The Benini Sculpture Ranch

We left Stonewall this morning and traveled a short distance to Mason, Texas. We're still in the Texas Hill Country but slowly getting closer to New Mexico. The wildflowers are really starting to bloom right now and it is just impossible to describe how beautiful it is here. We saw millions of bluebonnets on our drive today.

Before we left Stonewall, we took a day trip to the Benini Sculpture Ranch. This was definitely a highlight of our travels, so far. This is not a highly publicized tourist spot and I am so glad we heard about it and found it. It is located on 140 acres not far from Johnson City, Texas and is definitely off the beaten path. Benini is a renowned painter and sculptor and has a studio high on top a hill at the ranch. There is also a small gallery there featuring paintings by Benini and a few other artists. The highlight of the ranch is the contemporary sculptures that are everywhere as you drive the windy, hilly roads throughout the ranch. The ranch roads are all dirt roads and the sculptures are along the side of the road. Here are a few of the ones we saw when we first entered the ranch...

 

We stopped at the gallery to sign in and spent some time inside looking at Benini's paintings and talking to one of the artists whose works were on display at the ranch. We hadn't planned to visit the gallery but we are so glad we did. I took a few pictures inside and also snapped a shot of the outside of the gallery...

 Back outside, we continued our drive through the ranch and saw all of these great sculptures...

 

 

They even had a string installation in the trees. It was hard to photograph but I wanted to include it for my niece, Mindy Hirt, who is also a renowned artist who specializes in extraordinary and intricate string installations. This was cool but nowhere near as good as the ones she creates...

We finished our tour of the ranch at Bernini's studio which sits atop a steep hill overlooking the ranch.

There was something really magical about this place. Larry and I both kept saying "I can't believe this is here."  Here is a link to their web site if you would like to read more about the ranch or the artists. Benini Sculpture Ranch

I  hope everyone had a nice Easter! Stay tuned for more of our adventures. As always, thanks so much for stopping by!