After October 30 this year, the fountains at Versailles shut down for the season, but the gardens still offer a lovely long walk. Some yellow leaves held their place on the trees and reflected the low afternoon light. Without the water flowing, we were able to see the amazing sculpture of the fountains, especially these horses and men rising from the water.
Zoom in to examine the baroque sculpture at the center of the pond. Versailles Gardens, November 2018.
I always enjoy seeing the locals enjoying these gardens — walking, biking and even taking out a paddle boat. The scene reminds me of New Yorkers enjoying the pastoral beauty of Central Park.
Alongside Durham Cathedral is an old grave yard, where I believe priests, bishops and the elite towns people have been buried.
Roaming around Durham Cathedral in Northeast England, I was busy learning about Norman architecture, the imprisonment of the Scots in the Cathedral and the bishop-princes appointed by William the Conquerer. But there was over a thousand years of history made here, and scores more facts to absorb.
Then, my attention was drawn to some unmarked tombs just outside the Cathedral.
Unusual grave marker outside Durham Cathedral.
Later research on the web provided the names of a bishop, a priest and a dean of the Cathedral buried outside the walls, but there are many more tombs than three, leaving the mystery of the tomb’s identity or date unsolved.
What image do you decipher in this well worn tombstone?
Perhaps it is better to consider this site a place for meditation and prayer. The questions raised by death and the what happens to each of us after death have vexed the human mind for millennia. It may benefit us more to reflect on the human condition and our questions about life after death than to seek the identity of any one particular grave.
Chihuly glass sculptures, installed in many prominent American botanical gardens, ostensibly aim to imitate nature. How do you compare these sublime towers of glass at the New York Botanical Gardens to a nearby stalk of blooms?
Chihuly’s yellow and red spire of glass spokes stand in stark contrast to the round pavilion at the New York Botanical Garden.
Inside the neoclassical pavilion, I found this simple and elegant stalk of blossoms. It is rather understated, you might say, but similar to the sculpture in its overall shape and repetition of blossoms up the stalk. Here the colors are more muted, not bold, primary colors the sculpture has.
Close up of delicate blossoms emerging symmetrically around the plant’s stalk at New York Botanical Garden.
Inside the pavilion shown in the first photo is a more fanciful Chihuly tower sculpture that reminds me of a Dr. Seuss illustration. It is white with pink polka dots, and its spokes curl like snakes. Symmetry is no longer the operative word. We might say this piece shows more personality.
Polka dots and irregular curls give this Chihuly sculpture a different personality. New York Botanical Garden, inside the pavilion.
It’s true: Art helps you to see the world in a fresh new way. First we are attracted to Art for its shape, its color, its sound, its fascination value or its beauty.
Chihuly’s blue globe radiates white beams, at the New York Botanical Garden.
Next, we relate it to what we know. Third, we begin to see new relationships.
Was Chihuly inspired by the sun, or perhaps by palm trees like these?
Chicago’s public sculpture “Cloud Gate” — nicknamed “the bean” — is always swarmed with visitors admiring its distorted reflections. The Chicago skyline and one’s own reflection inevitably compete for your attention.
On a frigid Sunday afternoon in Chicago, tourists gather around Cloud Gate (the bean) in Millennium Park. Photo opportunities are endless.
I wonder if the British artist Anish Kapoor knew it would be such a powerful people magnet when he welded 168 stainless steel plates seamlessly. His work was dedicated in 2006.
Blog: Cathy Kelly Photography 