DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun

I have read and heard about Ted DeGrazia's Gallery in the Sun since I moved here and I've been wanting to visit. I would have gone by myself sometime when Nicco was in school, but it is much more fun to do things like this with someone like my Mama (or my sisters...ahem, sisters.)

When DeGrazia started painting, like many artists he had a hard time getting galleries to show his work. Eventually, he bought some land and built his own little gallery. Over time, he gained some attention and eventually some money, so he built a bigger gallery to house his works. He kept the little gallery especially to give little known or unknown artists a place to show their works. The property is on the historical society's list and it includes his original little gallery, the home and chapel he built, as well as several small outbuildings and the larger, newer gallery.

Here's the chapel:

He wasn't especially religious, but he was very spiritual, and he befriended many of the native indian tribal people. He built this chapel mainly for the indians to pray and worship. It is really neat, because you can see that it is all built by hand. 

The ceiling is open in the chapel, with a little steeple up above. This is the shrine with many mementos and memorials to loved ones who have passed on.

These are two little rooms to the right and left of the entrance of the chapel where the bride and groom get dressed for their weddings.

I left my foot in the picture so it would be obvious that this is the floor. Dirt and stone. I also liked all the doors:

This was a heavy metal door with marbles embedded in the design and they shine through the other side:

This is a mural on the wall in the little chapel. A bit out of order.

This is the guest artist gallery. The little windows have colored glass. There were many places throughout the buildings on the grounds where he made special allowance for light and color to come in.

Nicco in the kitchen of the little house.

A doorway with a little saint in a niche across the way.

Nicco sitting at the fireplace. He asked me if the tall part is the chimney. When I answered in the affirmative, he said, "Oh, so Santa Claus could visit here." He also asked if someone real lived here. There was a photo of DeGrazia and his wife on the wall, sitting on the bench in front of this very fire place, so yes, someone real lived here.

One of many little gates

This is the floor in the main gallery.  We really liked seeing all the natural and native materials DeGrazia incorporated in his art and in his buildings.

Fountain in the courtyard

Another mural on the wall

I just couldn't resist taking a picture of Nicco's footwear. His comfy socks and swim shoes. Oh my goodness, my little nerd. Mom reminded me that "nerds are nice." I concurred, but conceded that they are also nerdy.

 A mosaic on a wall near one of the outbuildings by the little gallery

Close up detail of the corner and signature on the mosaic. Cool!

I really enjoyed this gallery. DeGrazia had many interesting collections and themes in his gallery. I think my favorite was his 15 stations of the cross, chronicling Christ's journey from taking up the cross to his resurrection. My dad, who doesn't typically enjoy art galleries as much as my mom and sisters and I, said that DeGrazia's work spoke to him on a certain level. It was certainly interesting and unique. Even Nicco had some fun.

Tohono Chul Park Revisited

We had a whole day of rain last week, then a couple days of sunshine. The blossoms on our neighborhood cacti are starting to bloom. Last spring when I went to the gardens to see the flowers, they told me I was about a week too late for the best blossoms. After the rain and sun, I thought our timing would be just right. I was wrong. We were probably a week too early this time.

There was a sculpture exhibition at the garden, so there were these really cool statues throughout the park.

I love this "cactus courtyard."

Treasure!

I liked the saying on this garden wall: Gardens are made up of stories, not things.

Nicco was anxious to get to the kids' garden to climb on the rattlesnake bench,

sit at the tarantula table,

Play the windchimes,

peek inside the cactus birdhouses,

and float his little boat down the fountain river.

Kids and water, I tell ya. Nicco's feet did not stay dry for long. Which is why I made him walk through the other parts of the garden before we went to the kids' place.

It was a perfect day. Not too hot, a small breeze. It would only have been better if Baskin Robbins wasn't going out of business! We had to settle for plain old chocolate ice cream at home.

Honeybee Trail Revisited

Last year when Mom and Dad came to visit, we took a hike on a local trail. The local hikes website said that this particular trail is great for families and it mentioned to keep an eye out for the indian hieroglyphics on the rocks. We hiked and hiked and looked and looked, but never saw a sign of the glyphs. When we got back, I looked at some other reviews of the trail and it indicated that there are two trails, and you find the glyphs on the north trail. So this time, I made sure we took the right trail. I even asked an older lady who was getting ready for a bike ride (she looked like she would know about the terrain and trails) to be sure we were going the right way. She warned us that the trail is sandy (not that anyone will fall down, but we might want a walking stick, she said) and that it takes a long time to reach the glyphs.

The trail is actually a dried up wash. It was sandy, which I suppose might discourage some people. It is more difficult to walk on sand than on more hard packed earth.

We told Nicco that we were looking for treaure on the rocks, so he climbed up and around to see if he could find it. It was a pretty cool evening, and luckily/happily we did not encounter any nasty critters.

Nicco has great affection for his grandma. In the grocery store, he wants her to stand right beside him. He wants to sit beside her at all meals and in the car. If I try to hold his hand in a parking lot, he promptly drops my hand and looks for his grandma. He held her hand all along the trail (except for when he was exploring) Dad said he hasn't had this much competition for Mom's affection since he was in high school. It's pretty cute.

We were not 100% sure what we were looking for. A few reviews I read said that no matter how far they hiked or how hard they looked, they could not find the glyphs. Others said the glyphs were the highlight of the hike. We figured they must be obvious if you hike long enough to find them. 

We were pretty excited when we spotted this little figure, but hoped there would be more.

Grandpa hiked ahead of us and we saw him sitting on a rock waiting for us, opposite this rock, covered in drawings. Yay!

Nicco was excited that we found the treasure.

Here is some scenery along the trail:

Nicco did a great job keeping up and not complaining, but he did get tired toward the end. He had Grandpa pull him along.

Here we are, almost finished. Nicco was really starting to drag. He couldn't even keep up to hold Grandma's hand.

When we got into the car, Nicco said "I'll be ready for sleep when we get home." When we did get home, he put on his comfy socks, snuggled his grandpa, yelled at me in his half-conscious state when I put him in jammies, and we didn't hear another peep from him until the next day.

This Is What We're Doing...

Recent events have inspired me to digitize all our old family photos and create a book that each of my sisters and I can keep as a record of our genealogy and personal family history. Some of those old old photos would fade and disappear in a relatively short time if someone didn't tackle this project. Mom and Dad brought boxes and boxes and albums and albums and thousands of pictures to sort and scan. This is what the project looks like now:

It has been a delightful journey into our family's past. Mom and I sort and look and laugh. Mom and Dad have been identifying people I don't remember or recognize and telling stories that go with some of the pictures. Our friend and personal IT guru popped in this morning to get our scanner working, so after playing around with it a little, I can share a sample of two stories:

This is my uncle Gordon, Mom, Grandma, and aunt Alene in Yellowstone. Standing at the edge of Yellowstone Canyon, little Mom observed the broken pieces of shale lining the path and steep canyon walls, going all the way down to the bottom. She said to her mother and siblings, "That looks like a fun slide." At which point Grandma grabbed her by the hand (or neck, or shoulder...) and did not let go until my little Mom was settled firmly on solid ground, far away from any sliding bits of broken shale and steep canyon walls. My little Mom apparently didn't appreciate her mom's reaction and is sulking in this photo.

I saw this picture and wondered what was making my Dad so sad! Oh, so sad! In this photo, my Dad's dad was irrigating the yard and little Dad slipped and fell and got all wet. He was miserable and upset and his dad "was such a jerk. He just pushed my buttons and teased and tormented me to the point where there was nothing I could do but cry." I feel for him. It is no fun at all to be pushed beyond your limits, feeling so helpless.

Grandma is also knitting. She made socks for my boy. He loves them! He said, "They are so comfy I can wear them to bed. And look...they make me skate." Mom has a friend who knits all her socks and her husband's socks. She said they last about three years. I said I would be surprised if Nicco's socks lasted three weeks. In fact, they have barely lasted three days:

We have darned three holes already, and I think there is a new one.

Miss Frankie, the troublemaker, has discovered how to get onto the cabinets. It is quite a "project" to keep her where she belongs.

And that is what we are doing.

P.S. In case my sisters look at those scanned images and think this project is not going to be as great as I said it will be, Mom and I decided that my scanning tool does not produce good enough quality images. We are going to just choose and organize photos together and send pictures back home with Mom to scan.