Culture Shock

Brace yourself - this is a looonnnnnnngggg post. That being said, I took over 300 photos, so I did quite a bit of editing. Ashlee and I took a little spring break trip down to Big D. - that's Dallas, in case you didn't know.
Monday morning: getting the car washed for the trip.

Look! We're already in Texas!

In the hotel waiting for Kristen. Ashlee can fall asleep soo fast.

Yay, Kristen's here! Now it's craft time. Hey, notice Ashlee is wearing an OSU tee shirt. Just goes to show you that an OU girl can also support the Cowboys. If only all OU/OSU fans could be so nice!

Their Van Gogh masterpieces.

Kristen was also on spring break - I love that they are both teachers and get the week off. She actually got to spend the night with us and spent a couple of days with us. Kristen and Ashlee at Starbucks eating Greek yogurt with honey and granola. Yum.

Me drinking my new favorite Starbucks drink: Iced Berry Chai tea.

Off to the Nasher Sculpture Center in downtown. I was interested, but I have to admit that I had low expectations. Boy, was I wrong. It was fantastic! Who knew sculpture could be so inspiring? I guess the Nasher family.

This is one of Kristen's favorite pieces. The artist is Jean Arp and the name is Torso with Buds. It was over 6 feet tall. I loved it also.

I really liked this sculpture by Max Ernst entitled The King playing with the Queen. I don't know why I liked it, I just did.
These pieces were just wonderful. I was completely drawn to them. They are sculpted by Alberto Giacometti, and they are entitled Venice Woman IV and Venice Woman III.
This was my very favorite piece that was indoors and it is Spoon Woman, also by A. Giacometti. Wish I could have touched it. It was fairly large, maybe four or five feet tall. It was beautiful.
Alien-like? Beautiful? Fantastic? Absolutely! It was almost six feet tall and wonderful. Naum Gabo is the artist.
This is called Walking to the Sky, by Jonathan Borofsky. It is so tall! These people are life sized. Look at that blue, blue sky. What a great day to be outside.

Ashlee standing by part of the installation. How cool is that?
This gorgeous piece of art is Night.
Nighty night, Night.
This is Hammering Man. He is so very tall. Notice the man on the lower left side. This is cool art. His hand is motorized and goes up and down.
Bronze Crowd. Kind of creepy, kind of cool.
You know it's a nice day if Ashlee sheds her jacket. It was about 80 degrees.
Moonbird. Don't you want to touch it? I love the curvy, rounded edges.
Quantum Cloud XX (tornado)
This is what this statue is made of - thousands of stainless steel spiky things.
There's the man shape inside the statue! It is based on the artist's body. Cool, huh?

I loved this - it looked like a baby sculpture because it was so low to the ground. I love the rustiness of the iron against the green grass. Very pleasing.
This is a mobile by Calder. It is so very cool.

Hey, look. Someone in the offices of the Sculpture Center had a photo of their dog. Looks like Opie before he got a haircut. Everyone loves a fuzzy white dog.

After we left the Nasher Sculpture Center, we walked across the street to the Crow Center for Asian Art. It is a free museum. We weren't expecting much, but we had a great time. This is an enclosed walkway and there were over 2,000 origami butterflies strung from the ceiling. It was so neat. Several elementary schools throughout Dallas had made the butterflies.
Ohhhhmmmmmmmm.

Ashlee trying to see eye to eye with a Buddha bust.
Ashlee and Kristen. On the first floor of the museum they were getting ready for a new installation, so it was empty. These are two of my favorite "statues" - what do you think?
Japanese Quilts - awesome!

I'm a fox.....
I'm a hound!
The next day, it was back downtown to visit the Dallas Museum of Art and the King Tut exhibit. It was a big let down. The museum employees were RUDE. After the great day we had at the Nasher Sculpture Center, we had high expectations. Pleh. They did have some nice artwork, but my favorite part of the day was lunch at the museum restaurant, SeventeenSeventeen. We weren't allowed to photograph anything that was on loan or the King Tut exhibit. Oh, well.

I love Mondrian. The geometry and colors are very pleasing.
Hard to believe that just three years before he began experimenting with lines and color, Mondrian painted ugly things like this:
My photo is actually prettier than the real thing. It was really muddy and brown looking.

I included this because I like it and Ashlee and Kristen did not. It was too bright for them. To each his own. The girls.
Love this.
The aptly named Red Family

Hey, who's been peeking into my bathroom? Just kidding. I love the brushstrokes and bright colors used in this painting.

Even though this is entitled The Masseuse, it reminded me of Dr.Jennifer Walker working on a patient maybe it should be called - The Chiropractor?
After we left the museum in rush hour traffic, we went to La Hacienda for dinner. Here's Ashlee eating some guacamole that they make at the table. It was so good.
The next day, Ashlee and I went to IKEA. Kristen was going to visit family. We had a great time. That store is just HUGE. I only ended up with a cutting board and a little bowl and sippy cup set for Caleb. Ashlee bought some stuff and I'm sure she will blog about IKEA. She loves that store. We went back to the hotel for some well deserved rest. Waahh! It's already Friday and time to go back to O-Town. Time really does fly when you're spending money, uhm, I mean having fun.

Getting ready to leave Dallas.

If you ever get the chance and want to get an entertaining education about sculpture, go to the Nasher Sculpture Center. It doesn't cost too much ($10.00 and covered parking is $15-20) and it is fun. They even provide an audio tour so you can get detailed info about the artwork. Very nice and easy to operate. Of course, going with an art teacher is very helpful! I've always loved art, but I left with a new understanding and appreciation. I'm sure Ashlee will post some terrific photos on her blog. Check it out. A little culture may be shocking, but it's a good thing.

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Pablo Picasso