Jamieson Place Winter Garden, Calgary

Jamieson Place Winter Garden, Calgary, originally uploaded by whistlepunch.

After an appointment downtown, I took the opportunity to visit Jamieson Place and their Winter Garden on the +15 level in order to see the Chihuly art glass installation.  I left Phoenix a few weeks back knowing we were leaving just before a full exhibition of his work at the Desert Botanical Gardens and although I still hope to find my way back down by May 2014 before the installation is complete, I was excited to learn that we had some of his work available to view in a public space in Calgary.  The Winter Garden is designed with the Prairie Style of Frank Lloyd Wright as inspiration (another favourite) and includes lush green plants and a living wall on the West side across from the Chihuly piece.  Under the glass is an infinity pool which unfortunately was dry at the time. 

The glass is all the more amazing knowing a bit about the installation process.  The inner framework of metal spikes and the individual glass pieces of snakey arms and globules arrive disassembled and then from a picture only, Chihuly's minions put together the art pieces. No "put glass tube A on spike A" instruction manual for these pieces.  And so fascinating to see up close.

After visiting here, I headed over to the Glenbow Museum to check out the current exhibits "Transformations: Otto Dix and A.Y. Jackson" and "Made in Calgary: The 80s". Both were great. I found a few new favourite pieces and was able to revisit some familiar pieces I have enjoyed in the past.

On my way out, I passed through the Epcor Center to see the art in the public spaces there.  I was able to experience the sound installation by Kyle Whitehead as part of Soundasaurus, which is this weekend in Calgary . I made a quick Vine of it - look away if you don't like flashing lights!

There are some art spaces I still have on my "to visit" list here in the city.  We may not have anything to rival the grand art museums of other cities, but if you pay attention and take the time to visit - there is still a lot going on right here in YYC.

July 3: Summer Begins

I found a few pictures in a draft post I never got around to publishing to the blog this summer.  Enjoy!

A spontaneous party with my nephews and neice after work! Yum!

Preparing to welcome the Summer International Students in Stampede fashion!

Students listening for their ticket numbers in the prize draws. I think some were VERY successful at the games.

This was just the beginning of a fun filled summer. Maybe I'll update on this with another "Look back at Summer" post. 

Flickr Friday: Stained Glass

Israel, originally uploaded by whistlepunch.

I told myself I would start blogging again when I was no longer President of ATESL. Actually, I told myself I would do a lot of things once I had finished my term as President. So far, I haven't quite got there but I am working on it. I've been at my computer and determined to upload photos I've had in the queue to add to Flickr so a handful have been going up each night as I was working on other things.

I've added photos from the ATESL conference, photos from my mission experiences in Korea and finally got around to posting just a selection of the photos from each country on my Mediterranean cruise back in 2011. The stained glass detail at the top of this blog post is from our day in Nazareth and our visit to the Basilica of the Annunciation. I loved the saturated colours of the window panes. Click on the picture to go to the collection and view more! I still need to add Egypt and my last free day in Rome and that trip will be posted. More activity as well as sharing the links has meant many more views of my online albums. What typically was averaging 400-500 views a day has jumped to a record day of 7,261 views and a weekly total of 21,239! Wow. And they aren't that great. I really want to take a photography course and get a decent camera before my next trip. But since there are no solid plans for that yet, I will wait.

My cousin Heidi shared a link on Facebook about a film that is being included in the Calgary Underground Film Festival: Documentaries next Thursday. It is the story of Vivian Maier, a New York nanny who enjoyed taking pictures when she was out in the city. She was what is now called a 'hoarder' but I see it as an intense collector of life. In 2007 someone found her immense collection of the negatives from her street photography when a storage locker she didn't keep up payments for was finally sold at auction and these are now being catalogued and shared as a significant look at life in the second half of the 20th century America. I'm so glad Heidi posted the link!  I had heard about this collection and Vivian shortly after the find and have looked forward to seeing this documentary but had no idea when I might get the chance.  Tickets can be purchased in advance here.  Let me know if you want me to save you a seat!

http://www.vivianmaier.com/media/gallery/self-portraits/53-119.jpg

(Me in 2007 in Cambridge)
We both took self portraits in mirrors before everyone else started taking "selfies".