SUSPENDED IN SPRING

OOf all the incredible creatures on this planet, hummingbirds are among the most magical. When you catch a glimpse of one outside of your window, you cannot help but stop whatever it is that you are doing and watch as it levitates while elegantly dancing from flower to flower. Photographer Dean Hueber takes tremendous pride in his collection of hummingbird images, a portion of which is the subject of this month’s photo essay.

“[These images] were captured in Sedona during the summer hummingbird migration in a location that is renowned as a resting and refueling stop for the birds as they journey from their northern origins to southern destinations,” Hueber says.

When other techniques failed to capture the images he wanted, Hueber attended a hummingbird workshop, where he learned how to use multiple high-speed flashes with a much slower camera shutter speed.

“The images were made using a bank of four off-camera strobes, set at a speed of 1/16,000 second, to render the birds exceedingly sharp,” he explains. “The camera itself was set to a much slower speed — 1/150 or so. The camera was on a tripod, I sat still in a chair and the birds seemed to acclimate quickly to both my presence and the flash units, ultimately paying no mind to either in the slightest.”

Hueber adds that hummingbirds are truly fascinating creatures — ones with unique abilities that humans have yet to tap into.

“Hummingbirds’ flexible shoulder joints allow their wings to rotate 180 degrees, which allows them to fly forward, backward and upside down and to hover,” he says. “I would like to see this structural design integrated into our flight technology.”

However, thanks to camera technology, we do have the ability to stop time so that we can fully enjoy the enchantment of these typically quick-moving creatures.

Hummingbirds are a great reminder that sometimes new techniques and tricks are needed to capture the images we want. Dean Hueber

Each species of hummingbird makes a distinctly different sound when it flies. So you can tell immediately what type of bird it is from the sound their wings make. Dean Hueber

About the

Photographer

Having grown up in a suburb of Buffalo, New York, Dean Hueber always possessed a strong love for nature and the outdoors.

At a very young age, Hueber would climb the water tower in his hometown’s local park so that he could obtain an unobstructed view of the stars and the moon rising or setting. Later in life, he decorated his college dorm room walls with pictures of the Grand Tetons, Yosemite and Mount Denali.

“I had no idea where these places were or what they were called; only that their beauty and majesty touched my soul,” Hueber says. “I knew that I needed to see these magnificent places with my own eyes.”

Hueber attended graduate school in northern California and journeyed to camping destinations along the state’s coast in the Redwoods and witnessed the spectacular beauty of Lake Tahoe. However, it is his first trip to Yosemite National Park from which his photographic aspirations originate.

“The power of Yosemite was spectacular and overwhelming,” he explains. “I spent the weekend awestruck, never having imagined that such pure beauty could exist. I had always loved nature, but that was the first time I had truly desired to take photos of it.”

When Hueber became a father, he purchased an SLR camera to take photos of his son. With the technology finally in his hand, he also began taking photos of nature. He took a couple of seminars and a workshop to find his technical footing, studied images relentlessly to find places to explore and different styles and perspectives and has had a passionate love affair with landscape photography ever since.

“Beauty is my photographic motivation,” says Hueber, noting that he has more recently discovered a love for wildlife photography. “The animals are in themselves striking, but I try to capture them in ideal lighting with attractive backdrops.

“The romantic lure of the open road and the sense of adventure that a photography trip affords are part of the attraction for me as well. The journey is always a big part of the equation, and though the photos do not always make it to print, the experiences are rarely throwaways.”

Beauty is my photographic motivation. The animals are in themselves striking, but I try to capture them in ideal lighting with attractive backdrops. Dean Hueber

Hummingbirds’ flexible shoulder joints allow their wings to rotate 180 degrees, which allows them to fly forward, backward and upside down and to hover. Dean Hueber

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WWhen most people hear the name Frank Lloyd Wright, they think of his many amazing architectural achievements. From Taliesin West — the iconic architect’s winter home which is nestled right here in the arid foothills of Arizona’s McDowell Mountains — to his vacation home Fallingwater built in 1936 atop a gushing waterfall in southwestern Pennsylvania and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, there is no doubting the accuracy of that association.

However, Wright was on the vanguard of so much more than just architecture. Just as often as he was coming up with innovative ways to transform the spaces in which we live, work and play, he was coming up with innovative ways to transform the space between our ears.

“Frank Lloyd Wright was always trying to use education to improve people's lives and to advance democracy,” says Jennifer Gray, a noted Wright scholar who recently was the curator of drawings and archives at Columbia University’s Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. “That is something that I am really interested in, as well, because I also believe that education is very important for our society and our communities.”

That interest and a body of research that includes how Wright’s mentors used architecture, cities and landscapes to advance social and spatial justice at the turn of the 20th century are just two of the reasons that the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has engaged Gray to lead a new collection of programs that will be known as the Taliesin Institute. The programs are intended for architecture and design students, new and established design professionals and the broader public interested in learning about the history and future of organic architecture principles, which were established as the core of Wright’s work.

The Taliesin Institute will embrace a broad range of work, including the development of a consortium of leading architecture schools that will send students to study at the two Taliesin campuses — Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Scottsdale — with a particular focus on hands-on work aligned with Wright’s insistence on learning by doing.

The institute will also offer public classes, symposia and workshops that reflect the evolving nature of Wright’s principles of organic design and their relevance to the way we live now, and in the future.

Gray says that Wright was committed to educational reform — a value that was perhaps passed down to him by his aunts who, in 1887, founded the first co-educational boarding school in Wisconsin.

“It was very avant-garde and ahead of its time in terms of the types of curriculum that it offered, such as nature studies and chemistry labs,” Gray says. “Those are now part of our education but were brand new at the time. Wright took that one step further and founded his own school — the Taliesin Fellowship.”

A community of apprentices and their families who lived, worked

Photo by Andrew Pielage

Photo by Andrew Pielage that will be known as the Taliesin Institute. Jennifer Gray to lead a new collection of programs The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has engaged

Architecture is a lens into a much broader set of questions that have to do with the society in which we are living. It leads to discussions about our rules, our laws, our politics, money, power and all of the other things that we, as a society, struggle with on a daily basis. Jennifer Gray

and studied with Wright, the Taliesin Fellowship provided a total learning environment integrating all aspects of the apprentices’ lives with the intent of educating responsible, creative and cultured human beings.

“They taught architecture there but they also had all other kinds of practices happening — graphic design, fine arts, film studies, performance, dance, literature, philosophy and music,” Gray says. “It was very multifaceted in terms of the kinds of learning that was taking place there. The curriculum was wide-reaching. Wright would say that of all that falls under the umbrella of architecture.”

Hands-on learning was an integral part of the Taliesin Fellowship’s pedagogy. Gray says that a typical day might have consisted of a group breakfast followed by coursework, farming, architectural study, afternoon tea and, finally, a film screening.

“There were a very diverse set of things that you were learning and how you were learning them,” Gray explains. “But the active component was key.”

She suspects that it will also be a key component of the Taliesin Institute.

“We are still in the process of developing the strategic plan but, generally speaking, we want to distill the essence of the Taliesin Fellowship, take its essential qualities and move them into the contemporary moment,” Gray says.

She adds that Wright was also an amateur farmer throughout his entire life and valued nature, farming, food and the environment. She predicts that, given our current climate situation, those things will also play a major part in the educational experience at the Taliesin Institute.

“I also think that it is important for different kinds of learners to come to the institute,” Gray says. “Students who are in a Masters of Architecture program might come to do an exchange program at the Taliesin Institute. We might also have professional architects who can take continuing education credits there.

“We might also have rising seniors come through the summer before their college year. And, ideally, we will also have lifelong learners — people from the general public who are just interested in architecture, Wright or any of the subjects that will be offered at Taliesin Institute.”

In other words, the lessons that the Taliesin Institute aspires to offer will be relevant to a broad range of individuals. After all, the questions that Wright asked and the solutions he proposed had profound impacts on so much more than just architecture. Moreover, they are oftentimes the same discussions or very similar to those that we are having today.

“The historical context of what people thought in the past as well as what worked and did not is a way to grapple with a variety of different problems and apply them to our current situation,” explains Gray,

Photo by Andrew Pielage

Photo by Andrew Pielage

recalling her earlier sentiments about architecture being a lens into a much broader set of societal issues. “It gives you some more tools to actually change your own community and your own society for the better.”

Gray adds that Wright’s questions and solutions are particularly timely at the moment because the social divisions and economic issues that were present in the time that he was working — especially during the early 20th century — are very similar to those that we are experiencing today.

“So I think that his lessons have particularly relevant applications,” she says. “Our solutions might look different now, but [Wright] was already asking them 100 years ago. So I think that it is really interesting to probe how he was tackling those things and how that might help us to tackle them today.”

Gray is therefore eager to see how the Taliesin Institute can help its students to have a positive impact on people’s lives, just as Wright aspired to do many years ago.

“I am very excited to be part of this new venture and look forward to exploring and advancing Wright’s ideas about architecture, education, community, the environment and more and how they remain relevant for us today,” says Gray, who will be under contract with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation while she completes other projects and will join the foundation full-time this summer.

“We will use the early months to focus on fleshing out the strategic plan for the institute and then announce specific programs as they are ready to come online. Everything will be done to start with small, focused programs that can be fine-tuned and scaled up as the opportunities allow.”

franklloydwright.org

EXTENDED VERSION

VISIT IMAGESARIZONA. COM TO READ AN EXTENDED VERSION OF THIS STORY, FEATURING MORE INFORMATION ABOUT JENNIFER GRAY AND HER INSIGHTS INTO THE REMARKABLE WORK OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

STAGECOACHVillage

PProudly celebrating its 23rd anniversary in business this year, Cowbells Western Interiors offers a broad collection of western interiors that has grown tremendously over time and is ever-changing. After a long career in the restaurant industry, Deb Nichols decided that it was time for a change and moved to Arizona from Fountain, Colorado. With a degree in fine arts and a great knack for design, Nichols put her passion to work, founding Cowbells Western Interiors — a unique and specialty source for rustic and refined home interiors. Nichols finds beautiful furnishings and exceptionally crafted treasures that work well with bold western style and pair wonderfully with Arizona’s upscale homes and makes them available to customers at her spectacular showroom in Cave Creek’s Stagecoach Village. Aspiring to provide a unique experience to each and every one of her clients and visitors, Nichols says that the experience owning Cowbells Western Interiors over the past 23 years has gifted her the opportunity to meet many very talented and eclectic artisans. She is honored to be able to introduce them and their work to the community.

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DINING GUIDE Local Jonny's Tavern and Cafe

WWelcoming hungry patrons since 2014, Local Jonny’s Tavern and Café’s staff strives to make each and every person who walks in feel as though they are coming over to a friend's house to enjoy a meal and share an experience. That experience includes a selection of specialty burgers, each prepared with house-made ingredients and served with potato wedges. Whether you choose the Cowboy Burger topped with grilled onions and jalapenos or the Southwest Burger crowned with green chilies and chipotle aioli, you simply cannot go wrong with a nice, juicy, madeto-order burger from Local Jonny’s Tavern and Café.

“We have the best burgers in town,” says general manager Rebecca Harding. “We make everything that we possibly can in-house — including our seasoned mayos, our sriracha ketchup and our secret seasonings.”

Breakfast highlights include the Southwest Sunrise Sandwich — featuring two over-medium fried eggs, ham, avocado, tomato, cheddar and chipotle aioli on sourdough toast with seasoned potatoes — and the Flat Tire Burrito — boasting bacon, sausage, potatoes, green chilies, scrambled eggs and shredded cheese in a whole wheat tortilla with salsa on the side. The dinner menu, served Wednesday through Saturday nights, is bursting with flavorful appetizers like carnitas tacos, calamari and nachos as well as entrees such as Southwest Chicken Pasta, layered with roasted and sliced chicken, spicy chipotle cream sauce, green onions, cherry tomatoes and penne pasta.

However, the heart and soul of Local Jonny’s Tavern and Café is and always has been its commitment to the community, as is evident by its new job shadowing program with which it provides job skill training to special needs students.

“We make sure that we do as much as we possibly can in the local school system and we donate to every local fundraiser, sports team and event,” Harding says. “We are community-driven and all about honesty, dependability and great service.”

Writer Joseph J. Airdo

Local Jonny’s Tavern and Café 6033 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek 480-488-7473 localjonnys.com

You simply cannot go wrong with a nice, juicy burger from Local Jonny’s Tavern and Café, prepared with house-made ingredients and served with potato wedges.

DINING GUIDE Keeler's Neighborhood Steakhouse

KKnown for amazing happy hours, sunsets on the roof deck patio, live music on Thursdays and great front patio seating, Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse has something for every diner. The restaurant serves the highest quality beef, seafood and chops and, unlike many other steakhouses, two sides are served with every steak. Choose from mashed, baked or scalloped potatoes; onion rings; Brussels sprouts and many more tantalizing sides that will take your meal to the next level.

Steaks are only the tip of the iceberg, though, as Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse also offers New England clam chowder, braised short ribs, slow-roasted prime rib, Baja seabass and shrimp scampi, among many other mouthwatering entrees. Stop by 3–6 p.m. daily for a happy hour menu that includes $8 features like steak tartare and $16 combos such as a banh mi fish sandwich served with truffle fries and a glass of wine, draft beer or non-alcoholic beverage.

Speaking of beverages, Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse recently launched a new cocktail menu featuring its signature innovative take on liberating libations. Selections include Judy’s Bloom, featuring house-made limoncello with St. George Citrus Vodka, elderflower, strawberry, lemon and sparkling wine; Chamoflauge, a martini with chamomile-infused Botanist Gin, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, lemon and absinthe essence; Bells and Whistles, a Moscow mule amped up with Corazon Tequila, sweet red bell pepper, lemon, ginger beer and basil; and Monkey See Monkey Do, featuring Monkey Shoulder Scotch, pineapple, honey, lemon, Orgeat Amaro Angostura and orange bitters.

Although Paul Keeler tragically passed last year, his family carries on his legacy of service and hospitality every day at Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse. Those who knew Paul will most definitely want to raise a glass to him with The Silver Fox, featuring Buffalo Trace Bourbon, espresso, black walnut bitters and orange peel. $1 from each purchase of the special cocktail is donated to Embark Men, a group that inspires men to become better leaders, husbands, fathers, sons, neighbors and colleagues.

Writer Joseph J. Airdo Photographer Joanie Simon

Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse 7212 Ho Hum Drive, Carefree 602-374-4784 keelerssteakhouse.com

Steaks are only the tip of the iceberg, though, as Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse also offers New England clam chowder, braised short ribs, slow-roasted prime rib, Baja seabass and shrimp scampi, among many other mouthwatering entrees.

RECIPESpring Bouquet Focaccia

Serves: 12

Writer and Photographer Francine Coles thefancypantskitchen.com

As we welcome the start of spring, I love the idea of creating a piece of art out of your delicious bread. This spring bouquet focaccia is such an easy way to elevate a simple focaccia and make it worthy of any gathering of friends or family. It is perfect for Easter, graduation, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, showers or any other special occasion!

Ingredients:

2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 teaspoon honey 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 2 boxes chives 1 bunch Italian parsley 1 pint cherry tomatoes

Directions:

In a medium bowl, add yeast, honey and one cup of lukewarm water then stir to combine. Set aside until foam forms on the surface of the liquid, about five minutes. Add 1/4 cup of oil followed by flour and salt. Using a fork, stir until a dough forms then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until the dough is smooth and supple, about 10 minutes, then form into a ball.

Lightly grease a large bowl with one tablespoon of oil, then add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until the dough has just slightly more than doubled in size, about one hour.

Brush a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with two tablespoons of oil. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and, using your fingers, spread to the edges. Press all over to form dimples. Drizzle with two tablespoons of oil then cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to rest until the dough puffs up slightly, about 30 minutes.

Set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. While the oven preheats, decorate the dough with herbs and vegetables.

Arrange chives to resemble flower stems. Spread out parsley stems to look like leaves at the top of the chives. Cut cherry tomatoes in a zigzag fashion through the center, discarding seeds if possible. Cut some cherry tomatoes vertically in four segments without cutting through the base and fan open, arranging them to resemble flowers.

Drizzle decorated dough with the remaining two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with flaky salt, to taste. Bake until the focaccia is golden at the edges and browned on the bottom, about 20 minutes.

Remove the focaccia from the oven and let cool slightly before using an offset spatula to slide it onto a cutting board. Top with basil and let cool completely, then cut into pieces and serve.

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