Category: Art

Give Coursera a try

9/25/2020

I have become aware of the myriad ways that my friends are leading their lives during the pandemic. There is a similarity to our individual journeys—after all, we have much in common and our core-values are similar-- but we differ in the kind and amount of silence, solitude and simplicity in our lives--some is by choice, some by necessity.  For several of us, a full schedule and active life is what we have chosen and been given; for others, a quieter, simpler way of being. Regardless, there are two (I’m sure there are more) givens that run our lives these days: the pandemic and our deep desire for peace and well-being for everyone-- self, family, friends…humankind.
      I have chosen a path of silence, solitude and simplicity, at least in contrast to a busy, busy, busy existence of others. The news is pretty much turned off; I’m hearing less both audibly and mentally. I have, however, tuned into one of the many free on-line courses that are available. Currently I am listening and watching the Age of Cathedrals, by Yale professor, Howard Bloch.  I don’t have to zoom, interact, write a paper, although that could be an option.
      (A friend told me about www.corsera.org and I found it from there. Corsera will connect you with all kinds of courses from many universities.)

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An evening visit to the Uffizi

9/11/2018

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I ate supper in my apartment last night and after a lazy debate with myself I decided at 8:20 to take an evening stroll along the Arno. In going through the Uffizi courtyard, I noticed that the museum remains open until 10 on Tuesday evenings. Carpe diem.
Without hesitation I flashed my Amici degli Uffizi card, breezed through security, and began the climb up the three flights of stairs tp the main gallery. I was so excited that I failed to take any pictures until I arrived at the Botticelli rooms. There I was, alone with La Primavera and Venus. It was a magical moment.
The corridors were empty, the city shone through the upstairs window. I enjoyed Michelangelo’s holy family with a man in a wheelchair. Then I took the elevator to the ground floor and out I went to walk along the Arno.

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Humanism at the Bargello Museum~

4/2/2017

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Throughout Italy all museums are free on the first Sunday of the month. To beat the crowds, I was one of the first to enter the Bargello museum this morning. I must confess I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures of favorite 15th century sculptures. By the time I got to the terracotta pieces by the della Robbia family, I couldn’t stop. Donatello and others express the humanism that was flowering in Renaissance Florence; the della Robbias portrayed humanism in the Christian story.

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Renaissance Florence in Boston

12/2/2016

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     The other day I went with friends to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardner Museum to whet my appetite for my trip to Florence. The exhibit at the MFA, Della Robbia: Sculpting in Color in Renaissance Florence, displayed a few of the terra cottas from the National Museum of the Bargello that I have viewed when in Florence. In fact, in September, in the empty spaces where the sculptures usually hung, I read that they were on tour in Boston. Most of the pieces at the MFA, however, were from private collections and museums in the United States—pieces that I had never seen. Sadly this exhibit closes tomorrow
     Beyond Words: Italian Renaissance Books at The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum displayed manuscripts housed in museums and colleges in the Boston area. The exhibit, with its photographic backdrop of the Laurentian Library, catapulted me back to Florence and the Church of San Lorenzo where the library is located. The exhibit is part of a city-wide collaborative project entitled Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections. These exhibits are open through January 16, 2017.
      Tomorrow I fly to Florence, where Lucca, Andrea and Giovanni della Robbia lived and worked. I’ll see their colorful terra cottas in museums and churches. I’ll walk by Lucca’s blue and white putti that decorate the Ospedale degli Innocenti(Foundling Hospital) on Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. I will gaze at original manuscripts in the church libraries. I will be very grateful.

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Musing about beauty~

10/8/2016

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Every time I visit the Museum of Russian Icons I take new pictures. By new I mean that I photograph the same icon again. It’s the same with my trips to Florence; I can’t resist snapping my favorites every time I see them. Then there are the hundreds of sunrises I took during my five years at the cottage by the sea that I need to delete from iPhoto. And what about the fall foliage?
What is it about beauty that is so universally noticeable? Granted, people might disagree about a particular painting, sculpture, or piece of architecture, but not so about nature. We might have a favorite sunrise, but do you know anyone who thinks one is ugly?

Random favorites

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Weaving as a meditative practice~

6/29/2016

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I’m considering returning to weaving. This morning, after baking brownies and making ‘meatballs made by her’, I rinsed and hung to dry the tartan piece that I wove in the fall. I’m rather proud of it…well, minus the endings of one color and beginnings of another.
‘Weaving as a meditative process’ is what I long for, which means keeping the patterns simple, which will help solve the strangling ends problem. With my prayer shawls, I have ‘knitting as a meditative process’, so why not weaving?

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Knitting prayer shawls again~

5/10/2016

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“Seven Days Writing in Florence” is on the backburner, relegated to the ‘save’ file on my computer. Writing the article had become a burden, not a joy, usurping silence, solitude and simplicity. I was living with a ‘to do’ list, rather than a ‘to be’ attitude. Now I am back being rather than doing.
Letting go of a project is a challenge for me, because I’m a project person. And so, I have renewed an old one, knitting prayer shawls, which is meditative and process oriented rather than mental and deadline driven. Writing my blog, on the other hand, is a joy not a burden. I’ve been a little slack about it lately—I can write just so much in a day—but I’m back in the flow, attending to silence, solitude and simplicity wherever I am. A cottage-by-the-sea is my life style.

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Jeff Koons: here yesterday, gone today in Florence

1/22/2016

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     This morning at the Piazza della Signoria there was a space where for many months a sculpture by artist Jeff Koons had stood. That was what all that construction was about yesterday; it has been being down. Florence celebrates contemporary artists but it takes hundreds of years for a piece to win a permanent place along Michelangelo’s David. Dust to dust is the way of most of us, maybe even Koons.
This gets me thinking, once again, about life’s purpose. It can’t be to be remembered forever, although most of us strive for some kind of lasting fame. Maybe it is enough to be appreciated by a few people. But even that is problematic. So what’s left?
     I glimpse meaning through my longing for solitude, which for me translates into a longing for God. You may have another word for the object of your longing, but whatever it is, I believe it is deeper than thought, feeling, or physicality. At rare moments when this longing is satisfied, thought, word, and deed have no meaning for me. It is then, however, I know my life has meaning.
     This is my last full day in Florence. Like Koons statue I have come and now will go. I hope to return in April. Maybe there will be a different statue in the space. The view will change; so will have I. But the longing can always be satisfied.

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Street artist sharing meaning

11/10/2015

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When in Italy I took photos of artists and their work, both current and from the annals of history. My premise is that we all need to feel purposeful, and that a component of purposefulness is sharing. This artists were sharing in a very public way.
For me, taking the pictures and then writing this blog gives me a way to share, a purpose. It is not about being perfect, being Michelangelo or May Sarton, but of doing my best and putting it out there with the intention and hope that I will speak to someone and thus encourage them to create and sharing in their own way.
Today I am posting pictures of street artists in Florence. By street, I literally mean artists on the street. I know nothing about these artists-- their personal life, their desires as artists, what they hope us to appreciate. Most likely some of their meaning has to do with earning money, but I have to believe there is something more in sharing their talent.

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Sunday in Florence

11/1/2015

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I haven’t disappeared. Yesterday I took an all day tour to the Cinque Terra. Today is Sunday which means that my favorite internet spot, the Gulfa library is closed. Since it is the only spot where I can download pictures for this blog, consider it a miracle that this has appears today on your screen.
The good news, however, is that today is the first Sunday of the month, which means that museums all over Italy are free. I’ve already been to the Bargello where I spent ten minutes alone in the Quattrocento room with the Donatello sculptures. This afternoon I’m off to the Boboli Gardens to take some photographs for a friend. It’s a beautiful day to be out, not on the computer. Ciao!

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Give Coursera a try

An evening visit to the Uffizi

Humanism at the Bargello Museum~

Renaissance Florence in Boston

Musing about beauty~

Random favorites

Weaving as a meditative practice~

Knitting prayer shawls again~

Jeff Koons: here yesterday, gone today in Florence

Street artist sharing meaning

Sunday in Florence

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