art

Patterns in Nature: LightForm by HYBYCOZO

I’ve already shared a look at Patterns in Nature: The Art of HYBYCOZO, the summer exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden, by day…now it’s time for a look at LightForm, the nighttime presentation!

First, my favorite sculpture…I loved how colorful it was in the daylight, but it’s even more stunning lit up at night!

Not all of the displays are that colorful, but there is one that changes colors:

My second favorite of the displays has colorful inserts, and makes quite a show on the ground, too!

This one is super reflective during the day, but at night, you lose sight of the mirror for all the lights:

It’s fascinating how pronounced the negative space in each sculpture is as the sun goes down!

I love looking at this one from different angles:

This one also looks cool from different perspectives:

Some of the displays are meant to be spun…this isn’t one of them, but it was already moving when we walked by, so I took a video because it looked really cool!

These look light something straight out of Tolkien, which is appropriate because they line the walkway in the English Woodland Garden:

The displays on the Central Axis never disappoint!

This is a really cool exhibit, and I love how different it is in the light and the dark…definitely one of my favorite summer displays the Missouri Botanical Garden has hosted!

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2026 Getaway–Day Three

By last Thursday morning, things were really starting to come together on the main floor of Combo Breaker:

But before things really kicked into high gear, Chickadee and I took around the Schaumburg Sculpture Park, which was a lot of fun (we even got to see a nesting swan!):

And the lilacs were still in bloom:

And then we got to work in the crew lounge…on Thursday, we only serve dinner, but we also have coffee, water, and snacks for everyone working so hard to get all the last minute details taken care of.

The real highlight of the day, though, was the delivery of the Red Bull fridge to the Crew Lounge!

Up next…Combo Breaker 2026 begins!

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Today I’m taking a look back at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which Chickadee and I had the opportunity to visit when we were in Kansas City in March.

The reason I wanted to visit the museum in the first place was because I had seen photos of their shuttlecock sculptures, and they really amused me!

We didn’t have a lot of time to explore the museum (it’s quite extensive!), so I asked a museum employee what his favorite piece was, and he directed us to this Chinese sculpture, “Guanyin of the Southern Sea”:

I asked another docent what the museum was most known for, and he directed us to paintings by Monet, van Gogh, Rembrandt, and especially Caravaggio, a master whose works are not often found in the US.

I always like to check out the religious art, and I was really impressed with how their collection was displayed:

And Chickadee was excited to see the Egyptian art, especially anything that has to do with mummies!

Who doesn’t love a good suit of armor or two?

I wasn’t expecting to find an art museum this large in Kansas City, and now I’m really hoping we can go back someday when we have more time to dedicate to it!

Mondrian-Style Door

This door, done in the abstract style of Piet Mondrian, was the perfect entrance to the Artist & Craftsman Supply store in Kansas City, which announced it would be closing earlier this year.

Shuttlecocks

These large-scale (18 feet high!) sculptures of shuttlecocks at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City were the main reason I wanted to visit the museum in the first place. There’s something so whimsical to me about sculptures of everyday things supersized that I couldn’t resist, and these did not disappoint! We almost missed the fourth one, because it’s on the other side of the museum grounds from the other three, and we stumbled upon it quite by accident…I’m glad we found the complete set!

Patterns in Nature: The Art of HYBYCOZO

On Friday, a new art installation opened at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and I am super excited about it!

Patterns in Nature: The Art of HYBYCOZO, explores the connection between art, science, and nature. The large, geometric sculptures by artists Serge Beaulieu and Yelena Filipchuk have beautiful, unique designs that let sunlight filter through during the day to create shadows, and are lit from within at night for a completely different experience. Ironically, it was cloudy on opening day, so I simply enjoyed the sculptures on their own without the light and shadow interplay, and they were lovely! I especially like how some of the pieces are colorful, and others are reflective, but they all have unique shapes and patterns!

I will definitely be going back on a sunny day to enjoy this project, but what I’m really looking forward to is seeing them lit up at night!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Eight

There’s a new exhibit exploring the connection between art, science, and nature at the Missouri Botanical Garden! Today we were there for the opening day of Patterns in Nature: The Art of HYBYCOZO:

We also stopped by Eckert’s to try the Tulip Lovers Sundae we weren’t able to get when we visited the Tulip Trail last week…the combination of lemon and lavender, not to mention the darling purple tulip lollipop, felt like it was custom made just for me!

In algebra, Chickadee solved literal problems, including ones involving interest and distance. She also found the limits of exponential equations and graphed them. We read about the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the rise of terrorism in various countries in history. She continued to work on her big writing assignment. In science she learned about magnetism. We discussed missionary work at home and abroad in religion. This week’s recipe from the American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook was Cosmos Doughnuts, inspired by 2018 Girl-of-the-Year and space enthusiast Luciana. Chickadee has been wanting to make this recipe all year, but I’m glad we held off until now, because they were also the perfect treat to celebrate the journey of Artemis II to the moon and back!

There’s also a new exhibit opening at the Missouri History Museum this weekend, and I’m hoping we’ll have time to go explore it next week!