Church Murals

On Tuesdays I normally post a craft project, but I have so much work to be done in my garden right now, that anytime I'm home, weather permitting, I'm out there.  The weather and a shoulder injury has not been helping me get my garden chores done.  It's been so warm and muggy here, that doing heavy garden chores is not easy.  I hate to say it, but I could really use some crisp, dry, cool temperatures (and a healing touch to my body would help too) right now. 

I do have a birthday card and some fall cards I will post soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to show you some beautiful church murals I discovered at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

My husband and I attended a conference at this church and by chance ended up eating our lunch in the children's wing...otherwise I never would have seen these murals.  Many of my long time readers and friends would know that I have painted many murals myself at several different churches during my lifetime.  But none of the murals I have done would ever compare to these masterpieces.  These murals were surely done by a real artist, and not an amateur as myself.  If you'd like to see some of the church murals I have done, go to this post HERE and HERE (I've done so many more church murals than this, but unfortunately these were the only two rooms I took pictures of).

All the murals in this wing depicted the life of Jesus.  I had actually planned on painting the scenes of the life of Jesus in one of the churches I had been attending, but I never got around to it because the church started having issues, and people started leaving.  Then their children's programs stopped because there was no one willing to serve in that area anymore, and therefore the number of children in the church started to decrease.  So I thought, what's the point of painting more murals if there are no children there to see it?

I would never have been able to paint realistic scenes like this however.  My plan was to use more cartoon images of Jesus out of the children's bible.

This child in the window with the kitties was one of my favorites.  I love the deep rich colors, the beautiful child, and of course the kittens.

Jesus talking with the children is the perfect scene to display in a children's wing, isn't it?

And of course, what are children's mural if they don't contain some humor...such as this cute camel peeking over the edge of a wall?

I love how the artist painted around all the "obstructions" like these doors, and even included them in the biblical scenes.

Of course my husband had to act like a child himself and include himself in on one of the biblical depictions.

So what do you think?  Do you love these murals as much as I do?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

The Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens

 In last week's travel post,  I shared with you what we did the morning of my third day in Florida:  A visit to Mead Botanical Gardens.  It only took a few hours to walk through that garden, so after lunch we headed to the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens.

Albin Polasek was a sculptor who retired to Winter Park, Florida when he was seventy years old.  In 1961 his home was opened to the public as a museum with over two hundred of his art pieces.  This is what his home, (now a museum) looks like when you just drive up onto the property.

The inside of the museum holds local artwork for sale and also Albin Polasek's pieces.  But the grounds also contain many beautiful sculptures and other works of art in a lovely garden setting overlooking a gorgeous lake.

Our personal favorite was this hedge containing bronze reliefs of the stations of the cross.

The first picture shows a panoramic view and the rest are close ups.

 This is the entrance to the sculpture garden.  It does cost $5.00 to tour the grounds and the museum, but that cost includes a guided tour of the Albin Polasek home.

The property is so pretty and peaceful.

There are over fifty outdoor sculptures in the garden to view, along with a gorgeous lake view and plenty of flowers.

Albin Polasek was a deeply religious man so there were many religious art pieces on the property.

I loved how nature and art were put together in this garden.   The two enhanced each other;  making everything more beautiful and meaningful.

This is the view of the back of the property;  if you were standing at the lake shore looking back at the house.

This bed of red verbena with the mid size palm trees in the center was gorgeous.  I loved the quirky signs too.

A close up of the red verbena and sign.

Other flowers that caught my eye were these pretty yellow daisies.

Pink dianthus.

 And this perfect yucca plant!  I would love to be able to grow this in Wisconsin!

And look at this gorgeous trumpet vine!  Beautiful!

After we toured the grounds outside we went into the actual museum.  The first part of the museum holds artwork by local artists that is for sale.  And the best part?  They also have an interactive art display where they let you touch and explore the art....yes, you heard me right....they encourage and want you to touch the art work!  They also let you take pictures!  That's a rarity in art museums!  No guards wagging their fingers at you, watching every move you make.  I loved it!

This was one of my favorite pieces in this part of the museum, can you guess why?  Because it's a helmet made of vintage jewelry!  Is this great or what?

After we toured the local artist part of the museum, we then went on the guided tour.  First we saw a video that told us all about the life and art of Albin Polasek.  He was quite a fascinating man, if you'd like to learn more about him, you can read up on him HERE.

After the video, we then went into the main living space of his home and saw some of his more famous pieces.  

We were disappointed that with the exception of his bedroom his beautiful home was no longer a home and was now strictly a museum.  We were hoping everything would be original, or at least replicated to look like when he lived there.

Now his main living space was filled with all his art work.

After we finished touring the inside of the house, we went back outside, but this time to see the sculptures in the front yard.  We had missed these walking in, but were made aware of them from watching the video.

If you like art, flowers, and gardens, then this is the place for you.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these fabulous blogs HERE and Travel Tuesday!