Pfau's

Pfau's is the kind of old fashioned hardware store that used to be found in every town before Home Depot and Lowe's arrived.

You go into Pfau's and say "I want a tool to make a hole to put a doohickey through."  The guys in Pfau's then rummage around the back room and come back with just what you need.

A sense of humor never hurt, either.

Lego's State House

The Danish toymaker, Lego, has had its U.S. operations in Enfield, CT, since the 1970s. 

Lego employs modelmakers to produce special exhibitions from Lego bricks, but there are also many Lego hobbyists who build impressive model structures from standard Lego bricks.  I don't know who made this one.  The model is in the lower level of Hartford's Old State House.

I have previously shown you the Old State House here and here and here.  Plus others.

55 Farmington Avenue

This is a close-up of 55 Farmington Avenue in Hartford, an office building that houses Hartford Investment Management, the investment arm of The Hartford. 

I thought the curved effect, produced entirely from straight lines, makes the building an interesting study.

Weekend Reflections: Gable

I think the late afternoon winter sun bouncing off the gable and window of a Tudor-influenced house is nice.

For other photos of reflections, go see Newtown Area Photo.

New Britain Museum of American Art

Following up on yesterday's post: 

At the top are two among many wonderful works at the New Britain Museum of American Art.  In the foreground is a 1908 bronze statue, Artemis, by Bela Lyon Pratt.  The painting in the rear is Le Jour du Grand Prix, a work created in the late 1880s by the American artist, Childe Hassam, while he studied in Paris.

To the left is a couple sharing a romantic moment they didn't expect me to capture and put on the internet.  The work that stirred the young man is a portrait by Chuck Close.  On the left in the distance is the marvelous and inspirational 18 foot painting by Graydon Parrish, The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy:  September 11, 2001.  This is the painting I mentioned in yesterdays post.  I showed it originally last November.

Chuck Close is a fascinating story.  He became paralyzed in 1988 after he had long been an established artist. He continues to work with help from assistants, holding a paintbrush taped to his arm.  The silkscreen shown above was done in 2000, a dozen years after Close became disabled.  Here is a link to an explanation from the New Britain  museum.

White Rose

Last year I showed you an amazing, huge, September 11-themed allegorical painting by Graydon Parrish at the New Britain Museum of American Art.

Parrish liberally used white roses in that painting to recall the bouquets that mourners placed in memory of the victims of September 11.  For his new painting in the New Britain museum, Parrish again used white roses to memorialize a recently deceased friend.

Isn't it remarkable that a noted young American artist in 2010 can and does paint simple white flowers with the kind of quality and detail first used by Dutch masters five centuries ago?

Theme Day: Favorite Part of Town

My favorite part of town?  It has to be Elizabeth Park, shown here last summer.  Elizabeth Park straddles the City of Hartford and the Town of West Hartford.  Walking to, around and from Elizabeth Park is one of my simple pleasures, at any time of year.  (It was even more fun when my old dog was still here to lead the walks.)

I have shown the gardens in the summer, the fall and the winter.  I started this blog in July 2010, so I have not yet shown Elizabeth Park in the spring.  Stay tuned.

The first day of the month is theme day for City Daily Photo participants.  The theme for March is Your Favorite Part of Town.  Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.