
Bring Back Old Way of Life
Followers of the Ghose Dance religion created this sacred dress to wear to ceremonies. Spiritual visions inspired the images on the garment. Earlier Arapahoe traditions also informed the symbols. Turtle represent the earth. Eagles, magpies and crows serve as messenger to the heavens. The Ghost Dance spread across the Plains in 1889-1890. Believers thought it would bring back the old way of life."
Followers of the Ghose Dance religion created this sacred dress to wear to ceremonies. Spiritual visions inspired the images on the garment. Earlier Arapahoe traditions also informed the symbols. Turtle represent the earth. Eagles, magpies and crows serve as messenger to the heavens. The Ghost Dance spread across the Plains in 1889-1890. Believers thought it would bring back the old way of life."
Like a Women's Belt Set
"All of the elements of a Plains women's belt set are present in this little girl's fancy ensemble. Hanging from the belt, studded with German silver conchos, are three strike-a-light bags (for flint and steel or government ration cards), a pouch, and various tool cases. Charms for protection add special meaning -- a diamond shaped amulet, deer tails, a wooden bead, and two shells. Metal cones on four ornaments provided a jingling sound."
"All of the elements of a Plains women's belt set are present in this little girl's fancy ensemble. Hanging from the belt, studded with German silver conchos, are three strike-a-light bags (for flint and steel or government ration cards), a pouch, and various tool cases. Charms for protection add special meaning -- a diamond shaped amulet, deer tails, a wooden bead, and two shells. Metal cones on four ornaments provided a jingling sound."
Girl's Belt Set, Southern Cheyenne artist, Oklahoma, ca. 1884, Commercial and native tanned leather, German silver conchos, glass beads, metal cones, cowrie shells, brass heads, bone, deer's tail, pigment, shell, wooden bead, bras gear, metal key, , The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Part of Religious Movement - "This garment created in the late 1800's was part of a religious movement called Faw Faw. It advocated a return to traditional Native ways. Beaded images of horses, human figures, buffalo skulls, and cedar trees relate to the belief. Other images such as hands and horned panthers link to older spiritual concepts and mythology. American flags may symbolize power. Otoe-Missouria prophet Wa-no-she William Faw Faw) founded the movement. It is based upon a personal vision."
Solid Beading - "Pianist Minnie Sky Arrow reportedly wore this fully beaded dress as a recital gown. The garment features a curving yoke and straight-edge flaring skirt. Beaded designs appear to float on the blue expanse and frame both the yoke and skirt. Included are what might be stars, clouds, and supernatural beings. During early reservations times, solid beading of clothing and other objects became popular. This dress was created at the height of the style."
From a Dream - "The artist dreamed this horse mask. Her recollection follows: "The designs were very vivid. I immediately sketched out what I had seen, and I had a very strong feeling that this piece had to be made. When things come to me like this, I really try my best to make them like I saw them, to honor the design. Sometimes the meanings are unclear to when I am working, but later make sense."
We were on the third floor looking at the Chinese temple when we heard the drumbeats, chants and singing from the main lobby where the Indians were dancing.
It was a great way to end our tour of the building and its exhibits.
It was a great way to end our tour of the building and its exhibits.
Art as Poetic Motion - "The ideal way to experience Jesus Rafael Soto's shadow-box construction is to walk by it. You'll notice that Eciture, N.Y. (Writing, New York) vibrates and shimmers, which speaks to the dynamism of contemporary life and the space/time continuum of modern physics. The fine, black vertical rods establish a rhythmic constant, while the eccentric alphabetic lines dance and shift. They are not meant to be read but experienced as poetic motion."
We loved this one!!
We loved this one!!
The Chinese Temple - The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Installed in the early 1930's, this gallery recreates a setting typical of a Chinese Buddhist temple. The ceiling panels and central coffier vault come from the Zhihua temple in Beijing, built in the 15th century at the order of Wang Zhen, a powerful eunuch at the imperial Ming court. The glory of his temple lies in its star-shaped coffiered vault, an ancient architectural form referred to int Chinese as the "ornamental well." As with all traditional Chinese architecture, it is constructed entirely without nails using intricate mortise-and-tenon joinery. The panels on either side of the vault are inscribed with Buddhist mantras in Sanskritic script. The door panels with their latticed windows originally inlaid with paper come from their residence of a high official but are also typical of temple architecture. The columns and lintels are 1930's reconstructions faithfully imitating Chinese architecture and coated in vermillion paint imported specially from China. The mural and sculptures come from other locations and date between 12th and 15th centuries.
Installed in the early 1930's, this gallery recreates a setting typical of a Chinese Buddhist temple. The ceiling panels and central coffier vault come from the Zhihua temple in Beijing, built in the 15th century at the order of Wang Zhen, a powerful eunuch at the imperial Ming court. The glory of his temple lies in its star-shaped coffiered vault, an ancient architectural form referred to int Chinese as the "ornamental well." As with all traditional Chinese architecture, it is constructed entirely without nails using intricate mortise-and-tenon joinery. The panels on either side of the vault are inscribed with Buddhist mantras in Sanskritic script. The door panels with their latticed windows originally inlaid with paper come from their residence of a high official but are also typical of temple architecture. The columns and lintels are 1930's reconstructions faithfully imitating Chinese architecture and coated in vermillion paint imported specially from China. The mural and sculptures come from other locations and date between 12th and 15th centuries.
Bactrian Camel with Central Asian Rider, China, Tang Dynasty (618-906 C.E.) ca. 700, Earthenware with slip and traces of color, Bristling eyebrows, bulging eyes, large nose and bushy whiskers serve to identify this rider as a Central Asian foreigner, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri has some great old architecture
Our good friends, Mike and Mieko - We made plans to visit our friends at their booth at the 81st year of art fair in Kansas City. It was a great show and always a treat to see them. Later we all met up for a great meal at a local restaurant.
The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
A small museum, but worth the trek up the hill to see it and the art inside.
A small museum, but worth the trek up the hill to see it and the art inside.
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Kansas City has the American Jazz Museum on the famous corner of 18th and Vine
Prairie Museum of Art and History, Colby, Kansas
Rules for Teachers 1872
1. Teachers each day will fill lamps and clean chimneys.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's sessions.
3. Make your pens carefully you may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every teacher should lay aside from each day a goodly sum of his earnings for the benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barbershop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity or honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.
Rules for Teachers 1872
1. Teachers each day will fill lamps and clean chimneys.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's sessions.
3. Make your pens carefully you may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every teacher should lay aside from each day a goodly sum of his earnings for the benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barbershop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity or honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.
Downtown Denver, Colorado - Great city for Art!!
I'd like to return here to see more of the art. It had the highest concentration of good art galleries on our entire trip. The Denver Art Museum was a beautiful building with great artwork!
I'd like to return here to see more of the art. It had the highest concentration of good art galleries on our entire trip. The Denver Art Museum was a beautiful building with great artwork!
Daniel Sprick's Fictions - These paintings seem to come alive with the souls of the people. I've never seen anything like these works. I loved the way the works are loose and sketchy at the perimeters as if the person is rising from some mist or possibly chaos.
"Colorado artist Daniel Sprick is known as one of American's finest painters working today in a realist tradition. But what is it that makes his work compelling?"
It may be that despite how "real" they look, these paintings are in fact fictions. Slow looking helps us recognize that each is a result of his skill as a painter -- how he poses his subjects, how he employs a multiplicity of techniques from deft transparencies to think impasto to messy scrumbling, how he creates an atmospheric glow -- joined with his poetic intentions.
As Sprick himself says, "Expression is the whole purpose. Otherwise, you can do really technically correct artwork that is lifeless. I want to express the level of emotion that is meaningful to other people besides myself." Timothy J. Standring, Gates Foundation Curator of Painting & Sculpture
"Colorado artist Daniel Sprick is known as one of American's finest painters working today in a realist tradition. But what is it that makes his work compelling?"
It may be that despite how "real" they look, these paintings are in fact fictions. Slow looking helps us recognize that each is a result of his skill as a painter -- how he poses his subjects, how he employs a multiplicity of techniques from deft transparencies to think impasto to messy scrumbling, how he creates an atmospheric glow -- joined with his poetic intentions.
As Sprick himself says, "Expression is the whole purpose. Otherwise, you can do really technically correct artwork that is lifeless. I want to express the level of emotion that is meaningful to other people besides myself." Timothy J. Standring, Gates Foundation Curator of Painting & Sculpture
Western Art - Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Maynard Dixon - "On this decorative screen, Maynard Dixon simplified a mountain into its basic angles and used only two colors" orange for the light and dark blue for the shadows. Although European artists Pablo Picasso and Geroges Braque had invented cubism about 15 years before, when Dixon painted this screen it was an early example of cubism in the American West."
Artist's Eye/Artist's Hand Celebrating American Indian Art at Denver Art Museum,
Both the building and the art at the Denver Art Museum were outstanding!
Downtown Denver has several art districts with lots of galleries. We explored the area on Santa Fe Street. The galleries that I included are within three blocks of each other. It was great to see such a vibrant art district!!
Artwork Network - Denver, Colorado
Spark Gallery
Michaele Keyes - Skyline and Change of MInd
'This series started off with a few simple ideas. I work intuitively and without thought of a completed piece. My style is not realistic, but the notion or impression of the city skyline was in mind.
I have been observing Denver's skyline since 1965 when there were tall building downtown. It has, of course, changed over the years.
I wanted to try to simplify my work -- less color and wildfire.
I started with black and the skyline, changed my mind and added the red and yellow eventually. There are some pieces that resemble the forest "skyline" and some the city. It is just what happened. My art has a mind all of its own.' ----- Michaele Keyes 2014
'This series started off with a few simple ideas. I work intuitively and without thought of a completed piece. My style is not realistic, but the notion or impression of the city skyline was in mind.
I have been observing Denver's skyline since 1965 when there were tall building downtown. It has, of course, changed over the years.
I wanted to try to simplify my work -- less color and wildfire.
I started with black and the skyline, changed my mind and added the red and yellow eventually. There are some pieces that resemble the forest "skyline" and some the city. It is just what happened. My art has a mind all of its own.' ----- Michaele Keyes 2014
Skylite Station - a live performance venue and gallery
Abecedarian Gallery
The Reading Room - A Place for Artists Books
This gallery has some interesting work, but it was difficult to photograph. They have a good selection of Coptically Bound Books.
The Reading Room - A Place for Artists Books
This gallery has some interesting work, but it was difficult to photograph. They have a good selection of Coptically Bound Books.
SYNC Gallery
If we had the funds to pick up bronze pieces this would have been one of them!
Leaving Denver and heading west on Highway 70 towards Utah
Utah
Nevada along Highway 50 - The Loneliest Highway in America
Yet another Shoe Tree!
Nitty Gritty Details
We drove over 22,000 miles in 178 days.
Overnighting in Parking lots - We stayed overnight in parking lots for a total of 61 nights (178 days in the trip) and we easily saved thousands of dollars on camping fees. Unfortunately, the best parking lots were the Walmarts in Canada with their fast free Wifi (no free Wifi in USA). Before this trip I had avoided Walmart due to their employee policies, so it was a stretch in the beginning before we realized they were most often the only choice and the safest place to stay. In a parking lot there is never mud, we can usually find a level spot and usually services are close by. Often big stores have a large grassy area where the dogs can run off leash. On the downside they are often noisy in the early morning hours with sweepers and the night shift shuffle and chatter, but we still found them to be a good option. Much to our surprise sometimes the campgrounds were extremely noisy and worse than any parking lot! To find free places to stay we used the website http://www.overnightrvparking.com/
Hotels - Twice we booked a room in hotel so that we could use their parking lot to sleep in our rig. We did this in Chicago and Niagara Falls where camping was difficult. We used their shower, but actually preferred to sleep in "own bed."
Car repairs - we had a few car repairs including a rip-off oil change up for $170 in D.C. While in Nebraska at the beginning of the trip we had a serious freeze that caused some issue with our fresh water pipes. We had several service people look at it, but no one wanted to do the work to replace it since it was going to take ten days to get replacement parts from the factory. We tried while in Quebec for a long period, but they didn't speak English well and were unwilling to do the job. Everyone just tried to talk us out of getting it done and would think of new ways for us to use it as is. The problem got worse as the trip progressed and we ended the trip only being able use about 5 gallons of our 35 gallons of water since the tanks would not fill or pump properly. We bought several gallon jugs of water that we kept in our tiny bathroom. Beside the water issues the rig ran very well. Now that we are home we will get it fixed at Roadtrek dealer.
Hair cuts - I cut the front of my hair and Tom did the back. Before we left my hair stylist showed Tom how to cut my hair and he did a great job! I cut his as well. We are considering keeping up our "home care" routine.
Illness - We never got sick the entire trip! We made a point of making sure we got plenty of rest and only had to get up early a few days when we had an early morning tour.
Food - We mostly prepared out own meals and actually ate quite well. Often the biggest challenge was to find fresh produce. We only ate dinner out 6 times in 6 months, but we did enjoy eating out for lunch often.
Moods - We never had an argument and weren't even snippy with each other in the small space. We were both happy to be on the road and were very accommodating to each other's needs.
In the end we felt like we truly knew what it was to live in a van. We are both glad that we made the trip and would like to go again, but probably a shorter trip is next on the agenda.
We drove over 22,000 miles in 178 days.
Overnighting in Parking lots - We stayed overnight in parking lots for a total of 61 nights (178 days in the trip) and we easily saved thousands of dollars on camping fees. Unfortunately, the best parking lots were the Walmarts in Canada with their fast free Wifi (no free Wifi in USA). Before this trip I had avoided Walmart due to their employee policies, so it was a stretch in the beginning before we realized they were most often the only choice and the safest place to stay. In a parking lot there is never mud, we can usually find a level spot and usually services are close by. Often big stores have a large grassy area where the dogs can run off leash. On the downside they are often noisy in the early morning hours with sweepers and the night shift shuffle and chatter, but we still found them to be a good option. Much to our surprise sometimes the campgrounds were extremely noisy and worse than any parking lot! To find free places to stay we used the website http://www.overnightrvparking.com/
Hotels - Twice we booked a room in hotel so that we could use their parking lot to sleep in our rig. We did this in Chicago and Niagara Falls where camping was difficult. We used their shower, but actually preferred to sleep in "own bed."
Car repairs - we had a few car repairs including a rip-off oil change up for $170 in D.C. While in Nebraska at the beginning of the trip we had a serious freeze that caused some issue with our fresh water pipes. We had several service people look at it, but no one wanted to do the work to replace it since it was going to take ten days to get replacement parts from the factory. We tried while in Quebec for a long period, but they didn't speak English well and were unwilling to do the job. Everyone just tried to talk us out of getting it done and would think of new ways for us to use it as is. The problem got worse as the trip progressed and we ended the trip only being able use about 5 gallons of our 35 gallons of water since the tanks would not fill or pump properly. We bought several gallon jugs of water that we kept in our tiny bathroom. Beside the water issues the rig ran very well. Now that we are home we will get it fixed at Roadtrek dealer.
Hair cuts - I cut the front of my hair and Tom did the back. Before we left my hair stylist showed Tom how to cut my hair and he did a great job! I cut his as well. We are considering keeping up our "home care" routine.
Illness - We never got sick the entire trip! We made a point of making sure we got plenty of rest and only had to get up early a few days when we had an early morning tour.
Food - We mostly prepared out own meals and actually ate quite well. Often the biggest challenge was to find fresh produce. We only ate dinner out 6 times in 6 months, but we did enjoy eating out for lunch often.
Moods - We never had an argument and weren't even snippy with each other in the small space. We were both happy to be on the road and were very accommodating to each other's needs.
In the end we felt like we truly knew what it was to live in a van. We are both glad that we made the trip and would like to go again, but probably a shorter trip is next on the agenda.