Home. Design. The Beauty of Both.
I came across this scene in a neighborhood composed mainly of modern architecture and design. I love this sculpture outside the front of the home where it can be enjoyed by passersby. It adds an artistic element to the home’s exterior as well as providing fluid lines and movement amongst the more angular lines of the home.
Do you have any sculpture outside your home?
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The other day I was at The Galleria shopping mall in Edina. As I strolled down the hallway, my attention was caught by a large, spherical fountain. I immediately went to see it up close. It was beautiful. It was located within/outside Lili Salon – Spa.
I asked Andrea, a massage therapist at the salon, about the fountain. She told me it was created by Allison Armour. I had suspected as much since I had written about her fountains and garden art some time ago. That post is titled Art in the Garden. It was such a pleasure to see her work in person.
If you’re equally enchanted by this sculpture and fountain (known as an Aqualens), make a point of stopping by to see it. Clever Lili Salon – Spa placed their doors so that the fountain remains outside the salon, allowing visitors to get an up close view any time. I didn’t have my camera to take a photo so here’s one from the original post I wrote about Allison’s work.
A lot of people find the holidays stressful. If you find yourself in need of pampering, perhaps an appointment for services at Lili Salon – Spa will bring needed relief.
Lili Salon – Spa
3464 Galleria
Edina MN 55436
952-935-5000
salonlili.com
Artist Benjamin Bullins has taken a discarded bike and created a bathroom vanity. Bullins doesn’t stop with the bike vanity. The mirror has been fashioned from an old trombone case. A snare drum has been made into a ceiling light fixture. The bike’s handlebars are now towel bars (not shown). And what’s not to love about the basket as a towel holder?
Bullins aims to create sculptures that reflect the culture of his hometown of New Orleans. He successfully achieves this here and manages to be creative, functional and green at the same time.
What do you have around your house that can be re-purposed and re-used in a new way? I suspect many of you will love this bathroom bike vanity design. If you’re not the Do-It-Yourself type, contact Benjamin Bullins about buying his mixed-media artwork. Yes, artwork. And vanity and mirror. Both are available for purchase through the artist. Contact him at his artist website.
Read more about the very talented artist and photographer Benjamin Bullins.
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Week Beginning June 1, 2012
This week’s challenge is to go out and take a photo rather than dig through our archives. I headed out with my camera, not exactly sure where I’d go or what I’d photograph. I took a lot of pictures and it was tough deciding which ones to post today. I finally settled on these garden shots because they aren’t the oft seen rose, tulip or other popular flower photos. (Yes, I have rose photos as well.)
There’s also a photo taken on the way to the garden–of a scene just begging to be photographed!
These flower photos were taken at the award-winning Lyndale Gardens by Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Lyndale Park Gardens encompasses four distinctive gardens: Rose Garden, Annual/Perennial Garden, Peace (Rock) Garden, and Perennial Trial Garden and Hummingbird/Butterfly Garden.
Read more about the weekly photo challenge at the DailyPost.wordpress.com.
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I recently returned from a trip to Chicago. I’ve always loved Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. It’s one of the largest fountains in the world. It’s another heat wave in the Midwest. Enjoy this visual/virtual relief.
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A short video of this beautiful fountain:
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Buckingham Fountain-Behind the Scenes
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See more photos and learn more about the Minneapolis Farmers Market:
It’s Not All Food at the Farmers Market
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The art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is evident both inside and outside.
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Learn more about The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Free daily museum admission. Closed Mondays.
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November 13, 2010
Today we are getting our first snowfall here in the Twin Cities. Our total snow accumulation is expected to be between 6″ and 12″. There are tree limbs down and power outages. Numerous cars have wheels just spinning rather than gripping. I saw a Facebook posting about someone’s son going out to snowboard and that made me think of this photo.
It was a beautiful fall with warm and sunny days. I am so ready for spring. 🙂
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A sculpture of a horse in a front yard of a home on Lake of the Isles Parkway.
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Set your mouse over the photos below to see the slideshow controls.
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What’s not to love about these? Divinely eclectic. I’ll take two, please!
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A kinetic sculpture by Bruce Stillman—1983
This sculpture is said to have a mysterious history. I think it’s titled Loch Ness.
It’s located near the south shore of Cedar Lake at Ackerberg Point.
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The Phelps fountain, also known as the “turtle” fountain,
at Lyndale Park by Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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This fountain was moved from its former downtown Gateway site in 1962-63 when the perennial garden that surrounds it was built. It is located on the east side of the garden. The Heffelfinger fountain lies to the west of the Phelps fountain. Further west lies the Rose Gardens, the second oldest rose garden in the United States. Other places to see at Lyndale Park are the Peace Garden and the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary. The picturesque setting of these gardens is frequently used for wedding ceremonies and photography shoots.
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Who’s visiting Lake Harriet these days? It’s the Lake Creature!
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Learn more about the Lake Creature at www.lakecreature.com.
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Where there’s beauty, there’s contemplation.
Where there’s contemplation, there’s inner knowing.
—Kate Walsh
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Sunday morning seems quieter than the other days of the week. Perhaps it’s all the sipping of coffee and tea and reading the Sunday papers that creates this peaceful tranquility that extends beyond daybreak.
Here’s a man who finds time to contemplate each and every day, Sunday and otherwise. There’s something calming about seeing him, sitting perched up above the stone retaining walls in a grove of trees. What are you contemplating today? What inner knowing is taking place for you?
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“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”
— Albert Einstein
“That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful.” —Edgar Allan Poe
“Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which nature herself is animated.” —Auguste Rodin
“Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing.” —Dodie Smith
“I feel like I’m stepping into a place of spiritual contemplation every time I enter a studio; it’s always had a certain magic to me that has never worn off with familiarity.” —David Knopfler
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A garden can be a sanctuary, a visual and sensory delight, a source of food, a habitat for nature’s various creatures and birds, and a place to satisfactorily work on a hobby or passion. It’s also an appropriate place for art.
I recently read about Allison Armour and her award-winning work. I was immediately struck by the simple beauty and elegance of her pieces. The light-catching metal reflects and enhances the wonderful array of colors in a garden and the sky. The sphere fountain adds a soothing water feature to an already peaceful place.
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Look at the mirror obelisk for more inspiration. It’s mirror surface reflects the flowers and sunlight while it’s pointed and sharp-edged shape offers a striking contrast to the softness of the plantings.
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Here are additional photos of her spherical fountains and sculptures:
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To learn more, visit Allison’s website: www.AllisonArmour.us
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