Solomon's Chess Set

Solomon's Hand carved wood Fun Chess Set.

I have been away from home since early am, early is 6 am, and am to tired to think, so I am doing a post that requres not thought. I have one in my mind, but my mind is through for today.

CLICK HERE  FOR A FORMER SATURDAY POST that no one visited.

Castle Cat

Howard Solomon's Castle Cat

*

What is a cat's favorite color?

Purrr-ple!

*

Who helped Cinderella's cat go to the ball?

Her furry godmother!
*

How does a cat count?

One, mew, three!

*

What newspapers do cats read?

The Daily Mews!

Sorry Guys, I am having a lazy and don't want to do anthing day, so this is what you get.

Not For Real Post

Castle Grounds

the photo is Just Because I like it.  This is not my For Real post, this is just the Trailer for Today's Post
                                                   

                                        Click Here for The For Real Post of the day!

Howard Solomon's Story by Scott Fais

The following is an part of a trip report from News 13 travel reporter Scott Fais, who does daytrips in Florida on our local news channel. June 13 2007

Scott said:

Our first stop: Solomon’s Castle. Be ready for a drive through vast territories where man has yet to build homes or fill the landscape with another strip mall. Manatee and Hardee counties sport a lot of orange groves and even more cattle pastures.
I questioned several times, “Who lives out here?” The answer: Not many who walk on two legs.
After what turned into more than a three hour tour, I discovered a unique place that
isn’t duplicated anywhere else. (Finding it can be hard. Just keep an eye peeled for
the hand painted signs. I missed several.)

ROOMS TO GO, click on photo

Howard Solomon told me he was born an artist. This slender man can be found clad in his castle T-shirt and wearing a boat captain’s hat.
Howard’s touch is evident from the metal sculptures on front gate down to the hand painted
sign hanging above the restrooms that reads “Rooms to Go.”

After selling his art studios in Miami and the Bahamas at age 37, he came to this Hardee County swampland to build a home in the middle of nowhere. Yet, Howard corrected me and said his property is “in the middle of everywhere.”When he arrived, he built his house in the form of a castle,

and covered the exterior walls with used printing plates from the The Herald Advocate newspaper in Wauchula, Florida.

The fortress shines like a mirror in the Florida sun (and acts like a magnet for visitors.) The windows, doors and even the flooring were made by Howard. Many of the materials came from items bound for the dump.Inside, you’ll find an art gallery brimming full of Howard’s creations,

many dating back to the 70s. If you’re a lucky visitor, you may have Howard as your tour guide..

                                              (there is a whole collection of guns all made from trash)

From the start, I learned real fast Howard’s other “gift” is comedy. His spiel is full of jokes and puns. Many of his pieces were created to reflect news headlines. From poking fun of the botched 2000 presidential election and high-profile court trials to mistakes by celebrities and popular literature,
Howard’s art is something to behold- since most of it was created from trash.
My favorite: The 6-foot tall elephant made from recycled oil drums. The kitchen tile came from a hotel restroom.

Cleopatra, made from lawn tractor.

The most bizarre item rests under our feet.In front of guests, Howard pulls back the carpet to reveal a trap door. Open it and find the castle dungeon. Staring back at us is the face of an older woman painted on what I believe is a coconut. Howard proudly tells the crowd,

“She’s the babysitter. When my kids were growing up, and they would misbehave, we would say,
‘You’re going to the babysitter.’”

Cleopatra's Barge, or half of it. The other half went to her husband in her divorce settlement. She did not care because she is in denial...

get IT? whoo boy.

.

Solomon's Art

Solomon likes to take a favorite painting and do it in small bits of painted wood.

Picasso is one of his favorites.

"My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general.

If you are a monk, you will become the Pope." Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso" Pablo Picasso

"I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them." Pablo Picasso

The above is a copy from a Lillian Shao painting and is my personal favorite. Made entirely from carved wood

The doors inside the castle are decorated with wooden paintings

True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist. Albert Einstein

Howard Solomon is a true artist, he says he can not stop creating, he follows that irresistible urge and the world benefits from it.

King Solomon's Wisdom

Stain Glass by Howard Solomon/Words of Wisdom from the other Solomon, King Solomon, writer of Proverbs, Chapter 15

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger"

"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit"

Solomon's friend donated an old chandelier and it was to long, he had no where to hang it. He built a 3 sided tower just to hang the chandelier and made it an entrance to the kitchen of the castle. Two sides are the stain glass windows and the door is the 3rd side.

Kitchen door to a castle

The pointed roof allows the chandelier to hang just right.  it is a tiny 3 sided room, and from the inside is wonderful on a sunshiny day. There are more than 80 stained glass windows in the castle. they are varied sizes because he bought used windows and knocked out the glass and replaced with his own design of stained glass.

"A joyful heart is like good medicine, a broken spirit will make one sick"

Dragons and Lions, Oh My! Oh My!

There are European and Chinese Dragons and then there are Solomons Dragons.

Squirrel Queen, you asked what was behind the elephant on yesterdays Post. this is the dragon in the corner. (I forgot to say the elephant took 300 hours of work)

 he is very tall and I had a hard time getting a full photo of him, see dragon claw below

and the long one I got only his face, there were 16 people on the guided tour and I had to shoot around them

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons......for thou art crunchy and go good with ketchup!

How can you get a set of teeth put in for free ? Smack a lion !

The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight,[4] it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger

This Lion weighs a LOT more than 250....

What is lion's favorite food ? Baked beings !

What does the lion say to his friends before they go out hunting for food ?

'Let us prey.

Dragons & Elephants, Oh My! Oh My!

Internationally known sculptor Howard Solomon has created a museum full of fun and funny and wonderful creations. Cars and trucks, large and small animas, Each one is created from metal "found objects" only.

The elephant is my favorite of all of them and is created from metal signs, if you click on the third photo you can see where he left a piece of a sign uppainted.

What Games do elephants like to play best? SQUASH

How do you stop a charging elephant? take away its credit cards

How do you get down off an elephant? you don't, you get down off of a goose

I will be posting several of his creations on the side bar in order to get more on each day. the post will be about the ones I LOVE and this dragon is my second favor. click on photo and check out what the teeth and nostrels are made of.

Knock Knock

Who's there !

Dragon !

Dragon who ?

Dragon your feet again????

Boat In The Moat....

In the early 70's, back when realtors were selling  property without disclosure of anything negative about the property, Solomon bought his acres and had no idea what he bought was a Swamp! Driving to the castle and it's land, we pass through acres and acres of pastures with only a few trees. At the end of the road, there is a beautiful creek and many oaks and pines and palms, an oasis.

All was not as it seemed when he bought the property. The realtor neglected to tell him the swmap fills up with water during the rainy season and hurricanes. He built the museum first and put it at ground leverl. Rains came and water went up the walls 2 feet. When he built the living quarters, he went up 4 feet and when Solomon built this Boat In the Moat, he built on dry land on pilings. there is no water in the moat except during the rainy season..

If you enlarge the photo you can see the canons sticking out the side ports. All the windows in the returant are stained glass, he used only recycled materials and just as he did the castle, everything was done by hand. he is an artist and can not quit creating.

the resturant serves home cooked hot meals, or choice of sandwiches. The inside of the boat is beautiful, all wood and just like a real boat would be. We chose to eat under the trees, if you look at the front of the boat, you can see some of the people under the trees. We walked up the gangway and through the boat and out the other side. see side bar for gangway photos

The two ladies in the middle are my friends Barbara and Lola. See the tree limbs over head? the whole deck is shaded by two monstrous trees. Breezes from the creek and cool temps made for wonderful dining.

This is a close up of all the ressurection ferns growing on every limb. Ressurection fern dies in a few days if it does not rain. we were lucky because it had rained two days before. the dead ferns ressurect and live a few days, then appear to die until the next rain.

     to see my post on ressurection ferns and see what it looks like dead, click here

Solomon's Castle

Meet Howard Solomon, internationally known sculptor Howard Solomon

Solomon's Castle, the home and studio of  Solomon ,is built on picturesque Horse Creek, in Ona, Florida.  the Castle is a 50 minute drive from my home (that is obeying the speed limit) so it might be closer to some of you.

The castle is big and shiny, has towers, stained glass windows and a boat in a moat

built entirely by the hands of the artist, Howard Solomon.
The gleaming exterior is made of the printing plates discarded by the local weekly newspaper
.
 
the castle and the boat and everything on the property was built entirely by hand and all materials are recycled. Solomon is a plumber, electrician, wood carver and much more that I can't remember. He does it all and no one but family members has helped with the castle and boat.

Within the castle are the family's living quarters, a stained glass studio, a main entrance hall, and the extensive galleries, exhibiting Solomon's "found object" sculptures.

There are more than 80 interpretations of stained glass windows throughout Solomon's Castle.


I wonder if anyone reading this blog can guess what it coming up for the next few Post!
windows and boats and moats OH MY! Sculptures and Food and Surprises OH MY!