Butterfly Tree

Could a fish sprout a tree of butterflies?

A linocut I made a few years ago thinking anything could happen!

The St. Louis butterflies made me think of this print.

Wings in the City of St. Louis

Fiberglass butterflies in the city of St. Louis! There are 54 of them and they are spread throughout the city. To me, they look like lollipops and remind me of all of the mermaid sculptures we have in Norfolk. I guess it isn't unusual for a city to have a theme for some of their outdoor sculptures but I am especially fond of butterflies!

The Cathedral Basilica - inside!

I have to show at least one picture that shows more of the inside of the cathedral. The outside is interesting but the inside - all of the details and artwork! I'd love to hear the pipe organ but no one was playing that day. :-(

Mosaic in The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

Here's one of the beautiful mosaics in the basilica. There's 83,000 square feet of mosaic art there and it is everywhere! There are 41,500,000 pieces of tesserae in more than 8,000 shades of color in this cathedral. It's so inspiring!!

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis

We were surprised to find this cathedral in St. Louis!! I don't believe that there are many in the U.S. so to see this was so exciting. It was constructed between 1907 and 1914. The outside is Romanesque but the inside Byzantine. The dome and roofs are covered in brilliant green tiles which, unfortunately, I hardly noticed because the morning of our visit was too dreary!

Sculpture - Washington University

Hmm....

2011 Southern Graphics Council Print Conference - St Louis, MO

There was so much art showing in so many locations at the conference that I attended last week that I couldn't possibly see or find all of it! Here is a photo of some prints hanging in the hallway of Washington University's art department near the art demonstrations. I think they are mostly lithographs and screen prints.

St. Louis, Missouri

While I was in St. Louis, I couldn't miss seeing the famous Gateway Arch, our nation's tallest man-made monument! It's 630' tall and was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the U.S. and to help revitalize the Mississippi River waterfront in St. Louis. There's a tram ride ride to the top to see the view from little windows on the underside but the tickets were all sold out. Maybe that's good because one of our friends said that it's like sitting in a washing machine, a little claustrophobic and jostling. Hmm.... Oh well, maybe next time. Maybe! Or maybe that's changed from the time it was built in 1965.

Pansies

I read that the word pansy comes from the french word pensee for thought. I didn't know that but I guess they believed that the flowers look somewhat like human faces "in thought" when in certain positions. To me, they look friendly and I love to see them this time of year. Some of their centers look like butterflies!

Ornamental Kale

This ornamental kale looks so interesting to me - ready for someone to paint it! They are like cabbages without heads ( yikes!) but rather have leaves in tight rosettes. They immigrated here from Japan in 1929 when our US Department of Agriculture sent someone there to search for new plants. I guess the government thought we were somehow lacking!