Holiday lights still gleam in Centreville at NOVA Park

There's more than just lights at the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

 At the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

 At the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

You've still got time to pile up a carful and drive through NovaPark's Festival of Lights in Centreville with a discount of $10 to get you in cheap ($20) this last weekend, if you order online.

The show starts at 5:30 p.m. with the last admittance at 10 p.m.

At the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

At the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

Toy soldiers welcome visitors to Toyland at the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

Take a look at these beautiful colors and designs to make a festive tradition for you and yours along this 2.5 mile stretch.

If you've ever been to the East Building at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, this will remind you of the gateway to the cafeteria. At the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

At the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

At the Holiday Market when the lights display ends, a mother and son pack food treats for holiday-goers to buy and feed the animals, one of whom is "Mac," a baby kangaroo which lies comfortably in the pouch held by the man who sleeps with it!!! My, what big ears you have! (For the person who has everything, a kangaroo pouch.) At the Holiday Market at the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

"Hey, what in the world is this?" seems to be on the mind of the toddler at the Holiday Market at the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

"Baaaaa...baaaa," says the wee one.  "I'll take some of that!"  At the Holiday Market at the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

"Wait just a minute!" says the black and white horned goat: "I don't mind stepping over my pal here to get some of the grub which must be for me!!" At the Holiday Market, the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

"Gulp, gulp," says the camel:  "I'll have some of that, please." At the Holiday Market, the 2023 Bull Run Festival of Lights/By Patricia Leslie

The Holiday Market is found at the end of the drive, complete with animals to feed, like a camel, sheep, llamas, and more.

If you've missed the dates, there's always next year to insert this tradition in your new 2024 calendar beginning in November.

Enjoy, whether this weekend or next Christmas! 

What: Bull Run Festival of Lights

When:  Ending Jan. 7, 2024 at 10 p.m.

Where: 7700 Bull Run Dr., Centreville, VA 20121

How much:  Online, $30/carload (use promo code extra 23 to get $10 off online), $40/carload at the gate; $75/bus or those with 15 or more. (Transaction fee and tax, not included.)

For more information:  703-631-0550 or email  bull_run@nvrpa.org

patricialesli@gmail.com

Come with me to the fair...

The Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Well, maybe next year since the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair has already up and left the premises, but fun it was, and deee-lish!  There's always "next year"!  

A very tall fairy princess in the parade greeted guests at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Gaithersburg High School Trojan Marching Band paraded by in the Montgomery County Fair Parade/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Gaithersburg High School Band parading at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Can you imagine riding a float and hugging a live goat at the same time?  In a parade?  It happened at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

These little fellows were "meat goats" which means that, maybe, ....yep.  They marched in the Montgomery County Fair Parade. Maybe, their last walk on the plank before, you know, ..../Photo by Patricia Leslie

This little piggie went to market, this little piggie stayed home, this little piggie ate roast beef, the little piggie had none, and this little piggie rode a truck at the Montgomery County Fair, however, live animals did not accompany humans on this float in the parade/Photo by Patricia Leslie

How would you like to be born under the eyes of total strangers?  It happens often at the Montgomery County Fair when "Lit'l Shiester" was only three hours old when she was pictured here.  What a generous little calf and mom to be so tolerant of the curious!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mama and three-hour-old baby got no privacy at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

"Lit'l Shiester" with her mom at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

These little piggies seem to be luxuriating in each other at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

And for these  B I G  piggies, it was time for some shut-eye at the Montgomery County Fair/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It was the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair with lots of fun, lots to see, and whole lotta to eat!   

There were piglets and pigs and cows and calves and maybe, 6,000 kinds of rabbits.  (You could buy one rabbit for about $80 and some rabbits had pedigrees!  Rabbits?  Pedigrees? You've seen one rabbit, you've seen them all!)

Time to moo (can't resist) on to the cows and cows and  more cows which were about as numerous as the rabbits, but not so much.  (Sorry, rabbits and rabbit lovers.) 

How would you like a group of strangers watching your birth?  

It must be a medical school training lab!  Nope, it was at the fair where poor "Lit'l Shiester" and her mom had to endure a crowd watching her enter the world.  Take a gander of that!  And humans think they've got it rough when they deliver a ten-pounder.    R i g h t t t t t t .... Lit'l Shiester weighed a whole lot more than ten pounds!

With animals galore, there was alcohol, too (in tents), and whatever you do, never forget the funnel cakes and fried oreos which were plum delish (6 for $8)!  I don't even like oreos but these I had to try and they were wonderful, to melt in my mouth, all that gooey chocolate surrounded by empty air puffs of sugary dough.  I am still flying high from eating them many days ago.

Tickets to the rides were $1.50 multiplied by about 4 ($6) which is about the average cost except for the really big ones which go for more.  The swings were, actually, kind of boring but the pirate's boat was scarier than it looked, so much so that Marie cried to get off, but there was no stopping us when we got up real high, and she just had to cry and bear it. 

Admission - It varied. Next year the price will be different. 

Parking was free at Lakeforest Mall and free school bus shuttles at the mall had wheels to the fairgrounds. No waiting! Plenty of buses; plenty of room. Highly organized.

Restrooms - with attendants and fairly clean (for a fair!).

Come one!  Come all (next year)!  To the greatest DMV fair before fall!  (I had to make it rhyme.)

patricialesli@gmail.com
 

Halloween comes early to the National Gallery of Art

Murakami Takashi, In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014, the Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles. Murakami adopted the practice of 18th century Japanese artists who spread their art over long canvases. Here, Murakami used 82 feet to answer the destruction and turmoil in Japan caused by the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. So many elements compete for attention, eyes run from one end of the canvas to the other, making it difficult to focus on just one part/Photo by Patricia Leslie

To accommodate the throngs and to make up for lost hours due to the government shutdown a few months ago, the National Gallery of Art has extended viewing hours of The Life of Animals in Japanese Art until 8 p.m. every night until the show closes August 18.

 

Detail of Kirukara Dragon, Kamakura period, 12th-13th century, by an unknown artist. Made of wood, iron, and crystal. Myooji, Okayama Prefecture. The catalog says this is Fudd Mydd as a "dragon-coiled jeweled weapon" devouring an iron blade which is powerful enough to end disease and bring rain. This reminds me of having to eat prunes my mother gave me every morning for breakfast. See the full work below/Photo by Patricia Leslie. Please pardon the reflections in the protective glass coverings.

Unknown artist, Kirukara Dragon, Kamakura period, 12th-13th century/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mokujiki Byakudo, Ugajin with Snake, Edo period, 18th-19th century, wood, Shingen'in, Tokyo. Rather than the snake squeezing this man to death, the figure is the snake, Ugajin, a deity the "common people" believed would bring good fortune. Snakes were considered positive omens (!), like dragons which brought rain, so Ugajin was stationed at river sources and other holy water places. The artist was a monk who carved his wood to look like snake skin.  He succeeded!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Japanese animals exhibition covers 18,000 square feet in the National Gallery's East Building and has more than 300 objects on display. Almost 100 lenders sent their works for the show which extends from the fifth century to present day.  

Most works are not the "scary" kind shown here, but include lobsters, fish, butterflies, insects, rare birds, a camel, parrot, hawks, horses, and more, including sex with two octopuses (in the catalog.  On view at NGA? Loaned by the British Museum).

Almost 180 works are called "masterpieces" which rarely leave Japan, and seven are deemed "Important Cultural Property."

The artist, Fukase Masahisa (1934-2012) may have been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe who wrote The Raven in 1845. This is one of the artist's Series Ravens from the Showa period, 1975, loaned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The catalog says these 62 photographs are mislabeled, possibly due to an error in translation since Japan has no ravens, but it's got crows which can be harbingers of calamity or serve as messengers from heaven.  In this case, the birds were bad omens for the artist, an alcoholic beset by personal woes who lay in a coma for 20 years before he died as a result of a fall. Beware, crows!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Detail of Articulated Dragon, Edo period, 1713, by Myochin Muneaki, iron, Tokyo National Museum which reminds me of an articulated relative I have/Photo by Patricia Leslie

You see, the Articulated Dragon is really not so big and scary, after all, when his real size is juxtaposed below Morita Shiryu's Dragon but still, I would not want to meet him on a dark and stormy night. Or anywhere. Especially since he's four feet long. Shiryu's Dragon is a four panel screen from the Showa period, 1965, loaned by Lucia R. Henderson and D. Clay Ackerly, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Gan Ku, one of his Ferocious Tigers from a six-panel screen, Edo period, 1822. Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo. Tigers are not native to Japan, so the artists modeled their cats on Chinese renderings and their own artistic expressions. In this case, however, Gan Ku had an actual tiger skull which he used for his tiger art. I've never been a cat fan and this explains why. Another cat hisses below/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Munekazu, Snake, Edo-Meiji periods, mid to late 19th century, Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum, Kyoto. Yeekers!  Yikers!  This handsome fellow is all iron, folks, and stronger than you. The catalog has him coiled up and ready to strike! Just six feet long/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Origin Story of the Cat Stone at Okabe, Representing One of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road, Edo period, 1847, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A ferocious cat, one of the monsters in Japanese folklore which assumes magical powers in its old age which can eat humans and then become a shape of the human it eats! So the office pill you complain about?  Maybe, he was at one time a nekomata, a real monster, after all. Talk about sources for science fiction! (Or, maybe not.) Come to the National Gallery of Art!  Yikes!  The catalog has nekomata spread over two pages. You can almost feel those teeth sinking in your skin! CATalogue buyers, beware/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This unusual specimen is Utagawa Yoshitora's Picture of the Twelve Animals to Protect the Safety of the Home, Edo period, 1858, woodblock print, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Can you find 12 animals? Come to the show and read the label copy or buy a catalog.  (See below.)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A National Gallery art historian leads a "pop-up" tour at the evening show and describes Fugen's Elephant, Kamakura period, 13th century, private collection. Wood with pigments, crystal eyes, by an unknown artist. "Important Cultural Property." The elephant has six tusks and because its back legs bend at the knees, unlike elephant's legs, the artist may have modeled her sculpture using a horse.  According to the catalog editors, she may never have seen an elephant/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Pair of Dogs, Edo period, 19th century, made of paper mâché, gold leaf, and pigment. Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo.  These were typically given to girls for their birthdays as prayers or good luck finding a mate.  The upper half is removable.  The figures are covered with lucky charms: a crane, turtle, bamboo, and pines. But, dogs?  Dogs?  These are dogs? They look like kitty-cats to me, but, maybe dogs were made differently in the 19th century. Do you think the label copy got mixed up with all the cats in the show? Not/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Various artists, Suit of Armor Shaped Like a Tengu, Edo period, 1854.  The Ann & Gabriel Barbier Mueller Museum, Dallas. The catalog says this is half man, half crow with a "deviant nature." /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Gusoku Armor with Dragon, Edo period, 19th century, Tokyo National Museum. (Please forgive the reflections which appear in the glass.)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Horse Mask, Edo period, 1603-1868, The Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Museum, Dallas.  The Edo period was "relatively peaceful" says the catalog, and this mask shows off the owner's wealth. It was used in military parades. Mr. Ed, he's not/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Eboshi-Shaped Helmet with Deer Antlers and Half Mask, Momayama periods, late 16th century, Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Museum, Dallas. The label says real deer antlers were added later in gold lacquer, perhaps because deer were associated with long life.  It's enough to scare the dear out of me/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Helmet Shaped Like a Shachihoko, Edo period, 17th-18th century, Kozu Kobunka Museum, Kyoto. Wear this on your blind date and see what kind of sense of humor he has.  Yikers!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Takamura Kōun, Aged Monkey, Meiji period, 1893, wood, Tokyo National Museum. To make this sculpture, the artist studied a real monkey in a tea shop, the label notes. The piece went on to win a gold medal at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and designation as an "Important Cultural Property" by the Japanese government/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Miyagawa Kōzan I, Footed Bowl with Applied Crabs, Meiji period, 1881, stoneware with brown glaze, Tokyo National Museum; "Important Cultural Property."  This may be my favorite of the whole show.  Why? Crabs climbing on china? Get out of here.  It's fabulous!  The colors.   Look closely, there are two crabs "in union." Kozan's talents earned him appointment to the Imperial Household. (Forsoothe! Crabs for the kettle?  To be boiled and eaten? Monsieur and Madame Crab! Yonder! Go and flee!)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The purpose of the show is to promote Japanese culture in the U.S. and is part of Japan, 2019. 

Free audio tours are available, and during the evening hours, Japanese art historians lead free 15-minute "pop-up" talks.

My little children (all grown up now) would love this show and, like their mama, would adore walking through the still zoo filled with all the sounds an imagination can make.

Nawa Kohei, PixCell-Bambi #14, Heisei period, 2015, mixed media, Collection of Ms. Stefany Wang. This may be the most innocent of any of the art forms shown here, but the artist used an actual deer (!) preserved by a taxidermist to make exquisite forms she surrounds with resin and clear glass beads and a "shell of light." That's a cloud which holds Frozen Bambi/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The exhibition is not all scary (just the works I like the best). Beautifully made gowns featuring animal designs are included like Kosode with the Twelve Zodiac Animals, Edo period, 19th century by an unknown artist. Silk damask, embroidery. Museum of Japanese History. The catalog says this is an "extremely rare example of all 12 zodiac animals depicted on a single kosode" with each animal "paired with its specific flower or tree."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

An unknown artist made these wooden (!) and bamboo (!) Pair of Pillows with Baku, Edo period, c. 1800, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. These "wedding pillows" (what kind of honeymoon?) lifted heads from the floor where the lucky (?) couple slept. (Did they ever have any children?) Since the "baku" ate nightmares, more sleep was possible. (Were these actually used?) They remind me of my book bag "pillow" in Seattle, and about as comfortable/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Some of the gowns in the exhibition which is not all scary animals but also includes scrolls, screens, and china/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mannequins wearing animal designs by Issey Miyake of the Showa-Heisei periods, 1989-1999,  share the last gallery with Murakami Takashi's In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014, which runs along two walls/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A portion of Murakami Takashi's In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014, the Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mannequins wearing animal designs by Issey Miyake of the Showa-Heisei periods, 1989-1999,  share the last gallery with Murakami Takashi's In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014 /Photo by Patricia Leslie
 

Here is a link to a National Gallery three-minute video and introduction to the exhibition, narrated by curator Robert Singer, head of Japanese art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In the video Mr. Singer says the exhibition was "11 years in preparation" and "is the largest show ever devoted to the love the Japanese have for animals," and it features women artists. 

Last month, light sensitivity required 50 objects to be rotated out, but others were brought in to take their places. 

Animals in Japanese Art next opens at LACMA September 22, 2019 and closes December 8, 2019.

Organizers of the exhibition were the LACMA and the National Gallery of Art with significant assistance from the Japan Foundation and "special cooperation" of the Tokyo National Museum. 

What: The Life of Animals in Japanese Art 

When: Now through August 18, 2019

Where: The National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

How much: No charge. 

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215



Catalog: The Life of Animals in Japanese Art: Exhibition Catalog. About 350 pages with 425 color illustrations, available soft ($39.95) or hard ($65) cover. $20 discount for purchases of more than $100.

The eye of the octopus at the Sitka (Alaska) Sound Science Center/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The eye of the octopus at the Sitka (Alaska) Sound Science Center/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 
patricialesli@gmail.com