Taliesin West ~ Frank Lloyd Wright's desert home

Walking through Taliesin West, the western and winter campus of Frank Lloyd Wright, it is sometimes difficult to realise it was created in the late 1930s in what was then the eastern foothills of the small town of Scottsdale, Arizona. It seems so much more contemporary in  many ways and more modern than anything from the 1930s, all of which speaks to the genius and vision of the man.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) was born two years after the end of the American Civil War, and he was witness to extraordinary changes that swept the world, from the end of slavery to nuclear war, from horse and carriage to rockets into space.




Wright was told repeatedly by his mother from a very early age that he would grow up to design magnificent buildings, and as a young child, when asked about what he would do with his life, replied quite honestly that he would become a great architect. In later years, he would gladly expand on that theme to anyone who would listen; he was not a humble man by any stretch.








He called his architecture organic in what might have been an early use of the word. Wright's anchor and muse was Nature, which he always spelled with a capital "N." His works were constantly striving to achieve harmony and balance with their surroundings.









Oddly, for a man devoted to Nature and with what appeared to be a respect for First Nations peoples, he moved rocks found in the desert and obviously painted by aboriginals, hundreds of years earlier, to his property. That he took pains to re-position them in exactly the same position as found, shows some respect, but if found today, these rocks would stay exactly in their place, and they should have then.







In his time, Wright was one of America's largest collectors of Japanese art, and pieces abound at Taliesin West. The understated elegance and simplicity of Japanese art and thought, and its embracing of nature, is clearly evident in Wright's work: water, trees and rock are present everywhere.

The desert masterpiece that is Taliesin West was begun in 1937. It was to be his winter camp and a bold  new enterprise for desert living. It set in place a pattern of migration between the two Taliesins, East and West, which is continued to this day by a select group of students enrolled in the FLW School of Architecture.

While in Arizona students continue a tradition, begun almost eighty years ago, that of living in "shepherd's tents" made of canvas and attached to a three square metre masonry base - in the desert. This was done to better help the students understand the Nature of the Sonoran Desert in which they lived. No word about snakes and spiders, coyotes and god knows what else.

Today, students design and live in their own designs, still on three square metres, though more often than not, their designs are dedicated to avoiding snakes, scorpions and rats.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014. 

Pictures of FLW and student shelters 

from official website.

Taliesin West is a wonderful introduction to the larger-than-life character that was Frank Lloyd Wright. He was a man full of bombast and exaggeration, a womanizer and wildly reckless with money, yet a profoundly creative spirit who saw things beyond the comprehension of most of those around him. Taliesin West is a fascinating place to experience, even for just an afternoon.

Cosanti Bells

In what appears to be a residential part of an upper-class district of Phoenix, resides the famous Cosanti of Paolo Soleri.













Mr Soleri was born in Italy in 1919 and came to Arizona in 1956, where he established his business and foundation, and lived until his death only last year. He was a world-renowned architect and innovator. He lived simply and attempted to create an architecture that was one with ecology, in what he called: archology.

Cosanti is considered  to be an Arizona historic site. It features an incredible selection of ceramic and bronze windbells suspended along courtyards and pathways. Handcrafted and unique in shape and sound, the bells are gentle, and very much in harmony with their surroundings.














This is an enchanting place,a peaceful space, with  the constant tones of ... well ... bells. And a parrot.

Photos by Jim Murray.

Copyright 2014.

Inside Llewyn Davis ~ this movie is Kosher for Passover

Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen, is a wonderful look at the folk music scene in New York in the early 1960s. Just before Bob Dylan exploded on the scene, and a few years before the pop of the British Invasion, folk music was a major force. Amidst that setting, the Coens present their customary set of strange characters to entertain and enlighten.

Oscar Isaac, as Llewyn Davis, is brilliant, though his character is somewhat unlikable, but then so are there others just as unlikable. The film works because of its devotion to the detail of time and place, and because of that weird mix of people we encounter along the way.





While watching the credits roll by, as is our custom, a Kosher symbol came up near the end and sure enough, this movie has been approved to be Kosher for Passover, as acknowledged by the film makers in a Salon interview from early December. Inside Llewyn Davis is probably the first, and possibly the only movie ever made that meets the rabbinical certification.

The film's website is full of interesting articles, including one about the democratisation of music in America by the New Republic's David Hajdu. Interesting stuff. Interesting movie.

In the end, our anti-hero, gets the cat, and not much else. This is a movie about a special time and place in American history, and a character slightly out of touch with both. It is a wonderful movie. Don't wait for Passover.

Photos  from the film's official website.

Copyright 2014 by Jim Murray.

Red Rocks in Sedona, Arizona

The place we now know as Sedona, Arizona, home of the red rocks, 

was first populated about 12,000 years ago. 

Apache people came to this place about 1450 BCE and Yavapai people came here around 1300 BCE. Both groups were semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer type societies. 

Both nations were forcibly removed from the valley in 1876 CE to make way for an influx of white Americans. The First Nations people, about 1500, were marched, in mid-winter, to an Indian Reservation about 300 km to the southeast. Hundreds died along the way and their survivors were interned for twenty-five years.

The rocks around Sedona are beautiful. Get away from the noise and hassle of the main drag and its T-shirts shops and time-share hustlers, and one sees how this is a special place. A sacred place. 

This is a place that allows a person to take a moment to look, to feel and take a deep breath. Sometimes even without a mobile attached to his or her ear, though that might be asking too much. This is a special place.

This place belongs to others. We should give it back.

Photos by Jim Murray.

Copyright 2014.

Tlaquepaque in Sedona

The landscape around Sedona is beautiful. The valley and its red rocks are truly incredible.

Sedona, the town, is a tourist town, not that there's anything wrong with that. It seems to be a one-strip business district that follows the highway in, and out of town, regardless of direction. There are far too many "tourist information" offices that are really fronts for real estate and time-share sales centres, which is annoying to no end. There are lots of T-shirt shops, tour agencies, and local artisan stores of dubious integrity. It could easily be something related to Whistler, or Victoria, or Gastown in Vancouver; the Sedona business district is that bad.

However. Tucked away, out of sight of the red rocks, and down by the river, is a retail development that deserves attention. It is Tlaquepaque, and it is well worth a visit.

Tlaquepaque was the idea of Abe Miller (1912 - 1982). Begun in 1971, the idea was to create a Mexican-style village that featured artists and craftspeople of the area. That idea took root in some fashion, evolved, and Tlaquepaque was born.

Today, the village has the feel of something European, but it is actually founded on a Mexican village concept. Over forty shops and galleries, several restaurants and a number of offices make up the complex, and it is delight to walk around the property.

Giant sycamore trees have been left in place and are lovingly protected according to Abe Miller's original promise in 1970. The village was quiet when we were there, but this place might just be the heart of the artistic side of Sedona's mercantile district, and it certainly beats whatever is happening along the main drag.

For casual dining, Rene's offers a menu and presentation that exceeds anything along the main highway. For a truly exceptional dining experience however, the nearby, L'Auberge Restaurant is not to be missed. Elegant, expensive and amazing in every way, L'Auberge provided a near perfect dining experience. 

Photos by Jim Murray.

Copyright 2014.