Wordless Wednesday - Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Unlike most museums Crystal Bridges is a series of linked buildings holding different exhibits. It was built by Alice Walton and the Walton Family Foundation -- a separate entity from Walmart. Walmart did give an endowment, however, to sponsor admission to the permanent collection meaning there is no admission to view the permanent collection ever.  http://crystalbridges.org

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Ruby Tuesday - 1939 Chevrolet

Another beauty from the recent Tulsa Car Show, this one a 1939 Chevrolet 2 door sedan, black over red.  It appears to be close to original except for wheels and paint.  Very clean, very nice.

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Macro Monday - Wonder World

Last week Sue and I drove over to Bentonville Arkansas to the new Crystal Bridges Museum.  It was simply terrific.  There was too much to see in one day and much too much to try and cram into one blog post.  I took a pretty good look at the Wonder World exhibit, but because it was a beautiful day I spent most of the time outside in the beautiful gardens and trails.  The Wonder World exhibit is subtitled "Nature and Perception in Contemporary American Art".  What we see at first glance is not always what is seen when we look closer.

A floral curtain flowing from the ceiling down over the floor is seen to be made from individual silk flowers carefully sewn together.

A three panel sketch of wolves and bears is seen to be composed of words written in flowing script.

What looked like a colorful abstract painting is seen to be a collage of jigsaw puzzle pieces

There were many more pieces in this exhibit plus several other exhibits, but this should give you an idea.  We will return soon.

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SOOC - Tulsa Exotic Auto

I don't know what this was originally but it is like nothing else now.

Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) is a meme for photos that have not been tweaked or altered. In other words, straight out of the camera.

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Weekend Reflections - Crystal Bridges Museum

 

Recently my friend DrillerAA posted some excellent photographs from his visit to the beautiful new Crystal Bridges near Bentonville, Arkansas.  The place looked so interesting that Sue and I drove over to see it.  The museum is very new and only opened in November of last year.  It is built by Walmart Corporation which is headquartered in Bentonville.  We were surprised to find that admission was free.

It is actually a series of buildings of very interesting architecture.  Sue went through the exhibits inside and I checked out the outdoor trails and gardens.  There is a lot to see there, too much to try and cover in one post.  Come back for more in the next week or so.

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Skywatch Friday - Under the Clouds

Sue and I drove over to Arkansas today to see the new Crystal Bridges Museum at Bentonville, and enjoyed a beautiful spring like day.  As we approached Tulsa a long low shelf of clouds came in from the west.  Just as we came into town the sun dropped down behind the horizon and lit up the clouds from underneath, resulting in this spectacular sunset.

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Thursday Challenge: Two - Pelicans

A curious bird is the Pelican, whose beak can hold more than his belly can.  And I suppose two pelicans can hold twice as much.  I doubt these fellows are much concerned as they float around undisturbed on the pond in Mohawk Park.

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Wordless Wednesday - Midtown Doors

You don't have to live in a mansion to have a striking entrance to your home.  The red door is just the right touch against the black, white, and gray of the house.

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Ruby Tuesday - Little Old Ladies Car

Here is a very nice, low mileage, one owner car.  It belonged to an old lady school teacher who only drove it a few quarter miles on Sunday afternoons.   Any sincere offer over $150,000 will be considered.


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Macro Monday - Chrome Wheel

Here is a closeup of one of the chrome wheels from yesterday's custom car.  There is some serious "BLING" here.

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SOOC - Tulsa Car Show

My grandson Willy and I spent most of Saturday at the Exotic Car Show held in the QuikTrip Center at the Tulsa Fair Grounds. We saw literally hundreds of beautiful cars; hot rods, sports cars, dragsters, antique restorations,  and more. I was like a kid in a candy store and took over 200 photographs that you will be seeing for months. For sure, Ruby Tuesday is set for the next year.

Most of these cars are from the 1930's, through the 1970's. Some have been carefully brought back to showroom condition with a lot of effort to match original equipment. Others like the one featured today have been modified into an exotic car with the essence of the original car but with many custom modifications. In most cases they are improvements on the original with the addition of more powerful drive trains and lots of chrome. Mirrors are laid out on the floor beneath the car to reveal the finely painted undercarriage and Chrome exhaust system.   They are genuine works of art.

This gorgeous yellow exotic in today's post started out as a 1933 Ford Phaeton.  It preserves the style of the original with major styling and drive train improvements. It is beautiful, powerful, and one of a kind. Sitting next to some of these beauties may be the owner / designer / builder of the car who likes nothing better than to have the visitor compliment him on the car and ask questions regarding the design.

Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) is a meme for photos that have not been tweaked or altered. In other words, straight out of the camera.

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Weekend Reflections - Big Puddle

Dakota just couldn't resist.

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Skywatch Friday - Big Sky over Tulsa

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Thursday Challenge - Love

Tootsie was a little Rat Terrier I had some years ago.  Smokey was her hero and she loved him dearly.

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Wordless Wednesday - Midtown Doors

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Ruby Tuesday - McNellie's Pub

McNellie's Irish Pub, Blue Dome district, downtown Tulsa.  They feature 350 different varieties of beer from all over the world.  I can't attest to the beer but their hamburgers are peerless.  It would be a fine place to take your lady for St. Valentine's Day.


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Macro Monday - Little Bird 2

 

Two weeks ago I posted a macro of a little bird.  I took it with my cell phone and was not much pleased with it. So I used my good Canon SX20 and took another of it and of its companion that are more respectable. These little sparrows are wearing cap and muffler to keep out the cold.  I think they are cute little fellows.

Actually, after an unseasonable string of fair weather we are now visited by a sharp winter chill, well below freezing with some wind and snow forecasted.  It is a good thing really because all sorts of spring things were budding out too early.  Now they will be told to wait awhile and stay in their dormant cycle a bit longer so to be ready when we have a proper spring.

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SOOC - Arkansas Sandbar

This was taken upstream of the low water dam  near the new Blue Moon Cafe at about 18th street and Riverside.  The water level is so low that the rowing teams are unable to practice on the river.  It might as well be called the Arkansas sandbar.  What little rain we have had has trickled away,  And the western part of the state had even less rain than here in Tulsa.  Not good.

Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) is a meme for photos that have not been tweaked or altered. In other words, straight out of the camera.

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Black & White Reflections - Murrah Memorial

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States Government office building located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On the morning of April 19, 1995 it was the target of a massive bombing which sheared off the entire north side of the building, killing 168 people. This was the most significant act of domestic terrorism on American soil prior to the September 11, 2001 attack on New York City. The memorial was dedicated on April 19, 2000, the fifth anniversary of the bombing. Read about is on Wikipedia.

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Skywatch Friday - Mackerel Sky

A view of the winter sky from inside the Rockwood Village Mobile Home Park.  Mobile home, house trailer, by whatever name, it is a place to live, and to whoever lives there, it is home.  I think places like this get a bum rap. A lot of the people who live here are more or less permanent residents. They have built screened in porches, attached carports, and fenced in the yard so the kids can have a dog.  There's no place like home.

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Thursday Challenge - One for Wren

The Thursday Challenge for this week is the number one.   That is an easy one for me. My newest granddaughter Wren was one year old on February 1. There was a full family gathering on Sunday afternoon with presents and birthday cake. Wren was at her most charming as she opened presents and made a mess of her slice of cake.  A good time was had by all.


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Wordless Wednesday - Midtown Doors

The homes in this neighborhood were all built in the 1950's and are almost all faced with red or yellow brick.  A few here and there are faced with native sandstone of which this is an example.  As I recall from a summer long ago when I worked for a brick mason, laying these irregular stones required a great deal of skill and experience.  Notice that the stones are of many different sizes and shapes but the mortar between them is very regular and the outer face is smooth.  No job for an amateur.


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Ruby Tuesday - Pontiac Trans Am

Fourth generation Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Convertible, 1993 to 2002.  Trans Am was the name given to Pontiac Firebirds with a specialty package typically upgrading both performance and appearance.  For more information on this iconic automobile see Wikipedia.


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Macro Monday - Giraffe

This little 6 inch wooden giraffe was carved by someone in our companion diocese in Africa and sold as part of a fund raiser.  I thought he was a cute little fellow.

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Black & White Weekend - Big Bluff

Big Bluff recreation area, Buffalo River National Park, northwest Arkansas


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Weekend Reflections - Rain at Last

After such a dry summer we are still behind on rain.  January has seen very mild temperatures but very little rain.  Not to complain, this time last winter we had 20 inches of snow.

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Skywatch Friday - Through the Sycamores

Blue sky behind Sycamore trees.

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Sepia Scenes - The Colonial Building

The Colonial Building at East 15th Street and South Quaker Avenue was built in 1927.

  Here it is again in September 2009.  It has withstood the test of time.

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