The Blanton Museum downtown currently has an Andy Warhol exhibit, running through January 29th. It is called “Warhol by the Book.” It contains his artwork associated with bookcovers, album covers, playbills, books that he published, and other of his works associated with authors. I enjoy Andy Warhol’s art, and saw things in this exhibit I’d not seen before.
Hands-on album cover exhibit. You can handle the albums and even play the LPs.
There was another visiting exhibit by Xu Bing called “Book from the Sky,” which runs through January 22nd. I knew nothing about this artist nor the work, but thought it was interesting. Over 4 years, Xu Bing hand carved thousands of wood blocks with non-sensical chinese characters/words of his own design, and then crafted traditional-format chinese books and scrolls made up with his hand-crafted characters. So, if you know Chinese, it looks like gibberish. If you don’t know Chinese, it looks like, well, Chinese. 🙂 I guess it’s supposed to get you thinking about the power of words, and also the beauty of Chinese calligraphy. It was a beautiful exhibit, nonetheless.
Their permanent exhibits are currently not open, as the museum is doing construction on the 2nd floor. But those will reopen mid-February.
I enjoyed learning something new. After we fed our minds, we had lunch downtown. A nice day.
Today I went birding with my friend, Doray, to Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve. I’m a novice. I was able to get a lot of amazing photos of tree branches. 🙂 If I ever get an amazing photo of a bird, I may share here. But for now, I won’t bore you with it. We did see several kinds of birdies, so I’m calling it a success.
Over the weekend I took a roadtrip with 4 girlfriends to Big Bend National Park in far southwest Texas. I’ve lived in Texas over 20 years and have never made it out there. And it was long overdue. It is all that they say it is. Big, beautiful, rugged, inspiring, with mountain, desert and river views to die for.
We made it!
Six and a half hours by car from Austin, we made it to Ft. Davis by about 7pm Friday night. We had reservations to attend one of the evening Star Parties held 3 times a week at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, and made it with a little time to spare. The skies were dark and the stars were out. The Milky Way was amazing. The stars and constellations visible to the naked eye were too many to count. Through the telescopes they had placed for visitors, I saw Saturn, the Andromeda Galaxy, M11 star cluster, and the 2 star clusters in the Perseus constellation. If you’re going to make the trip all the way out to Big Bend, you really should combine it with a trip to the observatory. Get tickets ahead of time online. They sell out frequently and have to turn people away.
McDonald Observatory giant telescopes on the hill – viewed from where we stayed outside of Fort Davis
Saturday morning we drove to Big Bend and hiked inside of Big Bend National Park. Saturday afternoon we did the Window Trail – to experience the Chisos Mountains part of Big Bend. Four hours round trip, a moderately challenging hike, with breathtaking scenery all along the way.
The Window in the Chisos Mountains from the beginning of the Window Trail.The Window view at the pour-off at the end of the trail. Watch your step!
We started Sunday at Santa Elena Canyon at dawn – to experience the Rio Grand river part of Big Bend. It was about an easy 2 hour hike roundtrip – though we had to bushwack a bit to get onto the trail. The Rio Grande has sliced a 1500′ deep canyon through the mountain there. At sunrise, the face of the sheer mountain walls glow in the brightening sunlight.
The Santa Elena Canyon trail, looking northeast with the sun rising over the Rio Grande.About a mile and a half into the Santa Elena Canyon trail along the Rio Grande.
Sunday afternoon we hiked the Mule Ears Springs trail – to experience the Chihuahuan Desert part of Big Bend. A 3 hour hike, moderate difficulty, mainly due to the rough terrain and 90+ degree temperatures. Packing water with you is a must!
Mule Ears, in the distance on the left, from the Mule Ears Springs trail.From the Mule Ears Springs trail, looking back south to Santa Elena Canyon in the distance.Chihuahuan Desert scape, looking north to the mountains from the south side of the park.
Another very awesome trip. We hiked our butts off.
I booked a couple of tickets to tour the University of Texas Tower tonight. It has been, thankfully, a rainy weekend, so I didn’t get the pre-sunset view that I was hoping for, but I enjoyed the tour and the 360 degree views of the city.
A panoramic view from the observation deck, located below the clockface, looking south.
A misty, drizzly day led to a very enjoyable trek through the Olympic National Forest, walking along trails on Walker Mountain, a drive through Quilcene, a Fat Smitty’s burger in Discovery Bay, antiquing in Port Townsend, a little geocaching, climbing through 100 year old bunkers at Fort Worden State Park, and walking to the beach to see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Point Wilson Lighthouse.
I took a field trip today to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden Museum, down by Zilker Park. Admission is free this summer, through the end of August, thanks to donations from Amplify Austin. You may want to check it out as well. Hours are Tue-Fri 10am-4pm, and Sat & Sun noon-4pm.
I’ve been there before, but it has been over 15 years. It was a lovely morning, and I headed out before it got too hot. Charles Umlauf was born in 1910, died in 1994, and was a prolific sculptor. His first commissioned work was at age 12! The sculpture garden lies on land between his former home and Barton Springs, and displays 50+ of his works scattered throughout lovely, wooded grounds.
My favorite:
Spirit of Flight, 1959
Ok, so, now for the best part… as I was walking through the grounds I noticed a large dark shape sitting on a branch of a tree right over the trail I just walked on. I realized it was a bird. A big one. It was just sitting there, watching me, as I doubled back to try to get a picture. It was an unexpected sight, and I love the shot. After I got home I looked online to identify the bird… I believe it to be a barred owl.
Sheila365 