SNAPSHOTS: The Detroit Industry Murals

Some of the most awe-inspiring pieces of artwork you'll ever see can be found within the Detroit Institute of the Arts (DIA). Walking through the gallery you'll step inside a glass ceiling atrium - Rivera Court and be surrounded by four walls displaying 27 panels capturing Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals.  These murals completed between 1932 - 1933, are considered to be one of Rivera's most successful works and one of the best examples of Mexican mural art in the US. You might of heard of Rivera's wife too - the infamous Frida Kahlo.

Detroit Industry Mural captures the 1930's daily life of the Ford Motor Company downriver plant, River Rogue. The north and south walls show the plant workers, whereas the east and west walls which are inter-spaced by arches and doorways show the journey of life. But also of the manger overseeing everything alongside a worker. Both are given equal stature and status.

The equality Rivera prescribed to worker and manager reflects his Marxist ideals. He was an artist who believed art belonged both on and in public space rather then hidden away in private galleries. But it wasn't only his Marxist beliefs that caused controversy when this piece was revealed - people were shocked at the depiction of workers of all races working alongside one another to the nudes which were named pornographic rather then artistic, some even called it blasphemous.

I'm not sure the photographs capture just how huge and how incredible these murals are they are certainly worth spending time sitting and taking everything all in. It's even more incredible when you take note that it took Diego only 11 months to complete. NPR have a great little article and video showing Diego actually painting the mural, and of course you can see more full images of the work on the DIA website.



This is one of those pieces, one of those things in life that will sure make you feel small.

LIFE: Why Michigan Rocks in the Fall

Maybe it's because I'm an autumn baby, or because September weekends were spent picking apples from the tree in my parents garden, eating all those pies, kicking all those leaves, but autumn has always been a favorite of mine. And while it's always been a favorite, moving to Michigan made it all the special, there's something pretty incredible about Michigan when fall comes to town.

Call this post a part bucket list, a to list of Michigan autumnal delights, or just another list of reasons why I love this state. 

Apple Picking

With a broken oven - I shall miss the baking of apples picked by hand from our somewhat local apple orchard.Turning all those juicy ripe goodies into pies and crumbles. Nom. I would never have imagined witnessing the hour long queues to grab a bag for filling to the brim with apples, but once autumn comes around apple picking is a huge event.  

Cider and Doughnuts

The two go hand in hand lets be honest. Granted I've not actually made it to a cider mill yet (oops) but the doughnuts we treat ourselves too from Erwin's Orchard (where we go apple picking) are some of the best I've tasted.

Fall Colours

You can take a gander at amazing autumn colours - reds, oranges, burnt crispy yellows throughout the state, but the higher you go, the more beautiful the sight becomes. I could basically say "drive along any road in the north and you'll be impressed". Actually true. But the avenue of trees along M22 or any that takes you through the Huron National Forest (stopping at my favorites when we took our little Michigan road trip back in 2012.

Need a guide for peak colour dates, well MLive has you covered.

Michigan Ren Festival

Once Labor Day rolls around, the Michigan Ren Festival comes out to play. With Turkey legs the size of your face, jousting contests to displays and little shops it's a fun place for soaking in all things medieval. It's been a good couple of years since we took a trip to the festival, so we're probably due another visit. 

Pumpkins

All sizes, shapes and varieties of pumpkins as far as the eye can see. There's something really American about seeing countless fields (often pick your own) of pumpkins in the fall. More so when you see how everyone decorates their front porch with them - all shapes and sizes.

What do you love about autumn where you live?

LIFE: Eight Photos Of Happiness

Sometimes you see a tag post come across your blog reading and you actually think, wow that isn't half bad. Then you tag yourself and away you go. Which is what I actually did when I spied Kerri's version of eight photographs of happiness. 

It's one of those nice tags where there's no silly pointless questions, it's not got that feeling of being done to death and you can just ramble to your hearts content. 

I'm easily pleased like that. 

So here goes, eight things that not only bring me happiness but are pretty important things in my life.

 

Cross Stitching

Not only is it my oldest hobby - I've been cross stitching since I was about five, but it's the one thing that's sure to take my mind off of things. So having stitched on and off for 24 years, it's a big part of who I am. It was actually something I was bullied for being able to do growing up so I abandoned it for a good couple of years, but i'm having a second wind these days. It's relaxing, I love creating, I love still how it all comes together. Plus now I've taken a hand to designing some pieces too, the fun just keeps adding up.

Cats

Picking out my first kitty Bertie is one of my earliest memories. Being an only child I guess Bertie became my closest companion growing up. I'm a self titled cat lady and share our house with Ed (pictured) and Smokey, I love hearing their purrs, getting kitty snuggles, having them walk all over me even if I'm trying to stitch ... 

 

Fall Colours

One of the best best reasons (aside from being with the love of my life after all) is being in a state that offers some of the most incredible fall colours once September rolls around. There is nothing like those burnt reds, crisp oranges and vivid yellows. It takes your breath away .... (although having to rake up all said leaves is another matter). 

Being Mr & Mrs

Joe, well he's my best friend. I'm not sure how I came to deserving him but I'm so glad he's decided to spend the rest of his life with me. But our life together is the one thing I don't really share on my blog and I like it that way :)

Detroit

I sound like a broken record, but most people write Detroit off, even locals. Which annoys me to no end. But I love having the motor city on my doorstep, I love exploring it's areas, it's food culture and getting around to sharing them here on the blog. My fault is that I can get a little bitchy about it - like if you say you're going to get murdered, mugged, attacked, hijacked just because you went three meters south of 8 mile you'll feel my wrath. #SorryNotSorry 

Trains

My geeky love is certainly for trains - big trains, train tracks, incline trains (as above with the Monogahela Incline in Pittsburgh)  model trains. I love them all. In fact for my 21st birthday, aside from all the partying at university, my big highlight was taking another ride on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Travel

More often an not I love exploring what's on my doorstep. Growing up with staycations far before it was cool, I'm a fan of keeping my nose to the ground which the how and the where's about things to do. When time and money allows, I love getting to explore new places. Finding those fun local places off of the beaten track. 

Zoo Trips

One of the favorite things in my purse is my zoo membership card. I love being able to pop in as and when. Plus it helps having those discounts to reciprocal zoo's around the country - especially the Cincinnati Zoo which is my favorite I will be honest. Moreover the Detroit Zoo is often considered one of the greenest zoo's and it's making great strides in helping endangered creatures, building new exhibits and spreading the world about being green.


While I managed to pick of eight, I probably could have featured about 80 more (including say reading, Pittsburgh, photography itself, gardening, butterflies ... the list is endless). But I'm sure they give you a general impression!

What would be in your eight photographs of happiness?!

DETROIT: University District

I have to admit, I do love a poke around residence streets across America. The older the better. Maybe it's because of how you'll come across a variety of styles along any street, from English Tudor, Queen Anne, throw in a Georgian style neighbor and perhaps something more contemporary into the mix. Perhaps it's the mature trees lining the streets. Or the lack of fences and hedges that are all too common in England. 

You might remember my wander around Bay City's Central Avenue Historic District, which after having a drive to an estate sale over the weekend to Detroit's University District, I thought I'd do the same. Because a) pretty houses and b) they probably aren't the images of houses you have in your head when you think Detroit.

Anyway ...

As you might have guessed, the area gets it's name from it's neighbor on it's southern most edge - University of Detroit Mercy (actually the university Joe attended) but it's also bordered by 7 mile, Palmer Park over to Livernois. Most of the district's housing stock was built during America's "golden age of housing" (1925 - 1930 & 1937 - 1941) - a period with lots of old world craftsmen, new building technologies and cheap supplies. Think large family homes of the owners, managers and partners of Detroit's businesses with four to six bedrooms, big basements, tiling, hardwood floors and you get the idea.

I admit, I just love the style of the American home of this era I will be honest. I've been having major house and font yard envy over the above house in fact. Ignoring the old electrics, and plumbing and probably how cold they are, I wouldn't half mind living in one myself. But any house, like the one below with a turret is a winner in my book.
 

Love a good turret!

LIFE: Travels and Ponderings on a Roadtrip

The Ohio -  West Virginia border

Last week we decided to take the long way around to our nephews joint birthday in Pittsburgh PA and spent a couple of days in Ohio. Part of Joe's birthday present was to take a trip to a theme park so the plan was for an early Wednesday morning drive down to Mason OH, ride coasters all day, spend the next day at the Zoo, drive over to Pittsburgh on the Friday and spend some time there over the weekend.

Our little trip turned into five nights, visiting five states - including two new ones for my visited list (Kentucky & West Virginia) and travelling over 800 miles in one huge circle. 

Cincinnati, Ohio

Spending a lot of time on the road with hours and hundreds of miles between all the cities you find things to past the time. Like punch buggy game (I lost), watching every single cars licence place to see where they've travelled from and wondering where they are heading to, and pondering odd things like;

• How bloody huge America is
• How the hell do you comfortably drive from California to Pennsylvania in a Fiat 500?!
• If only the camera would stop focusing on the windscreen damn it
• How road signs warning about a "bump" in the road is just an everyday occurrence in Michigan 
• Thus leading to thinking ... wow everyone has better roads than Michigan
• And public transport while we're at it
• Wait I don't know if I picked up my camera ... 
• Oh look there's a truck with a Confederate flag 
• Does eating in a McDonald's count as visiting a state?! 
• Constantly wondering how the hell houses in Pittsburgh don't slip down the hills

But at least since I ditched TMobile and switched to Boost I know have phone signal in the middle no nowhere, especially on the turnpikes to not only GPS track every single mile but to wiki search anything that makes my fancy. Always leaning, always learning ...

Ohio

Learning things like how farming is Ohio's number one industry so it's no surprise when you're driving around the state how many fields and farms you come across. While born a country lass, my life is now spent hidden away in the burbs of Detroit so it's always nice to see fields, trees and animals as far as the eye can see. As for the countryside smell, yeah not missed that so much. It was particularly eerie with the mist rising come Friday morning as we left Cincinnati and headed east.

Ohio Interstate 70 by Zanesville

Driving on American roads is always filled with history, even if it is a little more on the modern scale of things. Interstate 70 is one of America's major highways stretching from Maryland all the way west to Utah. In many places it mirrors the former path of Route 40 of which the mile marker (above) was one used for. I always have a great love for state historical societies and their plaques.

Ohio - West Virginia border

So we followed I-70 as far as Washington, PA which meant getting to tick another "new" state to my visited list - that of West Virginia. Granted it was only a 14 mile stretch but we did stop at a McDonald's so I'm counting it all the same. But even with that short drive through the state, I can certainly see why it's a state known for it's mountains and rolling hills.

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Sunday rolled around and it was time to head home and back to normality. We took our normal route back along the Turnpike. Normally we visit the in-laws in November/December when it's all gloomy, snowing, wet and leafless so seeing all the green fields was a particular delight. Well it was after all the rain stopped.

I actually got really excited back in May when one of my favourite blogs the Dainty Squid shared her walk around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park which lies between Akron and Cleveland in Ohio. That huge bridge in all her stunning photographs - well that's the bottom of this one I managed to catch a gloomy photograph of. We've driven over this part of the national park so many times coming back and home Pittsburgh and it's always looked so beautiful down in the valley.

Detroit, Michigan

And while I'm still suffering from post holiday blues, it is always a welcome sight seeing Detroit's skyline as we travel north up I-75. Home isn't too far away with you see those towers of the Ren Cen (told you you could spot it miles away!).

I have a lot of blog posts about this road trip in a lot more detailed planned out for the forthcoming weeks (and probably months because I'm slow at times and I love sharing details and history) so bare with me!

But let me know how you cope and past the time on road trips and when travelling?!

FOOD: The Chicory Cafe

The Chicory Cafe seems to be a very welcomed edition to the main street of Rogers City. Specialising in local and organic foods, the Chicory Cafe offers warming and filling soups, huge thick sandwiches and the most delicious of coleslaws as a side. Walking in your met with a farm house feel - wooden tables and chairs, an old oven range celebrating local produce for sale, small chalk boards suggesting the specials of the day. Behind which the wall is painted, the menus chalked, notated upon it, old fashioned paninis offered alongside buffalo meatballs or squash soup with an organic soda to wash it down. Whatever your fancy you'll feel satisfied. For $8.75 you can feast on a full sandwich with a side, granted it's more than your Subway but it's tastier, the ingredients local, free range and organic. As a couple who eat predominantly eat organic fruit and vegetables, it's great to find local businesses offering the same. 

With free wi-fi you you could make this our home for an hour or so, local art lines the wall, old classic cars drive along the street, you can sit a while soaking up the real America, the local America. 

You can find The Chicory Cafe at;

View Larger Map

179 N. Third St,

Rogers City, Michigan. 

SNAPSHOTS: The National Theater

I feel like i'm somewhat breaking my no ruin porn presence posting these photographs of Detroit's National Theatre. In fact, i've been holding off from posting these images for over a year. I've hummed and arrhed, and re-editing the photographs somewhat called me into action. The National Theatre in Detroit is one of the key historical buildings, it has a history, it still has a presence yet it's pretty much a ruin, a lost landmark of a former time. It's neighbours have all been demolished, arguments over it's future are always on going. And still is stands. For me, this is what is making it worthy of a post.

When we were downtown for the jazz festival in 2013 I remember walking back to the car behind a car park that was in the midst of being torn down, little did I know at the time that this carpark was at the back of the National Theatre which stands pretty much alone along that side of Monroe Avenue. The first time I came across this grand old place was upon my first wander around Detroit, under the carpark was a row of small business, one I remember of a little hat store. They are now long gone and in honesty Detroit has a lot of carparks, it probably is better off without it all the same.

When the theatre was built in 1911, Monroe Avenue was part of the theatre district - its now the only one remaining. It's Moorish style exterior was lit back in it's heyday with hundreds of bulbs set into the archway, you can only imagine how the terracotta must have glistened, the cupid watching you from above, how people must have come from far and wide to see a play. Today it stands between arguments to tear it down (perhaps its too far gone especially internally) or find a new purpose for the building.

As the National Threatre once was - image source.

While this post is never intended to worship the ruins, it's a post to appreciate it's remaining beauty - it's colourful tiles to how proud it stands. If you're interested in finding out more about the National Theatre - Historical Detroit website is an excellent resource for information and photographs - both then and now for both this and many other important Detroit buildings.