Trip to Arkansas and Missouri

“Not all those who wander are lost.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
       Last weekend, my daughter Andrea and I took a little road trip.  My granddaughter, Kathleen, who is a student at University of Central Missouri, was having a birthday the following week so we decided to go see her and do a couple of other things in the process.

        First, we spent Friday night in Bentonville, Arkansas.  We had tickets to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at Crystal Bridges.

A write up about Dale Chihuly at Crystal Bridges

     The link I have given you by clicking on his name will take you to a really great website with lots of information about him, his works, and several pretty cool videos.  I did have to check out the eye patch...he was in a car wreck in England in 1976....he went through the windshield and had a lot  of serious cuts from glass on his face and lost an eye as a result.  I find that ironic that glass is his passion and yet caused him so much pain!

A Chihuly weaving

     Initially he was interested in weaving.  The above piece is a bridge between his weaving and beginning interest in glass.

 A display of his cylinders with Native American  rugs for a background.

  At one time when he lived in the Northwest, he became interested in the Native American Art...the weaving and the basketry.

Red-Orange translucent glass

In taking pictures, I was as fascinated by the reflections of the glass on the wall behind and the surface upon which the glass sits.  The artwork is displayed beautifully!

Amber glass..a couple of pieces hanging on the wall.

     Notice the wonderful reflections on the wall behind the display on the wall.

Yellow translucent glass on a very cool board.

A Series of glass containers and some of the baskets which inspired their shapes.

      On Saturday, we drove up to Warrensburg, Missouri to see Kathleen and take her to lunch.  Then, after we toured the campus and saw her apartment, we went Carrollton, Mo. to visit for a bit with my Mother-in-law/Andrea's Grandmother who turned 98 this past May!  As Kathleen was free that afternoon, she went with us. We visited for a couple of hours, took Kathleen back to UCM and drove back to  Bentonville where we spent the night.

      Sunday morning we went back to Crystal Bridges to see the outdoor  Chihuly exhibit.  It was equally fabulous!

   Back inside, we saw some artwork that had not been at Crystal Bridges the last time we had visited a few months ago.

                    There was a wonderful display of some Andy Warhol works..his animal prints.

  There is a Frank Lloyd Wright House that has recently been added to the art work on the Crystal Bridges acreage.  The story of how it was obtained is fascinating.  Then after seeing all we could see, we headed back to Texas.