I was really excited to pay a visit to the AGO last week as I haven’t been there in years, and long before the Gehry renovation. The building is so spectacular that it overshadowed the art a bit. The first thing Boris and I went to see was the Baroque Stair leading to the new wing, and we spent a long time looking at it from top to bottom.

These photos were taken with my iPhone so the quality isn’t great, but look at this amazing spiral staircase. It is beautiful from every angle.

Listen to this sound bite on the AGO web site about the Baroque Stair.

I was in Seattle with friends this past weekend, and was glad to spend a bit of time on Saturday at some of my favourite galleries. I really wanted to see Guy Laramee’s new work at Foster White Gallery, as well as Marco Mazzoni at Roq La Rue.

The most exciting work I came across, completely by accident, was Deborah Butterfield’s beautiful sculptures of abstract horses at Greg Kucera gallery. I’ve seen these on the internet many times because they get mentioned quite a bit on various art blogs, but they are incredible in person.

They are larger than life-size but have the quiet presence of standing next to a living horse. I never realized her work are bronze casts of the sculptures she first creates in wood.

Take a look at the video below where Deborah Butterfield shares a bit about her process. I wish I had a piece of land where I could install one of her horses. They are inspiring.

My previous visit to San Francisco was in October 2007, and one of the highlights of that visit was walking through Clarion Alley. So of course I needed to see it again on this trip.

The alley is small but is filled with art from end to end thanks to the Clarion Alley mural project, which has been on-going for about twenty years. There is a good mix of styles and subject matter in the work, and I was interested to see a few pieces still there after all this time.

The full set of photos I took on both visits to Clarion Alley can be found on Flickr.

I wrote briefly about Ruth Asawa’s work because it is so arresting and inspiring, but there were many other amazing works I saw on my visit to the de Young Museum. I went up to the ninth floor of the look out tower to check out the 360 degree view of San Francisco, and from there made my way through the many galleries showcasing the permanent collection.

The de Young is a fine arts museum with objects from a wide variety of cultures. What I’m sharing here are some of the pieces I found the most interesting. It’ll give you an idea of how varied the collection actually is.

Intricate rattan sculpture by Honda Syoryu.

Blown glass sculpture by William Morris.

Cast glass portrait by Nicholas Africano

Maker unknown but this is from their collection of New Guinea art.

Maker unknown, from the collection of the Americas.

The Blue Veil by Edmund Charles Tarbell.

Installation by Cornelia Parker.

On the outside of the museum there is a small sculpture garden with a site specific work by James Turrell, called Three Gems. I remember it well from my previous visit because entering into feels like stepping into another world, but with a clear view of a familiar sky.

I count the de Young amongst the favourite museums I’ve visited around the world, because it never fails to inspire me.

Last week I had the pleasure of spending a few leisurely days wandering the streets of San Francisco while Boris was there for a conference. The weather was gorgeous, still in the throws of late summer warmth and the bluest of blue skies.

My very first stop (after a hearty breakfast) was to visit the de Young Museum in Golden Gate park. The building is amazing and I love their permanent collection, but my favourite work is by Ruth Asawa.

Ruth Asawa is best known for her crocheted and tied wire sculptures, but also has numerous public art pieces located around San Francisco. She passed away in August of this year.

All of the sculptures pictured here are part of the permanent collection at the de Young Museum, and are located in the ground floor lobby of the observation tower.

Revisiting these sculptures six years after my previous visit to SF and I feel even more inspired by Ruth Asawa’s work than the first time. They feel so relevant to my current body of works in paper. It is the shadows these cast as much as the sculptures themselves that get to me because this is what I want to achieve with my sculptural paper cut work.

More photos from San Francisco coming soon.

Over the weekend Boris and I rented a car and drove to Harrison Hot Springs to visit our friend Siobhan. She is the artist in residence until September at the Ranger Station Art Gallery. It was a beautiful but cold weekend in Harrison while the rest of the Greater Vancouver area continued to be shrouded in fog.

It’s a one and a half hour drive to Harrison, and we took the scenic route. For about half the drive there was nothing to see but hints of landscape and trees through the fog, and then somewhere around Agassiz the sun busted through and there were stunning views of mountains and valleys laid before us.

We stayed with Siobhan at the Rangers Station, and spent a lovely low key day hanging out, going for walks, sharing food and stories, and even fit in a cat-induced nap. I was still feeing ill while we where there but I was so happy get away from our apartment, and to be outside in fresh air and nature. It recharged me.

I think my favorite times are those spent with friends over some sort of food in our private homes. It’s good for the friendship and somehow centering for the individuals.

I’d almost forgotten about processing and sharing the rest of my photos from the Tulip Festival I went to a few weekends ago. It’s been mostly overcast and rainy here lately so the eye-blasting colour is a pleasure to look at.

A full set of my photos from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival can be viewed as a slideshow on Flickr.

On the weekend Boris and I did a day trip across the border into Washington to see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. It was a warm sunny day, perfect for spending time outside looking at masses of flowers.

When we drove up to our first stop (a farm with giant fields of yellow and red tulips) my mind was a bit blown even though I knew what to expect. It’s one thing to see pictures, and quite another to have such intense colours shining back at you and stretching on into the horizon.

What you can’t see here are all the other people hanging about wandering through the flowers. I managed to make it look as if we had the place to ourselves.

I have more photos to upload and will be adding them to this set on Flickr.