Yes, I had a crush on the Louvre: My 30 visits to the Louvre

 

 

I am 80 now and was very adventurous in my younger years. I did some things that were dangerous, traveling in the Israel and Jordan desert, not on a tour. My friend from college Carol and I traveled on a shoestring budget and had many adventures including spending the night in a desert police fort near Petra. The police were Bedouin and invited us to stay the night in a guard tower, they were great gentlemen. We visited the U.S. consulate and they said it was dangerous for two young girls age 20 to roam the desert not in a tour. More in another post. 

 

 

Yes, I fell in love with the Louvre and the beauties and history it contains. Before my senior year in college I spent two months in the summer in Paris on my own, on a strict budget, mainly soaking up the art and architecture of the city. Later my husband and I spent four months there, two in spring and two in December and January. I saw an excellent documentary on the Louvre today and counted up my visits. Thirty in all. Netsukes captivated me, tiny sculptures the size to hold in the palm of your hand. Many sadly were made of ivory.

 

My most visited areas were the classic Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace, the paintings, the Egyptian treasures and I had a special fondness for the Netsukes, the tiny sculptures you can hold in your hand. After the summer in Paris I completed my major in Art History. 

Below is a beautiful Egyptian art work. I am not sure if it is in the Louvre but they have an extensive Egyptian collection.

 These two photos show the heroic graceful statue The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

 

 My frequent often daily visits were noted by an older guard who stood near exhibits and he started saying Bonjour to me. That was quite a friendly treat. 

In addition to the Louvre a favorite visit was to the old house that had been the studio of Rodin. His sculptures were everywhere, in the studio and out. Another museum I visited several times held the Monet pond and water lily paintings. They were displayed in an oval room in the Jeu de Paumes and went all around the room so it felt like you were surrounded by beauty on all sides, all around. 

What are your favorite museums? 

The Reading Woman and Paintings and my House Needs a New Roof

A quote on reading: "When I only begin to read, I forget I'm on this world. It lifts me on wings with high thoughts." Anzia Yezierska. "Wings" from "Hungry Hearts" 1920.

 

These illustrations are from the address book I bought, "The Reading Woman", published by Pomegranate.The book has about 40 paintings in it. My favorite school of painting is PreRaphaelite and all those whose art has a resonance with that style, like the first painting above by Frederic, Lord Leighton "The Maid with the Golden Hair". The second painting is "Summertime: Portrait of the Artist's Wife" by Edward Killingworth and the third is "In the Library, St. James Square" attributed to Thomas Pole.

New Roof Needed

In the first week of May I learned that the roof on my house needs replacing. No leaks but just aging. The ocean side especially is worn. The roof is original with the house so about 65 years old, that is a long life for a roof.  The new roof will have composition shingles and a 50 year warranty. Making decisions for this project is hard for me being a senior and a widow, I miss my husband a lot, he handled projects like this. I will not shock you by telling you how much it will cost in this part of California but a hint is that I could buy a new car for that price. I got bids from 3 companies and selected one. They are booked up until mid-August, just letting you know what I have been doing, so I am on their project list for August.

Pretty hare painting by Jackie Morris

Look what beauty arrived in my mail, all the way from Wales from the artist Jackie Morris.
In the top center is a card and the others are postcards. She illustrates books, paints, and also writes books. Her current book is a retelling of The Wild Swans story by Anderson. If you go to her blog and website you can see a lot of her beautiful paintings and more about the Wild Swans book which releases about September 19, 2015.
www.jackiemorris.co.uk/blog
I enjoy visiting her blog and reading about her life in the countryside of Wales, where she walks with dogs and cats and encounters wild life, all of which inspire her art.
Thank you Jackie for the beautiful card and postcards.

Puppets from Bali

We have a collection of art from Indonesia, and I have not shared any of it with you on my blog before.

These are four rod puppets we have. I took the first photo because light coming through stained glass created a glorious circle pattern on the wall around the puppets. The light circle doesn't show on the photo but the puppets turned out ok.
As you can see they are two couples and I am sure they are in love. On the left in the first photo and in the photo above is the first pair we bought from a local gal who travels to Indonesia and brings back art to sell in her store.
My husband surprised me with the lady puppet of the couple. I said I loved her and my husband said "they seemed to be a pair, maybe we should go to the store and unite them." We went to the store and there the missing loved one was, lying down on a shelf and looking woebegone. We made the purchase and hurried home to reunite the couple and they have been together ever since.

Hey, this sounds like a Valentines Post.
The third photo is a closer view of the second pair of puppets we bought. These are all rod puppets or Wayang Golek from Indonesia.

Handsome bird from Bali

Here is a handsome bird from our collection of art objects, bought here in town in shops that import them. Lots of the art we buy is from areas like Bali. We also have five puppets and a flying mermaid and more that I will show you in future.