Take
our morning walk and upon our return notice fire engines out front of the Strathallam.
Turns out, everyone is outside the hotel because a sprinkler broke on the 7th
floor and the building has been evacuated. Out tour all made it out and when we
didn’t show they figured it out: we were either sleeping through or had gone
for an early morning walk. It’s a running (oops) joke on the trips that THB is
the only one who goes to the fitness center and most figured that DB had joined
in again today. And, while everyone is outside, there are a few rain drops.
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| More utility boxes |
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| Bus No 1 |
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| Old building being converted |
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| Xmas lights in May |
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| THB and DB miss all the excitement of a broken sprinkler on 7th floor |
The
first stop is as close as can be: just down the street is the Rochester
Memorial Art Gallery. There is outdoor sculpture by Paley, Castle and Jurs (the
latter two we are seeing later today, they are married). The big show is
Matisse prints and a side room of ceramic work by Henri’s great grandson. THB
is not enamored of much except the Paley and Castle work outside. While the
others are scavenging items in the gift shop, THB is outside relaxing and
staring at another non-intentional art installation.
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| Yayoi in Rochester |
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| Yayoi in closeup |
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| Wendell Castle in museum |
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| Wendelll outside museum |
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| Tom Otterness |
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| Albert Paley |
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| Matisse ephemera |
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| Nancy Jurs |
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| THB's fave installation at museum |
Lunch
at Fiamma Pizza e Vino; it’s too early for the vino, the pizza is very good
(and too many pies for the group, THB is
valiant in trying to finish things up and finally succumbs to defeat) , and we
eat family style (large green salads are the accompaniment), with THB helping
others finish their lemon sorbet (served in the lemon) and hazelnut ice cream
(okay, THB found his second wind when the desserts came, even though he didn’t
order one).
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| Dessert |
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| Fiamma's | | | |
From
there we venture into the hinterlands for a visit to Wendell Castle and Nancy
Jurs. Wendell is doing even more expensive pieces than Albert Paley, and
selling many, especially overseas. Since he works in wood (and bronze, which is
now done in Paris), it appears he doesn’t need the extensive crew. And, for the
last few years, he’s been using a robot (see video!). As he said: robots don’t go on vacation,
don’t take breaks, and work 24/7 if needbe.
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| Bus #1 and Bus #2 |
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| Work in process |
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| Wendell holding early mock-up |
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| The robot (and THB's failed video somewhere in blogosphere) |
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| Demonstration |
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| Upside down |
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| Robot drawing |
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| Stages of robot work |
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| More missing pieces? |
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| Nancy Jurs |
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| Outdoor Wendell piece |
His
partner, Nancy Jurs, is a ceramist who goes back and forth between pots and
“figurative” pieces. She also has an assistant who does some of the heavy
lifting and repetitive work.
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| Nancy in her studio |
After
visiting with Wendell and Nancy, we continue in the countryside to another
married pair of artists: Bette (quilts) and Michael (glass, prints) Rogers. They
lived in Japan for 11 years, near Nagoya. In addition, Michael has invited
several of co-teachers at RIT to show work in his studio.
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| Bette Rogers with quilts |
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| Michael Rogers' outdoor piece |
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| Michael and other RIT professors in Michael's studio |
We’ve
been wandering further and further afield and so it takes around 45 minutes to
an hour to get back to the hotel, in time for a bit of internet effort, blog
writing, and helping DB get the headsets back in the box and downstairs for
shipping back to the rental company.
Dinner
is at Cure, and we use the hotel shuttle to arrive (it takes two trips to get
us all there, and saves money as the hotel provides the service for a nominal
gratuity and the tour does not incur the cost of a bus). Speaking of buses, the
smaller bus we started on had a malfunctioning a/c, so after lunch we met up
with another (larger) bus to switch over to gain the coolness we needed as
temps climbed during the day.
Dinner
is excellent and a lot of food: green salad, charcuterie, two types of bread,
pasta, veggies in paper, lamb en croute (with more veggies), salmon on top of
great veggies, thin wedge (thank goodness) of chocolate and raspberry tart,
French red and white wine (included).
Lightning show: included with dinner!
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| DB's thank you gift from the tour members |
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