take a peek. i’m featured on this week’s self portrait day.

so we went, we saw, but we had to move through the collection quickly because about three minutes into the first room, max discovered that he could hear the sound of his voice echo. sadly, i had the unrealistic impression that i would be able to take (with no flash of course) pictures of the sargent exhibit, but since it was on loan it was not allowed. which i totally understand. (the rest of the museum allows non-flash photography, which i still can’t believe is even allowed, so i had my hopes sorta up.) it’s just…they were so beautiful. his whites, beautiful, yes. but so were all of his subject’s direct and intense gazes carrying the trademark eye lined dark eyes. his broad brush strokes and summary attention to detail left for my imagination to fill. his signature scratched out of his dark umber backgrounds. my favorite part about his paintings is always the painterly hands of his subjects. we were able to see a few sketches of his little sister from when he was only seventeen years old. the best was finishing of the small exhibit with a few from his visit to capri. his interest in exotic lands and people reaffirms my desire to travel and paint. the los angeles county museum of art says it best about the influences of italy on one of my most admired painters:

“Each summer Sargent returned to Italy where he painted landscapes, genre scenes, and portraits. In Italy, Sargent was at home. He makes visible the vital hold that Italy had on all American visitors — not simply the abstract ideal of history, but rather the realm of the sensual, the special qualities of light, the attention to uncomplicated pleasures of the table, the balmy air. Italian landscapes generally evoke the world of people, a social and sensual matrix. Even when the scene is devoid of figures and almost abstract, he captures a world of sensation as it is registered not just by the eyes, but by the body as a whole: light as warmth, color as taste and texture. This is one reason why Italy is such a responsive subject, enhancing all of Sargent’s best qualities-and the reason why Italy remained a part of Sargent from the moment of his birth.”

promised myself time away from the computer until i get a scrapbook done for my dad. it’s hilarious what i’m motivated by, browsing the internet and blogging ha! so see you in a few days! (a trip to the chrysler is in order to see sargent this weekend, stay tuned for pictures!)

a sneak peek at a painting i’ve loosely started on. my husband on the right, his friend steve on the left. (and looking quite pink might i add.)

in just under two days, max has managed to break:

gotta love being three! :0

Today I learned, in my learning about pearls, that pearls are what happen when an oyster or some other mollusk is irritated by the invasion of some disturbing intruder in its closed shell. An infinitesimal shrimp may get caught in an oyster and become the tiny intruder around which a pearl is built. A grain of sand may be slight but not too slight to cause a pearl to form. Pearls are layers and layers of soothing “nacre” intended to insulate the delicate mollusk from the irritant that has abraded it. At root, a pearl is a “disturbance,” a beauty caused by something that isn’t supposed to be there, about which something needs to be done. It is the interruption of equilibrium that creates beauty. Beauty is the response to provocation, to intrusion.

“How like art,” I catch myself thinking. The pearl’s beauty is made as a result just as art is made as a response to something in our environment that fires us up, sparks us, causes us to think differently. The pearl, like art, must be catalyzed. And we, unlike the mollusk, can invite the disturbance that provokes us into art.

~excerpt from The Sound of Paper, by Julia Cameron

(she makes me think of that good old proverb, “do not cast your pearls before swine.” maybe this could be applied in an art sense. by become selective with who we choose as our audience, at first. i’m not sure when the time is right to show everyone, or if we should have a protective shield at all. i suppose we need all various opinions at one point, but but it seems that so many other artists i know have these horrible experiences from art school, getting assignments turned in just to make a grade, pushing themselves in a direction to please everyone but their artistic selves, being turned off from being an artist at all. just somehing to think about…i’m reading two cameron books right now and they blend nicely together…)

been busy playing lately. the nice thing about having a toddler is that it really, really forces you to play. productive, unconcerned-about-time play.

we were outside all day today. walking to the beach a few blocks away, playing in the sand (& later sandbox), laying on the porch wicker with a good book, dreaming and not feeling guilty about it. sometimes taking time out from the stuff inside is the very best way to come back and be even more productive.

i love the weather lately. it’s been so reviving. when we were at the beach, i realized that the cold weather was finally gone. rolled up my pants and took off my shoes. let the sand cover my toes. watched airplanes streak cloud lines in the sky. turned up mraz singing “summer breeze” on my ipod (it just came to that song) and closed my eyes to the sun. i remember this. i remember really enjoying this.

next time i’m coming back more prepared. with my sketchpad and some sand toys, snacks and water. my mind was taking in all the composition possibilities, so many things to bring to paper. i love this little beach we can walk to because it’s edged by the neighborhood elementary school’s playground. we can swing and feel like our feet are going to fly into the endless blue of water and sky…

last night i assembled a box full of silver charms onto a new charm bracelet chain. in the past they have traveled from necklace strand to jewelry box, until now. (most all of them have been gifts from my sweet mom.) and now here they are, showcased and ready to dangle from my wrist. what is it about charm bracelets? their hint towards nostalgic days? their cuteness? i think i’m drawn to them because of their story. each has one, to remind and recollect a place or person or some part of me.

the baby buggy was given to me when i was patiently waiting for my max to come into the world. the horse is freedom, grace and strength. the bear reminds me of my dad! (his nickname is grizzly bear. you should see him when he has to relieve an itchy back on a corner! my siblings and i are all his grizlets.) the turtle, from a trip to Kauai, and a snowboard, how i love to snowboard. my intial on a bag, “j.” the moon and star, eternity. the hand and heart, love. then there is the suitcase, reminding me of the places i have been and the places i am going.

of all these things, i will mostly be reminded of my mom. i love my mom.

today i was treated to breakfast in bed after some allowed sleeping-in, a beautiful card (with a target gift card tucked inside yay!) and this most gorgeous orchid. m said it reminded him of me, simple but elegant…so sweet! after church, we had some friends over and we made the yummiest asparagus tart with soup and salad to accompany. the recipe is taken from martha’s everyday food cookbook, i have a pile of them that i adore to cook from.

this weekend has been nice. i went looking for a bookshelf early saturday morning, determined to find something to house all those books that have been cascading out of our bedroom corner. i have always tried to justify having no energy left for my room after working on the rest of the house. maybe it’s because no one else but us actually ever sees that room? anyway, i was gone for hours searching every thrift store in our city with no signs of good furniture scores. i did however, find (all new) 1. a nice new pair of tweed trousers, 2. the softest apricot hoodie sweatshirt, 3. a glossy black bag, 4. paisley top for summer 5. and (my favorite wardrobe item) a cute cardigan~all for twelve dollars! gotta love it.

some little paintings i recovered while cleaning off my studio desk. you don’t even want to see what it looks right now! the reason for tidying? well, i’m obviously running out of room to spread out, but i’ve also been meaning to show you my sunroom studio ever since i moved in. i love that i have a place to dump all of my current obsessions, photographs, scraps, books, ephemera, etc. and not have to clean up afterwards. everyone should have a space of her own, it’s so refreshing and reaffirming. so stay tuned!