Not A Lazy Sunday!

My Sunday was both wonderful and annoying, at the same time. What a day! We headed out to the Art Museum on time, plenty of time to get there. Then things started to go South a bit. The exit we had been told to take was blocked, pushing me way to the South and West through massive roadblocks and traffic jams. Still, we finally got to the "right" part of town. Then I turned West instead of East and we wasted a half-hour going the wrong direction, then turning back around to get headed correctly. After one way streets and blocked roadways, we finally ended up at the museum on time - 15 minutes before they opened. It was a mess. 

As an example of our frustration, these five robes. They supposedly
are from five courtiers, all of different rank. We are told they are
displayed in order and that only the emperor could wear yellow
and have nine dragons. But all of them had eight dragons. The
changing spotlights could have indicated their order, but the lights
were random, not in a pattern. It was annoying. 

The exhibition I had been longing to see was plainly - "meh". The items displayed were wonderful, but the "sensory experience" aspect of the exhibit actually took away from the items, instead of enhancing them by emphasizing the thousand years of history that occurred before their construction. In many ways it was quite disappointing. Fortunately we had the rest of the museum to go through afterward, and we spent several hours exploring. I took a lot of photos, so that was fun. 

Lake Street is extremely multi-cultural. It'l been "Little Mexico" for
more than two decades, but it's also Native American and
Somali. It's ever changing, and the traffic is horrendous since
it's one of the few East/West streets that isn't closed by
construction. 

After leaving the museum, heading back East was a bit easier ... except we were driving down a street that is always a bit of a nightmare to get down, and a portion of it was blocked off for a weekend street party celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Yet another detour, more one-way streets, and some more guessing games about whether or not we would end up where we wanted to go. Finally we got back to our side of the Mississippi River, and we felt as if we could breathe once more. What a nightmare! I suspect I'll be using the southern route to get to and from Renaissance Festival in a few months. My usual route is completely torn apart! 

I ended up with Chili's grilled chicken and grilled steak
fajitas along with a lovely Patron margarita for dinner.
DH had cheese enchiladas. We figured we'd just
celebrate Cinco de Seis instead of Cinco de Mayo. 

DH took me out for a lovely dinner to celebrate my birthday (early) and Cinco (a day late), and we declared ourselves exhausted. Sunday turned into such a positive/negative kind of a day, but I had a great time spending a day in a museum with DH, so it was a good day all around, despite the traffic issues. So, I declare the weekend a win! Here's hoping yours was good too. 

Happy Monday. I'm back on normal schedule and dealing with road construction that's not as directly impacting. Huzzah! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

A Busy Wednesday - Get Rid of Some, Buy Some Others

May arrived with warm temperatures, overnight showers (which would have been some serious snow even two weeks ago) and a crowded schedule. Not really a difference there - crowded schedules rule my life. This time it's Memorial Day getting in my way. Sure, it's the final Monday of May - so not exactly happening right away. But it shifts my schedules around because it's a Major Holiday in the USA. The store will be closed, I'll probably allow myself a second sleep day and skip swimming for that day, and I have to schedule around it for my bi-monthly Chiropractor appointment. 

Memorial Day is an important national holiday, a day set
aside to honor those who served and who still serve in
our military, and a chance to say "Thank you for
putting your lives on the line for our freedom". 

June is starting to rush in where May has barely begun. June brings with in my annual trip to the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I always have a good time at the show, and it's not a bad drive out there - only five-six hours on the road from door to door. I suppose it popped into my head because I got the first "Here's what you need to bring for class and I look forward to meeting you," email from one of my instructors in my in-box this morning. I'm taking classes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for the other two emails I'm sure to be getting. 

The exhibit at MIA is called "Power and Beauty in China's Last
Dynasty: Concept and Design by Robert Wilson". I think it
will be fabulous and I'm really looking forward to it. 

May brings the flowers, the green grasses, and my birthday - all is good. A few weeks ago I told DH that I wanted to attend an exhibition on Chinese art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art for my birthday gift. He said "Fine, go ahead and buy the tickets and let me know what I owe you." So I did. We're going this Sunday. Of course I reminded him yesterday that we were doing this on Sunday and it had completely flown through his head - no memory of his words at all. He was all "What if I don't want to go?" I refrained from telling him that if I wanted him to come with me to watch ants do their thing, he should be happily doing it because it's my request for my birthday. ARGH! 

My car isn't quite this bad. Everything does fit into the back
of my SUV. But since I keep a very clean and uncluttered
car, it's bothersome to me to have the back filled with stuff. 

Today, of course, is Wednesday. I have a car stuffed with things that I have to add to today's list of stuff to do. Four large boxes will be gone quickly - I'm dropping them off at my local UPS Store for shredding. These are daily cash reports, etc from the store I used to operate in Mall of America. I closed that business in January 1996, and I thought we had caught all of the boxes the last major shred we did, but I guess we missed a few. So I need to get rid of those. I also have a couple of smaller things to drop off for shipping there. I'll do Tech Dump tomorrow morning since that's closer to my shop. That's where electronics go to be refurbished or minced for landfill-appropriate deposition. 

Tech Dump recycles electronics. Things like TV's have to be paid for
because of the recycling costs of the screens, but most electronic
items are recycled for free. They offer employment for people trying
to return to the workforce, and they do mobile events throughout
the Cities. It's a great organization. 

I'm shopping at my local grocery store as well as at Target today. I try to keep my Target runs to once a month, but there are some staples that I'm running really low on - salad dressing and paper towels head my list today. Of course there are my usual four loads of laundry for a Wednesday, and I'm hoping to get some cleaning done on my car. If it's raining that won't happen and it might be. We're starting May out wet. 

So what are you doing on your Wednesday? It's got to be less hectic than mine will be - LOL. Whatever you're doing, have fun and I'll be back tomorrow with clean clothes and a stocked pantry. 

Tuesday - A Look Ahead

Happy Tuesday, all. I started the morning out thinking I was ahead of the game since I awakened at 2:45 am instead of at 3:15 am. But, by the time I got some old emails cleared up and followed up on some inquiries, I'm not ahead at all - in fact, I might be a bit behind. Can't win for losing - at least it's not snowing ... I think. 

I think that Spring is finally at the threshold. It's probable that we will have some cold and possibly a few snowpiles still around when the ACC show begins in a little less than two weeks, but that often happens. It's April, though, and Winter is being politely ushered to the exit door by Spring. She's tired of hosting the cranky old man. 

A variety of artists exhibit and sell at the
American Craft Council show which always
takes place in mid-April. Here's a piece
of jewelry by artist Lynda Bahr. She'll be
one of many artists exhibiting at the event. 

There's an exhibition going on at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) that I want to see, so I told DH that he can take me for my birthday gift. He told me to get the tickets and tell him how much money he needs to give me. I guess that's a win. I think we would have gone anyway, but I've missed the last two exhibits I wanted to see, and didn't want to miss this one. 

The MIA exhibit pulls a variety of items from their permanent
Chinese exhibits into an immersive experience. They have an
extensive collection, so I'm really looking forward to this. 

"Power and Beauty in China's Last Dynasty" brings items from MIA's permanent collection into a choreographed and sensory experience including auditory, olfactory and of course visual effects. They warn that some people who have sensory sensitivities may be affected, but DH and I don't suffer from that. 

So at least I have beautiful things to look forward to while the snow makes every attempt to linger on ... and on ... and on. It does seem like the winter that never ends, but our daytime temps are much warmer, and the quantities of snow we're getting are much less. Yesterday's overnight snow was completely melted by midday - I can live with that. Our large mountains of parking lot snow are also shrinking daily. Huzzah - Spring is on her way, even though we're actually in the middle of that season. She always takes her time here in the Frozen Northlands.  

So, in an attempt to stay ahead of myself, I'm going to plug in my photos and call this post done. Have a wonderful and fabulous Tuesday and I'll return tomorrow. 

Art Deco Style

There's something about Art Deco that just soothes my fur. The design elements, the proportions, the solidity balanced with reaching for the sky, and the elements of finely chosen materials, colors and metals, all combine to make me happy. It's almost disturbing. Where most people would get excited over a beautiful field of gently waving brightly blooming flowers in a gentle breeze, I get excited over the design of the Chrysler Building in New York. But, that's just the way I am. I adore architecture and part of architecture is form and design. Thus, when I went to MIA on Sunday, the only floor photos I took this time were of some Art Deco furnishings to share with all of you.

I'll start with this. An inadvertent selfie in the mirror of
this fabulous lighted table with shelves. I adore the
tops of the lights and how they balance the shelving below. 

Moving along, there was this wonderful "music cabinet" made
of rosewood and ebony with walnut accents and steel drawer pulls.
I'm not sure what the interior looks like, and I suspect it would have
been highly improper of me to have attempted to open the bottom
section, but I was sorely tempted. 

It's a bit large to be a bathroom scale in my house, but
I'm totally in love with it anyway. The textured metal of
the uprise, the carefully placed dial, and the perfect
choice of lettering form and words for the bottom. Who knew
a scale could have such beauty? 

It's obvious that this is a stand with multiple shelves,
but I was trying to discern it's function. I finally came up
with a telephone and mail stand. The phone book would
go on the bottom shelf, the phone at the top, and
the mail on the shelf cradled by the upper bent wood framework. 

Finally, a link and shoutout to CuriousWombat for the photos below. Last week on LJ and FB she posted a photo of an unusual Parisian doorway that I adored. At MIA on Sunday, I noticed that they had the exact door in miniature - a model of the door. I had to take a photo of it and its accompanying description to share with her and with all of you.

Here is the model of the doorway itself. It has wonderful leaded
glass that almost appears owl-like, and here it is surrounded by
elaborately rendered plaster. The selfie was
unavoidable since it is relatively small. 

Here is the description for the door. I thought is was quite amusing to
come across this after I had just been overwhelmed by her photo
 of the actual doorway in Paris. This is for you, my friend. 

So there you have it - how I spent my Sunday.

Yesterday DH dropped the purchase agreements over to our attorney and the suggestions and corrections he had were quite minor. I've got an email out to my flippers to see if the corrections/additions are OK with them, but I think we're still on track to get the small house sold by the end of the month, and at the latest, absolutely by the end of the year. So, as I head off to the gym today, I'm actually rather optimistic that soon one less thing will be on my plate. Happy Tuesday to all!

MIA - What Fun!

Yesterday DH and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) to attend an exhibit on Delacroix and his influence on modern painters. The exhibit was huge and had so many paintings by amazing artists including Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, and, of course, Delacroix. I hadn't been aware of how much his work had inspired and influenced artists of the latter 1800's and early 1900's and lapped it all up like a dog attacks a water dish on a sultry day. It was magnificent.

Jean Metzinger - Bond de Mer
This is a perfect example of hos his use of small
bits of color make a scene. But what you can't see in
this is how his choice of the direction of his paint strokes
also gives depth. 

One of the artists exhibited really caught my eye. I love good pointellism anyway, but I hadn't heard of Jean Metzinger before. The piece MIA had on display in the exhibit was a wonderful example of how mixing colors can create depth and movement. I fell in love. When I returned home after hours of looking at other exhibits and galleries, I pulled up his name to look at other works while listening to my Denver Broncos lose their first game of the season (boo hoo). Oh well, Denver will still be quite near the top, and now there are only three undefeated teams half-way through the season. Hopefully this will be our only speed bump this season and we can end it with just a single loss.

Jean Metzinger - Femme au Chapeau 1906
Here he still was using the pointellism style, but in
blocks of color. If you look closely, though, the blocks are
made up of so many different colors that appear throughout
the piece and lend unity to it. 

I'm peppering this post with other pointelle works by Metzinger because they're beautiful. He went on to do some of the more interesting and color blended cubist works later in his artistic life. Those are also wonderful to look at. But when I look at pointellism, as a beader, I look at something that I have the very real potential of making in a different media - glass as a beaded piece or as an enamel piece. I look at the distinct color blocks as glass, not paint. The possibilities just intrigue me.

Jean Metzinger - Paysage
This painting went up for sale not too long ago and went for almost
$200,000. That's not a lot when compared to many of his
contemporaries, but it's a lot more than I could ever afford to
spend for a piece of art. I don't really have a great reason for
loving his work except his use of color makes me happy. 

So today I'm off to the WBL YMCA for my swim, followed by my 2X a month chiropractic visit. Then I'll treat myself to breakfast and go to the shop for the day. I'm bringing my pens with me - might as well try to get some of Stage 1B underway since I won't have enough time to continue working on Stage 2A. Happy Monday, everyone. Let's start a wonderful week out with color and pattern.

Progress

Progress is being made. I know I have many pans on the stove (irons in the fire sounds a bit dated), but this week quite a bit got done.

Sometimes things can seem overwhelming. Chipping away at tasks
one small step at a time will often be successful when looking at the
overall burden is too much. 

I had my second meeting with the home flippers and got the basic purchase agreement from them. After a day-long cool down period, DH looked it over and actually didn't have any problems with it. He'll take it to our attorney on Monday morning for an educated look-over and if that's OK, we're good to take the next step - sign that agreement and get things into the pathway to have the house sold by the end of November. Getting rid of the small house would be a tremendous burden off DH and I would be ecstatic. I love the house, but it's been time to sell it and move on for more than twenty years.

Our small house is quite similar to this - small, older, and in need of a lot
of work. We've been working on it on and off (more off than on) for more
then 20 years. I think it's time to move on. 

I have four stages for my Solstice cards and I'm progressing. I'll have to pick up the pace soon, but almost every day I'm getting some work done. I have a long way to go, though, so I'll have to pick the pace up. Stage 1A - Complete. Stage 1B and 1C - Pending. Stage 2A - In process. Stage 2B - Pending. Stage 3A - Pending. Stage 4A and 4B - Pending. That's a lot of "Pendings" and December is coming up quickly. I have to push and get these done on time. My only deadline is that they be postmarked by Solstice. They don't have to arrive on time, but it's nice if they do - LOL.

Delacroix's work influenced many well known painters.
This is his "Bride of Abydos" from 1857. 

DH and I are off to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) tomorrow to see an exhibit and a Van Gogh. The exhibit: "Delacroix's Influence: The Rise of Modern Art from Cezanne to van Gogh" actually runs through early January, but we'll be working on Sundays in December, so thought we should grab it while we could. I'm not 100% sure if the loaned Van Gogh (Irises) is still on exhibit, but I really want to see it if it is.

So a cultural weekend is in line for us. Here's hoping all of you have a wonderful weekend too, and that you make progress on your own personal projects and goals.

Sunday at the Museum

Sunday was MAHVELLOUS, DARLING! Even though we were a bit rushed in the morning, getting breakfast made, the dishes washed, and out the door when I wanted, we were at the museum in plenty of time and their WiFi was strong enough to keep DH happy on his phone for the half-hour we waited before the doors opened. We were in the first group for "The Habsburgs" exhibition and it was stunning! Spanning 600 years of history through art, attire and commentary while pulling in the political climate and changing historical settings, it brought the history to life.

"The Lamentation of Christ" by Peter Paul Rubens was much smaller than
I had expected, but beautifully done. I was glad we went back,
the crowds ebbed and flowed and I was able to take a closer look. 

When we finally reached the end, I asked DH if he would mind going back to a few things I wanted to see once more and he was amenable. So off we went, salmon fighting upstream, to get back to the second room where I started by looking once more at the Rubens picture "The Lamentation of Christ". We then took another long look at the Caravaggio and Holbein pieces and checked some of the embroidery and styles of the clothing again as we made our way through the galleries. The end of the exhibit was marked by films and clothing at the beginning of World War I, the end of which would see the Austro-Hungarian empire carved apart into various smaller nations. My parents were born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, so the end of the exhibit was taking place when they were alive.

"Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" was again, smaller than I had
expected. He was heavy into the greens in this, the light filtering
in from the window on the left gave her skin a green cast in her
arms, and according to what I read, he also used a green copper
undertone beneath the blue of her overshirt which gave it
great depth and tone. He died relatively young and impoverished,
leaving a wife and lots of young children. 

After leaving the exhibition, we wandered the galleries on the third floor, looking for two other paintings by Caravaggio that DH said they had displayed. But, they've been reorganizing the galleries, and their interactive computer stations were all closed, so we were never able to locate the paintings. We did look at wonderful art, however, and had a glorious afternoon capped off by a look at "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" by Johannes Vermeer on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and only available for viewing for a few more weeks.

We enjoy Sandeman port, although we usually drink the Founder's Reserve
which is a bit darker. I bought DH this bottle as one of his holiday gifts
and we opened it yesterday. It's very smooth and has a good balance
with that wonderful fruit of a good port. If I ever go to Portugal, I'll be
drinking my way across because I adore Portuguese wines. 

After a hunt for lunch at the museum, we decided to return to our own neighborhood for food. We had wanted to check out a new Thai restaurant that opened in the area, but, unfortunately, they were closed on Sundays. We ended up at Applebees and had a surprisingly good lunch. Then it was home to watch the next televised game of the Stanley Cup hockey tournament. I worked on putting together a heavy metal play list for my latest electronic toy, expected to arrive later this week, while DH played his game and we had glasses of a very nice 10-year old Port wine. Great day all around. Now to get into gear and hit the pool for laps in a little more than 1/2 hour. Have a fun Monday!

Already Looking Forward to Sunday

It's two weeks of culture for DH and me as we went to the American Craft Council show last Sunday and will go to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this coming Sunday. The exhibit we're seeing is "The Habsburgs" and the moment I received notice of this exhibit I told DH "We're going to this one." It's not that it's so tremendous (although it is), it's that I'm the daughter of a Viennese woman and a man from Prague who was raised in Vienna, and this is, in essence, my history. I've never been to this nation my parents fled in 1938 as Hitler's tanks rumbled down the streets of Vienna. My mother never returned, and I think my father only went back a single time. Here are some of the items we'll be looking at up close and personal (I can hardly wait!).

Jan Thomas, "Margarita Theresa & Emperor Leopold I" (Detail).

Jacopo Robusti, aka Tintoretto, "Susanna and the Elders" (Detail), c. 1555/56. 

Hans Holbein, "Jane Seymour" (Detail), c. 1536/37. 

Peter Paul Reubens, "Lamentation of Christ" (Detail), c. 1614.

Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio, "The Crowning with Thorns", (Detail),
c. 1602/1604. 

These magnificent works and many others including clothing, armor, even a full-sized carriage are on exhibition for this amazing tour through history. Other artists include Titian, Susini, Canaletto and Allegri. I'm already looking forward to it! Have a wonderful Tuesday, I'm off to the gym.

What a Great Weekend and Catching Up

Weekend in the title above might be overstated, since I only get Saturday night and all day Sunday for my weekend, but what I had was wonderful. DH and I had a relaxed Saturday night and finalized our schedule for our Sunday at the museum. Getting up earlier than usual on Sunday, we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast and then went on to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to sink ourselves in Matisse as well as other exhibits and their always interesting store.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is one of my favorits
places to go. This is their seasonal entrance, only open
during the summer months. There is another entrance to
the left of this picture that is ground level and year-round. 

We wandered through the Matisse exhibition and I took lots of photos (no flash, of course) since they were allowed at the museum as well as the special exhibit. I was a bit surprised that the special exhibit allowed photos - they usually don't - but the admission instructions said photos were fine so I took advantage. I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet. I'll try to get to that tonight.

The cutout gauche paper and hand-written paged book
called "Jazz" was exhibited throughout the final
room of the grouping. It was just fabulous to see
each collage. I wish I read French because not
all of the text was translated. 

The Matisse exhibit was fabulous. The collection of paintings, drawings, lithographs and sculptures gathered were more than fifty individual works ranging in size from two inches to very large wall sized and ending with his cut paper work in his very rare book, "Jazz". It encompassed the whole of his creative life and went into detail on how he worked on pieces, changing them time and time again until he was finally satisfied with them. When he grew tired of painting, he would sculpt. When he wanted a change again, he would draw, or work on stone lithography. And then he would pick up the paintbrush again.

This amazing stone lithograph was one of many
prints in the exhibit. The shading, the hint of
transparency, and the patterning are
outstanding. Often he worked directly on
the stone instead of making a drawing to
be transferred to the stone for printing. 

I took hope from his changing media often because I operate in similar ways. When I hit a wall with my writing, I turn to my art. When one media doesn't do it, I work in another. I bounce back and forth with my creative structure and although it drives DH crazy, it actually allows me to channel my personal creativity into methodologies that can best take advantage that day. It works for me and seeing that Matisse did similar things made me feel much better about my lily-pad hopping style of art and writing.

Just look at this little duck crossing the lilypads! CUTE! 

After spending several hours more wandering other parts of the art museum, we shopped the gift shop (didn't buy anything though - we were good!), then left. The hockey game had started at 2:00 pm and we were early enough that we could catch at least the second and third period, so we decided to get pizza and beer at Old Chicago and watch the game.

Flights of beer usually will run from light to dark,
but can be organized any way the customer wants. 

We had flights of beer - DH chose a grouping of Mexican beers, I went for a flight of imported beers and a second flight of Colorado beers. (The import flight was fabulous, the Colorado flight was less enjoyable.) For those who may be unfamiliar with the term 'flight' of beer, it is four four-ounce pulls of draft beers, allowing you to try a variety of beers with small potions. That way if you don't like a beer, you haven't committed to a large portion. I was glad a few of these were flights, I won't be ordering them again. But there were some winners in the group, of course.

Left Handed Milk Stout is a beer I've recommended in the past and
would easily have again. It's a bit lighter than Guinness, but with the
same black look and mellow taste. One of the bartenders sometimes
puts ice cream into this stout. I think that would be FABULOUS.
It's a Colorado beer that's a winner!
What is a milk stout beer? Follow the link to find out. 

After lunch and the game were over, we boxed the rest of our pizza for another time and headed home where we collapsed and watched TV for the rest of the evening. It was a totally fabulous day, though, and I had such a good time. The sun was out, I wasn't even wearing a jacket, and since it was also Art in Bloom, I got to see lots of floral exhibits at the same time. A great weekend.

Sunday was also the final day for Art in Bloom. Art in Bloom has
amateur and professional floral arrangers who make art in flowers
to work alongside a selected piece of artwork that inspires them.
It's always fun to see what they come up with. Some are amazing
and exquisite. 

So now it's time to get back to a schedule and try to catch up with my writing and reading. Sorry I've been so uncommunicative over the past week in my LJ comments. I'll try to catch up by mid-week - it will take me that long just to flow through the old posts I've missed (shame on me). I also promised Aearwen that I would write 500 words by Wednesday. Since I haven't written anything (except my daily blogs), I'd better try and get going on that too :-) Happy Monday, all!

Stumbling Blocks - Photos and Thoughts

I'm stumbling over my time schedule this morning, running more than half-an-hour late for a variety of reasons. So, no text today, just photos of stumbling things to pull you into your weekend. Have a great weekend and hopefully I'll be caught up by Monday.

Well - here I am,. stumbling over my schedule yet again...

These brass Stolpersteine in Berlin were created by artist Gunter Demnig. 
Each brass stumbling stone begins with the words "Here Lived"
followed by the name of a person, the place and date of their birth, the
year they were deported (1941 or 1942) and where they were
killed (either Riga or Lodz).

The artist has put more than 30,000 brass plaques throughout Germany with
the names of Jews, homosexuals, political dissidents, Gypsies, and others
who were killed by the National Socialists. Each plaque is individually'
designed and individually installed.
Follow the link for more information. 

The Japanese set their stepping stones in crooked paths because
evil spirits can only move in straight lines. They believe that as you
walk the crooked paths, you should look at the new views presented
with each directional change and learn from the new perspectives. 

Try to keep positive even when falling over stumbling blocks. 

Have a great weekend. I'll be attending the Matisse exhibit tomorrow, so I'm happy, happy....

Six More Acts of Creativity

Let me see how quickly I can get this post together since I got caught up in emailing a good friend and I'm running about 20 minutes late today. I have six more things of beauty from the Minneapolis Institute of Art to share with you today - things that I love that I wanted to share with all of you. I'll start with the oldest and one that I so adore...

This is a Corinthian Bronze warrior's helmet from 540 BCE. This is a functional piece of beauty and when I compare the sleek lines and patina with those shiny over-the-top metal condoms that PJ had his Gondorian warriors wearing in Return of the King, I am once more appalled at how truly horrible the armor in Lord of the Rings really was. I've had the opportunity to see a lot of different plate armor, helmets and weapons as I grew up - I'm a museum nut. Those helmets from Gondor always make me laugh. They are so stupidly ridiculous. Why couldn't PJ have allowed his warriors to be lean, mean, fighting machines instead? Why not use a helmet like this one?

Now, here's a lovely pottery horse from China. He's not huge, less than two feet tall all around, but just look at that face. What expression. Once again I find myself in love with horses.

I love the Art Deco movement and have three different lights to share with you that fit into that timeframe and style. This is the first. This is a ceiling lamp and it's beauty is in the form and materials. It's heavy, yet light. I'm totally in love.

The second of the lamps is this smaller wood and glass piece that stands on a shelf. It is not a large piece - less than one foot in height, but the balance of materials and the shape of them makes art from something that would normally be totally utilitarian.

My third lamp is this silver and glass oil lamp. The swirls of metal cause my mind to flow and the different angles would reflect the flickering lamplight in so many ways. I probably could sit in front of a lamp like this for hours, just watching the changing light on the swirls of silver.

And finally, because ... well, just because they are super kewl, I present these coral topped gold and silver personal eating utensils. These were made for European royalty and were used in an age when people attended banquets, but they provided their own utensils. The coral was supposed to ward off poisoning, so whoever used these couldn't be poisoned in their food. Such is the trust of man in the higher echelons of society. Maybe it's better to be poor and middle class...

Challenges to Perception

Back to the Minnesota Institute of Art and three very different sculptures for you to look at today. These pieces are made from vastly different materials and really have nothing in common except that I love them and the skill and vision that allowed them to come to life. So instead of dwelling on all of the computer crap that just didn't work right yesterday, I'll share beauty because it's always so much better to concentrate on the positive...

Marble Sculpture - Veiled Woman

First is the Veiled Woman. This marble sculpture stops me in my tracks every time. I look closely at it from all angles and the skill of the carver leaves me breathless. It's all marble - every bit of it, and it's a single piece, and at an angle, you see the translucent veil but not the eyes - those only come clear when you look straight at it. It is, pure and simply, magnificent.

This is made from brass and iron - truly stunning, if a bit macabre.

Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, I offer this wonderful funerary floor lamp. After all, whose home wouldn't be complete without their own funerary items. The decoration on this large item is what pulls me to it time and time again. This was made in the days before death was closed behind glass walls and electronic equipment. This was made when people walked with Death walking next to them. Death was a familiar companion, not a best friend, but understood and accepted as a part of life. Certainly food for thought.

Isn't she amazing? An exercise in perception and

how there is so much more to initial looks. That

symbolism works on living people too - always look

deeper, they'll surprise you with their depth.

And finally, a study in perspective and vision - The Queen. When you look at this sculpture face on it looks like it is made from wire frame, soldered, wrapped and manipulated to give the regular patterning. A lot of work and a heavy item that required the sacrifice of much copper. But...then you walk around her and realize the truth in the packaging. She is made from carefully cut and positioned recycled corrugated cardboard that has been cut to allow the v's of the corrugation to show through at exact angles, giving you the fabulous frontal view. I applaud this artist. What incredible vision.

So there you have it - some beauty to start your Thursday off right!