Streetlights

You have read this article downtown /
shadows /
street scenes
with the title October 2009. You can bookmark this page URL http://mariabelgien.blogspot.com/2009/10/shadow-shots-downtown.html. Thanks!






This turned out to be one of the more colorful sunrises I observed this month. I had been watching and taking pictures of it for about a half hour and thought it was done. The sky colors were pleasant, but not very intense. I went back in the house, and when I peeked out the window, the sky looked fiery! So, I hurried out to the street again and snapped these three photos.
I don't usually pay much attention to cars, but this little red one parked on Sabino Canyon Road caught my eye. The car has antennae to make it look like a bug as an advertisement for a pest control service. On the front it says BMW Isetta 300. Isetta microcars were made in the late 1950's to early 1960's. Some nicknames for these little cars have been: "Rolling Egg" or "Coffin on Wheels" in Germany, "Yogurt Pot" in France, "Soccer ball of a Truck" in Brazil, "Little Egg" in Chili.









Sonora is a monumental steel sculpture which stands in front of the main library in the heart of downtown Tucson. Completed in 1991 by artist David Black, the piece is an example of proto-architecture that blends sculptural and architectural elements with abstract imagery from native cultures and the environment.
The pavilion-like roof and arches are designed for people to walk under and the curved benches are for sitting on.
Southwest Native American basket designs are found around the top of the structure.
The huge central ring of the sculpture rests on arrow-like columns.
Sonora also features abstractions of streams, wind and mountains from the desert landscape. The bright red color represents Tucson's mountains at sunset.
The sculpture reminds me of a dinosaur. It is a coincidence that the artwork is named Sonora because in 1995 the fossilized remains of a dinosaur were found in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The genus was named Sonorasaurus which means "Sonora lizard."
The top looks like a Hohokam basket filled with prickly pears and some other plants.
A saguaro harvest is taking place on the lower portion of this wall treatment.
Notice the similar shapes of the basket tower and the Native American figure on the tiles.
A saguaro cactus echos the shapes of the archways in the superior court building.
A purple saguaro bus stop shelter:
This was my favorite bus stop:
At first I thought the big flower was a cactus blossom, but the trailing vines and leaves look like they belong to the rose family.
The flower's filaments are twisted steel rebar. I liked their shadows.
Another giant metal flowering plant sprouts out from the ground beside a sidewalk:
More plant forms on walls of buildings:
The artwork below is hard to see because of the busy reflection. The window has a wrought iron saguaro cactus with a bird and a human figure. It's across the street from the Chicago Store on Congress Street.
I'm kind of curious how the muscle man relates to the cactus here. Looks like they might be saying, "cheers!"



And there were palm trees galore!
This is my fourth Downtown Tucson post from that whirlwind visit and I still have at least three more to go.