Index for Category - Collages

This page last updated on 12/27/2017

Click A Title To View 2017-Collages 2013 The Birds of Bellagio 2012 Wildlife Collages 2012 Water Collage 2012 Relics From the Past Collages 2012 Nevada Mine Collages 2012 Petroglyph Collages 2012 Tree & Wood Collages 2012 Rock Collage 2012 Flower Collages Fire Wave Collage - Valley of Fire Winter In Venice at Venetian/Palazzo Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Garden The Neon Museum Bellagio's Botanical Garden Winter Display Bellagio's Botanical Garden Fall Display The Art of Deco - II The Art of Deco - I Car Show Images - Engines & Interiors Chloride Arizona Cemetery The Square at Town Square Park Cadillac Through The Years A Mid-winter's Spring Year of the Dragon Holiday Spirit Alpin Hong Concert Daffodil narcissus - Reflections In Color Pitman Wash Images - Let The Trumpets Blare  Car Show Images - Power Chrome Car Show Images - Grills

The Birds of Bellagio

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(Fig. 01)

07/24/2013 Picture Notes: This summer's floral exhibition inside Bellagio's 13,573 square foot Conservatory & Botanical Gardens was built around a green house (Fig. 03) that is 13 feet high, 36 feet long and 14 feet wide. Decorated with many aged antique tools, it provides a habitat for Rosey Bourke Parakeets, Canaries, Cockatiels and 50 Finch birds. Even though I had to stand several feet from the sides of the greenhouse, and peer through the reflections on the glass, I was still lucky enough to capture enough shots to make the two collages in (Figs. 01 & 02).

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

Fire Wave Collage

I created this collage for one of my Valley of Fire posts.

2012 Wildlife Collages

I created these two collages for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Water Collage

I created this water collage for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Relics From the Past Collages

I created these two collages for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Nevada Mine Collages

I created these two collages for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Petroglyph Collages

I created these two collages for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Tree & Wood Collages

I created these three collages for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Rock Collage

I created this collage for my “2012 Year In Review” post.

2012 Flower Collages

I used a program called Fotofusion by LumaPix to create these four collages for my 2012 Year In Review post. Though I have yet to identify all of them, you can find individual pages on many of them by visiting my Plants & Flowers category - Index for Category Plants and Flowers.

Flower Collages

I used a program called Fotofusion by LumaPix to create these four collages for my 2012 Year In Review post. Though I have yet to identify all of them, you can find individual pages on many of them by visiting my Plants & Flowers category - Index for Category Plants and Flowers.

Fire Wave Hike – Valley of Fire State Park

Winter in Venice at the Venetian/Palazzo

(Fig. 01)

12/18/2012 Visit Notes: The week before Christmas we went down to the Venetian/Palazzo Casino on the Strip to attend a Christmas concert by Mannheim Steamroller. The theme throughout both casinos this year is Winter in Venice. The collage in (Fig. 01) above contains nearly a dozen individual pictures taken around the Palazzo. In addition to all the normal Holiday decorations one would expect for the season, there was an ever present theme of white peafowl everywhere.  From the outside valet area (Fig. 02), to the main entryway (Fig. 06), to the waterfall shopping mall area (Figs. 03 & 04) and many of the shops (Fig. 05), everything was adorned with dozens of white peafowl, some more than 10 feet tall. It was just stunning. In the main entryway with its faux ice sculpture (Fig.06), we were met by Italian costumed greeters with cups of warm mulled cider – a really nice touch for a cold, windy, wintery night.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Garden

(Fig. 01)

12/05/2012 Visit Notes: With two sets of company in town over the holidays this year, I think we ended up making three visits here. As you can see from (Fig. 01) there are many lit figurines in addition to all the cacti and trees. Truly appropriate, are the M&M’s in (Fig. 02) below. There is absolutely no way that any of my pictures (Fig. 03) do this place justice. It probably takes a good 20-30 minutes to walk all the paths that snake through the garden and take in the vast display of color created here. They even have 3-D glasses that turn many of the lights into “star” like projections. Besides the M&M’s, I think Santa and his sleigh (Fig. 04) was one of my favorites. It is truly a mesmerizing experience well worth the investment of a little bit of your time. Note: If you haven’t been yet, it ends on the evening of January 1st.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

The Neon Museum - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 06/17/2019

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

12/05/2012 Trip Notes: The Neon Museum is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Bonanza, across the street from Cashman Center and along the Las Vegas downtown museum corridor. Though this is my second visit to the NEON Museum and Boneyard, it was my first since the completion of the new visitors center, the rehabilitated La Concha Motel lobby (Fig. 03), a seashell-shaped, Mid-Century Modern building designed and built by architect Paul Revere Williams. Currently located adjacent to the curated collection of signs at the boneyard and opposite the new NEON Boneyard Park (Fig. 02), the La Concha used to be located on the Las Vegas Strip next to the Riviera. It was saved from demolition in 2005 and relocated to the Boneyard to become the new visitors center. The mosaic, located in the lobby of the visitor center, is the original that was once displayed behind the motel’s registration desk. This visit and guided tour with my friends Jim Herring and Patrick Adams, wound its way through most of the museum’s 150 plus vintage signs. This one hour tour was filled with informative information about the most treasured and world-famous signs and the landmarks that they came from such as  - Caesars Palace, Binions Horseshoe, Golden Nugget, Silver Slipper, Stardust, Frontier, Tropicana, Sahara, etc. The first collage below (Fig. 04) was created from a small handful of the pictures that I captured on this latest tour.

(Fig. 04) Titled -  A New Beginning

05/22/2010 Trip Notes:  I toured the NEON Museum’s Boneyard on a tour with my friend Jim Herring. I created the collage below (Fig. 05) from a series of photos that I took along the tour of this three-acre “boneyard” that houses more than 150 historic, non-restored signs. Each has been donated or loaned by individuals, businesses and sign companies such as Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO).

(Fig. 05) Titled -  A Bygone Era

NEON Museum History: Neon signs were first introduced in Las Vegas in 1929 at the Oasis Café on Fremont Street. Probably one of the most recognized is the world's most famous neon attraction. Designed by Betty Willis, the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada" sign has been greeting visitors at the southern end of the Strip since 1959. But as LED and LCD screens began taking over the Las Vegas Strip, many of the old signs were removed. About 20 years ago people from the Allied Arts Council and Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO), the manufacturer responsible for creating a number of the city's neon pieces, began collecting and preserving the old signs. Once the city allocated space for the museum, YESCO then donated its retired signs to the fledgling organization. About 40 percent of the Neon Museum's collection originated there, and items from newly imploded or remodeled properties are added continually. On October 27, 2012, after more than 15 years after being established, the Neon Museum opened to the general public, offering a new visitor center, park, and look at the history of design and architecture in Las Vegas, via the advertising that defined us. The moment came after years of hard work by a dedicated few, along with financial uncertainty, as the grassroots nonprofit sought to fund the rescue of signs amid many demolitions. Even though much has been donated, relocation and refurbishment is quite costly. Saved from demolition in 2004, relocating the shell-shaped La Concha lobby to serve as the museum’s visitor’s center came with a price tag of about $1.2 million (to move and re-assemble). La Concha Architect Paul Revere Williams designed the lobby in the shape of a shell. Its swooping concrete roof line is only 3 inches thick, juts 5 feet from the glass wall and reaches 28 feet high. The cement and glass structure, built in 1961, had to be sliced up in order to travel from its original location on Las Vegas Boulevard.

The Neon Museum officially "opened" on November 15, 1996, with the installation of its first refurbished sign at the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Fremont Street, the Hacienda Horse and Rider (Fig. 06). The construction by the city of the new Neon Boneyard Park began on February 8, 2010. The park now sits adjacent to the museum’s new visitor center, the La Concha on Las Vegas Blvd. North and complements the campus of the Neon Museum Boneyard and visitor’s center. Funding for the project was provided by the Bureau of Land Management through the sale of public lands as authorized by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. This keeps the funds from Nevada federal land sales in the state for parks and trail projects.

(Fig. 06)

Today’s concentration of extraordinarily constructed large-scale signs provides a rich aesthetic walk down Memory Lane. More than 15 refurbished signs can be visited on a self-guided walking tour 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in our outdoor downtown “gallery”. The gallery begins in front of the Neonopolis at Las Vegas Boulevard near the Hacienda Horse and Rider and includes the original Aladdin’s Lamp (Fig. 07). All restored to their original condition, the gallery extends to the 3rd Street cul-de-sac adjacent to The Fremont Street Experience canopy and includes The Flame Restaurant, Chief Court Motel, Andy Anderson, The Red Barn, Wedding Information, Nevada Motel, and Dots Flowers and then down Las Vegas Blvd North to the Bow & Arrow, Silver Slipper (Fig. 08) and Binion’s Horseshoe (Fig. 09). Many of these are best viewed at night when they are all lit up. Three signs set for restoration,  The Lucky Cuss Motel, Society Cleaners, and The Normandy Motel, will join Binion’s Horseshoe, the Bow & Arrow Motel, and the Silver Slipper once they are installed on Las Vegas Boulevard in downtown Las Vegas. To find out more about the NEON Museum, go to their new website at http://www.neonmuseum.org/tour-info.

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

Play a Slide Show

Clicking the picture-link below will open OneDrive in a new window and a folder containing 115 pictures taken on a couple of trips to the Neon Museum. To view the show, click on the first picture in the folder and you will get the following menu bar:

Clicking the "Play slide show" will play a fullscreen window of the slide show.

Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

Bellagio’s Botanical Garden - Winter Display

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(Fig. 01)

12/05/2012 Visit Notes: This year’s winter exhibit was titled, “Winter Holiday”. The above collage (Fig. 01) contains just a few of the many displays featured in this exhibit. The stunning centerpiece of this exhibit is a majestic 45-foot tall Shasta Fir, the largest holiday tree ever displayed at Bellagio (Fig. 02). The stunning tree is decorated with more than 2,500 assorted ornaments and glows with 10,000 white. The ornaments on this tree are some of the largest I’ve ever seen. Hung overhead are silver and gold bells while four grand toy soldiers (Fig. 03) revolve around the outskirts of the holiday tree. Nearby is a seven-foot-tall, custom-sculpted rocking horse (Fig. 04) stands in the midst of a chocolate village that is surrounded by two motorized toy trains (Figs. 05 & 06) equipped with live cameras that whirling throughout the display, providing guests with views of what the train sees on its travels on four nearby television monitors. In the north area of the garden, a waddle of 11 faux baby penguins (Fig. 07) frolic in the snow and ice, some actually skating around an arctic ice pond (see the collage above). This year it seemed especially nice as we got to share this with visiting family and friends.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)