Roaming in Vegas...it can stay there.

Colleen and I drove to Las Vegas for three nights of play, and a conference for Colleen.  I am amazed that where ever we went there seem to be tens of thousands of people roaming around finding ways to give their money away....gambling, food, and shopping...many expensive...I didn't see a Ross or Marshall's store, only Chanel, Rolex, Louis Vutton, and Versace.  It was over 110 degrees there so inside roaming was recommended and each of the big casinos had there own "shops."

I did enjoy a few things in Bellagio with the Dale Chihuly blown glass flowers on the ceiling of the main lobby...2000 of them, and also in a vase in a bar with and an excellent piano and bass player.  Their Conservatory was beautifully decorated with flowers and such.  They also had an exhibit of statues by Richard MacDonald presented by Cirque Du Soleil which has a show at the Ballagio and several other places in town.  Colleen and I loved Cirque Du Soleil's "Love" with a Beatles theme at the Mirage...not so hot about the HOT fire and eruptions hourly on the waterfalls and mountains in front of the place.  Here are some of my pics from the trip.

Hail Caesar's Palace

Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and went to school there and in Wisconsin and on a Fulbright Fellowship in Venice, Italy.  In 1971 he cofounded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington  where he creates his works.  In 1976, while in England, he was in a head-on-car accident in which he flew through the windshield, where his face was severely cut by glass and he was blinded in his left eye.  Then in 1979 he dislocated his right shoulder in a bodysurfing accident.  Since he can no longer hold a glass blowing pipe, he hires others to do the work which he designs.  He says "I am more choreographer than dancer."  Chihuly has directed his art into a multimillion dollar enterprise with sculptures all over the world...you can buy some of his work at the Bellagio or see the largest collection at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.  I enjoyed many of his works with my friend Mary Lou when they visited the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Az a few years ago.  When I see his works, I utter an audible WOW.

Richard MacDonald was born in 1946 in Pasadena, CA and graduated from the Art Center College of Design.  He has done paintings and illustrations and began sculpting which led him to becomeing one of the most collected present-day figurative sulptors in America.  It has been said that MacDonald's work portrays "the beauty of the human body and the spirit that drives it."  He uses models in specific dance moves and gestures.  His  clay figures are then molded and editions of bronze sculptures are made.  He then creates the patina which is applied and then the figure is mounted on a marble base which he selects. 
MacDonalds works are at corporations such as AT&T, IBM and private collections.  He created "The Flair" for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as well as at the Peter Hay Golf Course in Pebble Beach, City of Concord, CA, and others.