St. Petersburg, Florida Trip Journal #17 … October 30, 2018

St. Petersburg, Florida     
Trip Journal #17 … October 30, 2018

St. Pete

We plan one day in St. Petersburg. Three places is our goal: the Sunken Gardens, Salvador Dali Museum and the Chihuly Collection. All three opened at 10:00 a.m. so we arrived at the Gardens at 10 and spent two hours there. Then we headed over to Dali’s place and did not leave until almost 5:00 p.m. Therefore, Chihuly missed us. We have been to his home studios in Washington at Tacoma and Seattle, marveled at all the glass works, and experienced the demonstration works there, so we know what we missed here.

Sunken Gardens

These gardens have been a landmark in St. Pete since 1935 when it became public. In 1903, George Turner, Sr. a plumber who was also an avid gardener purchased four acres with a shallow sinkhole filled with water and an ancient rich soil. 

American Beauty Berry. East & Central United States

Persian Shield ... Southeast Asia

Draining the lake, he began his garden with fruits and exotic plants from all over the world. The city of St. Pete now owns it and fully restored to its former beauty, we can stroll and discover this place of wonder ... down 15 feet below street level. So beautiful ... so enjoy the pictures!

Garden Croton Hybrid - Indonesia, Malaysia, South America

Crown of Thorns -- Madagascar  

See thorny stems and blood drop flowers

Even the Animals are Beautiful! 

Koi

Yellow Shrimp Plant - South America

Angel's Trumpet - South America

Girl's Back

Salvador Dali

Like almost everyone else, we only think of Dali as a surrealist. However, only 9 years of his life did he delve into the surrealist movement. Trained as a classical artist and returning to that style after his experimental period, his work reveals his considerable talent. Even when painting beyond surrealism, his work contains evidence of his deep imagination. 

Most of his paintings require hours to pore over and perceive deeper meanings and nuances. Guidance by the docent becomes requisite to see into his unique mind and themes across the years.  I love the detail he uses. 

As amateur artists, both Dan and I both enthused to get back to our acrylics and brushes. Hello Annie.

Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory

The "Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory" painting could also be labeled ... "Getting Old". 😋

Even the building is amazing. Built to withstand a category 5 hurricane and with the entire collection on the third floor, the structure astounds. Outside we also find a mathematical garden and a full hedge labyrinth. 

Clyde Butcher

Sure enough to tie our travels together in an elegant portrait, we come across Clyde Butcher again as he travels to Catalonia, Spain to photograph Dali’s inspirational home and environment. This display in the museum includes a filmed interview with Butcher as we learn more of his life and art. We remember Butcher when we visited his original studio on the Tamiami Trail in Big Cypress National Park. His work is mainly black and white photographs. He explains it simply by saying that color photographs impress with vivid colors however we miss the subject matter of the scene. With black and white, we see what is actually present.

Next: Heading northeast on the road to Central Florida.