I was skeptical at first because the plan was to meet at Black Bear Diner- about 45 minutes away from where everyone lives. But I am glad we did because breakfast was amazing! The diner is a small chain that started in northern California. I kind of recall seeing other locations in such random places like Bullhead City, AZ. My family almost ate there before but the lines were too long.
I realized I must be missing my mom because I ordered the chicken fried steak- something my mom almost always orders. My horchata quest is like her chicken fried steak quest, we are always trying to scope out the best one!
After breakfast we had some time to kill so we wandered around the mall and got a new battery for my watch. We eventually wandered down to Springville to meet my sister and her friend Jen to go to the Museum of Art. To kill more time we wandered around the Walmart there and spent some money on our generous Christmas-gift gift card from the Morris family. I am proud to announce that Ross and I are the happy owners of our very first waffle iron. I can tell I am an official big kid cos I am really wracking up the kitchen appliances.
We then met up with Rissa and her friend Jen to check out the Springville Museum of Art. The Springville MoA always surprises me. It seems like such a random (and nearly rural) place for such an attraction. But the exhibits and works within are always incredible. For such a small looking building it is really quite large inside.
One of the main exhibits, and the first we checked out was the, "30th Annual Spiritual and Religious Exhibit." Being a religious and spiritual person myself, I was pretty excited about this one. I thought of the book God Is In the Mountain by Ezra Jack Keats. Meaning, there are so many different interpretations and personal beliefs that were expressed in the exhibit. It was really cool to see such a diverse display of art.
I did what you are supposed to at museums and made sure to take lots of crappy pictures of beautiful pieces of art.
These first two kind of go with each other I feel like. I've been thinking recently about how so many women hurt to belong. I love that my beliefs and upbringing give me confidence and joy in who I am. Maybe that's why I felt so drawn to these.
As we walked up to this exhibit Ross chuckled a little because he already knew that I liked it. It was behind glass so you can't see it spectacularly in this picture. It is done in a bright Latin American style. The bottom right corner shows, "The Descent of the Holy Ghost," and as the artist mentions, "many people from all five continents are shown in unity."
This was one of Ross's favorites. If you look closely you can see a phoenix emerging from the sun in the wolf's mouth. Also it is based on a Norse myth so he probably liked that too.
I was immediately drawn to this one because of the color (Salvation Mountain?!). But I liked the artist's description as well. I know the descriptions are hard to read without zooming in. The last part reads, "It is imperative that we are keenly aware of the straight and narrow path and do all we can to stay within the straight lines in midst of the temptations of life."
These three are all very intriguing in different ways. The first one, "The Cemetery of the Forgotten Books," really drew me in. I loved the frame with all the books, and the purples and pinks in the painting. THEN I realized she's almost 90 years old and her father was in Franco's army during the Spanish Civil war and I was speechless. What a life to live. I would love to see her other artwork and the stories they tell.
I took quite a bit of time on the middle painting with the hummingbird, "Above the Brambles of Life." The artist's description, "Something amazing happened when we free ourselves from a negative habit, rid ourselves from fears or anger, resentment and frustrations that occur in our lives. We become elevated. Have a greater perspective and can keep moving to better heights of happiness and creativity. I believe the Atonement of Christ can help us achieve that."
The last was just funny. I'm not sure what that style of art is called, it reminds me of the Valyermo Monastery. This piece, "Sometimes it is hard to be dead" was one of many displayed on a wall as part of a piece about ancestors. I like the ancestor looking over the kid and thinking, "I love you and appreciate what you are doing but you are often very stupid and it aggravates the crud out of me." I think about relatives watching over me and caring about me. But this piece provided a different perspective. It makes me laugh to think that my ancestors are sometimes banging their heads against the wall cos I am a knucklehead.
They had another exhibit ending soon, "Family Vacation." The retro and vintage inspired travel theme was fun. But what I found the most breathtaking were paintings of Utah landscapes. It is such a beautiful state!
They museum also had a section with children's artwork. It was pretty cool to see some of the amazing works of art elementary school aged kids made! These kids have some serious talent. One of my favorites is the little shepherd boy sitting with a his little lamb and looking up towards the star.
The last exhibit we checked out, and primary purpose for the visit since it was ending so soon, was a display of parable paintings by Liz Lemon Swindle.
Each set had an ancient and modern interpretation of the parable. Her paintings are breathtaking. I can't even begin to comprehend a masterpiece like that. Which, in and of itself was a cool lesson to think about when looking at religious paintings and paintings of Christ.
My favorites were The Good Samaritan,
And I Would Gather Thee
Obviously the pictures don't do them justice. That's why you go to a museum. But I took them anyway so I could remember the thoughts I had while I looked at them. The lighting, the emotions, and mostly the tender care from our Savior that is so wonderfully portrayed.
Throughout the museum they have interactive portions. This one you could take an inspirational quote from the jar and then write one of your own to hang on the wall. Not sure if this kid got the memo but it summed up my experience at the museum very well, "I liket err ething" Because indeed, I did like everything!
Afterwards Rissa told us about this really cool diner that we just had to go to. We joked about what a must-try place would look like in Springville, but it was a really cool place. Art City Trolley is a hip little diner inside of an old trolley! Did I mention that it's hip? Also the food was great. I got a spicy avocado chicken sandwich with a side of mac n cheese. Rissa got us all a plate of rosemary garlic fries that were amazing. Nice and thin and crispy.
We hung around and chatted for a while before we had to get going but it was great to try a new place and see an old place with new (exhibits) stuff. I can't believe it is already time to get back to real life back home. I don't want to!
After breakfast we had some time to kill so we wandered around the mall and got a new battery for my watch. We eventually wandered down to Springville to meet my sister and her friend Jen to go to the Museum of Art. To kill more time we wandered around the Walmart there and spent some money on our generous Christmas-gift gift card from the Morris family. I am proud to announce that Ross and I are the happy owners of our very first waffle iron. I can tell I am an official big kid cos I am really wracking up the kitchen appliances.
We then met up with Rissa and her friend Jen to check out the Springville Museum of Art. The Springville MoA always surprises me. It seems like such a random (and nearly rural) place for such an attraction. But the exhibits and works within are always incredible. For such a small looking building it is really quite large inside.
One of the main exhibits, and the first we checked out was the, "30th Annual Spiritual and Religious Exhibit." Being a religious and spiritual person myself, I was pretty excited about this one. I thought of the book God Is In the Mountain by Ezra Jack Keats. Meaning, there are so many different interpretations and personal beliefs that were expressed in the exhibit. It was really cool to see such a diverse display of art.
I did what you are supposed to at museums and made sure to take lots of crappy pictures of beautiful pieces of art.
These first two kind of go with each other I feel like. I've been thinking recently about how so many women hurt to belong. I love that my beliefs and upbringing give me confidence and joy in who I am. Maybe that's why I felt so drawn to these.
As we walked up to this exhibit Ross chuckled a little because he already knew that I liked it. It was behind glass so you can't see it spectacularly in this picture. It is done in a bright Latin American style. The bottom right corner shows, "The Descent of the Holy Ghost," and as the artist mentions, "many people from all five continents are shown in unity."
This was one of Ross's favorites. If you look closely you can see a phoenix emerging from the sun in the wolf's mouth. Also it is based on a Norse myth so he probably liked that too.
I was immediately drawn to this one because of the color (Salvation Mountain?!). But I liked the artist's description as well. I know the descriptions are hard to read without zooming in. The last part reads, "It is imperative that we are keenly aware of the straight and narrow path and do all we can to stay within the straight lines in midst of the temptations of life."
These three are all very intriguing in different ways. The first one, "The Cemetery of the Forgotten Books," really drew me in. I loved the frame with all the books, and the purples and pinks in the painting. THEN I realized she's almost 90 years old and her father was in Franco's army during the Spanish Civil war and I was speechless. What a life to live. I would love to see her other artwork and the stories they tell.
I took quite a bit of time on the middle painting with the hummingbird, "Above the Brambles of Life." The artist's description, "Something amazing happened when we free ourselves from a negative habit, rid ourselves from fears or anger, resentment and frustrations that occur in our lives. We become elevated. Have a greater perspective and can keep moving to better heights of happiness and creativity. I believe the Atonement of Christ can help us achieve that."
The last was just funny. I'm not sure what that style of art is called, it reminds me of the Valyermo Monastery. This piece, "Sometimes it is hard to be dead" was one of many displayed on a wall as part of a piece about ancestors. I like the ancestor looking over the kid and thinking, "I love you and appreciate what you are doing but you are often very stupid and it aggravates the crud out of me." I think about relatives watching over me and caring about me. But this piece provided a different perspective. It makes me laugh to think that my ancestors are sometimes banging their heads against the wall cos I am a knucklehead.
They had another exhibit ending soon, "Family Vacation." The retro and vintage inspired travel theme was fun. But what I found the most breathtaking were paintings of Utah landscapes. It is such a beautiful state!
They museum also had a section with children's artwork. It was pretty cool to see some of the amazing works of art elementary school aged kids made! These kids have some serious talent. One of my favorites is the little shepherd boy sitting with a his little lamb and looking up towards the star.
The last exhibit we checked out, and primary purpose for the visit since it was ending so soon, was a display of parable paintings by Liz Lemon Swindle.
Each set had an ancient and modern interpretation of the parable. Her paintings are breathtaking. I can't even begin to comprehend a masterpiece like that. Which, in and of itself was a cool lesson to think about when looking at religious paintings and paintings of Christ.
My favorites were The Good Samaritan,
And I Would Gather Thee
Obviously the pictures don't do them justice. That's why you go to a museum. But I took them anyway so I could remember the thoughts I had while I looked at them. The lighting, the emotions, and mostly the tender care from our Savior that is so wonderfully portrayed.
Throughout the museum they have interactive portions. This one you could take an inspirational quote from the jar and then write one of your own to hang on the wall. Not sure if this kid got the memo but it summed up my experience at the museum very well, "I liket err ething" Because indeed, I did like everything!
Afterwards Rissa told us about this really cool diner that we just had to go to. We joked about what a must-try place would look like in Springville, but it was a really cool place. Art City Trolley is a hip little diner inside of an old trolley! Did I mention that it's hip? Also the food was great. I got a spicy avocado chicken sandwich with a side of mac n cheese. Rissa got us all a plate of rosemary garlic fries that were amazing. Nice and thin and crispy.
We hung around and chatted for a while before we had to get going but it was great to try a new place and see an old place with new (exhibits) stuff. I can't believe it is already time to get back to real life back home. I don't want to!
