Well that’s what the weather report says for tomorrow. Things are starting to pop so get out to the IMA gardens and walk around. Most of the snow is melted!
Snowdrops behind Deer-Zink are blooming.
Some of the Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’ in the beds around the Sutphin Fountain are very close to blooming.
Witchhazels are blooming all over the place.
Perennials are pushing new growth.
And I saw winter aconite that will be in bloom tomorrow. Hellebores should be showing color too.
Winter remains in the forefront of my mind and our landscape here at the IMA.
I am not a big fan of winter as those of you who are regular readers know. But I do appreciate it. I like snow for instance, when it is not on the roads. I wouldn’t mind it on the roads if there were fewer other drivers sharing those roads. And this winter hasn’t really been all that bad. Colder than normal but not bitter. Plenty of snow but not the 50 inches my friend Avonell got in one week in Maryland. Gray days but enough sunny ones in between that you don’t forget what that heat-making yellow orb in the sky is. Not bad.
The heavy wet snow of a couple weeks back did create some problems with our junipers in front of the Lilly House. The narrow Juniperus virginiana ‘Hillspire’ just couldn’t handle that much weight on them. Two of them went pretty much flat. Read the rest of this entry »
We took a walk around the Art and Nature Park Wednesday afternoon. There was some sun but it was surprisingly chilly. What a change from what it was several years ago before the Grounds Guys started doing all the removal of weedy shrubs and trees. Wildflowers like Anemonella were up in multiple places but the animals were far more attention-getting.
Saw several feathered and furred creatures on the river – a great blue heron (twice), mallard and bufflehead ducks, and three beavers. One beaver was quite unperturbed by my presence as I hung back to try to get some better shots. I started taking pictures when it was far out in the river. Read the rest of this entry »
Since the weather here in Indiana is kinda nasty right now, instead of complaining, I thought it might be a positive exercise to conjure up some images of far away places I’ve traveled.
The truth is, I really haven’t traveled that much in my life. Part of that has to do with the fact that I’m afraid of flying (like really really afraid.) But, for the sake of ArtBabble, I had the amazing opportunity to visit Los Angeles last May. Fellow Nugget Danny and I documented the whole experience with photos and video. On our trip we met a lot of interesting people and dogs and enjoyed the sunshine, the warm weather, and (Danny especially) fresh tacos.
The reason we traveled was to film on location the construction of Andrea Zittel’s project, a large floating island to be installed in the lake of 100 Acres back in Indy. The island was fabricated by Barnacle Bros studio in East L.A. where upon arrival, we were greeted by a cast of characters led by a heavily tattooed man known as Smilee Barnacle. They brought us up to speed on the project and led us around the work shop, which looked more like a carnival parade storage room than any kind of studio! The interview we did with Smilee turned out to be pretty hilarious:
And here are some pictures I snapped throughout the day. You can find more here.
In honor of the holiday season, please enjoy a blog devoted to creepy Claus encounters. You can even customize and send your own sketchy Santa greeting card.
The ancient Egyptians developed a sophisticated method to preserve a dead body for the afterlife: mummification. Follow the steps of the mummification process in this short animation about the Getty Museum’s Romano-Egyptian mummy Herakleides.
