Tim the Art Enthusiast

Our second day in DC was rainy as all get out. We had plans to explore the city via bicycle, but opted for the Botanical Gardens and National Art Gallery instead.

There are several fountains in the National Art Gallery. This one is the Mercury Fountain in the Rotunda.

This was one of Tim's favourite paintings, by Van Gogh.

Tim liked Degas' sculptures, including these horses (mostly because they were Tim's size).

The gallery's modern and contemporary art are housed in a separate building.

This painting by Jackson Pollock is called Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist).

And this one is by Piet Mondrian, a Dutch artist.

Kandinsky and Klimt. Tim liked the colours.

Art that goes pop!

There's a lovely exhibit until July 8th on portraits by Cezanne. Like the other museums on our trip to date, this one was fantastic, and free (even though not a Smithsonian)!

Face Time

After Tim's power nap, we walked up the street to the National Portrait Gallery. Tim met a friendly dinosaur named Conrad. Conrad documents his travels via photos, like us!

Can you guess who is the man above? He has a popular musical named after him...

Tim with the first president, George Washington...

...and with Barack Obama!

Oh, and Michelle too!

The museum is massive! We spent a solid three hours there. And like other Smithsonians in the city, the museum is free - woohoo!

Tim in DC

Earlier this month, Tim repped his friends on a trip to Washington, DC. Tim had his own seat on the plane, and spent the whole flight looking out the window.

Tim also had his own queen-sized bed at the Kimpton Palomar. We don't have cable at home, so watching TV in the hotel room was a real treat.

Tim visited several museums. The first one was the Renwick Gallery. It featured some cool art from Burning Man. One room was dedicated to a wooden temple where people could leave inscriptions on small wooden plaques. A temple is built at the festival each year.

To the left of Tim are the ten principles of Burning Man: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. The bus in the background has been converted into a mini movie theatre.

On our way to lunch, we made a quick pit stop at the White House for a photo op. No Trump in sight...

We had a great pulled pork sandwich at Hill Country. Tim had a few bites, and then took a power nap.

ROM Ink

Colin's been playing way too many video games lately so I thought a museum outing with be good for him.

I wanted to check out one exhibit in particular. Before heading to the exhibit, we said hello to the futalognkosaurus dukei (dinosaur) in the atrium.

The exhibit is all about tattoos. It features a visual history of body art, markings, and ancient tools. This is from the United States...

...this is from Japan...

...and these are from Algeria.

One of the cool things we learned was that it some cultures, only women could be tattoo artists!

Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art. is on until September.

This Is Not A Toy

The Design Exchange has great exhibits, and this one was no exception. The Mins joined BC and I to see "This Is Not A Toy", co-curated by Pharrell Williams.

This sculpture is called The Simple Things. It's hard to see, but the items are encrusted with thousands of diamonds and other precious stones.

The Mins liked these smiley guys. They are from a series called Wish Come True.

I have friends in Hong Kong that collect To-Fus. They take the To-Fus on their travels, like I do with the Quatchis.

Can you guess who designed this Be@rbrick? Mr. Lagerfield, of course! The Chanel doll was donated by Jeanne Beker.

This KAWS piece was one of the largest at the exhibition...

...and these guys were some of the smallest. There were rows upon rows upon rows of them! We felt like kids in a toy shop!

Mini and the Museum

The Textile Museum of Canada is a hidden gem in Toronto! The Mins and I have been meaning to visit for a while now. Today was great because it's "pay what you can" on Wednesdays.

The first exhibit we checked out was on prayer rugs.

This one was the Mins' favourite.

Another exhibit featured fun quilts in all shapes and sizes.

This one is a "crazy quilt" (see Wiki explanation here).

This work is made up of little squares of fabric, all attached together with string. It's hard to tell but it was pretty massive. The Mins was telling me to take a closer look.

The Mins gave looming a try. Not too shabby for a little sasquatch!