Notes from travels earlier this summer… And now another note (8.11.14)…Please pardon the missing images. We are working to restore our site from the Massive Russian Computer Hack of 2014… On the heels of painting in Provence the week before (in previous posts), I flew to Florence to await His Grace (aka my husband for… Continue reading Postcard From Italy No. 1 – Florence, a Vineyard Visit and Delightful Lunch
Art & About
Postcard From Provence – No. 3 – Painting in Port, Beginning With Audacity
“Beginning with audacity is a very great part of the painting,” said Winston Churchill, who knew a thing or two about audacity–and about painting, too, it turns out. In the 1920s Churchill took painting lessons in the picturesque coastal village of Cassis, France, where our group also painted during the workshop I attended in May… Continue reading Postcard From Provence – No. 3 – Painting in Port, Beginning With Audacity
Postcard From Provence No. 2 – A-Painting We Will Go
Plein-air painting is not for sissies, let’s just get that straight right now. Why sit in a comfortable, climate-controlled studio, with actual furniture and an actual bathroom, when you can freeze, burn-up, blow away, be swarmed by Japanese tourists, trip on a tree root trying to get away, sprain your ankle, and drop your painting… Continue reading Postcard From Provence No. 2 – A-Painting We Will Go
Postcard From Provence No. 1 – Bonjour!
Bonjour from Aix-en-Provence, also known as Aix-and-Pains, though I don’t know why – maybe because it is hard to find a parking place. But that could be many places, non? I did once park here years ago only to return to the car to find it imprisoned by these scary iron posts that come up… Continue reading Postcard From Provence No. 1 – Bonjour!
Summer Reading to Catch Up on From Spring
I try not to read (or eat) more than I can lift, but sometimes it’s a challenge, particularly with the tons of great spring books that will take me the summer to get through. Here are a handful of my faves. Something here for everyone. Everyone like us, I mean. You know what I mean. Linens… Continue reading Summer Reading to Catch Up on From Spring
A Gallop Through the Getty, and Jackson Pollock’s Mural
As promised, a gallop through the Getty Center in LA. A place so large with collections so extensive that you must gallop, or at least briskly trot, to take it in within a morning. BONUS: Jackson Pollock’s famed Mural back on display.
Art Is Busting Out All Over + Christopher Wool in Chicago + A Cautionary Tale
Art fairs are everywhere these days. The season started a bit earlier for me, however, with an unplanned visit last month to the Art Institute of Chicago and Christopher Wool…
Nelson Mandela, Johnny Clegg, and a Music Hall in Jo’burg 1988
The morning after Nelson Mandela died, NPR’s Renee Montagne interviewed a white South African named Johnny Clegg, whose music I’ve listened to and loved since I saw him perform in Johannesburg in 1988. Clegg’s song, “Asimbonanga,” Zulu for “We Have not Seen Him” stopped me in my tracks and still does. Years later, at a concert in France, where Clegg is popular and known as le Zulu Blanc, he performs Asimbonanga and is joined on stage by Mandela. Wow-oh-wow,
Thanksgiving Puzzle Giveaway!
Here’s something fun everybody can do at Thanksgiving that does not involve a football, a television, a parade float, a stick of butter, or even an iPad. Seriously! Start a new family tradition! Does not contain trans-fats! Good for you and good for your brain. And did I mention fun… Are you puzzled??? (wink, wink)
Where Artists Dwell – A Charming House in Santa Barbara
Maybe it’s the way the Southern California sunlight shines through the windows and plays across the parquet floors and lovingly collected furnishings. Or maybe it’s the creative spirit of the owners, artists Garrett and Ginny Speirs. But whatever it is, it’s one of those houses you just can’t help feeling good in.
What a Month! Part 2-Santa Fe, Stomach Bug, SWAT Team, Quick Draw, La-La Land
Like I was saying, August posts have been a little light because August days have been a little busy. What I want to know is what happened to the “lazy days of summer”? Am I just a girl who can’t say no, or are we all just doing 72,000 more things than we used to do? What’s going on?
What a Month! Part 1: CityKids Storm the Ranch!
Whew. And you wonder why I haven’t posted more. (Or maybe not.) And I wonder why I still haven’t finished my book. Here’s the answer. It starts with a rodeo. August 4: Yup, when I landed back here in Californee we went straight to the rodeo in Santa Barbara. I love me a rodeo for five… Continue reading What a Month! Part 1: CityKids Storm the Ranch!