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Trick Or Treat?

Rose with blue and red spray painted leaves

Having stored up some brownie points by offering you a virtual treat yesterday, I thought I might get away with tormenting some of you today.

I found this rose growing on the land surrounding an art park in Austin, Texas, with its leaves spray painted blue and red. I could imagine this as an alternative greeting card, but there’s something of plant cruelty about it, assuming you agree with my sweetheart that there is such a thing.

If the rose was wearing an expression, I imagine it would be like the one old Rusty had that made us laugh so helplessly when he came back from the dog groomer looking like the spaniel version of a Chinese crested dog, closely shorn in some places and fluffed up in others, crowned with a bow. Continue reading “Trick Or Treat?”

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A’net by Brenda Jet at Broomhill Sculpture Garden

A'net by Brenda Jet displayed upside down on a tree
A’net is made from discarded fisherman’s twine collected from Devon’s beaches

A’net by Brenda Jet was one of the installations we were able to get up close and personal with during our stay at Broomhill Art Hotel and Sculpture Garden in Muddiford, North Devon. The garden is a naturalistic one that runs alongside a stream, through a meadow and in the woodland of a steep-sided valley.

Brenda Jet collects plastic waste, such as tangled fisherman’s twine which she patiently cleans, unravels, then winds into neat balls of raw material. The finished sculpture is felt-like, colourful and textural. Continue reading “A’net by Brenda Jet at Broomhill Sculpture Garden”

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Street Art, Key West, Florida Keys

Street art of a giant cephalopod's tentacles lifting a sail boat
A pink and turquoise kraken seizes a sailing boat

Kraken are giant, predatory sea creatures from the North, something like an octopus or squid. This one has, not unusually for its sort, seized hold of a passing sail boat and now has the terrified mariners at its mercy (unless, as we cannot see any onboard, they were all partying onshore when the kraken sneaked into the harbour). It’s a detail from a painting on a hotel car park wall we stopped to admire.

Strictly speaking, the second is fence art. It’s a detail too, of a large design featuring birds, animals and vegetation that runs around the back patio of a restaurant in Key West. It’s worth reading this one upwards, so you get used to each level of the story before taking the next leap.

Pink flamingos, one with a crown, painted on a fence
Pink flamingos painted on a fence

First, leafy foliage with two pink flamingos. So far so good. They wear a decorative form of eye makeup.  One is wearing a coronation crown that Queen Elizabeth II would not be ashamed of (it looks lighter than her own). The artist has added a scroll and swirl design to add movement and break up the background. A space craft is leaving the scene to fly off into a universe of stars. Continue reading “Street Art, Key West, Florida Keys”

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Sometimes I Like Things I’m Not Supposed To Like

Power lines with tree branches silhouetted against the sky

When my sweetheart saw this, he tried to explain how I could remove the power lines with an app. Remove the lines? I like the lines. I like the way the vegetation moves with so much verve around them.

Indulge me. Anthropomorphise the seed heads for a moment and see how they seem to be lifting thin arms in mockery or emulation. Watch the boundaries between natural and man-made fade.

I didn’t get any pleasure from the power lines for a long time. We don’t dangle our lines in the sky for all to see where I’m from, we secretively stash them away. I’d venture to think we don’t need as many lines where I’m from, but then what do I know?  Continue reading “Sometimes I Like Things I’m Not Supposed To Like”

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Suzie Cranston’s Birdhouse Garden

When Suzie Cranston’s world was rocked by the death of her son, Peck, a sign saying ‘Peace begins in the garden’ inspired her to create a garden that would celebrate his life.

Beautiful at any time of the year, my sweetheart and I often pause to admire it on walks through our quirky little neighbourhood, Fondren, in Jackson, Mississippi. More than twenty years after starting the garden, Suzie is eager for others to enjoy it as much as she does. She welcomes visitors with a broad smile, pointing out things they may have missed: flowers, garden art, a new birdhouse and, in particular, things that Peck would have loved, such as the tortoises which appear everywhere.  Continue reading “Suzie Cranston’s Birdhouse Garden”

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Deckchair Danger!

Deckchair danger

I’ve long been treasuring a snap of a box of sugar with the handwritten message ‘Be careful, spills easily’ on it, which somehow piques my sense of humour, but sadly, it isn’t on this computer.

So how about this picture of an impractical deckchair? It does have several different warnings: the colour scheme for one. Then there’s the liberal application of the do-not-cross tape, the red cushion emblazoned with ‘Danger Do Not Sit’, and the graphic that seems to be  warning of a lightening bolt.

Getting your fingers trapped is the main potential issue if my experience is anything to go by, but is that mentioned? No.  Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Deckchair Danger!”

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Thursday Doors: Blue Sky Door

Door painted with landscape and a floating armadillo

This characterful door hasn’t experienced much traffic lately, as the untrampled wildflowers bear witness. It is part of the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture (Southpop) complex on South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas – or just around the corner from it.

I found this picture particularly tricky to write alt text for. How do you describe it in just a few words to a person who can’t see it? Continue reading “Thursday Doors: Blue Sky Door”