Happy New Year!

Hard to believe it’s 2014! I know I’m not the only one who is astonished by how quickly time seems to pass. I blame this mostly on my kids, who are growing up and moving out on their own in rapid succession. I didn’t really believe that they’d be living at home forever (although at times it seemed like it!), with me cooking meals and doing laundry and driving to orthodontist appointments and sporting events and play dates and fretting over social lives and grades, but still, the “end” seemed to come so suddenly. I’m sure my looming 50th birthday also contributes to this sense of time flying….but it’s not here yet, and we still have one of our younglings at home,  so enough about that!

Aside from a lot of change, the past year brought some wonderful opportunities, not the least of which was a trip to Spain and France in November. My husband had business there, and I got to tag along. We were somewhat stunned to be traveling without kids in tow, but luckily there was a lot to distract us from drifting into melancholy over this unfamiliar phase. Inspiration was everywhere!

In Barcelona, I was absolutely awed by La Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic Basilica designed by Antoni Gaudi. I can’t remember when or why I first learned of Gaudi, but I was certainly unprepared for the wonder of this church, and Gaudi’s other works in Barcelona. He was a true visionary. Read more about Antoni Gaudi and La Sagrada Familia here: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/

We also visited Parc Güell and La Pedrera/Casa Mila, both designed by Gaudi and each fantastically unique:

Parc Güell, Barcelona

Casa Mila, Barcelona

The Fundacio Joan Miro was another high point of our visit to Barcelona. It was visually stunning, and gave a wonderful background on Miro’s life and work.

Next up was a long drive through the countryside of Southern France, with stops in the villages of Mirepoix and Barbotan:

The gate and church of Saint-Pierre, Barbotan

Heading back to Spain, we were delighted by the people, scenery and architecture of the Basque Country:

San Sebastián, Spain

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Reversing course again (re-reversing?), we headed to the wine country of Bordeaux, France. Neither of us are really wine connoisseurs, but we did our best to learn! Along the way, we were treated to more lovely scenery (and wine):

Bordeaux wine country

We ended our trip in Paris, where the highlights (besides being in Paris) were a day-long tour of Versailles, and an afternoon spent wandering through the Musee d’Orsay:

Versailles

View from the Musee d’Orsay

Visiting the d’Orsay gave me a chance to discover the work of artists I’d not heard previously heard of, like Alexandre Alexeievitch Borisoff, L. Birge Harrison, Henri-Edmund Cross and Odilon Redon. I was also thrilled to see a range of artworks by well known masters such as Winslow Homer, Alfred Sisley, Toulouse Lautrec, Eduard Manet, Gustave Caillebotte, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. I feel like those last two have almost become cliches, as duplicates of their work are seen literally everywhere, but standing in front of Van Gogh’s The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise and The Siesta, and Monet’s Les Dindons and The Magpie, my appreciation for these artists was definitely renewed.

La Siesta, Vincent Van Gogh, courtesy of Musee d’Orsay

The Magpie, Claude Monet, courtesy of Musee d’Orsay

This did not stop me from purchasing a Starry Night  i-phone case in the museums’s gift shop! It did, however, reinforce the value of seeing and experiencing art in person, rather than in a book or on a screen. The color, texture (brushstroke!), and size of each work has so much impact and are integral to the story – they might be lost without that crucial third dimension. Glorious.

So, one of my resolutions for 2014 is to see more art! And make more art!  After all the work I did refining my watercolor palette prior to my trip, I’m now back to working in water-based oils in preparation for an upcoming group show by the Brig Studio Artists at the Phinney Center Gallery. Most of these artists paint in oil or acrylic, so for the sake of continuity, I’m revisiting oil painting and having a great time. Hopefully I can channel some of the inspiration from the wonderful art I saw on our trip into my new work. In any case, come see our show, beginning April 2, 2014!

Another resolution is to post here more frequently, so come back soon. Happy 2014!