Under the Bridge

I liked the geometry of the bridge supports.

Glass Men

 

Glass figures at Naples Botanical Garden by German glass artist Hans Godo Fräbel. 

Back to Florida

Left Hartford yesterday around noon.  It rained overnight.  Here is my plane.

Back in Naples and 85 degrees.

Photograph of the Year

Choosing a favorite 2018 photograph was easy.  It is even a flawed photograph (the focus is sharpest on the sunflowers, not the young man).  But, the young man's whole body smile just grabs me.

I was at Buttonwood Farm in July for their annual sunflower festival, with funds supporting Make-A-Wish.  I was in line to buy six bunches of flowers to support the charity.  A young man (himself a Make-A-Wish recipient) was helping to hand out the bunches.  I asked him to hold my six bunches,

which overflowed his arms.  He rewarded me with a huge smile.  

Every year City Daily Photo bloggers begin the new year by posting a 

Photograph of the Year on January 1.  To see others, click here.

Wadsworth Atheneum

I always enjoy a visit to Hartford's art museum.

A couple stood close to a painting by Willem de Kooning and discussed the colors and brush strokes.

A man strode through the center of a European gallery.

 This west entrance to Morgan Great Hall mixes classical statues, beaux arts decoration and a hint of the huge and colorful mural by the famous Hartford-born conceptualist artist Sol Lewitt.

A docent led a tour in an American gallery featuring paintings by Hudson River School artists.

The Matrix gallery in the museum features contemporary works, usually challenging.  The current exhibition by Bouke de Vries, a ceramics conservator and contemporary artist, is War and Pieces.

A long table is set formally in the style of the 17th and 18th century, but with

period ceramic groupings with modern adaptations and broken shards.

It culminates in a mushroom cloud in the center.

Folks Seen During the Holidays

I met Iranian-born Bahar at Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford's art museum.
She is a pediatric dentist at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

Cuban-born Marcie is a long-time friend.

Alexia is a phlebotomist who drew my blood at a Red Cross blood drive before Christmas.
She is a twin.  Her twin sister is Alexis.

Janadel refilled the candy aisle while I was hunting for stocking stuffers.
Her shirt: "Santa, Don't Judge."

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

This 1886 arch straddles a road through Bushnell Park between the State Capitol and Bushnell Hall.  It celebrates the 4,000 Hartford citizens who fought in the Civil War.  

It was the first triumphal arch in America.