Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Rocky Mountain Postcards...

On the way to Denver to work the Green Girl Studios booth at the Rocky Mountain Bead Society's Bead Bazaar, our plane flew right through a thunderstorm. My neighbor was fairly new to flying. As the plane shook and the flashes of lightning illuminated the sky, she began to cry and pray loudly. Her make-up was running. Her hands clutched the armrests tightly, her nails digging in. I felt bad for her. I'm so used to flying that a little bit of turbulence doesn't phase me at all. Although she was a stranger, I tried to comfort her by saying, "I don't think that they would fly us through the storm if they thought it was too dangerous. Nothing to worry about at all. We'll be on the ground shortly, I'm sure!"

lightning united airlines flightThe flight was rocky, but there was nothing to worry about. Above is a shot from my window.


patti cahill lampwork glassI love Patti Cahill of Dyed in the Fire's work. The colors are so rich and vibrant and are saccharine sweet. Above is a photo of her at her booth.

raven's journey michelle mach melanie staffordAbove are some snapshots of folks who dropped by the booth. At the far left is Lenka of Raven's Journey who has some of my most favorite Czech Glass ever, Melanie Stafford (the new editor of Creative Jewelry magazine), polymer clay artist and bead store owner Janis Holler of Loco Lobo Designs, and freelance writer extraordinaire, Michelle Mach.

bernadette fuentesI very rarely get a chance to see Bernadette Fuentes and her lovely lampwork creations, so it was particularly nice to swing by the booth before the show opened for a few moments to catch up. She gave me some helpful advice to combat Denver's high altitude.

kristal wick heidi lillypilly jamie hogsettAbove is a picture of the birthday girl (Kristal Wick), Heidi from Lillypilly Designs and Jamie Hogsett author of Stringing Style: 50+ Fresh Bead Designs for Jewelryjamie hogsett stringing style at the vendor and volunteer appreciation dinner after the first day of the show. Normally we're all too busy working to socialize too much, so the dinner was a great way for us to interact en masse.

I was amused by the line for the buffet line and took a short video of the line wrapped around the ballroom.

benjamin moore paints sign denverI adore good signage. I was particularly enamored with this bright, big neon Benjamin Moore Paints sign overlooking Denver. So much so that I had to snap a picture of it.

denver skyline

I had a few hours before my plane took off and I wanted to check out the museums in Denver. I've heard lots of amazing things about the fine art scene in Denver, but never had the opportunity to explore until this past weekend. Unfortunately my plan was shot down due to the fact that most of the cultural buildings and museums are closed on Mondays. It wasn't all lost though. Denver sports a huge reputation of being a patron of public art.

toxic schizophrenia tim noble sue webster denverAbove is a shot of Toxic Schizophrenia (Hyper Version) by artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster. This revolving, light-studded sculpture is outside of the Museum of Contemporary Art: Denver.

denver art museumThe Denver Art Museum's Hamilton Building, designed by Daniel Libeskind, with all its unusual angles juxtaposed to the more traditional surrounding architecture is a work of art itself!

yearling donald lipski byers-evan house claes oldenburgThe Yearling is a sculpture of a giant chair topped with a pony outside of the main branch of the Denver Public Library done by Donald Lipski. I was delighted to see the name on the placard. Years ago I did a workshop with him and a group of us even went out to his studio in the Hamptons to see where the works of art originated from. In the center is a picture of the Byers-Evans House. Apparently this used to be the premier home in Denver, built by two of the most influential families in Denver and home to a vast collection of art. It is now a museum and a Ray Tomasso show of new works on paper is now up in the gallery. This is one of the few museums open downtown on Monday. (Be sure to saw hello to Lynne, who was amazingly kind and extremely helpful. She pointed me to the Novo Coffee and Dozens across the way. Yum!) On the right is a snapshot of the large-scale sculpture, "The Big Sweep" by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen outside of the Denver Art Museum.

scottish angus cow calf dan ostermiller denver
Another of the large scale public works of art I saw was "Scottish Angus Cow and Calf" by Colorado sculptor Dan Ostermiller, who is represented by Nedra Matteucci Fine Art gallery. I was struck by the sculpture's sheer mass and presence.

I had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back. Next time though I'm going to try to plan to come earlier or stay later to check out all the amazing artwork that Denver has to offer.

4 comments:

SummersStudio said...

I haven't been to Denver in years but spent a lot of time there in summers as a child. I always love your bead show pics and stories. I love the sculpture especially the chair. You are so sweet to comfort your fellow passenger on your flight in. I've flown a lot but still get quite frightened of weather. I would so appreciate a fellow comforting traveller like you.

kate mckinnon said...

Awesome post!

Did you happen to see the blue mustang, outside the Denver airport? It's extraordinary, and especially notable as after it's completion, it fell and crushed the artist. They installed it anyway, complete with devilish red eyes, and people have really mixed feelings about it.

Me, I think it's magnificent.

Tammy and Rob said...

It was nice to finally purchase some Green Girl Studio beads and kind of meet you, and thanks for pointing out the new Love never dies to me, I love it! When you make it back to Denver, let me know, we are members of a gallery here in Denver and can get you lots of info about the art scene here.

Alice said...

Wow, Denver has some amazing art! I've been through Denver, but neve really stop to look around.

Thanks for sharing!