Showing posts with label artist travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artist travel. Show all posts
Monday, May 27, 2019
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Visiting Giverny
Today is a chilly and grey day here on the Pacific coast so I thought I'd remind myself of warmer days.
Have you heard of Claude Monet's Giverny home? His glorious garden, pink house, yellow dining room? The brilliant blue kitchen tiles, sunny studio and lily pond?
All of this and more is found a short drive outside of Paris. Due to some car rental delays we barely made it in time to get in by the cut off of 5:30 pm but I am so grateful that we visited.
It is a feast for the eyes and there is no wonder that Monet painted there until his death as inspiration is around every corner.
Have you heard of Claude Monet's Giverny home? His glorious garden, pink house, yellow dining room? The brilliant blue kitchen tiles, sunny studio and lily pond?
All of this and more is found a short drive outside of Paris. Due to some car rental delays we barely made it in time to get in by the cut off of 5:30 pm but I am so grateful that we visited.
It is a feast for the eyes and there is no wonder that Monet painted there until his death as inspiration is around every corner.
I hope this warms your day. As it brings back lovely memories for mine.
JJ
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Van Gogh in France
What can one say about looking at art in France... it is crazy how much there is to see. You could look at art around the clock and be there for months. So inevitably I had to cull and pick certain places, museums and galleries over others in the hopes that someday we will return and I can see ones that I missed this trip.
Arles was a place that I was drawn to see because of Van Gogh's short time living there. While there we visited The Fondation Vincent Van Gogh and walked around the town. The famous yellow house no longer exists, but the Cafe Vincent Van Gogh remains and the town has erected displays at some of the locations that Van Gogh immortalised in paint while he lived there.
The space is intimate and very well curated showing examples of Van Gogh's evolution from classical to expressionistic painting. It is possible to see the whole gallery in about 2 hours which is perfect when viewing art with children.
Glenn Brown's work. Above Suffer Well and below one of his sculptures made of oil paint referencing Van Gogh's thick brush strokes and palette.
A few scenes of Arles.
There were also many highlights of seeing Van Gogh's paintings in the Musee D'Orsay. Seeing the third version of Bedroom in Arles in person was incredible. That painting seemed to exude light.
More about the art on our trip to come.
*please click through the title of the post to comment or see a list of past posts.
JJ
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Montpellier: The Art Scene
Our two weeks in Montpellier afforded a diverse exposure to art shows. I was very impressed by the free exhibits in two city sponsored spaces: the Carre Sainte-Anne is a converted church which houses contemporary exhibits (a marvelous space in which to look at art) and the deceptively large Pavillon Populaire.
Elina Brotherus was featured in the Pavillon in a sweeping show entitled: La Lumiere venue du Nord, Photographies, videos 1997-2015 (June 29-September 25, 2016). Her work is stunning and very current feeling. Searingly emotional but also calculated she makes comments on very personal subjects using herself as subject matter. Her most confrontational works in this show were about her struggle with unsuccessful infertility treatments. The work was brilliant and hard to look at but the pain was visualized in a most compelling way. Her landscape work is beautiful, use of light complex, and her commentary on the history of painting and the female gaze pushes dialogue further.
Her self-portraiture was also very interesting in terms of today's social media obsession with the "selfie." She was taking selfie's with a personal documentation feel long before smart phones hit the scene. Can you tell? I loved this show.
Barthelemy Toguo was featured at the Carre Sainte-Anne. Deluge (June 22-November 6 2016) is an installation of 54 wooden coffins in the center of the space surrounded by large ink on paper transferred to canvas works. Toguo was making commentary on war (especially referencing Africa in some pieces) and the resilience of the human spirit to regenerate through nature. The show was very succinct and his point was quite clear. I liked the ink effect and the way his imagery was painterly but stark. It enhanced the subject matter.
On the day before the Frederick Bazille show opened at the city's main art museum the Musee Fabre
we visited the permanent collection. (An oversight on my part.) This space was recently renovated and has some lovely works. France has reasonable museum entry fee prices and we spent about 2 hours with the collection which is good for 2 kids under 10 I'd say.
Overall the city is a joy to look at art in. Viewers of all ages were at the galleries while we were there. France certainly appreciates art.
Back with more from our France adventure soon.
JJ
*please click through the title of the post to comment or see older posts
Elina Brotherus was featured in the Pavillon in a sweeping show entitled: La Lumiere venue du Nord, Photographies, videos 1997-2015 (June 29-September 25, 2016). Her work is stunning and very current feeling. Searingly emotional but also calculated she makes comments on very personal subjects using herself as subject matter. Her most confrontational works in this show were about her struggle with unsuccessful infertility treatments. The work was brilliant and hard to look at but the pain was visualized in a most compelling way. Her landscape work is beautiful, use of light complex, and her commentary on the history of painting and the female gaze pushes dialogue further.
Her self-portraiture was also very interesting in terms of today's social media obsession with the "selfie." She was taking selfie's with a personal documentation feel long before smart phones hit the scene. Can you tell? I loved this show.
Barthelemy Toguo was featured at the Carre Sainte-Anne. Deluge (June 22-November 6 2016) is an installation of 54 wooden coffins in the center of the space surrounded by large ink on paper transferred to canvas works. Toguo was making commentary on war (especially referencing Africa in some pieces) and the resilience of the human spirit to regenerate through nature. The show was very succinct and his point was quite clear. I liked the ink effect and the way his imagery was painterly but stark. It enhanced the subject matter.
we visited the permanent collection. (An oversight on my part.) This space was recently renovated and has some lovely works. France has reasonable museum entry fee prices and we spent about 2 hours with the collection which is good for 2 kids under 10 I'd say.
Overall the city is a joy to look at art in. Viewers of all ages were at the galleries while we were there. France certainly appreciates art.
Back with more from our France adventure soon.
JJ
*please click through the title of the post to comment or see older posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Artist Travel: What to Pack
We are now 10 days away from our 6 week France adventure. I have been gathering supplies and despite being away for weeks we are travelling light. Since the boys will not have lots of toys or books to keep them occupied many of their activities will involve us hanging out together. One activity that we enjoy doing together is drawing. We took a trip to the art supply store and each boy picked out their own sketch book. Elliott at age 5 needs a simple spiral bound which will be easier for him to keep open while drawing. Kyan at age 8 chose a black sketch book. I had some older ones laying around and am bringing two for myself. We also have a set of pencils, sharpener, glue in case of any scrapbook inspirations and a thin black Sharpie. I'm also brining a gouache paint set with three brushes, and a set of 24 colour pencils.
Last year on our trip to England I brought a piece to work on. Our trip was only 3 weeks and we kept very busy with sightseeing. When we did have down time I decided to read rather than stitch. This year there will be much more regular day-to-day living since Dave will be working regular work days. So I plan to take advantage of sewing time to get a several pieces stitched towards a two-person show. And I am bringing a small piece of fabric that I designed in my course with fabric paint on muslin. It will be a keepsake for me to hang in our home. In the future I will look at it and remember our time in the south of France.
When deciding what art supplies to bring your trip intentions are the first thing to consider. If you will be sightseeing 99% of the time a sketchbook and camera may be all you should carry. Any other supplies will just weigh you down. Trips are a great time to soak in new inspirations and rest your making side. If you are travelling for an art retreat that is another story. Finding compact options for sketchbooks and supplies will be a big help in terms of keeping your luggage weight down.
But if you are travelling and staying for longer periods bringing along small projects can be useful, especially during down time in airports etc. There are often times while travelling that you have to wait unexpectedly and having something to do with your hands to fill the time really helps with patience.
I will add a small lidded jar for carrying water when we are out and about and I may add more embroidery floss to this pile as well and my DSLR camera is also not in the photo above. All the art pieces will be bound for finishing after the trip. There is no room for sewing machines on this journey. The excitement is mounting...if you are travelling this summer I wish you the best.
JJ
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