Giddy Up!

Charlie Lucas' pony frolicking in the Charles Ireland Memorial Sculpture Garden and the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Cloudy With A Chance of...... Great Cloud Art!

" You must not blame me if I talk to the clouds".......on my IPhone!

Henry David Thoreau

Well it's Thursday and you know what that means. I've been to the Birmingham Museum of Art for my volunteer shift and have something to share today. Meet Birmingham artist Amy Pleasant ( and she IS!). Amy's a local painter that also does mural drawings. Last week I featured a ladder in the Sculpture Garden. Well they were busy freshening up the walls with white paint so Amy could fill the walls with CLOUDS! She will eventually install dozens of 3 dimensional clouds, like the one in the top photo, all around the center space. Won't that be fun? I can't wait to see it when it's all finished. Meanwhile, I'll be stopping by to see Amy's progress and reporting back with photos.

* Amy's website won't be up and running for a week or so. I'll post it here so you can visit her!!!

Getting Buffed at the BMA!

I told you that I never do my volunteer shift at the Birmingham Museum of Art without my trusty camera. Last week it was the neat reflections in the rain puddles. This week may be the best yet. I looked out over the Sculpture Garden and Botero's "Reclining Figure" was getting a bath! I ran for my camera and scooted outside. This friendly museum employee, who works in the restoration department, explained that this is done periodically and after her bath she will be waxed and polished to protect her finish. She laughingly added that she would wait till after the lunch crowd had cleared out of the Terrace Café. Apparently the "buffing process" always draws a nice crowd of (snickering?) onlookers. I hate I missed that! If this piece looks familiar, I've featured her here. You really do need to visit the Birmingham Museum of Art you know. There's a really great exhibit you need to see!

A nice surprise yesterday. Our blog friends Maya and Janet gave me a SKYPE call and we had a terrific visit. I even got a "tour " of their new apartment in France, a stone's throw from Geneva where they have jobs now. This time they didn't catch me in my baseball cap, worse.....I was in my PJ's much too late in the morning! That could be drawback of SKYPE I think.

Working Up a Sweat

By now, everyone in Birmingham has worked up a sweat, even Rodin's Jean d'Aire at the Birmingham Museum of Art!   I photographed this piece in the Sculpture Garden after a rain. I felt like my original image was rather straightforward and not all that interesting, thus a little post processing work.

When we visited the Musée Rodin in Paris a few weeks ago, I met Jean d'Aire again in the gardens.  It was shady and cool and he seemed a little more comfortable.  I thought I'd include it as well.