On my way down from L.A. to San Diego to attend the Conclave of Light, I stopped at a place in Escondido that I'd been thwarted in my attempts to see years earlier. It's a sculpture garden by an artist named Niki de Saint Phalle.

The installation is called Queen Califia's Magical Circle and was the last major piece completed by de Saint Phalle before her death.

The garden has a number of freestanding totems...

With a large center pavillion...

All encircled by a Gaudi-inspired undulating wall comprised of interlocking snakes.

I've long been attracted to de Saint Phalle's work by her use of incredibly vibrant colors and light. She used colored glass and mirror (oftentimes colored as well) to achieve the effect that makes her work so distinct - huge fields of pure bright color.

It's a bit difficult to tell from the picture, but this totem is covered entirely with colored mirror (and not opaque glass). The fine point I'm attempting to transmit is that the angle of each bit of mirror is slightly different and so gives the eye a slight variation on the hue.

This photo of the underside of the pavillion illustrates the point I'm trying to make a bit better. While it looks as though several different colors of blue glass have been used in this mosaic, it is in actuality comprised entirely of the same blue mirror (except for the moon and stars, of course).

This was my favorite totem in the garden. It was deliciously monochromatic, covered with dazzling silver mirror shards and encircled by writhing snakes. I also really like the open book style topper. Fabulous!