MORE CHIHULY!!

 Shared a few photos that I took the other day from my visit to the Dallas Arboretum to see the Dale Chihuly Glass art exhibit, and wanted to share a few more today with you.

Dale Chihuly was born in minnesota, and is well known for his glass art which has been displayed in many cities all over the world.  We are so lucky this year to have him in Dallas. Wanted to share these photos of his version of a tree today.  This was so bright and beautiful. This is one of over 30 displays at the Dallas Arboretum. When I went last week, I was very short on time and really only saw a small portion of this amazing  outdoor glass art show. I am not working tomorrow, and plan to return and spend the entire day looking at these displays . Really excited to have a bit more time to browse this week.

 Also, the flowers at the arboretum were just spectacular, truly a photographers dream.  Was surprised to pass by this lovely thistle , and had to capture it. A bit stickery, but really gorgeous.   Will look forward to sharing more of this art show with you after my visit tomorrow.

Dale Chihuly at the Dallas Arboretum

 Mentioned the other day that I was going to go to the Dallas Arboretum on Thursday afternoon to see some of the Dale Chihuly glass art exhibits. Definitely loved what I had a chance to see, although I didn't get to stay very long as I was planning also to go to my grandson's baseball game.  The arboretum has about 700 acres of beautiful gardens on White Rock Lake, and the art glass was spread throughout the  gardens.  Loved all of the displays that I got to see, and definitely plan to go back again as this is in Dallas until November.  They are also having evening hours, and have scheduled multiple concerts which look wonderful.  Planning to go at least to one of these, and have the chance to see this beautiful glass art at night with the special lighting.  Be sure if you have the opportunity to see this... as it is really lovely. Dale Chihuly glass art shows have been in many places, so if you miss  the one in Dallas, keep your eye out for a place closer. Will share more of these with you during the week, but had to give you a sneak peek!  Have a wonderful Monday tomorrow . such a short weekend this was! 

You Never Know Where A Bridge Will Lead

I had a lovely afternoon today, having finished seeing patients a bit earlier than expected. Somehow I managed to get home early enough to check a few blogs and remember that today is the last possible sign up day for Tracey Clark's class on black and white photography.  No more time for waffling around.... and made the decision to go ahead and sign up for the class, which I did. I had promised myself that I was going to take some time to go over to the park and walk a bit ( taking my camera of course) so did have time to see that the first days prompt had been LINES , and I was also very excited to see if I could find some interesting flowers for LeAnne's  third week of her new meme, Flower Art Friday, so off I went, camera in hand. By this time, it was later afternoon and the shadows were very nice on some of the places that i had been thinking about for my black and white photos demonstrating lines. Love these little bridges in the woods of the Dallas Nature Center Escarpment, and it is always fun to walk across a bridge, wondering what is on the other side.  My poor husband who came along.... thinking we were just out for a walk. He always forgets all of the interesting things that you can see when you have your camera along.  Suddenly though, as I was walking in my black and white world, out popped some very interesting color...... and there was my "flower" for FLOWER  ART FRIDAY.  Have you seen anything that looks exactly like this before?? I thought it was so lovely, and decided to share it even though it is not exactly a flower.  Does anyone recognize  what this is??  I am sure that some of you must.... It is actually a garlic flower, and the scent was just..... well, it smelled exactly like garlic, so very glad this blogpost is not done in 4 dimentional mode.   I thought though that it was so delicate and lovely in its little patch of sunlight.  Planted in amongst the flowers to keep out the insects who are persona non gratis.  Also had a bit of fun adding Bonnie's wonderful texture which she offered this week for Pixel Dust . This texture is called,   AUTREFOIS               , and you need to be sure to stop by Pixel Dust and check this out, as it is a great texture, and was perfect for these blossoms.  So will be sharing today with Photo Art Friday, and Flower Art Friday, both great places to visit, so be sure to check them out.   Oh, and even though I really don't have the spare time right now, I am excited to be in Tracey's class for black and white photography, and look forward to improving my black and white work.   So bye for now, and have a wonderful day!!! Don't you love how you see so many interesting things when you have your camera!!!!! So Much fun!

Out doing its very important work of keeping the insects away, and looking lovely while it is at work.... The GARLIC plant.   Oh and Bonnie, thank you once again for your lovely texture for this week. It is just perfect for my offering here! so Hugs to all of you.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!

Just stopping by to say Hello, and Happy Wednesday .  I don't have any real words of wisdom today ( or maybe any day), and can't really say that these are stellar photos, or that i have even worked very hard on processing them. In fact, they are all sooc..... but, I did want to say hello and to celebrate being half way through the work week.
     I had a fun weekend last weekend.... went with my daughter who recently moved back to Texas from Canada over to a really  special  little town not too far from where I live.... It is Waxahachie Texas. Really filled with historical texas homes from the victorian era, and filled with "cultural happenings" for a little town. We stopped first at a real haunted restaurant called the Catfish plantation for a bit of dinner.  Enjoyed our "fried pickles " and of course the catfish.  Although there are 3 ghosts who reside in this house ( this has even been studied by Duke University), none of them showed up for us.   Maybe next time....

After dinner, we went over to the Chataqua Theatre in the park for a great version of the old musical, south pacific.  Was lots of fun, and the productions at this little community theatre are always really well done. Here are a couple of shots that I took.... from way back and in the dark, mind you.  Anyway, it was a fun weekend adventure, and so much fun having the chance to go out with my daughter who has been out of the country for the past 4 years.

     Also took the time to go out to the park on Sunday and walk around checking out the last of the spring wildflowers. Thought this little Mexican hat was cute.

     Am having a day off from work on Thursday for a dr's appointment, and in the afternoon, plan to go over to the Dallas arboretum and go to a art display there which I am dying to see.  It is a glass art display that is done by Dale Chihuly.  I think it is going to be wonderful, and definitely plan to bring my camera, so know you will be seeing some of the photos from this.  Hoping for a sunny day, but will have to wait and see.  

Anyway.... hope that all of you creative people out there in  "blogland" are having a great week, and  take heart... the weekend is coming soon. Hugs to all of you from Texas!!!

Flower Art Friday

No matter whether we have flowers or not, am so thankful it is Friday!!!    This is the second week for Flower Art Friday,  and if you have not stopped by to see LeAnne's new meme, but sure to click here and go visit!

My Favorite Book ( of many)

 Was so excited when i saw the prompt for this weeks Photo Art Friday that we were to reference one of our favorite books..... so will any of you be too surprised to hear that one of the books that I have really enjoyed ( and there are many, actually),   was  HAWAII,  by James Michener.   I am not even fibbing either, and both my husband and I reread this  book before our trip, so that we could better enjoy the history of where we were.  The photos that I am sharing this week are of an area on Kauai that I was really anxious to visit..    This is the very "spiritual" area of the Na Pali coastline.   These first two photos I processed with Bonnie's recent   PAINTERLY  texture.   I really like the effect that it gave, as I thought it was a really "mystical" place.  These photos were taken from two different perspectives, first we took a boat along this 17 mile coastline that is not accessible by car.  Then, not quite seeing enough of the beauty in this area, we also took a helicopter which gave us some really upclose views of the amazing waterfalls, and in to the Valley of the Kings, which has so much history.   Legend has it that these fluted cliffs were the battle grounds of two goddesses who both wanted  the land for herself,    the goddess of fire.... PELE, and the goddess of the sea.....Namekaokaha'i.   These gorgeous and inaccessible cliffs were formed by volcanic action, and some of the isolated beaches were original landing spots of the people arriving in their outrigger canoes. Waves rolled in to the rocky cliffs looking, at times like giant freight trains arriving.  They crashed on the rocks in such a way that the cliffs were in a mist of SEA FOG.  These cliffs and terraces were the homes of many of the early Hawaiians, and this is also the burial place of many of the kings.  We were told that when one of the kings died, their bones were filleted from their bodies and carried by one brave warrior to a remote spot where they would remain forever hidden.  The warrior would jump from the highest and most remote cliff that he was able to access, thus dying himself, in the attempt to give the king a forever secret burial place.

 The above is a view in to the "VALLEY OF THE KINGS", one of the most sacred spots on this coastline.  The waterfall to the side was viewed from our helicopter, and is the waterfalls that was used in Jurrasic Park. There have been other films that were shot, in part, along the Na Pali coastline, including King Kong, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Truly this area totally met and surpassed my expectations, and it was such a privelege to see this both from the sea, and from the air.   Don't forget if you visit Hawaii though, to read    the book, Hawaii, as it will give you such in sight in to the history of this amazing place.

An Unusual Macro

Wanted to share a "Macro of sorts " with you today.  On my recent trip to Hawaii, one of the things that we really enjoyed was looking in the tidepools to see what we could find.  The below photos are of a  Wrasse fish,  which is very small. You can see the single wrasse, and then on the other photo, the pair of tiny fish looking up at me in dismay.  The jobs of these little fish is to set up a cleaning station for the rays.  It was interesting to me to hear that the rays can grow to a size of a 30 foot wing span, and weigh several tons. ( Was really glad I did not see one this size while snorkeling). Anyway, the rays get "dirty" and need their "wings to be cleaned".  The wrasse fish set up cleaning stations, and when the ray arrives, they swim out and attach themselves to the ray to clean them. When the ray is clean, the wrasse hops off, and the next ray is there waiting his turn.  sorry that these photos are a bit hard to see, but it was evening, and also a bit hard to take the photo through the water. Still thought it was worth sharing though.  Have a great day. Sharing today with Lisa  at Macro Monday.