The Glamourous Life - Joyfulness

A little bit more on 'A State of Supreme Well-being and Good Spirits’

Joyfulness

This series is on the canvas covered hardboard that is recommended by the 'painting a day' discipline.
6"x 6" is a good little size, hmm?

I love the invitation of space that comes of moving from one size surface to another. How different requests are made from one.

How sometimes, strangely, it is easier to get more detail into a small painting than a large one.


I hope you are enjoying the free form of this series. I am!

Tomorrow is the beginning of the pre grand opening of Art Gallery of Alberta. Lucky me, I have a ticket! I will give my review, hot off the press, when I get back from the tour!




Today's music
Arcangelo Corelli- 1653-1713 composer of Baroque music


Corelli -Concerti Grossi op.6
Ensemble 415
Chiara Banchini
Jesper Christensen

This is in continuation of the idea introduced in yesterday's music -the lute or theorbo being used as a bass in the music.

Excerpt from the notes
"This production of Corelli's Opus 6 is the result of the converging of a shared passion and research that gave birth to the joint project of creating a large orchesta similar to the one Corelli conducted in Rome."


And
Tom Van der Geld and Children at Play
Album -Patience
The vibraphone! Jazz

The sound is great as it is a vinyl record that arrived in the post a few days ago from England. The album cover has the cut mark on the bottom indicating it was a demo copy. A bit of provenance. So many details in the world!


credits:
LoML,Elgar Schmidt and his astounding collection and knowledge of music which he so generously shares with me... and you!

The Glamourous Life - Happiness

'A State of Supreme Well-being and Good Spirits’

Happiness.
There are 10 images in this series, each of the dimension 6" x 6" x 1".

The challenge, to myself, was simplicity. No editing. The line is pen and India ink that I got from a small shop in Taiwan a few years ago.

The color applied using one brush.

Fluid motion that means this word that means this state of supreme well being.

Then, from here, to see what is the image.

And ...can I just allow it? Can I?

Will I bother to engage in the argument with the 'niddynaddy' mind?

Choices and decisions...!!!









The Golden Mean -Annabel Lyons
Books are the best. I love living in the world that is created with words. She has written lines that are of such sounding beauty alive that one can hear Aristotle breathing.
So much of the story is written as a conversation, which is an astounding feat as a way of advancing the plot.




Today's music-
Johannes Heironymus Kapsberger
-Libro quarto d'intavolatura di Chitarone

Rolf Lislevand
Label-Auvidus

The Glamourous Life - Blue

Are you wondering...where is the artwork? What is the result of so much inspiration? Are you?

Me too.
I am wandering around this town in the present tense, ping ponging in the comparison.

And That's OK.

Because I was going to carry on with the travelogue format (I am very fond of my definition of myself as optimistic,

upbeat, seeing the good in it. and I have been looking!) but I have to agree with European friends...in

comparison...this is an ugly city -layout and building wise. Basically it is Sexless and Utilitarian. What can we do about this?

Now that that is off my chest, inhale, I can work with what is here. No excuses.

Beauty, is the sky and the air here... is a picture of the blue that happens, as the sun rises and as the sun sets.
And the cold is the cold outlining each twig or needle on the trees, Wrapping around the warm air that comes from my mouth,making fabulous designs on glass windows. Arrangements made with the cold.


The study is...
And I am reading...Alla Prima -Richard Schmid He works in oil but the "stand up" style of painting is great, for example...
'If there is ever a conflict in your mind between what you know and what you are seeing, paint what you see, because if you don't, the result will look like something that isn't there. ...

Reduce your subject to essential visual shapes and paint them accurately.'

This is where I shall start!!

Other interesting thoughts are coming from these books.

The Golden Mean- Annabel Lyon. (in conjunction with it, the historical account... Arrian's The Campaigns of Alexander.)


Kiss of the Fur Queen -a novel by Tomson Highway. I have heard of this book for years and I found this today at the second hand book store because I asked.

(Reviews to follow.)

And some of today's music has been...

Music to Listen to Red Norvo by contemporary c 7534 A recording from 1957 The first track Poeme is delicately cheerful.
Credits-
(music, philosophical books, historical books and shoes(and matching hand bag-not shown but it is also very swank) are all courtesy of the LofofMyLife. I made the scones.)
The photos-
Alfred Tartufo (bengal cat) in a frosty tree.
Beautiful new shoes to walk and walk and walk in.
A hearty scone for breakfast.
The blue place that everything comes from.

The Glamourous Life - Merci Paris!

The other day we took a bus tour of historic Paris. L'ile et Le marais(the marsh)is a district that was chateaus of the wealthy after it was drained and filled in. (Isn't this part of Monty Python's Holy Grail)
Then it deteriorated, as did the royalty apparently, to just a seedy area for unsavory types. Then it became a trendy area...this transformation is over the time of a few hundred years. Anyway, this is not so much about the history lesson
The internet can give all that information. My point is that on my last day in Paris I decided to walk to place de la bastille, where the modern opera house is and le marais and ...give my thanks with each step for all that this city represents.


Sludging through the snow in Paris this morning...it was a bit rainy, and I follow the Canal St Martin. After a bit the Canal is a boulevard. I ask an older lady if I am going the right way.
She say yes but it is a very long walk.
It kinda was.

There was a diplomatic line of BMWs behind the Hotel De Ville. A woman walking passed me asked conversationally if I knew who was visiting. I gave a Gallic shrug. She said probably some American Rock Star.

Rivoli.

In the market of restaurants, bistros, cafes,brasseries around St Michel I stop at one that has...boeuf bourguignon! I order, and the waiter starts laughing. It has been 'the thing' since Julie/Julia movie.
Just like the Mona Lisa wasn't notice for centuries then a little press and well, with anything famous, it is the spin.

I taste it and I start laughing.. my mom's stew. Fabulous.

I have walked over 10 km today. So many thoughts, actions, ideas have happened on these streets. And the lights come on.

The city of lights.

The city of love.

What a wonderful place.


Photos
bread in the morning...
flowers from Cite, Paris.... for you!
Place de la Bastille in the fog.
an anthropomorphosized snow blob with a Notre Dame backdrop.

The Glamourous Life - Versailles Chateau

oh oh... the days on the ticket to Paris are disappearing...there is only one day left.
What else has happened that I haven't mentioned?

We have been fortunate for timing on the metro. It has rarely been busy. But when it is busy...sheesh! Squishy. I find myself counting the pores on
the girl next to me's nose.

But in the evening...the stations have such musical offerings. French horn accoustic harmony in the domed tunnels. Soft guitars around the corners. But the best was the accordion girl.

Like the music in all French Scenes.

-Honorable Mentions-
At the request of my friend Sean, and to Linda's delight, we did go to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It was a sunny day at the grave yard. Lots of ravens. And old gravestones.And I am so glad for the Wikipedia suggestion of starting at the Gambetta station,
this puts you at the top of the hill. It is acres of meandering to find the graves of the famous, much better to be wandering down the hill.

Musee d'Armee, Hotel des Invalides. Napoleon's Tomb

Sitting on the bus as it drives down streets that I am thinking are too narrow to walk along!!

Magic.

Today's adventure was Versailles. RER C train. 343 photos.
At all these historical sites, there are always children and students sitting on the floors, drawing, listening to explanations, on tour. also.
I recall that a field trip when I was a child was Al Oeming's Game Farm. This has got to make some very big differences in the forming of the mind.

We stopped for lunch at the Grand Cafe, a relatively new site on the grounds, according to the native French fellow sitting at the shared table.
He said he had come to see the gardens covered with snow, as he had never seen them like this before, as it has been a long time
since there has been this much snow in France. See... you can have a thought like that around here... 'I wonder what the snow looks like in the gardens at Versailles today.' - Of course it would be in French.

The Hall of Mirrors!

What are my thoughts of Versailles? It is the beauty... I am re-arranged on a cellular level.

The Glamourous Life - The Glamour Part

qu’il s’agisse d’hommes, de femmes, de modes, ou des meuble, la beauté est ce qui me bouleverse.

(Whether it is men, women, fashion, or furniture,the beauty is what distresses me.)

This was a quote I saw in a window yesterday while walking the streets of the city of Paris. I meant to catch the bus but the interesting buildings
the details, the shapes emerging from the fog revealing a new interesting building, square,site kept calling me forward. The streets, the squares, then I was across the river via Pont Neuf. Along the quay.
I decided to follow Rue Bonaparte.Academie des Beaux Arts.Contemporary Art Galleries, Designer clothing shops. Le Bon Marche. Designer Clothing shops.

Sonia Rykiel, Jean-Paul Gaulthier, Chanel, Dior, Gucci...

The magic of this city. One can just walk, follow streets with names that are vaguely familiar and come across someplace that is really interesting.
Les Deux Magots. The intellectual's cafe. and just over the way is Cafe de Flore there is a book store in between. I sat there for a while waiting for Simone or
Jean-Paul to whisper something to me. ..maybe it wasn't the right time of day.
I looked around for the contemporary intellectuals... everyone was texting, ipodded, or talking on the phone. Salut!






Did I every tell you how I even came to be here in Paris? It is a story of synchronicity, serendipity, generousity and artistry.
Through posting my paintings on Facebook, I became friends with Marilyn Campiz, an artist with words- The Paris Diaries.
So we are a mutual admiration society of two, for each other's work and for shared interests.
In September...
She asked if I would like to do a portrait of her for her new book. She was in Korea at that time. She would be in Paris for New Year's
She suggested that we meet in Paris. She suggested the Jim Hayne's Sunday Dinner and Swan Bar New Years...
That sounded, well, ...perfectly thrilling.

So I said I would consider the matter. Hmm, hmmm, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I told my friend Linda this story.

My friend Linda called me back...(a month later) and said...'I bought the tickets to Paris.' REALLY

Not only did she buy the tickets, she has paid for everything! the apartment, the delicious food. the tours. A beautiful scarf, fabulous fabric.
THANK YOU Linda. It really has been a fantastic journey!

And from this city of art, in reciprocity, I will do a painting for her ...of this trip. So it is thrilling and thrilling. Art of living.
I met with Marilyn, we talked and talked like old friends that had so much to say to each other. I will make an image for her. Thank you Marilyn Muse for your ideas on wings.

Still. Amazing things happen in this world!

The Glamourous Life - Medieval Modern and *sniff*

In this collection of images is-
-the entrance to Musee Cluny- Museum of The Middle Ages - tapestry, stained glass, ivory carvings, altar pieces, all manner of fragments from weavings.

-the distance between parked cars. Now here is a puzzle. I was tempted to just stay near the parked cars on this street to see how they unparked.

-a gargoyle. There is an icicle hanging from the nose of this gargoyle and it is dripping. This evokes empathy in me as I have the same condition at the moment.

The Glamourous Life - The Art Supply Store

detail of the door-Notre Dame

Alright. I will quit with my attempts to put words beside the pictures. I am sorry for the work it makes for you, my dear gentle reader.
Today we went to the Musee de Cluny. National Museum of the Middle Ages. The lady and the unicorn tapestry is there. And there was a concert of medieval music in a hall that has all the heads (stone ones)that once were attached to the statues on the front of Notre Dame. They have new heads. There is not a photo of this, just to be confusing, The Notre Dame photo is noteworthy because it is an example of the flying butress.
Victor Hugo saved Notre Dame from being razed by writing the book. (Speaking of books that bring fame to things. Tracy Chevalier)
The other day we went to an art supply shop. Passage St. Cloute. Now, if you want thrilling!

The Glamourous Life - Le Louvre, Notre Dame, Are you a Tourist?

The wonderful fog on the water of La Seine.




So the apartment is alright, hmmm? A bit ostentatious for the prairie girl but, she gives a Gallic shrug, suffise.

Le Louvre is ...a very big place.
Here is one of the rooms that Napoleon had dinner parties in. Well, one corner of it anyway.


Venus de Milos. A few years ago my sister and I were on the Greek island of Milos. M1...this pic is for you!

The Glamourous Life - Le Louvre, Notre Dame, Are you a Tourist?

I think this symbol on the sides of buildings means- This is a good place to get rid of the family fortune.

The Glamourous Life - Musée d’Orsay and other amazing things

My practice on this trip, this one to Paris, specifically, rather than the trip of life- mine, in general, is based on a statement made by a shaman in Wade Davis's -The Wayfinders -CBC Massey Lectures.

'I am still. It is the world that is moving to meet me.'

Meeting me, greeting me, embracing me, amazing me, offering- always- all these pleasures...

Eggs and ham on toast! Holy Yummy!

I have the idea that it would be great to eat at a restaurant every meal. Moderation! Because it would be a tragedy of epic proportions to have no desire for croissants or baguettes.

Around the corner, on almost every street is the local Alimentation General. Fortunately we are staying at an apartment. It has a kitchen.

Yesterday..(sweeping cello music from the song,please)

it was snowing. Here is a picture of snow in Paris. (for all of the people in the further northern climates that will, I am sure, not find it an exotic image at all, I can only say..Look at the amazing buildings! There is an exorbitantly high possibility that some famous dead person may have walked right past them. The ghost of History.)

Dwell on your dreams, give your precious energy to this moment rather than to a dying past.

Episode 2...

As I walked along the cobblestone streets beside La Seine, feeling the love, the gratitude, the beauty, that slight nip in the air that makes one's nose drip, admiring the view, I tripped, just slightly, on the uneven ground.

Wow,- I thought, looking down, -how do these women manage with such high he...hello! - A Gold Wedding Band!

Paris gave me a gold wedding ring. It fits perfectly.

(if you feel it is yours let me know I would love this story to keep unfolding)

There are more words in this post because I discovered that my camera had been quietly sitting in the 'on' position in the bag all night. Little Dickens. So it was very sleepy for the Musee d'Orsay and completely comatose for the Matisse-Rodin sculpture Exhibition, which is really to bad because the Musee Rodin edifice is just amazing as the work in it.

Apparently Isadora Duncan taught classes there. Matisse rented rooms. The grounds, even in the winter are amazing. TREES.

When I see the actual painting it is a breath-taking recognition, like when you unexpectedly meet with someone you know. This 'right here', where I can see so much more that I usually see from the narrow place of placid assumption.

The places, the paintings, the artists, Bonnard, Monet, Pissaro (which was quite mystical. There was one in particular that I could smell the paint and feel myself standing beside him, looking at the same scene, as he painted) Toulouse-Lautrec... but all of the work of Degas...was really the most amazing.

I am still. It is life that is moving to meet me.

The Glamourous Life - Musée d’Orsay and other amazing things

I will work on figuring out how to get this sequenced..in the mean time...you get to figure out which pictures matches which words. xoxo!

The Glamourous Life -The Sacred Heart Montmartre

Metro- Blanche
moulin rouge More on the places of worship.
Sacre Coeur
Which I did not climb up the hill to visit. Because.... the area where I am standing to take this picture is the ...THE place in Paris to buy fabric. Dreyfus. Four floors of fabric. They had to get the security guard to show me out at closing time. Silk, linen, wool, cottons...heaven. So many places of worship, hmm?




the signs of the Metro...

The Glamourous Life -Paris breakfast and the Sunday dinner at Jim Haynes

On the way to Jim Haynes for Sunday dinner. This dinner party has been happening for years. Tonight I met people from around the world at this unique event.
Cheese and bread or bread and cheese... it is wonderful to go grocery shopping at the local market around the corner, or that corner or this corner!

The Glamourous Life -Paris Scenes

Across the street from The Eiffel Tower
Now that is a pretty amazing tree, huh?
the gargoyles of St Severin
the art nouveau metro entrance.
and around it is a greenhouse. Very nice.

The Glamourous Life - Paris -Champs-Élysées

L'Arc de Triomphe
On the way to

Champs-Élysées

a coffee
a bike