Circus House

The bad part about The Ringling in Sarasota Florida is that there is too much to see in one day. After touring the Circus Museum, The Gardens and The Art Museum finally made it to the Gulf and to Ca’Da’ Zan which is the house that John and Mabel Ringling lived in. We were too late to tour the inside of the house so we will have to return to see it. If the inside is a miraculous as the tile work on the outside, it will be worth the wait.

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The Ringling House

The Ringling House

Clown Head Variations

The Ringling in Sarasota Florida is a collection of Museums and Gardens not to be missed. There are so many attractions that you will want to return for a second day. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is an excellent art museum providing hours of thought provoking viewing. The Circus Museum has the most impressive model railroad I have ever seen reflecting the Circus of the 1900’s. The museum is also filled with memorabilia like this clown head form the 1800’s. Imagine wearing this in a parade. Notice the air/eye grid in the center of the head.

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Clown Head

Clown Head

St. Petersburg’s Clay Company

I have a lifelong friend that works as a Pediatric ER Doctor. She is perfectly suited for doing a stressful job that I can’t imagine doing. Not only that she is exactly the person you would want to have doing such a job. For decades she has successfully managed her stress and one of her outlets is doing pottery. She really does nice work and I am happy to have a cupboard full of her outtake mugs.

She took us to visit St Petersburg Clay (http://stpeteclay.com.) which is kind of like a high tech gym for potters. In addition to housing artists, providing resources and teaching classes they have a wonderful gallery full of impressive pieces for sale.

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Work in Progress

Work in Progress

Outdoor Kilns

Outdoor Kilns

Gallery

Gallery

Makin’ Tikis

I love watching street artists. I am always amazed by a number of things. One is that they can make something so complex and not be distracted by people staring and walking around. Or distracted by noise, dogs, little kids, the wind and a host of other things. This guy was particularly amazing because one slip of that chisel and his foot is chopped liver. I didn’t have the nerve to ask him if that had ever happened. This was shot on the street in Lahaina in Maui County Hawaii.

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Making Tikis

Making Tikis

Canali di Milano

Milan was a wonderful part of our European tour a few years and we met great people, saw fantastic sites and ate exquisite cuisine. On one of our last days there we were looking for something off the beaten track and saw in a tour book a small note that said not to miss the canals of Milan. I thought Milan has Canals? That’s crazy, so off we went. This is not Venice or Bruges but the canals are lined with antique shops, clubs and bistros and offer short canal boat tours. The colorful buildings help to create an interesting ambiance.

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Canals of Milan

Canals of Milan

The Village of Biot

Biot is a medieval village in the hills of Provence between Antibes and Nice. It is what you would expect of a Village in Provence. Narrow ancient streets, historic ruins and great little cafes and restaurants. What makes Biot unusual is the ancient glass works that have been there for centuries. You can visit the glass works and see today’s craftsmen blow glass works of art in the same way they have done for centuries. You can also spend as much money as you want in the shop. Of course even the town street map is made from ceramic glass.

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Biot Town Map

Biot Town Map

Museo Nazionale Della Scienza e Della Tecnologia Leonardo Da Vinci

I am sure many people that visit Milan in Italy are there for the fashion, the churches and the history of an old Italian imperial city. Many people say that Milan is the “New York” of Italy and like New York has some interesting museums. When we first entered the Da Vinci museum I was a little pissed off. It seemed like all the hands on exhibits on the first floor were closed. However, as we moved through the other floors my mood changed from crappy to elated. The exhibits were wonderfully presented and the light and design of the interior was spectacular and even though everything was in Italian, it was easy for a foreigner to comprehend.

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Globe

Hall

Exhibit

The Da Vinci Museum

The Da Vinci Museum

Spooky Eyes

Every time I visit the Louvre, I try to see new parts of the Museum. I still haven’t seen it all in my three visits and probably never will…it’s just too big. The last time we found a new sculpture room and some work we had never see. I don’t know who the artist was but I swear the eyes of this statue follow you as you go through the gallery. I walked by it a couple of times and it made me feel kind of creepy like this guy was watching me.

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Spooky Eyes at the Louvre

Spooky Eyes at the Louvre

Modern Art

I have a love/hate relationship with “modern art”. One complaint is a clear definition of what constitutes “Modern Art”. I sure in some University a professor thinks they can clearly explain it and maybe they can, just not to me. When we visited The Pompidou Centre in Paris I was amazed and also put in hysterics by some of the displays.

There was one salon that had a small wall with five pieces on it.There were five ostentatious gold painted frames of different sizes arranged in a standard gallery pattern. Each frame had an oil painting of solid black paint…nothing else solid black, thick old black oil paint. I was laughing so hard I had to exit the salon, tears were streaming down my face. But then there were some amazing works also displayed like those below. The building is incredible and even the elevator is a work of art.

A wonderful Elevator

A wonderful Elevator

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Works from the Pompidou Center

Works from the Pompidou Center

View from the Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou is a modern art museum in Paris that is truly one of the best in the world. Modern art both astounds me and makes me laugh. I saw this work at the Centre Pompidou that was a string of plain white Christmas lights haphazardly put on the wall with a little card that said “Untitled” and the name of the artist. It made me laugh so hard I had to leave the area. This is a view of Paris from the roof of the Centre Pompidou.

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Paris from the The Pompidou Center

Paris from the The Pompidou Center