CULLEN SCULPTURE GARDEN

Sunday, February 2 - The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden showcases art of 20th- and 21st-century. Isamu Noguchi created the garden in 1979. His plan was a modern approach to the traditional idea of a garden framed by concrete walls ranging in height. We are not modern-art lovers. We can stand there and stare at a modern art piece of hours and have no idea what the heck it is. Here are a few of the examples of the sculptures in the garden.

Entrance

Untitled

Two Circle Sentinel

The Large Horse

Back I, Back II, Back III, Back IV

New Forms

Decanter
 
There are 25 pieces in the Garden. Nice but not the best sculpture garden we've seen. New Orleans still takes the trophy as far as we are concerned.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

HOUSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Thursday, January 30, 2014 – Thursday is “get-in-free day” at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Shell Oil Company picks up the tab for the day. If you follow our blog you know this comes as “mixed blessings” in the Weaver Clan. Marsha simply loves museums, and Paul merely tolerates them.

Not very pretty on the outside.

The feature show at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH) is titled Roads of Arabia. It is an archaeology and history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is a display featuring the ancient trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula. Displayed are artifacts recently excavated from more than 10 sites throughout the peninsula. Many of the relics date back to 1 BC. This exhibit arrived in Houston in mid-December following its acclaimed U.S. debut at the Smithsonian Institute. It will be in Houston until March 9, 2014. Darn…no photos permitted in that area.

Permanent displays are also present featuring African Art, Asian Art, Pre-Columbian Art, Native American Art, Indonesian Gold, Korea Art, India Art, Japanese Art, China Art, and Art of the Islamic World. Marsha’s favorite by far was the enormous display on African treasurers.

N’Kambe Village Complex…Royal Palace Posts and Lintel. Africa
 

Democratic Republic of Congo…Male Helmet Mask

Pre-Columbian ballplayer and fan. 60-900 AD 

Indonesia

Head pieces…pure gold.
 

India

This one is for the ladies. How would we ever be able to cope with this?

Marsha said she will just stick to wearing her wedding ring.

The place was packed! Our normal procedure is to split-up and enjoy museums at our own pace. As you might imagine, Paul's pace is significantly faster than Marsha's. Surprisingly, Paul only had to wait about 30 minutes for Marsha after completing his tour. Thankfully, Marsha picked-up her pace a bit so we could beat the infamous “Houston rush-hour(s).”

Marsha highly recommends this Museum. There are numerous museums and tourist attractions in this area of Houston, so ya'll check back because Marsha is fixin' to see many more of these attractions in the coming weeks.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great time.

WARNING FROM MOTHER NATURE

Friday, January 24 – We haven't done much since our last post. Relaxing, enjoying the wonderful weather, and of course....wedding planning :-)

Paul finally found some time to do a little carving.

He carved a tree spirit in a cypress knee.

Carving tree spirits is one of Paul's favorite types of carving. He use to do quite a bit of chain saw carving and managed to carve many tree spirits in those days. He likes the creative freedom afforded with tree spirits. He doesn’t have to worry about someone looking at a carving and saying, “Well, that doesn't really look like a bear.” LOL

Finish product

This one hangs in the 5th wheel. It was done a long time ago.

The weather HAD been gorgeous here. We have been outside enjoying the warm sun and blue sky. Bella is really enjoying the outdoors. Fortunately for her, there are many birds for her to dream about capturing and even another cat across the bayou she keeps an eye on. Cats are funny!

 

But….Mother Nature sent us a warning blast of cold weather this morning....just to let us know she's still in charge. It was actually some freezing rain.

 

If you're familiar with Houston, you know most of the freeways are pretty much elevated highways. They don't do well with freezing rain…which leads to shutting them down…which leads to school closures. (Funny that our daughter, a school teacher in NE Ohio, experienced below zero temperatures this morning. Her school was open, and Houston schools were closed due to cold and freezing temperatures.....it was 30 degrees in Houston. What a hoot!) Many stores had delayed openings, and the Elks Lodge canceled Bingo! Golly! So.....we've been hibernating indoors today.

Back in the 60's on Saturday but another one day cold blast by Tuesday of next week. Can't complain though. Overall the weather has been spectacular here in Houston. One of our friends just warned Paul that he better be careful sitting out in the sun – skin cancer you know! So Mother Nature sent along a cold blast to send him indoors.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!