The Ringling Museum in Sarasota

Really, mostly the grounds of the museum!

When I say I took a lot of photos, well. You'll see.

Proof that it was what I say it was.

It's sad that they have to ask people to be patient, isn't it? Mom and I ate at a restaurant recent that had put a sign on the door: "We are understaffed. Please be kind."

Winter down here is not winter up north, of course, but I find it's still nice to see flowering things.

But it wasn't just plants: lots of statuary, too. Of course.

Now this puzzled me. It's a little reflecting pool, and at the end of it, a sort of podium.

See? As though someone is going to stand there and, I don't know, declaim over the water.

I didn't get the ticket to go into the residence, but admired it from outside. It's quite a building; I can't imagine living there.

Back to plant life.

Encroaching on the roadway there.

Regularly, small planes were going by overhead.

Really, idyllic is the word for the grounds.

Back to the "oh, right, this is an art museum" stuff.

Including a reproduction of my favorite fountain in Rome, the Fontana delle Tartarughe (The Turtle Fountain). 

As a huge fan of the sculptor Bernini, I was enchanted with the theory that he added the turtles to the upper rim because he felt the fountain was lacking something.

I went down the long gallery on one side, where a guard told me the older works were. Nothing absolutely grabbed me, but I studied enough art history to enjoy it. At the end, though, was a special exhibit of contemporary art (which is not at ALL my thing), and the contrast was jarring.

This is art?

Anyway! If that's your thing. I'm not judging, but I was glad to go back outside.

An egret across the water.

And a cormorant (or possibly an anhinga).

I don't think I got close enough to startle the egret, but he did take off, and the reflections of his flight caught my eye.

Yellow flowers:

On a tree that otherwise looked dead.

Near the entrance, I almost missed the glass collection.

I'm glad I went in! A whole variety of types of glass art.

Including the amazing free-standing dress from the sign.

And this Chihuly-like piece.

And this mammoth piece!

Look at the detail.

This one was my favorite, though, for the colors and the patterns.

From the side, you can see it isn't flat after all.

Outside was this one piece, which I photographed from the front:

The edge:

And the back:

Waiting for the group to gather, my eye was caught by this composition.

And that's all! ("All," she says...)