Museum of Fine Arts: C. Paul Jennewein and "The First Step"

This bronze statue is called The First Step. It captures a mother lovingly guiding her son as he begins to take his first step. The statue was created by American artist C. Paul Jennewein (1890-1978). The statue is approximately 30 inches high and is located in the north courtyard of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. We went across Tampa Bay to see the current exhibition of photography on display from the museum’s collection. There were images from the earliest years in the mid nineteenth century, masters of the twentieth century including American photographer Burk Uzzle, to Len Prince and his recent images of Sally Mann’s daughter, Jessie. Because we cannot take photographs inside the museum galleries, I went out into the sculpture garden, used the cell phone and took a few photos of the pieces from the permanent collection displayed outdoors. There are several very impressive sculptures. You can see The First Step on a pedestal in the center of the garden photo.

Jennewein was born in Stuttgart, Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1907. He spent his early years as a muralist. In 1912, he completed the four murals for the Woolworth Building in New York City. Following his military service with the U.S. Army during World War I he moved to Rome where he studied at the American Academy of Rome. It was while living and studying in Italy that his concentration turned to sculpture. He is best known today for the figures completed in 1933 in the pediment of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. During his career he sculpted five majestic and monumental eagles: one at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, another one at the Memorial Bridge in Arlington, Virginia, the third on the Federal Office Building in New York City, and a fourth, for the Spanish-American War Memorial in Rochester, New York. The fifth is at the Ardennes Memorial in Belgium. He created smaller eagles for the American Embassy in Paris. Jim Jennewein, the artist’s son, is an architect and lives in Tampa.

As everyone who lives in this area of Florida knows, we had one of our fast moving rainstorms today of what seemed to be biblical proportions. The deluge flooded the interstate highway and roads as we drove over to downtown St. Petersburg. If you go in closer to the statue, the mother and son are dripping from the rain, but still the light in the garden was soft and beautiful. The photo of the entrance to the museum shows the banners announcing the current and future exhibitions.

Manatees swim and dance like ballerinas

These handpainted manatees are on a wall in Ballast Point Park. As the artist depicted them, they probably weigh 1,200lbs but they are twisting, spinning and rolling like featherweights under water. Although they are mammals, not fish, they never leave the water. They rise to the surface to breath and then submerge themselves for up to 24 minutes before going up for air again. The artist captured their playfulness, cute expressive faces and massive size quite well. Yesterday I posted a Caution: Manatee warning sign for boaters at Tampa Florida Photo with links to a couple of very good manatee web sites. If you're interested in learning a lot more take a look. These animals are amazing and fantastic creatures. Can't you imagine a hug from those flippers?

Man-made mysteries in the sea

Look back to my post of Saturday, July 18th HERE, to see how these mysterious-looking clumps of sea shells came to be. After showing you in my earlier post what they looked like before they became so shell-encrusted, how they were made and their purpose, I thought you might like see what happens to them after they've sat awhile in the water up close to shore. In no time they come to life, literally. It's an amazing thing we can do when we put our minds to it.

It's the Giant Sugar Cookie

I pass by these windows of the Williams Sonoma store in Hyde Park Village almost every day. The store is like a dear friend. For over 15 years it has been the source of countless kitchen-related, read cooking...food... gifts that I have bought and given at Christmas, assorted holidays and for of course birthdays. In return for my thoughtful, caring and unselfish gift-giving, I have eaten like a king. I have brought home perfect, crisply-wrapped boxes (with their distinctive ribbon) holding pots, knifes, waffle-makers, weird kitchen gadgets that no one on this earth knows how to use, kitchen mitts, more kitchen mitts and so many hand towels I was finally asked/told to not gift any more towels. (OK, I did get that message.) There are exotic food stuffs, like Vermont maple syrup, and cooking books featuring cities all over the country and the great cities of the world. It is a store that always delivers. And then just walking by, minding my own business tonight, I spot what looks to me to be the biggest sugar cookie I could dream of. The rest of the window goodies may be slightly obscured but not the cookie. The first time I went inside a Williams Sonoma was in Ridgewood, New Jersey, 25 or so years ago. It has only gotten better with age. If you've never had the pleasure, it is a cook's and real chef's dream. But without me, what would the best chef on earth do with all that delicious food? I ask you, isn't my purchase of these these fine kitchen implements and foods a magnanimous gesture on my part? Save the Gourmet Meals. Save the Gourmet Meals. It's been my rallying cry for almost 30 years. I can't stop now. I'd whither and die.

Where's the Big Yellow School Bus Hiding?

In many states and rural communities school buses go home at night with the drivers. I don't know if that is the policy here locally or why this bus is buried in beside this house. I just thought the bright yellow bus made for a nice combination of colors with everything else around it. Even the deep blue of the Obama Biden sign posted on the fence adds a complimentary color to the scene. The Hillsborough County School District serves almost 170,000 students at 219 schools - the 8th largest school system in the united sates. Maybe this particular bus is exhausted from hauling all those kids every day and is hiding out and taking a much needed break.

Why's a tree sneeking into my sky

House of the Seven Gables (I think there are at least seven.)

I'm not sure what to make of this building. It's been boarded up for so long that it almost looks normal. But being encased this way is just plain strange and creepy. Enough already, owner. Do something with it. Tear it down completely and start anew or restore it to some semblance of its former glory. As it is, it's a total waste. It's good for only one thing in this condition and that's photographs of its many wobbly, uneven sides and odd, unexplainable roof line. It stares at passing motorists who pass it every day on the corner on Westshore Boulevard in Port Tampa. And ignore it. Completely. I find the roof especially intriguing and it screams to be noticed. There are more angles and lines than one can count, but why I can't imagine. Although it is old and probably has an interesting history, nobody cares to listen. Or that it matters anymore. Other than some good stories, it's not a historic structure and would be hard to rehabilitate or restore. If it could talk, it might tell of its life when Port Tampa was a city onto itself and before it was annexed into the City of Tampa. Now those might be good stories. But, buildings don't talk and this one is so pathetic, strange and tightly boarded up by its owner that it's suffocating and ready to die.