MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE ART MUSEUM

Another example of the creative floral designs at Art In Bloom. Both the painting and the arrangement respond to a literal sensory experience, transforming it through the perception of an artist.            

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

This country's bizarre process of choosing a president rolls on. Mrs. C and I supported Elizabeth Warren and were sad about the way things turned out. We are Democrats and despise the incumbent but now we must choose between imperfect alternatives. Joe Biden was in town yesterday. I wanted to photograph the event but I also wanted to see and hear whether he was, well, in full control of his faculties.

He was. His speech was articulate, engaged and moving. There is a biggish set of state primaries this Tuesday and Missouri is one of them. Biden has many problems but we expect to vote for him. Although many of our friends and a member of our family vigorously disagree, Sanders is unacceptable to us, although we agree with some of his positions; he is so shrill, so uncompromising, so impractical. Bernie visits here Monday morning. We shall see how things turn out.         

ART IN BLOOM

Here's a good example of how the Art In Bloom show works. The museum staff selected thirty works of art from throughout the galleries and invited a like number of floral arrangers. Each of them was to create something in the spirit of the artwork. Here a dark, moody seascape inspired a wild arrangement with the colors of sea and sky.           

WHAT BECAME OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The St. Louis Art Museum has a wildly popular event at this time of year called Art In Bloom. Thirty master flower arrangers are invited to create a piece in response to one  of the artworks. The results are striking. The show is Friday to Sunday, as long as the flowers will last, and on weekend afternoons it's just mobbed.

The museum had a members-only viewing early this morning. Mrs. C and I went at opening time and it was already busy. What struck me were the scores of people taking pictures on their phones. I was the only person staggering around with two fancy camera bodies, one of which had an f2.8 telephoto lens that is so heavy I thought I was dragging a fire hose. Not that you can't take good pictures on a phone. I use my camera phone, too. It's just that some of us keep up this snobby sense of craft.

Many pictures of the flowers to come. There's a political event downtown Saturday morning - Missouri and some other states have primaries on Tuesday -  that I want to shoot.       

THURSDY ARCH SERIES

A dark day in Kiener Plaza, looking east across the strange checkerboard pattern in the pavement. The place was empty but the forecast for the next three days is all sunshine with spring-like temperatures. That should bring lots of opportunities, including an unusual event Saturday we'll get back to.