A trip to the museum- Chapter 6, a building inside a building and under appreciated craftsmen

So, here we are, back at the museum for another peek. This time, to see what was at the bottom of the spiral staircase ( shown in the previous post) with smooth wrought iron railing and spindles, worn stone steps, bottle glass windows and the promise of something wonderful to discover when coming out of the bottom archway.
So here it is....

It is a building inside a building. We are standing in a courtyard, of sorts, surrounded by this. You can hardly believe your eyes that it is so massive and tall and detailed...and the more you spin yourself around the more your eyes find to study. This area is in the middle of the museum and is used as a courtyard cafe. 20 or so round tables are scattered for your enjoyment, at which to sit and relax or have a coffee, tea or dessert. Yummy soups and muffins were also available.

I adore architecture so this was so much eye candy I was bordering on being abandoned by my VERY embarrassed children as I stood there looking a fool, and uttering silly rambling comments as I spun on my heels to take it all in between gasps.

Yes, I had been there before, years ago. Yes, I knew this was at the bottom of the spiraling stairs. It was just that it was just so much.....well...MORE than I had remembered. I know you must think I am ready for a padded room and a fashionable jacket which ties tightly in back. I can't help my enthusiasm for old architecture. These photos don't begin to show the immenseness and detail in the stone trim and windows... and everything. I can appreciate in other countries there are many structures that are considered "new"at 300 years old or more, but here in the USA we do not have so much opportunity to experience wonder in old buildings. I am so hungry for architectural beauty that, in my travels, I have even photographed old warehouse buildings that have the most incredible gargoyles and brackets and window trim detail. That's how they used to build warehouses. Warehouses! Sometimes it seems that throughout the decades the move has been to get rid of "old".

Instead, boring, white bread architecture seems to rule. To top it off it, the newer buildings are so often put up so quickly they are not built to last nor are they meant to last, because surely some newer way will come along and we will tear down that "old" and make something even "newer" in it's place. And so it goes.

BEWARE: SLIGHTLY OFF THE MAIN SUBJECT RANT AHEAD!

Case in point, our school system is tearing down all the buildings that are 85 years old or more to build new ones. There was nothing wrong with them. They all are beautiful, large and sturdy (for gosh sakes they all had fallout shelter signs on them still displayed from the cold war era. "Duck and cover!"). The problem, they say, is the heating is antiquated and the retrofitting for the 21st century technology is too difficult.

Some new schools that have been built already in the past 5 years are experiencing leaky roofs and holes in plaster walls, plumbing issues, worn out flooring, etc, etc. But that's ok, "cuz we'll just tear those down and build something in 3 months (or less) time, nondescript in detail and sub quality.

Why not just spend the money to make the old schools work for today's heating and computers? I mean these old schools have lovely details outside and inside. Heavy REAL wooden doors and detailed REAL wood framework around chalk boards, windows, doors etc (oh yeah, remember chalk boards? --Soon to be a thing of the past. Even white wipe off dry erase boards are becoming passe.)I will probably get bad comments on my opinions about all this.

Ok, back to the museum!!

Before this gets too long- and remember I promised these museum chapters wouldn't be as long as a Harry Potter book- I should tell you about one more thing.

I think teaching opportunities present themselves each and every day if you pay attention. I discussed with the kids the fact that the wonderful art paintings all have frames. Frames that were built with talent, great care, attention to detail and a lot hard work and long hours. Think of it, back in the days when power tools were not yet imagined. First you had to have a place with enough space to build a frame- though rarely simple in craftsmanship, some of them were simply massive in size, and take up a whole wall in the museum. Then you had to be able to get it out of the building after it was built. Oh yeah, and you had to transport the frame. It is, unfortunately, easy to look at an art painting and under appreciate the frame and the person that made the frame. Even if these frames are not your personal style, it is still worth the effort to stop and think about it...."The big picture", to use a (very bad) pun.

For the next chapter, we will look at some of the paintings held within the frames that were made by someone that was no doubt under appreciated for their skill... and underpaid, I am sure.

I will try to be a good blogging girl and stay on subject and not head off on a rant. Cross your fingers on that one!

A trip to the museum- Chapter 5, sculpture and spiral stairway

Magical, mysterious spiralling stairways and breathtaking sculpture ...Yet another chapter of our trip to the Detroit Institutes of Art (DIA). I have broken the story down into chapter chunks to feature things and not make it all seem so long and overwhelming...and something you would look at and say, "That's wayyyy too much to read today, I'll just skip it." I want you to really see things. That's the way a museum should be seen. I think so, anyway.

There are many sculptures of every shape, size and type throughout the massive museum in Detroit.

We (my 3 kids, E.'s friend and me) even had conversation about how so many old and ancient statues and sculptures loose their heads and hands. We were tempted to keep a tally of how many heads were missing and which hand was most frequently absent, left or right. But back to this sculpture, which I think is my favorite of them all.

Please, PLEASE! click on the pictures to see more detail.

I was memorized by this one, such exquisite attention to details to the point that you wished you could touch it to see if it really felt like the texture your brain was conveying to you.

(Don't touch though, this is a museum, remember!)

How could something so hard, and so hard to carve really make you "think" tendrils of hair, creases of skin, folds of draped fabric, supple fur and wood of a chair? I stood (probably much too long) pondering this beautiful art . Do you ever see a piece of art and it just speaks to you yet you can't put into words why?

I am blessed that my kids think it is FUN going to museums. I began taking them as new babies so it was just always a part of their lives. At our own museum, closer to home, I have been taking my kids throughout their whole lives to see their favorite painting/art item that "speaks" to them. They are respectful of giving each other time to simply stand and ponder the wonder of their own favorite piece. Each of my 3 kids has their own absolute favorites.

I think I may have to find this sculpture again when ever we return to Detroit.

So now on to another area. This is the top of a spiral stairway. I like the iron work of the railing worn by many years of hands gliding along the surface. (You may remember another post from one of our many frequent trips to Ann Arbor, and the photos of another majestic railing stairway which holds fascination for me.)

Spiral stairways just "do it" for me in general. It is something about the mystery of what lies beyond the visual scope. The anticipation. See the bottle glass window barely discernible at the right of this photo (below)? There were several on the way twirling downward. Look at the one in the next photo after this one....

The bottle glass window is like magic with the warm light glowing through it. The one above the archway doesn't hope to have the same effect on your senses. Am I right?

Now you will have to wait 'till the next chapter and I will show you what is beyond the archway at the bottom of this spiral stairway!

Magnificent.

A trip to the museum- Chapter 2

Don't you love these mannequins dressed in Michigan Birch bark, pine cones and burlap? They were artistically displayed in honor of one of the special exhibits at the DIA ( we did not view the exhibit due to having to pay extra ) about the fashions through the decades.

The nature dressed mannequins were flanking the entrance to the cafeteria on the lower level of the huge museum. One thing about being in a metropolitan area museum having already paid for your car to sit in a parking lot across the street for one (fairly reasonable rate) whole day ( oh and factor in that the windchill outside the cozy temperature controlled building was single digits) is that you are more willing to pay the jacked-up prices of lunch fare and find something that will satisfy your tummy even though you would not necessarily choose that dish otherwise. Whew! That was a terribly long run on sentence. *catch your breath*

After a break for lunch we continued to view the wonders and treasures that awaited us in each new room, hall and corridor...

Like this chapel. Very old and very ornate and if these walls could talk! I love when things are reconstructed and you can step into a room like a time warp.

I continue to be mostly disappointed with this camera's abilities to photograph areas of low light without the flash. In all fairness, it could have more to do with the female behind the camera. Hmmm.

I am sure the self esteem of the camera's memory card breathes a sigh of relief when I say, "Oh well, this one will stay even though it is blurry." Heehee.

Then after the chapel we moved on to find this breathtaking ceiling. I was trying to photograph it and not be in anyone else's way. It was decorated with such detail I could have put myself flat down on the floor in the middle of foot traffic in order to view it.

Guess what?After craning my neck to study it for many minutes, N. announced, "Mom!? Hey, Mom! Look! This is a big mirror that you can look in to see the ceiling better."

Good thing he couldn't read my mind before to know I was ready to lie down on the floor. Oh the embarrassment of an over exuberant museum visitor named MOM.

Stay tuned for another chapter to come soon.
You can read chapter 1 of our trip (here).

A Trip To The Museum- chapter 1

I recently took the kids on a road trip, about an hour North, to Detroit. It had been quite a few years since we had been to the DIA, Detroit Institute of Arts.
E. was 8, N. was a new baby, and A. was about 4 and now she is less than a week from age 14! So you get the idea.
We love going on day trips when we can and this was our only one planned during the kids' Christmas break. It was enjoyed by all.


The DIA had closed for about a year several years ago to redo many areas. I was anxious to see the changes amid the beautiful things they have within the stone walls of this very large museum.

So here is my first installment of the museum trip and our adventures there. This post is mostly about the architecture that caught my eye and interest, with a few other items shown too. I am attracted to architecture for some odd reason, always have been. Maybe I was some famous architect in a former life. Ha!

We were happy to see this beautiful painting in the museum because a copy of it is painted in our own church from floor to ceiling. Our reproduction painting was done by a member of our church back in the 1940's and the models for the cherubs faces were children in the church at the time.
I love doorways and gates and arches. This view intrigued me as it showed the hint of other beautiful things to come as we wound around through rooms like a maze, afraid we would make a wrong turn and miss something wonderful.

A ceiling reconstructed . The modern lighting amid the chandelier is somewhat a distraction, but was needed to illuminate the detail in the complex wooden construction and intricate gargoyles which peeked out from immense brackets. I could imagine being in a grand place long, long ago and drinking some kind of grog at a 50 foot long table beneath this ceiling.

Many ancient carved wood artifacts were displayed in this room. Can you imagine the stories these could tell of the years they have survived and things they have seen?

I was really fascinated by this gate and archway! Such grand detail. I find I am always drawn to anything that has swirly, scrolly movement in it's design. Some of my favorite fabrics in my sewing room have background designs that have such swirls and curves. Are you a straight line or curved line kind of person? Think about it.

N. bumped me while I took a photo of this gate, so it's all blurry. I thought I had snapped an additional photo of it too, but when I got home and reviewed my memory card I was disappointed to see that I didn't have a nice clear shot . That's why I didn't hit that ol' delete button on this one. Oh well, an excuse to go back!! Right?

My boy N. is at that age were he sheepishly wants to look at the nudes in the museum but doesn't want to be found out. Age nine! Whenever we often went to our own museum closer to home, in years past, he never seemed to even notice the nudes. How funny!

I made a comment that he would probably go back to school and write in his journal that he had seen LOTS of boobies on Christmas break and I would get a call from his teacher!

His oldest sister E. -age 17- said to N.,

"It's not naked people. It's ART, N.!! You dork!!"

You gotta love siblings and the life lessons they toss your way, right?!

I reassured N. that yes, it was ok to look at "the art".

I couldn't even guess how high the ceiling is in this area but I loved the perspective of this arched window and the staircase beyond. The photo above is in my Studio blog.

Above and below is a grand sized painting showing some great architecture. You really can't get a true idea of the size of this from my photo. I could study paintings like this for hours!

The museum itself is art to be appreciated. Photo above is featured in my Studio blog.

More architecture in painting, above. This painting took up a whole wall and this was just one tiny portion of it. That's a monkey on the steps.

Sparkle and glow! So many different kinds of crystal chandeliers. Some were incredibly massive in size and still seemed small due to the ceiling height. This photo above is featured in my Studio blog.

I could not keep a count of how many gorgeous stained glass windows were displayed. Each one more breathtaking than the last. Have you ever noticed that things like paintings and tapestries and stained glass windows are very different when viewed both close up and far away? I enjoy viewing the different perspectives and experiencing the seemingly optical illusion some provide.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the tour as seen through my camera.

Stay tuned for more lovely items and rooms to come.

a stitch in time

[Here's my favorite nun movie!!! ]

When I was about 12 I was sure I was being called to be a nun. It was not to be. I changed my mind about a week later. I often think back to that time and the circumstances that gave me that feeling.



My great aunt on my dad's side of the family was a beautiful and smart young lady in the first part of the 20th century. I know she was beautiful because of photos I have seen many times of her as a girl and as a young woman. There she was, smiling for the camera, an older sibling of my grandmother. I know she was smart because our family genealogy record includes her college degrees and teaching certification and the list of schools where she taught many ages of children, finally settling in to teach high school students.


She began her own school journey in a one room school house as a little girl and she was to return to a one room school house as a teacher. An old newspaper clipping from a small town in Ohio told me this: The one room school house had many teachers that came to mold the young students' minds but most seemed to leave, many not willing to last a harsh winter season. My great aunt left too but not for the same reason as the rest. She left to take holy orders and enter into the convent. Once when she told the Mother Superior that the farthest West she had ever been was a small town in Ohio named Wapakoneta, she soon after found herself being assigned to a school in Arizona! She would continue her teaching, sharing her knowledge and love of learning with high school students, for many years into her own old age.


As an old woman, she was back in Southern Ohio and when I was 12 we made the drive to see her. I remember being so taken in by it all. The beauty of the church and convent buildings. The huge magical booming echo of the organ music and all the nuns singing familiar hymns. The simple, non materialistic lifestyle of the nuns. She seemed so absolutely happy and fulfilled. I was sure it was the plan for me. I recall my mom wondering what all my hundreds of questions were for on the ride back home to Northern Ohio that weekend.



The infatuation feeling quickly passed. I was to continue my life, observing the many priests and nuns I encountered so often in my Catholic upbringing, with a feeling of quizzical admiration for the people that felt so absolutely sure of the calling. My great aunt's brother also answered the call of the church and became a priest. Ironically (or maybe not so ironically) my aunt-in-law was also a nun. You know those good Catholic families usually have some nuns and priests tucked into the family tree somewhere along the line !



I reread the newspaper article (celebrating her Silver Jubilee) and this time I found a new detail that I had overlooked before. It said that throughout her life she did beautiful embroidery work and was happy with her needlework in her lap when she had the opportunity. Her work was admired for its lovely stitches. Of all the images of her before the convent and after, I think I like that image that I hold in my mind the best. She died at age 85 at the time I was a teenager. She had a long life filled with her calling, teaching, and embroidery!

wedding

I recently went to a family wedding at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo. Many of my relatives have been married there, all the way back to the 1940's.

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It is absolutely breathtaking and each and every time I have been inside it, throughout my life, I am still awe struck. It has so much history and trivia attached to the building- inside and out.

My aunt-in-law was the sacristan there for many years and I always intended to have her give my kids a tour through her eyes and tell all the unknown secrets too. Sadly, she now has Alzheimer's and does not even recognize her 15 kids (yes! 15!!). We waited too long. Do not wait to do things- even simple things- if you know anyone with Alzheimer's!

Everywhere you look inside and out there are wonders to discover!! Imagine all the hours of labor lovingly done by hand. Old buildings are truly the best. New construction is sometimes (in my amateur opinion) done quickly, often devoid of detail and not meant to last.

See the skull up there? I was always told that it was there to keep evil spirits from entering. I do not know if that is true. It could also mean that life is fleeting or it could represent Golgotha- "the place of a skull".

Even if you aren't Catholic this church is a one of those buildings that makes you want to see more and find new details around each corner.

You can take a tour by clicking here and following the directions to see many breathtaking features of the Cathedral.

There is also a blog that shows many, many great photos of the Cathedral. Get yourself something to drink, place it on a coaster next to your key board and settle in for some beauty and history.

This is the beautiful bride and her handsome groom. It was such a memorable day. There were many people attending the celebration.

This wedding cake was beautiful, very unique!!