Airports and the arts

So I finally got around to pulling the museum maps, etc. Out of my backpack from Paris. I found these two with the others.

A pamphlet of the art in the international terminal at the Dallas - Fort Worth airport and a pamphlet from at the museum space in SFO. I think it's genius to have a museum space in an airport. I spent about six hours at both of these airports and while it was cool to wander around and see the art in Dallas, it was much cooler to see the curated exhibits at SFO. They have four exhibit spaces in different parts of the airport and exhibits rotate around. I think you could even go see them without having to be going anywhere. I think they were outside of security. I wish more airports would do this!

An American Artist in Paris

A few weeks ago I was able to take a trip to Paris and fulfill many dreams. One of the coolest things I was able to do, was to go to the Louvre. When I went to Italy there were several moments when I was geeking out over beautiful art and things I'd studied in art history, the Louvre is even more like that. In one room they have practically a whole semesters worth of French art history. The Louvre has at least five da Vinci's, some quick googling tells me that, that's about a third of his paintings! There was an amazing Vermeer exhibit while we were there, it was so cool to see tons of Vermeer's in one place and the work of his contemporaries.

We took a flying tour of the Louvre, it's massive and I wanted to see as much as possible. The top of my list were the Mona Lisa (beautiful but obscured by selfie-ists) the rest of the da Vinci's ( so cool just to see a row of da Vinci paintings!) the winged victory (so beautiful!) and the Venus de Milo (also quite beautiful but obscured by many people).

We hit the Islamic art section, that was cool, many beautiful things there. One of these days I'll have to get a camera that works better in low light because museums are often dark (to protect the art).
I was interested by all the students/artists that were making sketches and studies in the Louvre. I wish that I had been assigned or encouraged to do that more when I was in school, we didn't have the Louvre of course but the MOA and the SMA have some really great exhibits.
One sad note about the Louvre, it is not very accessible for those with limited mobility (I'm not sure any of Europe really is), if you can't or don't want to climb the stairs and do all of the standing and walking, you might just want to google it.
We also went to the Musee d'Orsay, which is where the major impressionist collection is, it's pretty cool as well. We got a little burnt out when we were there, it was our third sight seeing event of the day.

The Orangerie was also very cool, there are two oval rooms that Monet designed for panels of his water lilies. They also have a smaller collection of more impressionists.

 I think those are all the museums we went to but we also went to some beautiful cathedrals, Notre Dame, and to Sainte-Chapelle. I think Sainte-Chapelle is lesser known but it is absolutely amazing, just walls and walls of stained glass.
Really all of Paris is kind of a work of art and there are statues and monuments everywhere. It was an amazing trip and I can't wait to go again someday!

Zion Art Exhibition

Update: I didn't post this in time, sorry.

This exhibit closes soon but I really enjoyed it so I want to share that if you're in the area you should check it out. I didn't love every piece but there were a lot of really great works and I was reminded of the things that I want to be as an artist and what I want to bring to my art. It's a good reminder and motivator for me to make art a priority in my life. I just started a new full time job and making art is giing to be more challenging but it's soo important to me.

I had an art filled weekend, I checked out the exhibits at the MOA, this was my favorite. Then we hit up the Springville Museum of Art, this was a fun and informative exhibit.
It's good to be visiting art exhibits again, I haven't done that enough recently. Here's to being better going forward.

The Getty Villa

So about a month ago I got the opportunity to go to the Getty Villa in Southern California and it was amazing! The Getty Villa is a recreation of a Roman Villa based on an actual villa preserved by Vesuvius at Herculaneum.

It was amazing to see the collection antiquities at the Villa, I am in awe of the talents and skill of ancient artists.

Possibly one of the coolest thing about the Getty is that they're an independently wealthy museum and as such they can do all sorts of cool things that most museums could only dream of doing.

Museums in the Bay Area

I just got back from a trip to Palo Alto and San Francisco and my family indulged my love of art while we were there. I was able to go to three museums while there and saw so much amazing art. It was interesting and sort of sad, as I went through with my camera, I had to remind myself to actually look at the art and enjoy it while I was actually there, rather than focusing on just taking pictures of the art I liked. I think that's a real challenge of this day and age, to be there in the moment, rather than just documenting.
Anyway the first museum we went to was the De Young in Golden Gate Park. Golden Gate Park is sort of the Central Park of the West, I'd like to see more of it some day. The De Young was not on the top of my list of things to do with our afternoon and evening in SF but I was pleased to learn that you can get into both the De Young and the Legion of Honor for $10. You could pay about that much or more than that just to see a museum at a college campus, it's an incredible deal. If you only have time for one of the two, my personal preference would be the Legion of Honor, but that's a matter of taste. You can see from the De Young's very architecture that it is more of a modern/contemporary focus. The De Young does have a wonderful collection of American Art, like the beginning of America onward.

We went to the Legion of Honor next. The Legion of Honor is closer to the coast, there is a beautiful view of Golden Gate Bridge from the grounds.

The building is neoclassical and very beautiful. There are several Rodin's that highlight the collection and work's by all kinds of big name artists. It is always a thrill for me, an art nerd, to see works by artists I've studied and looked up to: Degas, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, etc.

 

They also have some beautiful and very exciting ancient pieces: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, etc.

The last museum was the Cantor Center for the Arts on Stanford University Campus. We were there for graduation and it had been a long hot day, so I wasn't able to fully see the museum but what I saw was fantastic. The art museums I make it to most frequently are two college museums and they have some wonderful things in their collections but it's hard to compete with the money behind Stanford, the Cantor has an amzing collection and it's free to attend. There are more Rodin's and some Greek/Roman, and other cool things that I'm forgetting, I was in there for less than a half an hour.
If you're ever in the area, check these museums out!

More Museums

I was able to visit two of my local museums a few days ago and it was great. The Springville Museum had a variety of exhibits but the one I was most intrigued by was Fahimeh Amiri's miniatures, she learned the tradition and technique when she was a child, they are fascinating.

I also returned home to my alma mater and visited the MOA. They have a stunning exhibit, Treasures of British Art 1400-2000. I was thrilled to see paintings dating from the renaissance and of such famous subjects as the Tudors. I highly recommend checking it out!

Museum days

I didn't actually paint today (or Monday, since it was a holiday) and that makes me a little sad, but today I did visit an art museum and in some ways I feel like that's just as important. I went with my friend to The British Passion for Landscape: Masterpieces from National Museum Wales exhibit. It was a nice exhibit with a lot of beautiful paintings etc. If you're a fan of beautiful and sort of pastoral landscapes, you'll be thrilled. Many of the paintings felt the same to me, though they were obviously different.

I was glad that I went with a friend, on my own in a museum I tend to speed through, perhaps not giving the art the consideration that it deserves; with my friend (who happily has a similar but perhaps slightly slower viewing speed than my own) along I was altering my standard walk through and spent longer looking at paintings, maybe even actually reading the cards posted with the paintings for more than just the artist name or medium and support used. It was also awesome that my friend and I were pretty much in agreement on taste, we liked and didn't like the same paintings. I don't like when I'm with someone at a museum or art show and they say "oh, isn't this wonderful" about something I think is ugly and perhaps wouldn't even consider art; I have very strong views and opinions on art and it's sort of rude to express some of the negative ones when someone wants to discuss art.

This has become a ramble and I'm not sure if I'll post if after all but I think the point I was trying for, is that it's good to get out and view good art, to view art that isn't your own and perhaps even to view the things that I don't consider to be art. It's good to get a little perspective, to be inspired, to study the techniques of others and to get out and do something a little different. I love a good museum trip, from the palaces of art to my own local and perhaps somewhat humble local museums.

For the love

I stumbled upon a program on the National Gallery in London, it's kind of showing a look at the Gallery and a sort of a behind the scenes look at a day in the life, or year of the life of the gallery.
I've never been to the museum and it isn't one that I've given a great deal of thought to, I knew there were a lot of great museums in London and intended to get there some day, I now fully wish/intend to make it to the National Gallery some day.
Going to the museums, standing among great masterworks is good for the soul, good for my soul anyway (and I would venture to impose it to all souls).

I am an art nerd, the friends I went to Italy with can verify. I get a huge thrill seeing masterworks in person, pieces that I've studied and pieces that I love. It was such a thrill to be there and in person in the Vatican Museum, the Ufizi, the Academia and to be right there, real and in person with the works of Durer, da Vinci, Michelangelo, etc. those that I admire, look up to and respect.  The National Gallery is full of gems, they have a list of 30 paintings, highlights of the collection and the artists, the paintings, they're fantastic!
I may be rambling, I just felt moved, as I often am, by great art and moved to share some of my feelings and enthusiasm. It's been an art rich evening, I hit a few galleries in my local gallery stroll and then this program...art is wonderful.

A visit to the Met

Fortuitous circumstances introduced me to this video today and I had to share it! So apparently the Metropolitan Museum of Art undertook to create a facsimile of a Moroccan courtyard. I really hope I get a chance to see this space in person. Back to the video, I love all this video says about craftsmanship, I feel like in many ways craftsmanship has fallen by the wayside here, but clearly there is great worth in craftsmanship.

Spiritual and Religious Art Show

So I mentioned that I was fortunate enough to have a piece included in the 29th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art show. It was a great experience, I always love this show and am so honored to have been a part of it. Thanks to all those who came to the show and for anyone who was unable to come see my painting while it was on display, here it is. A big thanks to the Springville Museum of Art!

Home
watercolor
9x9in.
2014
Series: Finding Home

Ps, it's the top one.

Studies

I'm trying to brush up my skills, I've been focusing so much on paintings and geometric designs that some of my drawing skills have slipped. In an attempt to reverse that I've made some attempts to do some studies of master's works, like daVinci and Durer. I'd fallen off of that some but I've recently had some renewed efforts. As I've mentioned I've started a drawing group and I've been making studies when I visit museums or when I see something I like. It's a small step but I'm hoping it will something I can keep up.

New Year

It's a New Year, I don't get into New Years resolutions much but the new year is a wonderful time to review and to look to the future. 2014 was a pretty good year, I've been privileged to participate in a lot of shows this year.
I'm excited for the future, I'm working on big plans for the new year and some fun ones too. I started a drawing group with some of my friends, we'll take turns sitting for one another so that we can all get practice drawing, the first one was fun, I'm excited to have more. I need the practice.
I'm also renewing my efforts to attend gallery strolls. Usually I have intention to go, but by the time it comes around, I would rather stay home instead of making the effort to go out. Well see how it goes.
Here's to art in the new year!

Update

So I haven't blogged for a while but I'm really excited to announce that my art will be in two shows opening this week.
I am thrilled to again be included in the 29th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah show at the Springville Museaum of Art. The show opens this Wednesday!
I'm also pleased to be a part of the holiday show at the Utah Arts Festival Gallery! The show opens Thursday night and there will be a gallery stroll Friday from 6-9.
If you have the chance, check out both or either of these show!

Museums

I came across this article and it was really interesting. It talks about how people view art in museums, specifically with the influx of cameras, phones, etc. I think some good points are made in the article. I know that while I love going to museums, I am often a quick viewer; I don't generally read the blurb on the side of the piece, I look at the painting and I move along. I also like to take pictures when it's allowed in a museum, a lot of times it's a museum that I won't get to visit very often and with my own pictures I can go back and experience the art again and remember when I was there.

Sometimes it's hard to feel like you can fully enjoy a museum at your leisure. I loved getting to visit the big museums in Italy, but by necessity (there were hoards of people at the Vatican museum the Academia and the Uffizi) a lot of them were a very controlled path through the museum, no doubling back, it wasn't always possible to take as much time with pieces of art as one might wish. (I might also add that I know you're not allowed to take pictures in the Academia and I'm a little shocked when I see so many pictures of the David on social media from inside the museum, I don't blame the guards for being so cranky, no one listens to them).
I have noticed though, that when I am able to return to museums regularly I'm able to really gain better appreciation of the pieces I see, there are still pieces I blow by because I don't care for them (I can be a snob about art) but there are pieces that I come to love more and more with each visit.
Anyway it was a thought provoking article for me.

Museums

I've had two museum trips in the last two days, which is awesome...not that I think about it I actually was at a third but it wasn't actually to see art (they're in between exhibits etc. more on that later perhaps). Anyway I really want to encourage anyone who hasn't yet gone to this exhibit, to do so because it's really great. I had the chance to go to a symposium on the exhibit last Friday and it was cool to learn more about the exhibit, the pieces themselves and the artists. Anyway see the exhibit, don't forget to make your reservation and bring your ticket with you.
If you can't make it there then think about downloading the free app that goes along with the exhibit, it'll be almost like you could go...except for the awesome being there part.
Anyway, go and do!