georgia in the southwest: the georgia o'keefe museum

black mesa landscape, new mexico

out back of marie's II 1930

georgia o'keefe has always been one of my favorite artists. so going to her museum in santa fe was a no brainer. unfortunately, the museum was a bit of a disappointment. at $12 a ticket, csv and i expected to see tons of her work -- her flowers, landscapes, and images of the southwest -- but were disappointed to see that this museum in particular, only focused on her southwest images and so landscapes that she'd painted of new mexico. now, don't get me wrong, everything was amazing and beautiful. i just wish there had been more of it.

normally, i'm not a fan of taking pictures of artwork in museums -- for me, art is something you should enjoy and soak up while you're standing in front of it -- but since we'd paid so much money, and i had my fancy new camera, i couldn't resist. these are just a small sampling of what was being shown in the museum; truth be told, this might make up one quarter of the collection. i hope you enjoy them as much as i did.

 

pedernal 1941/42                                                                           ghost ranch landscape 1936

horse's skull with white rose 1931

 

        church steeple 1930                                    bear lake, new mexico 1930

ram's head, blue morning glory 1938


blue-headed indian doll 1935

kokopelli 1942                             kokopelli with snow 1942

a skull for her and dinosaurs for him

i find tattoos intriguing for a couple of reasons. one, once you get one, you almost instantly want another. what's up with that? they aren't cheap and they hurt. i mean, don't get me wrong, they are often super cool (although equally often, super awful), but what is it in our brain that tells us to get more and more and more tattoos? two, i love looking at other people's tattoos. i'm so interested in knowing the rational for them. why did you get that? why in those colors? three, once you have a tattoo you become part of this community of tattooed people. when i got my first tattoo, that was a very small community of people that i knew, but as i've gotten older and met more people that community has grown. and i'm not sure why, but it is a community. i mean, you don't feel camaraderie with other people with pierced ears, noses, etc, do you? maybe it's because tattoos are so permanent that we feel closer to others who've made the same commitment as us.  

another thing i find so interesting about tattoos are different people's approach to them. i like to design my tattoos and i have to have them all planned out in advance. so when i walk into the tattoo parlor i can sit down, give them exactly what i want, and get it done. rcg on the other hand, is very different. he gets an idea, does some research and then sends it off to the tattoo artist. he learns what the tattoo will look like when we show up to the appointment, and then he lets the tattoo artist further improvise with color and details. the crazy part is we are both equally pleased with the results when we leave. 

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it's been a while since my last tattoo, but ever since moving to mexico i have been thinking about getting a new one. i knew i wanted a skull but i had a hard time figuring out what exactly i wanted it to look like. i love the sugar candy skulls of dia de los muertos, but they were too intricate for what i wanted, so i started to look at the skulls i saw around tucson for inspiration and i got a lot of ideas. 

   

left: a skull pin from popcycle // middle: a skull painted on the side of the rialto theatre in tucson // right: a painting hanging in borderlands brewery

then i doodled a ton. 

     

finally drawing the perfect skull.

and here's the final result -- a flowered skull in among my other flowers:

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like i said before, rcg goes about getting his tattoos very differently than i do. when he got his first tattoo, he knew he wanted to get the cover of one of his favorite albums, but he also let the tattoo artist have a little freedom by adding flames and feathers. this time, was similar. he was (is) really into dinosaurs; he wanted to become a paleontologist when he was younger. so as a tribute to that, he decided he wanted a dinosaur tattoo. his idea was for a scene going from his shoulder to his back, with a couple of predators looking around his shoulder, hunting a pack of herbivores on his back. after deciding that, he made sure both species (allosaurus and apatosaurus) were from the same period, and then let hh, our tattoo artist, design it and pick out the colors. (this is part one, stay tuned for part two!) 

ben's bells murals

if you live in tucson, you know that there has been crazy construction everywhere you look for months. but in amongst all of the orange cones and hard hats you can find some real beauty in the form of mosaics and murals. they are on street corners, medians, overpasses, and on the sides of buildings. they're in english and in spanish. they're colorful and black and white. they're amazing and so tucson.

 

 the other day as i was driving home, i happened to be stopped at light i normally drive through and i looked to my left and saw the newest (ben's bells) mural in downtown tucson:

when i walked over to get a closer look i discovered that it's part of a series -- three sides of a smalle building have been covered with mosaic murals by ben's bells, with the message "be kind".

 

it was so inspiring and beautiful. 

just like ben's bells.

black cherry raw burlesque

we've all been to a strip club before,

but have you checked out a burlesque show?

neither have i. 

but it intrigues me.

what makes it different from a strip club?

i mean, the girls take off their clothes to music, right?

they wear thongs and tassels, sure,

but is it really all that different

at the end of the day?

as a result of my curiosity,

going to a burlesque show

has been on my to do list for a while.

i've walked by the 

surly wench pub many times,

and always thought that i got a burlesque vibe

but was never sure if they actually had a show.

and was always a little nervous to ask.

but they do.

so we went.

here are some of my observations:

yes, the girls do take off their clothes to music,

but they do it to live music.

they don't have costumes

(ie. slutty teacher, nurse, librarian, etc.)

but they wear a lot of corsets.

and shockingly sparkly red lipstick.

they come onto the stage wearing a lot of layers,

but the layers are still revealing.

(butts and boobs are there for the ogling)

but when they take the layers off

they could be small little things:

a chain of tassel around the waist,

the feathery halter part of a top,

elbow length gloves.

 there is no nudity,

because there are tassels and thongs.

and these ladies can work both.

there is no pole,

and you get the idea that

the girls are doing this

because they love burlesque

and they love performing.

these women are awesome at 

the boob wiggle

and the butt shake.

their stage names are pin-up girl worthy.

and they ooze confidence.

definitely a friday night well spent.

 

 

keep tucson kind.

everywhere you go in tucson
you will see cars with
this sticker on the back:

love it.



so i did some research.


ben's bells is a community organization
that was started by a local family
who suddenly lost their child, ben.
apparently the mother, while mourning,
was touched by the simple kindness of strangers.
so she started ben's bells.






she created ceramic bells
to hang around tucson
to remind people to be kind
and the power kindness can have.

then i found out

that anyone can go to their studio

and help make ben's bells.

and since i have been dying

to paint ceramics,

i figured it was worth a trip.

and i was so right.

 when we got to the studio

they had us painting flowers

that would ultimately become

kindness coins.

the way kindness coins work:

if you witness someone being kind,

you would give them a kindness coin.

then they would pass that coin along

to someone else who has been kind. 

and so on.

i like the idea of having 

a physical reminder

to be kind.

because sometimes we forget.

and kindness really does 

have the ability to make 

so many things so much better. 

but it is the bells that are the most intriguing.

they are hung around tucson,

and if you find them 

you are supposed to take them home

and be reminded to always be kind.

nl, thanks for coming with me
and for this picture.