Washington, D.C. – My favorite spot, so far

The National Gallery of Art (link) has two buildings and the Sculpture Garden. I only visited the West Building and barely scratched the surface. An hour-and-a-half one afternoon (after the Air and Space Museum) and two hours on our last day in town – – three-and-a-half hours total – – just wasn’t enough. (This does not include the National Portrait Gallery, which I have yet to set foot in.)

Just a few shots . . .

Yes, I am fascinated by this lady.

So many pieces just took my breath away, and yes, I’ll admit to getting choked up when seeing a “real-life” Monet for the first time.

And this self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh? I stood in front of it for the longest time and just stared. And yes, I cried. Beautiful.

Day 105 – Antonn

My eyes are very tired from two days of photography, and I’ve still got a lot of photographs to go through and process, but Antonn deserves special mention. Antonn is sixteen years old and the sweetest kid. And he’s true to his word. He promised that he would provide music at the MOR event, and yesterday, when he realized he didn’t have a ride, he strapped his guitar to his back and hopped on his bike to ride the twenty miles from Dayton to Silver Stage High School where the event was being held. One of our key organizers saw him peddling in the cold and wind as she was driving in. She caught him at about the ten-mile mark. If she hadn’t seen him, he would have pedaled the entire twenty miles. We had a lot of dedicated volunteers for this event, but this kid gives special meaning to the phrase “going the extra mile.”

Day 72 – The Circle of Squares

I had to go to Renown Medical Center today for a routine echocardiogram. Aside from having Dr. Phil inflicted on me in the waiting room, the visit was uneventful. Afterward I walked to Fianna’s Healing Garden with camera in hand to see what might strike my fancy. The garden is dry and brown for the most part. Spring has not yet come. The garden has a small pond and waterfall (not running right now), and a variety of plants, trees and herbs, as well as a small meditation labyrinth. It also has three sculptures in the garden. The most intriguing one (to me) is the Circle of Squares by Cork Marcheschi. It looks like a sphere, but as you walk around it its shape changes and internal spaces shift.

One angle . . .

And another . . .

One more . . .

And finally . . .

Day 33 – 2nd Floor Stairwell, Church Fine Arts Building, UNR

Tonight was critique night for our first assignment. I had misgivings about the photo I ultimately chose to show, but had also printed two others photographs as back-up, just in case. I let myself get talked into presenting my more “contrast-y” photo, and the instructor found a couple of things wrong with it. But he didn’t point them out. He asked me to tell him where I’d gone wrong. And I was able to do so. At the break I showed Jeff (instructor) my other two shots and he liked them a lot better. Fortunately, we were allowed to turn in our alternates if we chose, and he let me know that if I turned in one of my alternates I was likely to get a better grade. Well, my momma didn’t raise a stupid child. And as Mark, our lab assistant said to me, “Go with your gut. You’re the artist. It’s your work.” Indeed.

Anyway, it was such a crazy, busy day that I didn’t get a chance to shoot until after class ended at six-thirty. Fortunately, the building’s stairwell provided me with plenty of inspiration. What do you expect to happen in a building full of artists? I love this stairwell. It is truly live art. The students are constantly adding to it and you never know what will change from day-to-day.

The challenge was shooting with only the light that came from the two fluorescent ballasts on at each landing. I will likely return to this subject. As my post title indicates, this is just the second floor