OVER THE BRIDGE AT ARTPRIZE

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to the ARTPRIZE adventure!

Last week we were in downtown Grand Rapids, MI at ARTPRIZE, a month long international art competition displayed in venues within the city.

Today we are crossing the bridge to see what's on the other side.

Temperature was in the high 50's to lower 60 degrees, it was overcast with the threat of rain and the wind was blowing pretty hard as we crossed over the river, you can see the artful display of flags in the river were flapping  in the wind.

Crossing over and walking under the bridge to get to the Gerald R. Ford 

Presidential Museum, we saw Earth Giant by Benjamin Gazsi. Made from found natural materials within a grapevine and wire armature. He was massive in size, as was the crowd that wanted to view him!  It was tough to get a good angle on him with the crowds.  Won 6th place.

UP Lifting by Andy Sacksteder: A stunningly beautiful bronze sculpture water feature of Native Americans.  3rd prize winner! 

Dancing with Mother Nature by Paul Baliker a fourteen foot sculpture from cedar wood. Won 4th Place. 

Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore by Ann Loveless.  A four panel landscape art quilt using a collage of fabrics and machine applique.  Grand Prize Winner!!!

If you would like to see a complete listing and photos of the ART PRIZE winners work, please click HERE. 

Being a quilter myself I was delighted to see the landscape win the Grand Prize!  Was it my favorite?  Stay tuned for that answer......

Please join me again next Thursday and we travel back to town and visit the GRAM (Grand Rapids Art Museum) for more ART PRIZE and I'll reveal my favorite work of art.   
 

GRAND RAPIDS ARTPRIZE

  Hi Everyone!

 My SIL is in the military and was recently stationed in Grand Rapids, MI and so I had the opportunity to visit.  This was my first trip to Michigan and I was pretty excited to visit my family there, to see where they were living and explore the area.


 Just so happened there was an international art competition going on in the city called ARTPRIZE and we were lucky enough to be there to see the exhibits all around the city of Grand Rapids.  It was pretty impressive!  The top prize was $200,000!! So as you can imagine there was top notch art being displayed in the city venues.   We walked all over the city and visited as many venues as possible.  There was so much to see, each piece a masterpiece of ingenuity and creativity, my favorite pieces were made from recycled materials.  

This dragon was a centerpiece in the exhibit, it actually was made of recycled metals and it breathed fire!  this thing was HUGE.  

Tired Pandas made from recycled tires was among my favorites.

Tired Panda close up

T

This artist painted portraits of people in the crowd that he photographed on his cell phone, he incorporated each portrait into his work of art which created the images of the city and gave illusions of the downtown area.  It was an incredible work, standing in different marked spots on the pavement you could see different views of the city.  

These fabulous faces of Native Americans were carved from stone. They were incredible in the detail, absolutely exquisite works of art.  My favorite of all.

And then there was OVER THE BRIDGE......Please join me next Thursday  as we walk over the bridge and see what lies beyond.

 Until then....
Happy Travels!
Suzy

IT'S PUMPKIN TIME!

Hi Everyone!

It's PUMPKIN TIME!

Pumpkin harvest time in Grand Rapids where I was visiting my daughter and family.  There were pumpkins, squash and apples everywhere we went.

 All the farmers markets had them on display, beautiful colors of orange, green, yellow and red.

 Delicious apple donuts, fritters, pies, cookies and then there was the pumpkin ice cream, cakes, pies and donuts.....it was wonderful to walk into the fragrant bakeries within the farm markets.  Oh my! 

 Now, in Florida, we don't see giant pumpkins everywhere unless they are the blow up kind.  Nope, we don't have hayrides, or cornfield mazes and big barns where I live, so I found those particularly delightful too!

 Everywhere we went it seemed there was a farm or orchard and lots of farm fun like hayrides and corn mazes and homemade ice cream or baked treats. 

Grandma Bonnie and Mimi 

This is Jackson's first Pumpkin Season and he is celebrating with his Mommy, Daddy, Mimi and Grandma Bonnie too!

We think he is the cutest pumpkin in the patch!! 

Happy Pumpkin Season! 

Suzy 

AUTUMN SPLENDOR

Hi Everyone!

 I've been away in Michigan visiting with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson.  Jackson turned six months old and is quite the personality! 

Autumn was in the air, even though the temperatures were unusually warm for this time of the year, we saw the leaves beginning to change....


                                                          
                                                  

                                 

                                   The glory 

                                      of autumn

                                    In all it's splendor

                                       Berries 

                               

                                   

                                    Golden Leaves

We had terrific adventures each day!  I'll be sharing those with you in my next post! Hope you will join me next Thursday at the Pumpkin Patch! 

Till then....

Happy Fall!

Suzy

PEOPLE WATCHING

Hi Everyone!

It's Sketchbook Tuesday!  I pulled my sketchbook out at the airport the other day and sketched a few people while waiting for a flight to Atlanta, fortunately no one was paying attention.  After arriving at the Atlanta airport and tracking down my next gate on the next concourse over via a tram ride and several escalators and at the very end and LAST gate of the concourse I was finally able to sit, catch my  breath and pull the sketchbook out again.

People fascinate me, especially when traveling.  Don't you love to watch people in an airport? I love it and it sure makes the time go quickly.  So, being a people watcher by nature, but not necessarily a people drawer,  I just try to get the essence of people (something that catches my eye) down on the page.  Sketching people is challenging because they move positions or shift their poses so often it is almost impossible to get a good sketch.  But, I enjoy the challenge of working people into a painting or drawing. 


Gather your art supplies and go People Watching today!

Happy Sketching!
Suzy

DUTCH VILLAGE

Hi Everyone!


We visited a Dutch Village in Holland, MI today. 

 Most of the shops were closed with the exception of the Wooden Shoe Shop and the candle shop. 

                                     
                                                     We tried on wooden shoes

                                             
                                             and Dutch Boy Hats

                                         
                                             watched a candle carving demonstration

There wasn't much to do in the village with the shops being closed so we headed over to Panera's for lunch.  I'm hooked on the Autumn Squash soup and if you haven't had it yet, get there fast and give it a try....so yummy good! 

Having fun!  Hope you are too...where ever you are! 

Suzy