Le Hunter et Le Boulevardier

You may have noticed that Mr. Hunter has an affinity for busts and other sculptures of heads.  And when he encountered this fellow at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mr. Hunter felt an even stronger kinship.  The pointed chins, the long noses... they could be cousins!

 

Mr. Hunter's new friend in the top hat is called Le Boulevardier, and he was created by the Polish-born American sculptor Elie Nadelman.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Los Angeles, California

March 2013

____________________ 

Official LACMA page on Le Boulevardier - 

http://collections.lacma.org/node/249962

Official LACMA site - http://www.lacma.org/

Ocarina at the Village Green Gallery

The Village Green Gallery is just a few steps north of the Vermont Country Store.  The last time Mr. Hunter's family stopped in Weston, we found some lovely and memorable Christmas ornaments there.  

The ornaments, made by an artist named Mary Stone, are clay whistles sculpted in the shapes of different birds like snowy owls and wrens.  We had to visit Village Green again to see if there were any more bird ornaments to tempt us.  

Of course there were!  And not only bird ornaments, but also some charming ocarina sculptures of elephants, rhinos, bears, penguins, and foxes.  We headed on our way after adopting a fox ocarina, a penguin ornament, and a kingfisher ornament.

I didn't dare to put the real Mr. Hunter into the display, so Flat Mr. Hunter had to make a quick (and shadowy) appearance.

Here's Flat Mr. Hunter with a bowlful of bird ornaments by Mary Stone.
Here's a profile of Stone from the Village Green Gallery.

The story of the Village Green Gallery, which was founded
by Japanese photographer Nobushi Fuji'i.

The Village Green Gallery

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Official site for the The Village Green Gallery - http://thevillagegreengallery.com/

Official site for Mary Stone Clay Whistles - http://www.marystonewhistles.com/

Lady Liberty of the Luxembourg Gardens

Mr.  Hunter has yet to visit the actual Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, but he has posed with Auguste Bartholdi's original (and much smaller) bronze model of Lady Liberty, who holds her torch aloft in the marvelous Luxembourg Gardens of Paris.

About the statue in the Luxembourg Gardens.

Jardin du Luxembourg

Paris, France

May 2010

Colossal Winged Bulls From the Palace of Sargon II

Mr. Hunter appreciated the intriguingly textured beards of these winged bulls who originally stood as "magic guardians against misfortune" in the Khorsabad palace of Sargon II.

"Yo."
(As if a colossal winged bull guarding a palace would say, "Yo!")

Khorsabad is located in Iraq.

Side view of one of the bull gates.

The British Museum

London, England

September 2011

Mr. Hunter and the Goddess Hathor

Some statues emanate particularly pleasing energy.  In the past, Mr. Hunter and I have been enraptured, transfixed, and transported by the truly lovely Venus de Milo and Michelangelo's astonishing David.  

After a much too short visit to the British Museum, we're adding this head and torso of the goddess Hathor to that list.  This smiling Hathor figure comes from the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III.

Mr. Hunter and I weren't the only ones to fall under the spell of Hathor.  The woman in this photograph below stood and meditated in front of Hathor for at least half an hour.

The woman who was entranced by Hathor.

Video of Hathor and her disciple:

Room 4

The British Museum

London, England

September 2011

Standing Hunter with Giacometti's Standing Women

From St. Paul's Cathedral, we walked across the Millennium Bridge and headed into the Tate Modern, the contemporary art museum housed in a former power station.

Mr. Hunter felt an affinity with these elongated Alberto Giacometti figures,
even though he's more of a squat sort of figure himself.

three figures, each entitled
Standing Woman
Alberto Giacometti

information from the Tate.org.uk web site:

Standing Woman - the one on the left

Standing Woman - the one in the center

Standing Woman - the one on the right

The Tate Modern, seen from the Millennium Bridge.

Tate Modern

London, England

September 2011

The Wooden Horse

Mr. Hunter stopped to make friends with this cute wooden horse

in the small central square of Peguche village.

One of my favorite photos from that day:
a kitten naps on a corrugated metal roof in Peguche.
This was after we'd walked from the village square to the path
up to the Peguche waterfall.  

Peguche, Ecuador

June 2011

Molino San Juan

After visiting the equator, we drove further on the Pan American Highway to Molino San Juan, where we'd be having lunch.  Molino San Juan is an old grain mill in Cayambe.  

Mr.  Hunter introduces himself to some clay figures on a shelf at Molino San Juan. 

Mr. Hunter liked the colors on this door.

Sign as we drove up to Molino San Juan.

Before lunch, we were treated to a demonstration on how to make bizcochos, a biscuity, buttery sort of cookie that is quite popular in Cayambe.  Here's one traveler's blog post about bizcochos.

The bizcochos are served!

Molino San Juan's bizcochos recipe

Cutting the bizcochos

We saw many signs
advertising bizcochos in Cayambe.
This was my favorite one.

Some more places to find bizcochos...

Cute dog at Molino San Juan

Rooster and hens at Molino San Juan

Hacienda Molino San Juan

Cayambe, Ecuador

June 2011

Her Majesty

Mr. Hunter takes a seat inside the LEGO crown of a LEGO bust of Queen Elizabeth II.

Legoland

Carlsbad, California

November 2008

Franz the Bear

Mr. Hunter had just met this friendly bear in Park City when all of a sudden out of nowhere this guy appeared and started wrestling with the bear! 

 What the what?!

Okay, really, that's my brother clowning around.

The bear is known as Franz the Bear, 

and you can find him on Main Street in Park City, or even on Facebook.  

Friendly Franz was made by sculptor Michelle vandenHeuvel.

near 558 Main Street

Park City, Utah

May 2009

Faites la connaissance d'Hélène

Meet Hélène!

Mr. Hunter's first pose with the elegant Hélène 

included this random, bearded sculpture from Adam's cube.

These two hit it off right away, and since that first meeting, Hélène has taken Flat Mr. Hunter (ahem, Monsieur Hunter) along on several journeys in the United States and beyond.  Fun! 

April 2007

Où est Monsieur Hunter? - La réponse

Where was Flat Mr. Hunter when he sat in the palm of this blissed-out statue?

Taking it easy in Ixtapa, Mexico and vacationing with Helene.

Ixtapa, Mexico

May 2011

Où est Monsieur Hunter?

Flat Mr. Hunter was vacationing with Helene--one of his favorite traveling companions--when he encountered this happy-looking sculpture.  

Where do you suppose this meeting took place?

(Hint: it was someplace warm.  

And not someplace where they speak French!)

Here's the post with the answer.

Somewhere

May 2011

Ghetto Mr. Hunter in Kyoto

Teresa brought Ghetto Mr. Hunter to Kiyomizu-dera, 

a Buddhist temple in Kyoto.

Another Komainu!

Teresa and Kiyomizu-dera 

Chillin' at Kiyomizu-dera.

Kiyomizu-dera

Kyoto, Japan

September 2008

Travels with Teresa: Sensō-ji Temple

While visiting Sensō-ji Temple in Tokyo, Ghetto Mr. Hunter admired the koi, enjoyed a snack, and posed with another Komainu.

That's the Senso-ji pagoda on the left.

Another Komainu!

Senso-ji Temple

Tokyo, Japan

August 2008