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Arizona

Arizona Sunshine at Capitol Museum

Arizona Sunshine at Capitol Museum

Another window. Inside, but not looking out. Too much sun. Too bright. Keep those shades closed.

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Tohono Chul Park

by Bo Mackison on 03/18/2010

Botanical Garden in Tucson Arizona

Botanical Garden in Tucson Arizona

The mission of Tohono Chul Park is to enrich peoples’ lives by providing them the opportunity to find peace and inspiration in a place of beauty, to experience the wonders of the Sonoran Desert and to gain knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage of the region.

~~ Mission Statement of Tohono Chul Park

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Copper Dome

by Bo Mackison on 02/26/2010

Arizona Capitol Museum

Arizona Capitol Museum

Built in 1900 as Arizona’s State Capitol Building, it was replaced by rather typical office buildings for the legislature in 1960. Now it has been restored and is used as a museum, mostly for the state’s school children. Exhibits are quite basic and focus on the history and culture of Arizona from its early days to the present, Arizona’s symbols, natural history, the story of Arizona’s statehood, and a display about the USS Arizona.

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Taliesin West - Garden Room

Taliesin West - Garden Room

I would like to be relaxing in this room – right this very moment! Maybe with a book in hand, or a notebook filled with words that flowed easily from mind to paper, and so now my writing project is neatly done.

Maybe I’m drinking an iced tea, or even better, indulging in a fudge brownie and a glass of cold milk. And while I’m daydreaming, I’ll go all out – the sunlight is streaming through the windows, and warming my face. Warming my soul.

A Nice Place to Relax

A Nice Place to Relax

Say, this is a daydream, right? Maybe Mr. Wright will walk through the door, in an amiable and expansive mood, and share a few of his theories on architecture, or better yet, tell stories of the happenings of his boyhood, about the land he lived on and loved, and where he built the other Taliesin, the home and studio where he spent his summers, Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Taliesin West, Scottsdale Arizona

Blue Seating in the Garden Room

This is in the Garden Room at Taliesin West, Mr. Wright’s winter home and studio on Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s a sprawling complex, now the winter home for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. The school moves east to summer in Wisconsin from May through October, just as Wright and his family did when they were alive.

Amusingly enough, on a recent tour through Taliesin West, our guide was an architect and an instructor at the architecture school. He had made the acquaintance of Wright several times. He mentioned that one of Wright’s express wishes was “Don’t ever attach my name to anything having to do with a school.” Though Wright appeared to get his way much of the time, seems no one paid attention to that request (or demand) once he was no longer around to speak up.

Taliesin West is a wonderful space to visit, the tour guide was knowledgeable and witty, and had a rather genius way of passing on Wright’s heritage and philosophy.

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Rain Puddle Reflection

Saguaro National Park

It’s not too often I get the opportunity to photograph the desert, especially the desert after a  heavy rainfall that leaves large puddles of standing water with perfect reflections of prickly pear and saguaro cacti.

We visited one of the more isolated areas of the eastern part of Saguaro National Park. We hiked the Mica View Trail,  which offered great views of the Tanque Verde Peak and Mica Mountain, but I was most fascinated by the puddles and spent a fair amount of time sprawled on the damp desert floor taking photographs.

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Containers to Fill

Blue Pottery

I am excited to announce that I’ve just launched a new monthly feature called Memoir Space. It is published at The Calm Space, an online magazine which, according to founder and editor Karen Wallace, “is an online magazine published weekly with a monthly theme – written by a team of amazing, real-life women who are living their passion with a purpose and a focus…we write in our own unique voices, and tell it like it is.”

Memoir Space will present a monthly multimedia project that will inspire you to create/write/photograph your memoir in fun, easy, and interesting bits. I so hope you’ll be inspired to not only try this month’s project, but join me each month. We will be writing unique exercises to flesh out your memories, shoot a few photography projects (any experience with any camera – cell phone camera, point and shoot, digital SLR is fine) and explore other multimedia ideas in the quest to “collect your memoir”.

Please check out the first installment, The Memories of Your Life, An Introduction to Writing Your Memoirs. And hey, why not say hi while you are visiting.

(As for the above photograph, these blue containers were spread out on the ground in front of a shop in Tubac, Arizona. I loved the deep blue color, and the tumbled arrangement, and  so I had to take a few photos.)

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Flying Home

by Bo Mackison on 02/21/2010

Ascending from Tucson

Ascending from Tucson

Leaving Tucson, the scenery is breathtaking. The city is surrounded by mountains – mostly browns with just a hint of green from spring rains.

Flying over Snow Crested Mountains

Flying over Snow Crested Mountains

Further east, flying over the Rockies on the eastern side of Arizona. Lovely snow crested mountains. What a flight – always something to see.

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with a Side of Palm Trees

Tower and Palm Trees

The first time we wandered around downtown Tucson we were caught in the middle of a cloudburst. It was one of the two cloudy days we saw in Arizona. Two out of ten – not too bad!

We went back the morning we were flying back to Wisconsin. Sunday in downtown Tucson is, well, very quiet. But this time the sun was shining, and so I took advantage of that last bit of Arizona light for a few last photos.

This was a fun shot. I loved the reflections and distortions in the plate glass, but I also loved the added attraction (for me, anyway) of those lovely palm trees.

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Palm Shadows

by Bo Mackison on 02/19/2010

Tucson Arizona

Sunny Days

Missing Tucson’s sunny days, but I have photos enough to keep me busy until the flowers bloom in Madison.

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Simply Seen

by Bo Mackison on 02/18/2010

A Light and its Curvature

A Light and Curvature

I’ve been told I take photographs of odd things. That’s true. While I was enthusiastically photographing this light, quite thrilled with the two color tones of wall behind it, the graceful curve of the wrought iron, the textures – metal, fluted glass, adobe, wood – I had three different people approach with cameras in their hands. They stopped, peered at what I was photographing, probably asked themselves “What IS she photographing?” and then walked on. They just didn’t get it.

But I got it. The picture I imagined in my head was captured with one of my photographs. How sweet that is!

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