2025-08-03

Boise - Spokane : 2025-08

After Boise, the trip which took me to Reno and Spokane - they seem to be nice towns.
Reno's Vegas sign. I liked it. We got to stay in the Davenport Grand in Spokane. It was very nice.

The hotel was just across the street from the Riverfront Park. It's nice as you're right next to the Spokane River and take a bridge over the Spokane Falls. Above, left to right are the Great Northern Clocktower, the Upper Falls Power Plant, and the Falls themselves.

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2025-08-01

Boise BAM : 2025-07

I had a layover in Boise and it had been awhile since I'd been there. I looked back - it was 10 months since I was here when I took a picture I remember well. I had enough time to visit the Boise Art Museum, or BAM, and the walk took me through Julia Davis Park (Wiki). The park was nice and had some interesting features. The picture above left is looking up at the Wind Dance sculpture. And then there was Abe Lincoln, of Seated Lincoln. I took pics with him, but the primary reason I took this picture was because it was made by the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum. I didn't know this, but he was born in the Idaho Territory. It was executed by Irene Deely of Boise in 2009.

Here is the back of the BAM - standing in the sculpture garden.

One thing nice about galleries is you can almost always find at least one thing that grabs your attention. There were more than one in the BAM, but even in a smaller gallery, the guarantee holds true. A benefit of being smaller is you can swing through it even if you don't have that much time. Here are some things that were picture-worthy to me...

R: Carl Morris, Silver Creek (Untitled 562), 1988.

I appreciated the lack of detail in Horses and Blackbird, the simplicity of Wolf Eagle and the colors, shapes and movement of Silver Creek. On that note - the pictures say property of museum because they won't let you take photos. Even photos without flash are prohibited which is a bit much.

L: Ed Moses, The Drifter (Y Branco), 1999
R: Brice Marden, Untitled, 1973

The Drifter looks as it had some squeegee work done on it. I'd done something similar in Familiarity which is the biggest reason I took this picture. I liked the angles and colors and abstractness of Angel. In regards to the litho by Marden, this wasn't the one in the museum but is very similar. I took a picture because it's 52 years old and while being so simple, still grabs peoples' gazes. That can say a lot about an image.

There was a block print you could make - mine is above left.
The BAM floorplan and a special exhibit flyer, Curves, Cones and Rings by Bean Finneran.

These are paintings that were in the Capitol Contemporary Gallery. I thought the use of light was great. Above left is by Rachel Teannalach, titled Sagebrush Mariposa Lilies at Hawkins Range Preserve. She has a nice touch/style on landscapes. The painting on the right wasn't tagged.

These are by Geoffrey Krueger who also has a style I like and I'm always looking for sky ideas.
I liked the row of dots in the left painting. The one the right is Outside My Front Door.

Above left is Movement by Anne Peterson. I liked the boldness and the 'movement' was obvious to me. This one is for sale for $3200. On the right is a shot of the Capitol with some nice clouds behind it.
The feeling of Boise life and the West were felt, but the picture was a bit of a let down.

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2025-07-29

Hollow : 2025-07

Hollow
29 July 2025
Acrylic on hardboard
30 x 20 (76.2 x 50.8 cm)


This was a painting waiting to happen. It is inspired by God's Canvas which was one of the most beautiful and amazing thing's I've seen. It was while cruising west into the setting sun. I was just another reminder that "the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork" (Psalm 19:1). This alone would make it hard for me to not believe. I'm pretty happy with it, but it is so difficult to capture how epic it really was.

I had this frame in mind when I painted it - primarily for the size, but the color also works well.

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2025-07-28

Fault : 2025-07

Fault
28 July 2025
Acrylic on hardboard
14 x 11 (35.6 x 27.9 cm)


I was experimenting with my airbrush - primarily for the black background. I'm still finding my way when it comes to the right amount to dilute the paint. It covers smoother than a brush but controlling the flow is another thing I'm working on. I had some Plastic Wood which I use for all sorts of things (frames often) but I thought it made a great contrast with the black. The beige/tan areas are Plastic Wood. The other accents are acrylic. I would put this under impromptu abstract since it was driven more by color and contrast then by a vision or plan. This is two pieces of hardboard - hence Fault.

This frame seemed to match pretty well.

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2025-07-27

Cincinnati and Miami : 2025-07

I was able to visit Cincinnati again (it had been awhile) and this time was with someone aware of the town's famous chili. Fortunately, our hotel was only about two blocks away so we could get a taste. We went to Skyline Chili (also at Wiki). The basic is a 3-Way which gets you the spaghetti covered with chili and topped with cheese. We both got 4-Way which adds onions. They'll throw beans on for a 5-Way. They add a bit of cinnamon with certainly makes it unique. It's goin on 76 years so it certainly has a following.

Here is my 4-Way before digging in.

We didn't have a lot of time in Cinci but at least we partook in a local custom. I had more time in Miami and I walked to the Maurice A. Ferré Park (also at Wiki). The park itself has a Dogs and Cats Walkway and sculptures. You can see all 57 cats and dogs in the proceeding link. The animals were painted by over 50 local artists but what I couldn't find was a tribute to who actually made the aluminum statues. They were very well done. Luis Miguel Rodriguez is mentioned in some articles/places, but I'm still unsure. Here are a few I took...
L: Boxer, artist Edgar Gutiérrez, Bernard I.
C: Great Dane, artist Rafael Carabano, Hero.
R: Burma, artist Hander Lara, Imposter.

Right next to the park were some handy locations to visit - the Frost Museum of Science and the Pérez Art Museum - Miami (or MAMM). The science museum was pretty cool and had several rooms to visit. The Pérez had more space than you'd expect, but I wasn't that impressed with the collection. There were a lot of photos.


There were many things to look at but I thought the Medusa jellyfish were cool (top). I despise them, but they always look impressive in the water. I forget the long nose fish, but it was with the Lionfish.
They colors of these pictures turned out strange, but Lionfish are cool to watch.

As for the Pérez Art Museum Miami, I took a few pictures...

L: Zilia Sánchez (or here) (1926-2024), Sin Titulo, 1971.
R: The map to the Frost Museum of Science and my arm bands to both.
I took a picture of Sin Titulo because of the formed canvas. I thought that was a good idea and something I could try in the future.

The two pieces are by Gyula Kosice. There were about 12 of these waterdrops. They are plastic and many had lights and water. He was a co-founder of the Arturo and Madi movements. This exhibit was called Intergalactic.

On the left is the floor under The Hydrospatial City (great pics here) which I thought was just as cool, if not cooler than the pieces. They are pretty nifty, too, but the shadow seemed to catch the vibe and "space" of the Hydrospatial City. Above right is a shot of some of the pieces. Most even had little people on them which was a nice touch. Kosice worked on this for almost six decades (1946-2004).

Once again, Florida was very generous - military and/or vets can get into both the Frost Museum of Science and the Pérez Art Museum for free. Super nice and you have no guilt if you leave early.

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2025-07-22

Yesterday : 2025-07

Yesterday
22 July 2025
Acrylic on aluminum
28.5 x 18 (73.2 x 45.7 cm)

SOLD 25 July 2025 - Private collection

I saw an image in a commercial which had a dark sky, sloping hill and lots of white flowers. I didn't take a picture of it so some of it was lost in memory translation. You can see in the gif below that I had the original slop and darker clouds, but that was where I departed. I actually like the darker clouds but the brighter clouds offer a more pleasant aura. I also like the strong contrast between the original yellow field and dark foliage. However, in the final version, I think the field better leads your eyes into the painting and the possibilities beyond the horizon. The field was a bit bare and I always get some joy seeing trees standing alone in a field - so I dropped one in. This was painted on wall art printed on a box (or museum wrap). I explain that a bit below.

Left: The original wall art print repurposed for Yesterday - hence its title.
Right: A gif showing some stages. It covers 11 days with work on four days.

Yesterday is essentially a hollow box. I would call it a box frame, but this is not what's typically meant by that term. I think a better term is museum wrapped with a gray edge.

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