Rock Walk - The Granite Sculpture of Candyce Garrett

ROCK WALK
BY
CANDYCE GARRETT

While the Day Trip Divas were at the Tyler Museum of Art, we also saw an exhibit of several beautifully carved stone works of art.  The Tyler Museum of Art and Tyler Junior College are located within the same beautiful area full of majestic trees.  By using the combined grounds,16 works of stone art by Candyce Garrett were on display.

Ms. Garrett, is a noted stone sculptor and works on large and small scale stones in a variety of types and density, hardness and weight.  A combined technique of cutting and polishing is part of the process.  The pieces of sculpture around the museum presents a variety of shapes, sizes and stone.  Here are a few that we saw.  (photos by The Travelling Toe)

The trail around the museum encompasses 5 sculpture pieces::


Strength of Zen             2008
       California black granite and Texas red and pink granite

Eyes to the Soul            2003
       Black Africa granite with Texas red and pink granite inlay

Journey                          2003
       Black African granite with South American green granite inlay

Coming and Going          2001
       Texas pink granite

Piercing Granite           2013-2014
       Pink granite with black granite and black granite ball

CANDYCE GARRETT

Candyce Garrett



Tyler Museum of Art - Candyce Garrett Sculpture


Another awesome exhibit!

Chihuly: Works From Texas Collections at the Tyler Museum Of Art

TYLER MUSEUM OF ART

TYLER MUSEUM OF ART

TYLER MUSEUM OF ART

The Travelling Toe and 2 dear friends traveled a few miles east to Tyler,Texas this week to see an exhibit at the Tyler Museum of Art.  The exhibit was of Dale Chihuly pieces that are in private or public collections in Texas.  The exhibit was not large but absolutely stunning.  Photographs were not allowed so there are none to share. However there are a few out on the internet that will stand in and represent the ones we saw and enjoyed.

Dale Chihuly

there were several on display in this same shape

there was one very similar to this vase in the collection

several of these "nesting" pieces were on display

paper with acrylic paint

There were several of Mr. Chihuly paintings on display.  None of us had ever since any of his paintings before.  So beautiful!  The one above is from the internet and not one we saw. He paints on paper with acrylic paint. He often paints his ideas and uses them during his creative phase with the glass.

The exhibit as described on the Tyler Museum of Art's web site:

CHIHULY: WORKS FROM TEXAS COLLECTIONS

Organized by the Tyler Museum of Art, this unique exhibition showcases the diversity of Dale Chihuly’s creative vision by highlighting pieces from over a thirty-year span. Drawn exclusively from public and private collections across the state,Chihuly: Works from Texas Collections features glass sculptures and works on paper from his Cylinder, Basket, Soft Cylinder, Seaform, Putti, Venetian, Fiori, Macchia, Persian and Chandelier series.

AdmissionTMA Members: Free
Adults: $5
Seniors: $3
Children: Free

It was a bit of a drive to us to get there but we three amigos thought that the exhibit was worth the effort.  Each of us selected our own personal favorite from the collection to discuss on the trip back home. Here are our favorites:

Macchia Seaform Group - 1982

Transparent May Green Basket Set With Red Lip Wraps - 1992

Violet Persian Pair - 2012

But honestly, we loved them all.  What a fun day for the Day Trip Divas!

anything purple is always pretty

The Peel Mansion - Bentonville, Ark

THE PEEL MANSION
BENTONVILLE, ARK

When we were on our road trip to northwest Arkansas, we stopped in Bentonville and toured The Peel Mansion. 

The house was built in 1876, in the Italianate style, by Colonel Samuel West Peel.  At that time it was a working farmstead and had 180 acres of apple orchards. It is now a living display of that period and is open for tours.

To learn more about the Italianate Style check this link:

Italianate Style

The interior of the house is furnished with authentic antiques and artifacts reflecting that era. These items are on loan to the mansion by the Historic Arkansas Museum and the Old State House.  

Historic Arkansas Museum

Old State House


Along with the the authentically restored interiors, are beautiful gardens displaying historic roses, perennials and native plants. Using a 1845 list from the Jacob Smith Nursery, in Fayetteville, it served as a source for authentic plants and garden design..

The Peel Mansion features vignette gardens between curved walks and large shade trees. 

The day we visited was a lovely fall day and being outside in the gardens was a nice break from all the driving and stress.

There is a log cabin at the back of the property that serves as a gift shop and ticket box. The docents that were on duty the day we visited were very kind and knowledgeable.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the tour of The Peel Mansion and Heritage Gardens.

If you ever visit Bentonville and like to tour historic homes, put this one on your to-do list!

The Peel Mansion

"Under The Skin" presented by Circle Theatre

UNDER THE SKIN
play program

The Travelling Toe and a Dear Friend attended the Saturday matinee performance of "Under The Skin" at Circle Theatre. The play was written by Michael Hollinger. Circle Theatre is celebrating their 35th anniversary by producing works of living playwrights. This is Michael's fifth play to be performed at Circle Theatre. The other four plays were:

                                           Opus

                                           Incorruptible

                                           Ghost Writer

                                           Hope and Gravity

Michael Hollinger
(he is so much cuter than this picture)

Michael Hollinger Playwright

"Under The Skin" starts with Raina, a young single mother answering the doorbell late at night to find her estranged father, Lou, standing there. She knows he wants something and will not even let him in the house.  As an argument ensures, he tells her he is sick and needs a kidney.  Raina immediately turns him down and slams the door.

Lou's health begins to deteriorate and he is in the hospital waiting for a kidney. He has to have dialysis daily to keep his kidneys working .  As Lou is laying in the hospital bed, knowing that his chances of getting a kidney from the transplant list is low, he contemplates the idea of buying a kidney on the black market.  

Raina unexpectedly shows up at the hospital to confront her father about past issues and to decide if he deserves her kidney.  While going through the testing requirements, she meets a handsome young man, Jarrell, who is also going though the testing process to donate a kidney to his Uncle Gummy.

Well, Dear Readers, there are a lot of surprises ahead for Raina, Lou and even Jarrell.

Who would have thought that a play about a serious subject of organ donation would be both poignant but also so,so funny.  Dysfunctional families sometimes do rise about past hurts and come together.

CAST:

Mark Fickert

        Lou

Sam Henderson

         Jarrell

Alexander Lawrence

          Raina

Stormi Demerson

          Marlene

The playwright Michael Hollinger was actually at the theater at our performance. The audience was excited to see him and hear about his thoughts on the play.  How often does one get to actually see a living playwright????  Well, guess one would have to be in         Fort Worth, Texas at the Circle Theatre!!!!

The Travelling Toe has seen all 5 of Michael's plays and found each one of them funny, imaginative and even outrageous.  Each one has different themes, focus and even time period but always have a lot of laughter!  Hope we get to see a 6th

CIRCLE THEATRE
FORT WORTH

Circle Theatre

"The Huntsman: Winter's War" (movie critique)

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER WAR
movie poster

Well, the Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe went to see the fantasy movie "The Huntsman: Winter's War". This movie is like a prequel to "Snow And The Huntsman" that was in the movie theaters in 2012.  Several of us had seen that first effort and decided to find how this one evolved....plus we always enjoy looking at handsome hunk Chris Hemsworth (Eric)!  The prequel part tells the story of Ravenna, the Evil Queen, her sister, Freya, the Ice Queen and the magic mirror.

Freya was the sweet sister at one time, who fell in love with Andrew, the Duke of Blackwood.  From that love affair she had a beautiful baby girl.  She and Andrew were planning to run away with the baby, but the baby girl was killed and Freya was lead to believe that Andrew had killed their baby. The anger and grief unleashed Freya's hidden power - that of cold, ice and snow.  

She and Ravenna parted .ways with Freya going north to build an ice empire. She did that by raIding the villages and taking the children who became "her" children and trained them to be warriors. That is how Eric came to be a Huntsman, he was taken from his family. There he meet and fell in love with Sara another warrior.  But love was forbidden and they were punished by a death sentence.  But were they?

Well, Dear Readers, this is a fairy tale and the heroes must survive and reunite!

During the time that Eric is on his own in the woods, mourning Sara, is the time he met the dwarfs and Snow White.  And eventually restoring Snow White to the throne and killing Ravenna...or was she?

The magic mirror was making Snow White sick so it was taken from the palace to be transported to a sanctuary for protection.  Along the trail the soldiers were killed and the mirror stolen by goblins.  Eric, Sara and the rest of the motley crew defeated the goblins only to be.ambushed by Freya and her warriors.  Back at her ice palace, she utters a spell that causes the mirror to spew forth a golden liquid that turns into Ravenna. Now the sisters are reunited and are a formidable evil duo

Can Eric,Sara, the dwarfs and friends save the kingdom?  Will the happy ending really happen?  Are the evil sisters vanquished?  Well, Dear Readers, you will just have to find out for yourself.

The costumes for the 2 sisters were absolutely dazzling.  The settings for the story were inventive and the fight scenes where exciting and heart pounding.  Plus the CGI world of ice and snow made us shiver!

CAST

Chris Hemsworth
Eric - the Huntsman

Jessica Chastain
Sara - the Warrior

Emily Blunt
Freya - the Ice Queen

Charlize Theron
Ravenna - the Evil Queen

The Travelling Toe gives this movie one 2nd toe up if she had one, so will have to settle for the middle toe with an ice cold Slurpee!....brrr....brr...brain freeze!!!!

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

Clinton Childhood Home, Hope Arkansas, National Park

BILL CLINTON CHILDHOOD HOME
NATIONAL PARK

Clinton Childhood Home - Hope Ark

On the way to visit a Dear Friend who lives in Hot Springs, The Travelling Toe took exit 30 off Interstate 30 to make a quick stop at the Clinton Childhood Home in Hope, Arkansas. President Clinton lived in this frame house from his birth in 1946 and for the next 4 years. The President's father had been killed in an automobile accident that previous May. He and his mother, Virginia, lived in the house with his maternal grandparents.  While his mother went back to nursing school to finish her nursing degree, young Bill was left with his grandparents, Eldridge and Edith Cassidy.. He formed a deep relationship with them both

The house is 2 1/2 stories and is considered to be a 4-square house.  It is called a 4-square because of the square floor plan.  The house was originally built in 1917 and the Cassidy's purchased the house in 1946.  

4-Square House Plans

A non-profit foundation purchased the house in 1994.  The house was restored and open to the public 3 years later.  In 2011, the home was officially designated as a National Historic Site in the National Park System.

If you ever visit, then be sure to take your National Park passport to have it stamped, along with your Billgrimage passport to have it stamped as well!

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THE CLINTON BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM

117 S. Hervey St.

Hope, Arkansas 71801

870-777-4455

Monday-Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm

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HOT SPRINGS VISITOR CENTER AT HILL WHEATLEY PLAZA

629 Central Ave.

Hot Springs, Arkansas 71901
501-321-2277

Labor Day-Memorial Day 9am - 5pm 

Memorial Day-Labor Day 9am - 8pm 

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CLINTON HOUSE MUSEUM

 

930 West Clinton Drive

Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701

479-444-0066 or 877-BIL-N-HIL
Monday-Saturday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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THE CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER MUSEUM STORE

 

610 President Clinton Ave.

Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

501-748-0400

Monday-Saturday  10:00am - 5:30pm

Sunday 2:00pm - 5:30 pm

Clinton House in Fayetteville, Arkansas

CLINTON HOUSE
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS

When The Travelling Toe and a Dear Friend were touring northwest Arkansas, we drove to Fayetteville to tour the Clinton House.  It is situated very close to the University of Arkansas campus area. For us it was hard to find, but then we saw the big metal sculpture out front. Can you guess what it was?  Well, a razorback of course!  


                                                 Clinton - Razorback

The original house was construction in 1931 and is considered to be of the Tudor Revival style. The Clinton's purchased the house in August ,1975 for $17,200.00.  At that time both the Clinton's were teaching at the University of Arkansas School of Law.  Actually on October 11, 1975, they were married in the living room.  They sold the house in December, 1976 when President Clinton became the Arkansas Attorney General that May.

It is a rather small starter home that any young couple would have purchased to begin their new lives.   

There is various memorabilia from earlier elections exhibited as well as a replica of 
Mrs. Clinton's wedding dress.  In the backyard is a garden with various areas named from former First Ladies.

First Ladies Garden

One fun thing is that we purchased a "Billgrimage" which is like a pilgrimage passport but all about Bill Clinton. There are 4 places to visit in Arkansas to get your passport stamped. Besides this house, the other 3 places are the Clinton birthplace in Hope (which is also a National Park),  the Visitors Center in Hot Springs (which is another National Park), and the Bill Clinton Presidential Library

OK....Dear Readers, The Travelling Toe loves a quest and must report to have been to all 4 places and completed the Billgrimage with stamps to prove it! 

The Travelling Toe has one more secret to share.  Due to the travel time from Bentonville to Fayetteville, plus all the driving around time being lost, The Travelling Toe had an urgent call of nature.  The Travelling Toe was able to utilize the facilities in the house and can claim that she has sat where a future President of the nation sat!!  Holy Cow!!!

Clinton House Museum

It was a beautiful autumn day when we visited and we both enjoyed our short visit to Fayetteville, Arkansas.