Lavender & Benini

No doubt Lavender & Benini sounds like some sort of exotic drink you might pick up somewhere in the Mediterranean, but it actually refers to our weekend excursion throughout the Hill Country of Texas. This weekend was the Third Annual Blanco Lavender Festivals. The town of Blanco sits just about an hour southwest of Austin. In the town square, there are a number of booths and activities celebrating lavender, but the real draw of the festival lies just outside of town, where numerous lavender growers invite you to their farms to cut your own lavender, sample a wide variety of lavender products (anything from soap to margarita mix) and enjoy some Texas hospitality while sipping on a cup of lavender lemonade.







On our way out to one of the farms in Johnson City, TX, we stumbled upon this enormous chrome bull.



A small sign beside it, invited us to visit the Sculpture Farm just 5 miles up the road. The drive to the ranch was an adventure in and of itself. The road took us through working cattle farms, where signs warn to beware of "loose livestock." When we finally reached the ranch, we were treated to a scenic drive through the Texas hill country only suddenly, the road was scattered with an amazing display of unusual and unique sculptures.



The long winding road leads up to The Benini Foundation Gallery. Since Brick was napping, Bryan decided to leave us in the car, thinking he would sign the register, and we would head on our way. A couple of moments later, he came back to the car and said, "I really think you ought to come inside and see this." Here, in what seemed like the-middle-of-nowhere, Texas, was this amazing gallery showcasing the artwork of Benini. The snapshots I managed to take inside the gallery do little to really showcase the talent of this artist.





His paintings have a genuine dimensional feeling about them. All around us, roses and stars and ribbons popped off the walls. Benini himself was even on hand to greet visitors and discuss his paintings or his sculpture collection. What a great find this place was.