Art With Picasso At Home

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Paul

Well, it’s been more than a week since my last post. In that time we have settled into life at home…somewhat. I’m not sure we can ever settle into what life was like before our adventures of the last year. Beside my being retired, our travels have changed the way we live. In addition, some things have changed at home in our absence and required attention.

Our television no longer receives shows through the digital decoder. It does play DVD’s. Of course we have gotten quite used to limited TV during our winter travels in Picasso and our sojourn in Europe where we didn’t understand the language. Therefore, we have decided for the moment to go sans television. I’ve been scanning the listings and have yet to find anything that makes me want to get a new TV. We have been watching some of the art videos we purchased in Europe. We’ll see how life without television progresses.

Painting has been delayed. When I unpacked my paints from Europe and began to put them away I discovered that the floor of my studio is caving in on one end. Therefore, rather than setting up to paint I have been packing and removing everything in my studio. When that is complete I will tear up the floor to see what is causing the problem. Then we can plan remedial action. In the meantime I have set up a couple of easels in the music room so I can paint a couple of hours a day. I’m determined to work on the deconstruction/construction no more than half of each day.

Picasso needed to be winterized as well. When we returned from our trip last winter/spring I didn’t winterize the trailer. One day last week I completed that task and put our rolling home to bed for the winter.

Another project was to extend our deck railing and build a bannister down the steps. This is to assist with getting down the steps during bad weather. Jean’s studio is in the back so she goes back and forth a good deal. The railing will make it a safer trip. That was another couple of days.

As you can tell it has been a busy ten days since we returned. In a few days I fly to Texas to visit my brother and his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren! What happened to a relaxing winter of painting?

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Home?

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Paul

After five months of travel, staying in 14 different places we arrived tonight at our next accomodation. It took over 15 hours of travel across 8 time zones to reach this place in Seattle, Washington, USA. The house seems quite nice and vaguely familiar. I think we will like staying here for a while. After all, we have not made reservations for our next destination.

Paul

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Last Night in Europe

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Paul
Fish and chips with peas

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Tonight is our last night in Europe at our London home, London Guest House. We went down to Acton town for dinner at The Belvedere Pub. That was somewhat difficult because Jean’s knee is acting up. We haven’t gone out for two days to try to rest it. Hobbling to the bus and then to the pub was as much as she can tolerate at the moment. The airport will be a bit easier because we have arranged with United for special handling with wheelchairs, etc. Jean already has an appointment with our doctor for Thursday.

We leave Europe with mixed feelings. There is no question that we are ready and happy to return home after such a long absence. On the other hand our traveling has established its own rhythm and pattern that has become quite familiar.

Some things I will miss: new sights, meeting people, fine art surprises, British fish and chips, baguettes, croissant, and soccer as the major sport on TV.

Some things I’m looking forward to at home: familiar surroundings, quiet, time to paint in my studio, seeing our friends, home cooking of some favorite foods, reliable internet connections.

I hope to begin painting some pieces inspired by my favorite memories of our trip and will blog about those memories when I post the resulting paintings. Of course we also will be traveling again, both with Picasso (our trailer) and in the spirit of Picasso. Stay tuned for those posts!

Retirement is comepletely underrated!

Paul

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Victoria and Albert Museum

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Paul

Today we took a jaunt to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) to see their paintings. This is somewhat like the Smithsonian in that it houses all sorts of stuff in a Victorian building that was designed like a palace. Therefore, you must walk through lots of rooms of silver and gold knicknacks to get to the paintings. There is no direct way to get from one place to another.

The paintings are primarily British artists with some notable exceptions. Delacroix is represented as are several painters of the Barbizon school. However, the best reason for an artist to visit this museum are the two rooms dedicated to J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. Wow! One room is filled with Constable’s plenn aire oil studies on paper that were used for large works in the studio. These really demonstrated his method of working up a finished painting. Many of these studies are beautiful paintings in their own right.

Another surprise were oil on glass transparencies painted by Thomas Gainsborough. These were viewed through a special box viewer that included a magnifying lens and candles behind the glass. It was quite the thing in Victorian England and the paintings are still beautiful today.

We hustled back to our lodging to order pizza and stuffed jalapenos in time to catch a TV special. It was Andrew Lloyd Weber presenting a documentary about the Pre-Raphaelites of the 19th century. He is a collector of their work and quite knowledgable. The show highlighted a couple of paintings we have seen at the Tate as well as many we did not know before. It was a great educational show. Now we’re settled for the night.

Home in three days.

Paul

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London Saturday Afternoon

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Paul
Club crest of Manchester United F.C. in the 19...

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Yesterday we packed a box to send home. After walking to the Post Office to mail the box we looked for a pub to watch some footie (soccer to those of you in the US).

The first pub we stopped in had Liverpool and Manchester United on, but the fans were all avid Liverpool fans. That would never do. Therefore, we returned to The Belvedere, which has become one of our favorites in Acton. The place was packed, but we managed to find a couple of stools with views of three of the 8 TVs playing the match. Liverpool fans were on one side of the pub and Man U fans on the other. We were in the middle. Liverpool was ahead , but soon Man U tied it up. That was the way the game ended. Unfortunately, Manchester City later won and took over first place.

We grabbed a table when the place cleared, pulled out our Kindles, and settled in with some chicken wings to read and await the next match. We ordered some dinner just as the Chelsea and Everton match began. Chelsea was ahead 2-0 by the half and we decided to return to London Guest House.

That’s Saturday afternoon in London!

Paul

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Whitstle Stop to Wales

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Paul
Clarach Bay, a view from Constitutional Hill, ...

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We just returned from a two day rail trip to Aberystwyth, Wales to visit our friend Carrie. It had been 16 years since we last saw her when she visited Seattle. We spent a wonderful evening walking the waterfront and dining in a Greek restaurant while talking nonstop. Carrie is studying law and we had a wonderful time hearing about her work and discussing ethics and politics.

Aberystwyth is a small town of 16,000 residents on the mid-coast of Wales that is dominated by a University of 10,000 students. Aberystwyth University is almost 150 years old. The National Library of Wales sits adjacent to the University on a hill overlooking the town and Ceredigion Bay. Aberystwyth Arts Centre is one of the largest and busiest arts centers in Wales. These institutions all contribute to a vibrant community.

A 1 1/2 mile promenade stretches across the waterfront from Constitution Hill to the long pier and old Norman Castle at the other end. Aber, as it is known locally, is acclaimed for the beautiful sunsets over the bay and for the starlings that roost in the pier in the winter. At sunrise and sunset large swarms of these birds fly to or from their overnight roosts in the pier. The flocks fly as one organism, forming elegant shapes in the evening skies. We were a bit early in the season for the show, but there were several hundred starlings giving a hint of the airborne ballet that marks winters evenings.

The train trip took us through the English midlands to Birmingham, where we transferred to the Wales train. From Birmingham we rode to Shrewsbury and then into Wales. Yes, we did see the abbey at Shrewsbury and a glimpse of Brother Cadfael‘s Garden as we passed. The Welsh countryside is beautiful. Going out it was foggy and rainy, which lends a mysterious aura to the land. Returning on Friday on a sunny evening the light stretched among the hills creating beautiful scenes.

Today we’re back in London. In five days we return home to Seattle.

Paul

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The Most Beautiful Painting in London and Evensong at Westminster Abbey

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Paul
c. 1834-1835

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Today we visited the British Tate Museum. Our primary goal was to revisit Joseph Mallord William Turner, especially his later works. However, I couldn’t go there without seeing the John Singer Sargent painting of two girls lighting Chinese lanterns. In my humble opinion this is the most beautiful painting in London. Here’s a link to the museum page about it: Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. Of course the Turners were excellent as we know. His later work showed expression and abstraction that other artists didn’t use for half a century.

Late in the afternoon we walked to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong Service. In May we missed it and attended one at Westminster Cathedral (Catholic). However, today being Sunday the Abbey is open for worship with no tourists taking snapshots. It was just us (and several hundred other folks), the choir, and the organ. What beautiful music! Some of the boys in the choir are as young as 6 years old. It was a great way to end the afternoon.

That was followed by dinner in a pub we visited in May and a ride home via the Tube and bus. Only ten more days until we return to Seattle!

Paul

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Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Paul
The Dance Class (La Classe de Danse),1873–1876...

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Today we ventured to the Royal Academy of Arts for a special exhibit: Degas and the Ballet – Picturing Movement. Click on the exhibition link to see a brief video of some of the pieces. This unique exhibition demonstrates the artist’s skills as a painter, sculptor, photographer, and a student of the science of motion. Most of us know of Degas‘ paintings, some of you may know of his sculptures (many of which are displayed at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris), but I suspect few know of his ventures into photography and his interests in the scientific study of animal motion.

The exhibit occupies ten rooms: Introduction, Describing the Dance, Mobile Viewing, The Panoramic Gaze, The Human Animal, The Dancer in Movement, Degas the Photographer, Degas’ Late Years (The Animated Figure), Color and Dynamism, and Coda. These rooms follow the artist’s life through his study and documentation of dance in all the media at his command.

The paintings included dozens of oils and pastels that are held by individual collections. The Royal Academy has the prestige to obtain use of these for the exhibition.

Degas’ foray into the new art of photography shows an artist willing to experiment with new technologies and incorporate them into his techniques. He took photos for reference for his paintings. Degas also used ideas from photography to develop his sculptures. Like a photographer of the time who were tinkering with perspective, he would sketch pictures of his model from 360 degrees, then use these to make final sketches for the sculpture.

A side benefit was a small special exhibit of the work of Nigel Hall, one of the Royal Academisians. Known for his abstract paintings, drawings, and sculptures, this exhibit features sketches from his travel sketchbooks. Travels included Switzerland, Italy, France, Australia, and Arizona. His ability to capture a place with a few lines and simple washes is wonderful.

The Degas exhibit was an art class in itself! Here are some representative images. They are quite small, but the best I could find online. The exhibit link above is better.

Paul

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Gone Layabout in London

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Paul
Satellite image of Great Britain and Northern ...

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Since arriving in London we have done little except lay around our room at London Guest House. I arrived ill. After consulting my home physician by e-mail, the internet, and a London pharmacists it appears as if I probably suffered from “travelers illness.” Although it began in Paris, I prefer to call it King George’s Revenge.

Laying in for a few days has given us the opportunity to revel in English language television. Three months in France left us longing for hearing English spoken on a regular basis. Our friends JP and Elli were the only people to whom we could speak English and we were only with them for about 5 weeks of our time in France. We’ve watched lots of mysteries. Tonight we’ll watch a football (soccer) match on TV when Great Britain plays Montenegro in the Euro 2012 Qualifiers.

Bye!

Paul

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Art, Packing, and Pain

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Paul

We have begun packing for our two week stay in London. Art supplies will not be used there, so they are being packed into deep storage so to speak. An inventory of my summer shows that I painted 40 pictures. That’s not as many as I had hoped to complete, but it’s a nice collection.

Today we showed our completed works to JP who was given his choice of works as our thanks for his and Elli’s wonderful friendship and sharing their apartment with us. Jp will be taking possession of a few works prior to our leaving and we will be sending one from home.

Unfortunately, as I was opening my art case this morning (bent over in a bad position) my back muscles spasmed. This has been happening since I took a bad fall in Yellowstone a few years ago. It hadn’t happened all the time we’ve been in Europe, so I had become blase. No more. I cannot sit, stand, walk, lie, or anything else at the moment without some pain. Medications and wine have eased it a bit. From experience I know that I need to relax so the muscles know they can relax. Om! Om! Om!

This comes on top of Jean’s trip to the emergency room in Arles for knee pain, prevgiously unmentioned. After sampling the French health care system (a smooth working machine) with doctor’s exam, x-rays,and prescriptions she was determined have arthritis in the knee. Our main concern was that she is safe to fly and they said yes. All of this for a mere pittance of cost. Therefore, we head to London as two somewhat handicapped senior citizens. The biggest problem is carrying the many bags we have through the airports. We hope the luggage carts are easily accessible.

Anyway, this should be my last post before London. We leave at 7:30 Tuesday morning.

Au revoir!

Paul

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