solid color

Header Challenge: Solid Color

February 13, 2013

This week's theme was my pick. I went with "solid color" because I like the idea of finding different shades and reflections on a monochromatic surface. Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac (solid colour) and Lew.

[click any pic to enlarge]

Lots to see in the solid color category! First, I was amused by this tragedy... the Greek actor looks with dismay on the tacky utilitarianism as the artistic and extravagantly sculptured building is marred by a boneheaded placement of a window air conditioning unit. How uncouth!
 

Now, let's move from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri to Galena, Illinois' Main Street. Deviating from the category of fine art, how about a nice, steampunk Godzilla to dress up a store window?
 

The tour guide at the Galena & U.S. Grant Museum said I was completely free to take pictures inside the museum, so I have the bust of Grant in stone and bronze. I liked how the stone sculpture shows lots of reflected color that it picked up from the sunlit room. The bronze piece shows a before and after pic. The lonely piece on the back was was uninteresting until I crouched to a different position and held an off-camera flash high and to the left.



The Renaissance Suites in Galena felt like a home away from home, except that it had so many gargoyles! They look fun in daylight, but at night I bounced flash up from below to enhance their menacing appearance. Alas, I did not want a gargoyle for my header, so I skipped the fallen angel types and went with a golden messenger from the hosts of heaven. That was taken with a simple, point & shoot, compact camera. I used polarized sunglasses over the lens to get a bluer sky, and forced the flash to fill in some detail in the shady areas.
 

if Yoda was a gargoyle...

creepy

hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

not cool

Man, some folks have so much class, it's just oozing out of their ears! This is the Orpheum theater in downtown St. Louis. These statues are wearing barely anything, so we have to call it art and say it's tasteful, right? Maybe yes, and maybe no. For me though, the air conditioning unit is such an eyesore, that it takes away any chance this place had at aesthetics. It gets hot inside, so what else are they do do? To cool, or not to cool, that is the question... Oh, what a tragedy!

teaching torso

Q: Hey, what do you call a guy with no arms or legs, who just hangs on the wall?

A: "Art."

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What do you see here? I see a man who considers himself big because he has an "open mind," but in reality, he just has a big hole in his head. As a result, he is not capable of doing anything (no hands) or going anywhere (no feet). It should serve as a warning to the passers-by in this plaza, but my guess is that the majority view the subject without discernment, and simply consider it "art." What we have here may not be a clarion call, but rather a subliminal challenge to think. "The mind is a terrible thing to waste."

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Artistic expressions are not exclusively aesthetic, though sometimes a person does a thing "just because." The artist has a worldview, and a careful observation allows us to get inside that person's head and see beyond the surface of their work.

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So, what do you say? Am I making any sense here, or do you think that it is really me who has a hole in the head?

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[2,000 lb bronze sculpture Torso di Ikaro by Artist Igor Mitoraj at the historic Old Post Office Plaza in downtown St. Louis.]

gateway greetings

While I was visiting St. Louis, I nearly buffed the nose right off my face with Kleenex. Sunday and Monday were the only times I went out walking. Here, I used a secondary flash in an attempt to compensate for strong backlighting at the Gateway Arch. No tripod... I just propped the camera up with a bag, and held the second flash in place with goose poop and leaves. Seriously, there was a 20° slope where I placed it, so I had to use a stick to push a couple bird turds in place, and top them off with leaves for a place to lay my flash. I was hoping to try the shot again later with a bluer sky, and with a different solar perspective, but decided it would be wiser to drown myself in tea and rest quietly in my hotel room. I feel much better now.

ad hoc adventures

Everything should go back to normal today, except for catching up on all the stuff that never seems to be quite caught-up in the first place. Friends, I missed you; I really did. My manager used a phrase one too many times, and we turned it into a joke. Can you guess what that phrase was?

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The time away was a work-related trip to a major missions conference. I sold books there as part of a team that set up book-of-the-day stations at strategic locations. For our central base of operations, we used a locker room as our ad hoc headquarters, and called it "the Batcave." This wasn't just any old locker room, mind you! This was none other than the locker room for the St. Louis Rams' Cheerleaders! As part of this book team, I was given all kinds of access to the site, and (being an assistant manager) I even had my very own key to the cheerleaders' locker room.

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Don't worry; I didn't do anything foolish. There were no cheerleaders in that locker room any time we were there, and even if there were, I have too good a thing with my wife to put my marriage in jeapardy.

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[continued...]

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There was talk about seeing this trip as an ad hoc adventure. My adventure began before even making it to the bus. For starters, I lost my itinerary. Then, on the drive to the bus, our minivan was doing a terrible job of keeping a good grip on the road, because of a thick coating of fresh, slippery snow. We lost traction on a side street, and slid into a ditch.

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Stepping outside to assess the situation, I observed that we were just inches from a stop sign. We didn't hit it--thank the Lord! Maybe if I just move straight back enough... no good: landscaping pillars (like railroad ties) are jutting up from the ground behind me, and I couldn't possibly drive over them. It looks like I'm pinned for good and this slippery snow won't let me get out.

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Just then, a red pickup drives up and offers to help. (Correction: the people inside the pickup offered to help. I didn't hear audible voices from motor vehicles.) These folks lived across the street from this ditch, and the lady said of her husband that he does this kind of stuff all the time. He tied a chain to our rear axle, and we were freed in less time than it took you to read this story. Well, almost.

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One adventure down, what's next?

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[continued...]

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Another adventure was an ad hoc journey to India. Not really--let's go back a bit. "Somebody" forgot to pack his deodorant, and had to go looking around downtown St. Louis for a convenience store. Along the way, he (I, that is) noticed an Indian restaurant. I have never eaten at an Indian restaurant.

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That night, my crew asked for suggestions on a place to eat. I told them about the place that I found, and that it was just a little less than a mile away. We walked (in freezing temps) a little different than my first trip, and when I got to Olive Street, I wasn't sure whether to turn right or left. It would not have been of great consequence, except that we were cold and hungry. I chose to turn right. After two blocks, I realized that it was the wrong direction. We had to turn back. My companions started grumbling. You know what? It's not easy to reassure a crowd (3 + me) of ravenous men who are finally getting a nice dinner after working all day Saturday and Sunday. Anyhoo, we finally made it to the restaurant...

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and it was closed.

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[continued...]

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My friends did not roast me on an ad hoc funeral pyre. They're so gracious! Let's go back to that convenience store. I couldn't find the deodorant with the shampoos and soaps. Instead, I found a sign that indicated that the deodorants are located behind the front registers, and see cashiers for assistance. What?!! That is so weird. The deodorant now has the behind-the-counter stigma of intimate or naughty things. "Um, yes... I'll have a newspaper and some Chiclets and... (mumbling) deodorant." The nervous customer is mortified as the clerk goes on the p.a. to get a price check on deodorant. Great--now the whole store knows that I'm interested in one of those behind-the-counter items! Catching a glance from an elderly gentleman, I instinctively offer a polite "how do." He just nods. I know what he's thinking... "Hello back, Mr. Stinky Pits!"

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Glad to be back, now let's see what kind of mess waits for me at the desk...