A Day At the Museum

It feels like it has been quite challenging to be productive in all of these 90 degree summer days with dew points well over 70. My garden has been somewhat neglected in the heat and I haven't been doing much watercolor plein air painting, though I have stuck my fingers back into the fabric paint. This hot weather also made it quite difficult for me to know how to dress for a recent trip to the Carnegie Art Museum. That darn air conditioning. Such quandaries, I know.

I made my decision to go with the sleeveless peasant blouse but to throw a sweater in the car, just in case. With much anticipation I was finally off for an afternoon of frolic with the masters. I barely made it through the courtyard entrance when I stopped dead in my tracks and was momentarily transfixed by the huge splashes of block colors painted along the corridor wall. Not exactly Michelangelo but the gigantic shapes of color were simple, yet very appealing. I was trying to understand how that happens and hoping to remember that combination for future reference.

Daisies in Fabric Paint. Fun to get lost in their dance. 

Continuing my journey, I felt that I had somehow entered into the DaVinci Code or perhaps A Night at the Museum, sans Ben Stiller. I was bombarded by a myriad of strange thoughts, wondering what the galleries would look and feel like in the diminished light and cool air in the middle of the night. The temperature was already cooler and the lighting lower (as I studied the Ancient Artwork in front of me) creating the oppressive blanket of antiquity. Now I know the true meaning of Egyptian Blue. I'll have to google how they made that fantastic color. And how do they apply that eyeliner that way? Those artistic feats, make the pyramids look like child's play. LOL. Juxtaposed to this experience was Modern Art. Not my favorite but definitely interesting. Got to get up front and personal with a Pollock and a Warhol. So used to seeing these works "around" that I had to keep reminding myself that these ones were actually the originals. Also, got some inspiration to broaden my views of composition and design.

Of course, I saved the best for the last part of my tour. The Impressionists. Dreamland. I sat on the bench and entered an altered state as I stared into the huge canvas of one of the Water Lily Panels. Yep. You guessed it. Mon ami Claude. But I also met Van Gogh, Renoir, Cassatt....Had to keep reminding myself that I could not reach out and touch them, which I desperately wanted to do. All and all it was a lovely escape. And of course, no visit is complete without popping in to say hello to the dinosaurs, study a butterfly collection, and to meander through the Hall of Ancient Architecture. I haven't been able to capture the right words to describe all of the strange sensations that these lost civilizations evoked. All in all, it was a lovely escape for me and I didn't even have to don that sweater.