Saturday, June 16, 2007

Back at Home

Marcel Duchamp "Cast Alive" Nice to see that he was not just showing urinals... There was a wonderful book collage of his also. I liked reading his book of Interview. I understood him better after that.
Jean Dubuffet " Landscape of the Written Word" He was the father of Art Brut. I love his stuff. So spontaneous. Let chance be his guide.
Courtyard with upper gallery. Beautiful light casting in that room. The sound of the water dripping echos in a very peaceful way that just orchestrate the light and the space. Makes you want to sit and meditate. Be part of that peace.


I got back about a week ago. The last days of my trip were spent in musing around on my own. It was most relaxing and enjoyable. The weather was so different than what I am use to in Alaska. Very hot, humid and windy, so clouds moving in and out. When the storms are coming you can feel the electricity in the air and it give you a sense of uneasiness. While going around I got to paint few watercolors and take some notes on what I was seeing and reading. I took more pictures. I guess I ended up with some 1200 pictures together. I must say that in museums I took pictures of the artifact then took pictures of the name of the artist so that adds up quite a bit. The Nelson-Atkins Museum is wonderful. I spent hours in there. It is a true collection, which in my opinion has hand picked beautiful pieces of art and has a perfect way of showing them. The lighting in there is exquisite. I think that the Louvre and the Prado have to take notice of their technique. It is a joy to be able to look at something without a overkill glare or under lit room. I particularly liked the architecture of the building and the inside court area with a gallery on the upper floor where they have showned the sculptor Henry Moore's work. Most of the statues are studies of the actual final size but mini versions or models. That gave you the possibility to have a giant view over few years of this man's life in a very small area. On the last floor I even found a Yupik Mask. Can't get away from that... hahaha. I would not want to anyway. They only problem was that the museum was opening a new wing the day after we were leaving and I didn't get to see their African exhibit. This was something that I was looking forward to and will have to wait for another time. Oh well! Can't be too greedy, I know.


When I got back Emily was waiting with Gaia at the airport. I couldn't believe how much Gaia had growned in two weeks. Emily was ready for a brake and I was ready to take her back.


Curt left few hours after my return for Seattle and then came back on Wed. to depart again for the Gulkana River until Sunday. The salmons are in... !!!


I have made a major clean up in the studio and will be ready on Monday to finish the last phase of "Halibut Cove". I also started to listen to Labyrinth a novel by Kate Moss. So far I am not into it. I have also started to read Twyla Tharp's book "The Creative Habit" Very interesting. I want to write a curriculum on creativity to potentially expend on the class that I have taught in the past. It has very good exercise and insight. I like the fact that she is a choreographer and it gives me something new to check out.


Today was the highlight of my month.... Massage at Sona Vita by Sarah Jane. She is fantastic. Kneads me like a big lump of dough. The only problem is having to get up after such a relaxing session. I would love to sleep it of for an hour afterwards. Emily and I had lunch at Middle Way then a mandatory tour of Title Wave Bookstore. We good the new Barbara Kingsolver today. She is relating her new way of life. Eating as much as possible from what she can grow of what is available in her area according to season etc. She is also cutting down on her driving and conserves other energies as much as possible. I had gone to see her give a lecture last year at UAA and was looking forward to get read about her new experiences. Emily got a yoga Kripalu Book. I want to go to one of their retreat in Massachusetts one of these days.


It is good to be home. It always takes me a week to get back from a trip. I need to process all I have seen and done.

1 comment:

Deb Hardman said...

My goodness you do get around Roxanne! Looks like you & Nancy & Denise had a lot of fun!

I found a wonderful felter through a search for Lucy Zercher (who is a local wonderful felter). I'm thinking 2010 might be good for this one. There is a link on my blog today via Lucy Zercher.