Tag Archives: sculpture

Einstein Statue

IMG_2817.jpgTourists wandering along the Mall in Washington, D.C. will migrate from one famous tourist attraction to another. The Washington monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial wall and many other spots will be on their itinerary. One thing that is often overlooked as a sculpture just north of the mall. It is a sculpture of Albert Einstein in a very relaxed pose. I have always found it to be a very cool thing to see and to see how everyone engages with it is also cool. Some wanted to touch him while other are happy to jump up on his lap. I certainly recommend that although the surface is a bit too bumpy to be comfortable for too long. If doing the DC tourist thing, do try and fit this in. I also include a picture of my nephew, Chris, next to the statue to give you some idea of scale.

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Artichoke Art

wpid10450-C59F8290.jpgCastroville CA is the self proclaimed artichoke capital of the world. Given the percentage of the world’s artichokes that are grown there, I doubt anyone is going to try and challenge them for the title. They seem to have it wrapped up. To celebrate the artichoke, the town holds an artichoke festival. This has become quite a popular event and has now migrated from Castroville to the County fairgrounds in Monterey. This seemed like something worth a visit. While you could find all sorts of things at the festival and try artichoke in many forms – artichoke cupcakes anyone – and have your picture taken with Arty the Artichoke, the thing that really caught our imagination was the artichoke art.

wpid10448-C59F8287.jpgPeople sculpt various installations using artichokes and other vegetables. They may plan as long as they like but they have to bring the raw ingredients on the morning of the competition and create the art there and then. Some of them were really impressive. My favorite was the pig although several of the others looked pretty cool.

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Keeper of the Plains

wpid6626-AU0E8877.jpgIt has been a while since we last went to Wichita in Kansas.  We have good friends who live there and who we have visited before.  However, they have been on the move a lot in recent years and then we had to cancel a trip when things got a little hectic.  However, we finally got back down there again.  It was a great visit so thanks for having us guys.  While we were there, we took a walk along the Arkansas River.  Opinion appears to vary on how to pronounce this river depending on which state you are in but the joy of writing rather than speaking is that you won’t know which way I said it so you can’t tell me I am wrong!

wpid6624-AU0E8870.jpgThere is a split in the river near where we parked and there are a pair of bridges and an island with a large sculpture on it.  This is called the Keeper of the Plains.  It is a very impressive steel sculpture of a Native American with his arms raised to the skies.  Given plenty of time, I would have come back and seen it later in the day.  I am not sure if it is illuminated at night but it certainly was very impressive during daylight hours.  If you are in the area, do take a look.

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