just something i've been thinking about here...
http://www.chicagorunner.com/staceys_first_marathon.html
Monday, October 12, 2009
Migranes, Van Gogh and Mistral
So where did we last meet? Ahh yes, last sunday. The Migrane. Well, I want to say I bid it "adieu" but stayed with me until about Wednesday, coming and going. Which was a total bummer. Not sure why it was happened, but remember why I never got truly sick as a kid...when I truly was, I can't move. It turned into one of those kinds of head aches.
Aside from that the week was pretty good. I wish i had more time to blog about what I'm doing during the week but it's all just go-go-go! Monday was a very successful day in the landscape. I kind of feel like Monday's are my day to paint. I never really get a "case of the Monday's" here but at home it's brutal. Looking at how my paintings have progressed I feel like I'm going to be prepared a little bit better for returning home and trying to put together my senior show. There's just so much I have to thiink about for next semester... basketball, what classes I need to take to graduate, sr retrospective show, classes in general, becoming an adult?! Ahh I dunno. It's just weird to think that in a few short months I'm going to be done with school... but right now I'm in FRANCE?! My life is so crazy right now. In so many ways!
Tuesday was the normal long day. Katherine and I went out but it was so bizarre because it seemed like Aix was a ghost town! Wednesday was spent sitting in my room all day because the migranes returned. Thursday I was back at it.
Thursday night we tried looking for somewhere to watch MLB postseason games, but I guess France could care less about who wins the stinkin' World Series!! It was kind of frustrating. Katherine and I ran into some guys we know from IAU near the Pizza Place. The 5 of us went to IPN, got some drinks and the night commenced. The rest of people we knew that were out that night followed close behind to IPN. The bar tenders at IPN are american students and they are some of the coolest chicks we've ever met. They're hilarious too and kept giving us discounts on our drinks which is AMAZING because firstly, they can't serve true liquor, like most bars in Aix, everything is premixed and most things don't taste good. So, it was good becoming friends with them. Hearing the music pick up, everyone around us started to move a little faster, dance a little sillier and make their way over to the dance floor. I ended up staying until about 1:30 knowing I had a field trip to Arles in the morning.
On my walk home I could see and hear the lightning from a distance. Just as I was rounding the corner at Place de l'Université a ::CRACK:: whipped overhead and the rain hit the ground with a loud thwap. I stood and just looked up and screamed " YES!!" If you think this is weird, then so be it.. but I'm Chicagoan. We have four seasons. About this time, I'm heading over to the Corn Stalk Farm to hang out and sell some pumpkins, be wearing long sleeves, hats and boots, while watching the days get shorter. Here-- the weather had been consistantly warm during the day and cool in the evening, a summer cool. When the rain started, the tempurature dropped a good ten degrees making me shiver as I walked home, but it was fine because FALL in France had finally arrived. Just as I was passing St. Saveur behind me I hear "Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle, pardon! pardon!" I turned around and looked to see a normal looking guy who looked kind of lost. I was waiting for it to be some creepy French guy but to my surprise he said "Parlez-anglais?" He needed some directions to the Sun-set Cafe in Aix. I didn't know where it was so I felt really bad. But he was American as well. Because it was raining so hard we stepped under a doorway and we're talking a bit. He asked if I wanted to go out to the bar with him, but I politely declined because I was already on my way home. WIth the proper greeting of an "air kiss" we said our goodbyes and left.
I got home with a huge smile of my face, freezing, soaked and so incredibally happy. Fall has finally reached AIX!
Friday morning I woke up, ate breakfast and made my way over to the Office of Tourism. I don't remember what I was listening to as I left my house but realized I was taking my sweet time to walk over because I was still half asleep. I knew what song I needed to listen to pick my step up... "shooting star" of course. HA! A little shout out to my boys in the Pink House! "Love just who you are... ain't trying to change ya, you are my shooting start that's why you are my favorite!" Anyway... We we're waiting until about 7:45 to depart for our trip because Katherine hadn't arrived yet. I had an erkin suspiscion that she wouldn't make the bus when i left my house a half hour previous. I was right. About a half hour into our bus rise to Arles, I got a phone call from her. She had just missed us. Oh Katherine, when are you going to learn that chronos does mean something :)
Our first stop was just outside Arles. It was where Van Gogh painted a draw bridge. We discussed a little about our reading... what we found interesting about Van Gogh. Having known Van Gogh since I was a little girl because of "Sunflowers" at our awesome old cottage in Koontz Lake, I realized I didn't know anything about his life, other then he cut his own ear off. The reading we were given was a memoir of his letter's by his sister in law. I learned much about his life, where he painted, for how long, the importance of his parents, the importance of his brother Theo, his biggest supporter, his relationship with Gaugin and so many little details that you can relate to his art.
Our second stop was in the Alyscamps!! If you are ever in Arles, the Alyscamps is one of THE most interest and beautiful places you will see. The place is famous for being a Roman necropolis. Van Gogh came to this place and painted very well known pieces known as "Les Alyscamps". Martha and Katherine, who are both in my program at Marchutz, copied a piece of Van Gogh's at the Alyscamps. I thought they were incredibally aweomse pieces but never really knew what was IN the paintings. When we got to the place I saw these huge bath tub looking stone structures in a straight line running up the sides of the area creating a wide path for walking. I had NO idea these structures were coffins! It was totally cool to see how an old place such as this continues to have all their original things. We stopped to find a place to have a quick discussion when I spotted an Osage Orange chillin on the ground up ahead.
I totally freaked!! My Keems and I found some of them near the cornfields and it's definitely something that always reminds me of two of my best friends. I got very excited.
We made our way back to the bus and were headed just down the road to our next motif. We stopped in front of an archway that read "Hotel Dieu". The translation would be Hotel God. A little confused, we all took a stab at what it truly meant. We got everything from only clergymen could stay there to a place where only god could go. But really what it was, was the public hospital. Hotel Dieu is where Van Gogh spent some time because of his mental illnesses. In Arles it's known at "Espace Van Gogh". He painted his famous, "Le jardin Hotel Dieu" in the very place we were standing. During our discussion a very kind professor, who taught at the Hotel Dieu (which is now used for schooling in part), joined in our conversations about what we were seeing against what Van Gogh was seeing. It was a very interesting conversation.
After this place walked near the Rhone where we'd stop for one more motif before walking around the riverside to go get lunch. We have about an hour to eat lunch. In French time, that's nothing. But for us, it was huge. Katherine, Kate, O'Neill, Nick and I walked up to the Cafe Nuit, where another one of Van Gogh's famous painting's were done. The food was excellend. We had to wolf it down to make the bus on time. But it was nice to be able to sit for a little while and enjoy the surroundings.
Following lunch we traveled to Montmajour, a benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 13th century. A really cool building where we'd spend a few more hours looking at a Van Gogh drawing of the lands below call "Le Crau" It was really incredible to understand that all of which he saw stretching out from Montmajour, he was able to retell on paper. The sketch of the lands below Montmajour are absolutely incredible.
We continued to our last stop of the field trip to St. Remy, the mental institution which Van Gogh stayed. We got there and it was closing with in 15 mins of our arriving so we quickly made our way up to mock up of his bedroom. We walked into this very tiny room, very plain walls and bars on the windows. It kind of brough back some bad memories for me, so, I made my way into a more open area in the next room which was a mock of the bathing area. There were some very interesting facts on the wall about the hospital itself and the area in which we were standing. The conclusion of our day was spent outside of St. Remy discussing the painting "Reaper" (three of them which were painted at different times of the day.) Before we started Nick spotted the BIGGEST worm I've ever seen in my life. It was great!!! We finished our motif and got on the bus. Everyone fell asleep on the way home. It was like we were all little kids taking a nap after a great adventure with our family, in all reality, we were, with our Marchutz Family. 7 girls, 3 boys, two father figures.. we make a pretty great bunch!
I left Friday evening for sleeping, but woke up in the middle of the night and was awake from 4 until 7:30. Luckily a friend from home was online so, I got to chat with him until I was able to fall back asleep. Saturday afternoon Katherine and I bought our Cartreize bus passes and hopped one to Marseille. Not having any real idea what we wanted to do, we got off the bus and headed to McDonalds. This is the first time i've ever eaten McDonalds in Europe and will probably be the last. We waited in line for a half hour and another ten for our food. I think because we were in an American establishment we expected speedy service etc. No dice.
After that mess of a meal, we walked towards the sea and saw this great big building to the left of us. We were pulled in and went and checked itout. We were right behind the Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille. Walking towards the front the cathedral just kept getting bigger and bigger! We went inside and checked it out. Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille is a national monument and was built in the Byzantine-Roman style from 1852 to 1896. The interior was AMAZING. Enormous arches, beautiful colors and tourists (like me) taking pictures. As much as I'm going through a thing about god and church and beliefs, everytime I walk into a cathedral like this one, I get chills. They imagery is SO powerful. The structure is big that it makes you feel minute. It's still a cool feeling to get.
We walked outside and for the first time experienced the Mistral. The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east of Toulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a strong influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the Balearic Islands (wikipedia). We sat outside of the cathedral overlooking a port and the Mediterranean. It was simply breathtaking.
For the rest of the afternoon, Katherine and I walked around Marseille, sat by the Mediterranean, stole a bathroom, sang "colors of the wind", saw cute dogs (as anywhere in France) got lost in the streets and made our way back to Aix. Saturday night I was pooped too and didn't want to be pooped for Sunday's adventures of sailing, but because of the strong Mistral the trip was postponed. A total let down. Instead Katherine and I walked down the Cours Mirabeau and looked at the antiquers. We ran into some friends from IAU who were going to a movie. Katherine and I decided to go see Taking Woodstock or "Hotel Woodstock en Francais". It was a brilliant movie. It gave me chills in just thinking about Woodstock and how awesome it would've been to be there. It kind of reminded me of Bonnaroo and I've never been more excited to buy my ticket for this summer!! :)
Today I was woken up by the sweet sounds of facebook chat, thanks Gary :) just kidding. I ate some breakfast and went to IAU to get some studying done before I had to make up my quiz for French during a tutoring session. As much as I hate extra work, I really like my tutoring sessions for french because it gives me more time to work on my grammar and speaking...correctly. The prof who gives the lessons is very nice and is really about us speaking, which I love. (my french class we do very little speaking, bummer.) I did a pretty decent painting today too. I went after Mt. Ste. Victoire.
It's about bedtime for me.... I'm fall asleep here. Or as mom says "It's the bewitching hour".
A plus!
Aside from that the week was pretty good. I wish i had more time to blog about what I'm doing during the week but it's all just go-go-go! Monday was a very successful day in the landscape. I kind of feel like Monday's are my day to paint. I never really get a "case of the Monday's" here but at home it's brutal. Looking at how my paintings have progressed I feel like I'm going to be prepared a little bit better for returning home and trying to put together my senior show. There's just so much I have to thiink about for next semester... basketball, what classes I need to take to graduate, sr retrospective show, classes in general, becoming an adult?! Ahh I dunno. It's just weird to think that in a few short months I'm going to be done with school... but right now I'm in FRANCE?! My life is so crazy right now. In so many ways!
Tuesday was the normal long day. Katherine and I went out but it was so bizarre because it seemed like Aix was a ghost town! Wednesday was spent sitting in my room all day because the migranes returned. Thursday I was back at it.
Thursday night we tried looking for somewhere to watch MLB postseason games, but I guess France could care less about who wins the stinkin' World Series!! It was kind of frustrating. Katherine and I ran into some guys we know from IAU near the Pizza Place. The 5 of us went to IPN, got some drinks and the night commenced. The rest of people we knew that were out that night followed close behind to IPN. The bar tenders at IPN are american students and they are some of the coolest chicks we've ever met. They're hilarious too and kept giving us discounts on our drinks which is AMAZING because firstly, they can't serve true liquor, like most bars in Aix, everything is premixed and most things don't taste good. So, it was good becoming friends with them. Hearing the music pick up, everyone around us started to move a little faster, dance a little sillier and make their way over to the dance floor. I ended up staying until about 1:30 knowing I had a field trip to Arles in the morning.
On my walk home I could see and hear the lightning from a distance. Just as I was rounding the corner at Place de l'Université a ::CRACK:: whipped overhead and the rain hit the ground with a loud thwap. I stood and just looked up and screamed " YES!!" If you think this is weird, then so be it.. but I'm Chicagoan. We have four seasons. About this time, I'm heading over to the Corn Stalk Farm to hang out and sell some pumpkins, be wearing long sleeves, hats and boots, while watching the days get shorter. Here-- the weather had been consistantly warm during the day and cool in the evening, a summer cool. When the rain started, the tempurature dropped a good ten degrees making me shiver as I walked home, but it was fine because FALL in France had finally arrived. Just as I was passing St. Saveur behind me I hear "Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle, pardon! pardon!" I turned around and looked to see a normal looking guy who looked kind of lost. I was waiting for it to be some creepy French guy but to my surprise he said "Parlez-anglais?" He needed some directions to the Sun-set Cafe in Aix. I didn't know where it was so I felt really bad. But he was American as well. Because it was raining so hard we stepped under a doorway and we're talking a bit. He asked if I wanted to go out to the bar with him, but I politely declined because I was already on my way home. WIth the proper greeting of an "air kiss" we said our goodbyes and left.
I got home with a huge smile of my face, freezing, soaked and so incredibally happy. Fall has finally reached AIX!
Friday morning I woke up, ate breakfast and made my way over to the Office of Tourism. I don't remember what I was listening to as I left my house but realized I was taking my sweet time to walk over because I was still half asleep. I knew what song I needed to listen to pick my step up... "shooting star" of course. HA! A little shout out to my boys in the Pink House! "Love just who you are... ain't trying to change ya, you are my shooting start that's why you are my favorite!" Anyway... We we're waiting until about 7:45 to depart for our trip because Katherine hadn't arrived yet. I had an erkin suspiscion that she wouldn't make the bus when i left my house a half hour previous. I was right. About a half hour into our bus rise to Arles, I got a phone call from her. She had just missed us. Oh Katherine, when are you going to learn that chronos does mean something :)
Our first stop was just outside Arles. It was where Van Gogh painted a draw bridge. We discussed a little about our reading... what we found interesting about Van Gogh. Having known Van Gogh since I was a little girl because of "Sunflowers" at our awesome old cottage in Koontz Lake, I realized I didn't know anything about his life, other then he cut his own ear off. The reading we were given was a memoir of his letter's by his sister in law. I learned much about his life, where he painted, for how long, the importance of his parents, the importance of his brother Theo, his biggest supporter, his relationship with Gaugin and so many little details that you can relate to his art.
Our second stop was in the Alyscamps!! If you are ever in Arles, the Alyscamps is one of THE most interest and beautiful places you will see. The place is famous for being a Roman necropolis. Van Gogh came to this place and painted very well known pieces known as "Les Alyscamps". Martha and Katherine, who are both in my program at Marchutz, copied a piece of Van Gogh's at the Alyscamps. I thought they were incredibally aweomse pieces but never really knew what was IN the paintings. When we got to the place I saw these huge bath tub looking stone structures in a straight line running up the sides of the area creating a wide path for walking. I had NO idea these structures were coffins! It was totally cool to see how an old place such as this continues to have all their original things. We stopped to find a place to have a quick discussion when I spotted an Osage Orange chillin on the ground up ahead.
I totally freaked!! My Keems and I found some of them near the cornfields and it's definitely something that always reminds me of two of my best friends. I got very excited.
We made our way back to the bus and were headed just down the road to our next motif. We stopped in front of an archway that read "Hotel Dieu". The translation would be Hotel God. A little confused, we all took a stab at what it truly meant. We got everything from only clergymen could stay there to a place where only god could go. But really what it was, was the public hospital. Hotel Dieu is where Van Gogh spent some time because of his mental illnesses. In Arles it's known at "Espace Van Gogh". He painted his famous, "Le jardin Hotel Dieu" in the very place we were standing. During our discussion a very kind professor, who taught at the Hotel Dieu (which is now used for schooling in part), joined in our conversations about what we were seeing against what Van Gogh was seeing. It was a very interesting conversation.
After this place walked near the Rhone where we'd stop for one more motif before walking around the riverside to go get lunch. We have about an hour to eat lunch. In French time, that's nothing. But for us, it was huge. Katherine, Kate, O'Neill, Nick and I walked up to the Cafe Nuit, where another one of Van Gogh's famous painting's were done. The food was excellend. We had to wolf it down to make the bus on time. But it was nice to be able to sit for a little while and enjoy the surroundings.
Following lunch we traveled to Montmajour, a benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 13th century. A really cool building where we'd spend a few more hours looking at a Van Gogh drawing of the lands below call "Le Crau" It was really incredible to understand that all of which he saw stretching out from Montmajour, he was able to retell on paper. The sketch of the lands below Montmajour are absolutely incredible.
We continued to our last stop of the field trip to St. Remy, the mental institution which Van Gogh stayed. We got there and it was closing with in 15 mins of our arriving so we quickly made our way up to mock up of his bedroom. We walked into this very tiny room, very plain walls and bars on the windows. It kind of brough back some bad memories for me, so, I made my way into a more open area in the next room which was a mock of the bathing area. There were some very interesting facts on the wall about the hospital itself and the area in which we were standing. The conclusion of our day was spent outside of St. Remy discussing the painting "Reaper" (three of them which were painted at different times of the day.) Before we started Nick spotted the BIGGEST worm I've ever seen in my life. It was great!!! We finished our motif and got on the bus. Everyone fell asleep on the way home. It was like we were all little kids taking a nap after a great adventure with our family, in all reality, we were, with our Marchutz Family. 7 girls, 3 boys, two father figures.. we make a pretty great bunch!
I left Friday evening for sleeping, but woke up in the middle of the night and was awake from 4 until 7:30. Luckily a friend from home was online so, I got to chat with him until I was able to fall back asleep. Saturday afternoon Katherine and I bought our Cartreize bus passes and hopped one to Marseille. Not having any real idea what we wanted to do, we got off the bus and headed to McDonalds. This is the first time i've ever eaten McDonalds in Europe and will probably be the last. We waited in line for a half hour and another ten for our food. I think because we were in an American establishment we expected speedy service etc. No dice.
After that mess of a meal, we walked towards the sea and saw this great big building to the left of us. We were pulled in and went and checked itout. We were right behind the Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille. Walking towards the front the cathedral just kept getting bigger and bigger! We went inside and checked it out. Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille is a national monument and was built in the Byzantine-Roman style from 1852 to 1896. The interior was AMAZING. Enormous arches, beautiful colors and tourists (like me) taking pictures. As much as I'm going through a thing about god and church and beliefs, everytime I walk into a cathedral like this one, I get chills. They imagery is SO powerful. The structure is big that it makes you feel minute. It's still a cool feeling to get.
We walked outside and for the first time experienced the Mistral. The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east of Toulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a strong influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the Balearic Islands (wikipedia). We sat outside of the cathedral overlooking a port and the Mediterranean. It was simply breathtaking.
For the rest of the afternoon, Katherine and I walked around Marseille, sat by the Mediterranean, stole a bathroom, sang "colors of the wind", saw cute dogs (as anywhere in France) got lost in the streets and made our way back to Aix. Saturday night I was pooped too and didn't want to be pooped for Sunday's adventures of sailing, but because of the strong Mistral the trip was postponed. A total let down. Instead Katherine and I walked down the Cours Mirabeau and looked at the antiquers. We ran into some friends from IAU who were going to a movie. Katherine and I decided to go see Taking Woodstock or "Hotel Woodstock en Francais". It was a brilliant movie. It gave me chills in just thinking about Woodstock and how awesome it would've been to be there. It kind of reminded me of Bonnaroo and I've never been more excited to buy my ticket for this summer!! :)
Today I was woken up by the sweet sounds of facebook chat, thanks Gary :) just kidding. I ate some breakfast and went to IAU to get some studying done before I had to make up my quiz for French during a tutoring session. As much as I hate extra work, I really like my tutoring sessions for french because it gives me more time to work on my grammar and speaking...correctly. The prof who gives the lessons is very nice and is really about us speaking, which I love. (my french class we do very little speaking, bummer.) I did a pretty decent painting today too. I went after Mt. Ste. Victoire.
It's about bedtime for me.... I'm fall asleep here. Or as mom says "It's the bewitching hour".
A plus!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Bonniex to Burritos!
Well, it feels ages since I've upated! I've been keeping very, very busy with school. We started painting in the landscape near Mt. St. Victoire. Mt. St. Victoire? What's that?! Well, I'll tell you. It's just outside of Aix-en-Provence. Mt. St. Victoire is famous for the paintings done by Paul Cezanne, who lived and spent most of his life working in and around Aix-en-Provence. St. Victoire happens to be one of the most beautiful places to paint, in my opinion. I feel so lucky to be here! We went out to the "landscape", as John and Alan like to call it, 3 times last week. The first day I drew just to get a feel for what I was up against. I was so frustratedthe first day because I couldn't figure out what i should draw, where to start, where to end and relaying that all back on paper. It's such a vast area that it's really hard to narrow it down. (Especially, being the first time I was painting in a landscape area). I think I just got a little bit of stage fright the first day. The second day, I went after it. I found a nice spot after a little trek through the woods overlooking a house with these great burnt sienna hills swooping into the lush trees surrounding. I was slow getting started and didn't have enough time to finish what I was doing, so I will have to come back to that one! The third day I walked about 10 mins from our drop off point to a spot along a road overlooking the property where Les Marchutz were posted for painting. I found a great view but had difficulty because I became too concerned with little details whereas, I could've just kept an eye out and painted. It wasn't a tragedy, I just didn't get to finish anything I had started!
Friday was a WONDERFUL day. After a good french class, I walked to class with Charley to discuss our question for seminar. Each week for seminar we're given material to look over and respond to a question given by Alan or John. The only expection is the two students who will lead the discussion with a question based upon what we were doing in our field studies and what we were studying in text. Our text this week came from Flannery O'Connor, one of great American writers. It wasn't one of her short stories but actually, prose. From "Mystery and Manners" we studied "The Nature and Aim of Fiction". The discussion was based on our question, "The nature and aim of fiction is art. If painting is fiction, how can we put truth in it? What do we look for in reality to retell these truths, in painting or art?" The majority of our seminar focused on how we relay truth into the fiction we're creating. It was actually a very interesting day, as most friday's are because of seminar. Everyone becomes very animated, opinionated and stubborn with in the confines of our topic, but at the end of the day we still can leave the studio with a smile.
After Seminar, Kate, O'Neil, Nick, Katherine and I went to park and threw the disc around for 2.5 hours. It was exactly what I needed after a long Friday.
I came home had some dinner and finished my night with a little bit of wine and watched "I love you, man". I didn't go out because early saturday morning we were gearing up for our field trip to the Vaucluse.
The Vaucluse is situated in the southwest of France. Some of it's most important cities are Avignon, Apt, Orange and Cavaillon. Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south. Mountain ranges occupy a large portion of the Vaucluse, with Mont Ventoux, also known as "the Giant of Provence". Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, and the Luberon, which is where we were situated for the majority of the day. Our first stop was a small town that i don't remember the name of. We didn't stay very long, but had enough time to get a few good pictures and use the toilet.
We were on our way to start a great day. We we're dropped off up in the Luberon on the side of the road where we were to walk from the drop off point to the city. Along the way John pointed out some very interesting trees, one in particular being the Green Oak. The Greek Oak is a tree that doesn't lose it's leaves and stays green all year round. It's really quite fascinating. We continued on our walk to a place that had a "do not enter" sign on the trees, but with disregard we made our way to the plateau where we had a the beginning portions of our day. John read passages from Christopher Alexander's "The Timeless Way of Building" as we overlooked the city of Bonniex nestled in the mountain. It was such an amazing experience hearing Alexander's words juxtaposed against the feeling we were getting by looking at this city. It was so simple, untouched and modest, that it literally brought me to tears. After, about an hour of talking and discussing our thoughts and the ideas from the text we made our way to the city.
We came to a the first big house where we noticed oval shaped windows called "the eye of the bull" as well as the many features this 12th century town had to give to us. We had about an hour to walk around the city, grab lunch and meet back at the bus at the base of the city. We walked up to the cathedral at the top of the hill getting a great view of the outer lying lands below. Descending to the lower parts of the city, we got some food and kept smelling this delicious food. John told us that we were right by one of the best restaurants in not only Provence, but in all of France, Le Fournil. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time, to stay and have a meal because we were on a tight schedule.
Making our way back to the bus, we all reconnected by a small Boulangerie. Our next stop was Lacoste. We arrived and walked through the forest a little bit and made picnick in a shady area. It was a great way to reengergize for the rest of our trip.
Our next stop brought us to a dirt road where we got off. The town of Gordes is known for it's Bories which we were about to find. John took us through the forest on a hike to see these Bories. Bories are huts made from stone. The dates are unclear when they were errected, but man, are they great. Some Bories have up to 5 or 6 rooms. They are incredible structures situated in the middle of no where. It was great hiking to find something as cool as those. We sat in one of the Bories for about 20 mins just taking it in. This particular one had 5 rooms in it. All of which were equipped with a small window. Great place for taking long exposure photos! :) I had a great time playing with my camera in the rooms. I got some pretty great pictures as well.
After our hike, we walked back to the bus to go Abbaye de Senenque, a cistertian monestary. Because John has been there so many times, he was able to take us on a tour instead of doing a normal tour. The first half hour of our tour through the different rooms and areas of the monestary was in complete silence, paying respect to the ground we were on. And it complete revolutionized the whole experience. The church itself had the craziest acoustics I've ever heard in my life. This monastry in particular was for Gregorian Chant, that's why the sound absorbed and reverberated what was sent. It is a muscians dream to have something like that. The monestary held many stories with in architecture and also, in history. We were more focused on the architecture which allowed us to see the simplicity that these monks, lived and still do today.
A long day closed on the bus ride home as we returned to Aix with the sounds of Gregorian Chant overhead. Once we arrived in Aix, we decided we should all grab some dinner and bring it over to Mary's apartment for some more quality Marchutz time. Martha had found a mexican place earlier in the week and we all started drooling at the sound. Let me tell you, I've been CRAVING mexican food since the last day I was in the US. When we got there I was never happier to be drinking a Desperado waiting for a burrito. Everyone recieved their food and we were off to Monoprix to get a few bottles of wine.
We had an amazing time conversing and just enjoying one anothers company. A few glasses of wine, some singing and interpretive dance by Nick, we headed out into the night. We went to the Cesar where we had a few glasses of beer + a Giraffe (which is this huge 3 lt tube full of beer). Our night ended at the Jazz Club where we danced for a while and parted ways around 2:30.
I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache...!
Let's jsut say I may never drink Port wine again.
Sunday I spend the day doing copies of master paintings at the studio. I finished the night by watching Olympique Marseille vs. Monaco. Marseille was defeat 2-1, but no big deal for me. I don't know much about them.
I didn't sleep very well because of a ridiculous migrane i had in the middle of the night. With little to no sleep, I did some of my better work in the landscape which was encouraging for me!
This Friday, I'll be going to Arles & St. Remy for our second field trip!
When you're a Marchutz, life is good!
Friday was a WONDERFUL day. After a good french class, I walked to class with Charley to discuss our question for seminar. Each week for seminar we're given material to look over and respond to a question given by Alan or John. The only expection is the two students who will lead the discussion with a question based upon what we were doing in our field studies and what we were studying in text. Our text this week came from Flannery O'Connor, one of great American writers. It wasn't one of her short stories but actually, prose. From "Mystery and Manners" we studied "The Nature and Aim of Fiction". The discussion was based on our question, "The nature and aim of fiction is art. If painting is fiction, how can we put truth in it? What do we look for in reality to retell these truths, in painting or art?" The majority of our seminar focused on how we relay truth into the fiction we're creating. It was actually a very interesting day, as most friday's are because of seminar. Everyone becomes very animated, opinionated and stubborn with in the confines of our topic, but at the end of the day we still can leave the studio with a smile.
After Seminar, Kate, O'Neil, Nick, Katherine and I went to park and threw the disc around for 2.5 hours. It was exactly what I needed after a long Friday.
I came home had some dinner and finished my night with a little bit of wine and watched "I love you, man". I didn't go out because early saturday morning we were gearing up for our field trip to the Vaucluse.
The Vaucluse is situated in the southwest of France. Some of it's most important cities are Avignon, Apt, Orange and Cavaillon. Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south. Mountain ranges occupy a large portion of the Vaucluse, with Mont Ventoux, also known as "the Giant of Provence". Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, and the Luberon, which is where we were situated for the majority of the day. Our first stop was a small town that i don't remember the name of. We didn't stay very long, but had enough time to get a few good pictures and use the toilet.
We were on our way to start a great day. We we're dropped off up in the Luberon on the side of the road where we were to walk from the drop off point to the city. Along the way John pointed out some very interesting trees, one in particular being the Green Oak. The Greek Oak is a tree that doesn't lose it's leaves and stays green all year round. It's really quite fascinating. We continued on our walk to a place that had a "do not enter" sign on the trees, but with disregard we made our way to the plateau where we had a the beginning portions of our day. John read passages from Christopher Alexander's "The Timeless Way of Building" as we overlooked the city of Bonniex nestled in the mountain. It was such an amazing experience hearing Alexander's words juxtaposed against the feeling we were getting by looking at this city. It was so simple, untouched and modest, that it literally brought me to tears. After, about an hour of talking and discussing our thoughts and the ideas from the text we made our way to the city.
We came to a the first big house where we noticed oval shaped windows called "the eye of the bull" as well as the many features this 12th century town had to give to us. We had about an hour to walk around the city, grab lunch and meet back at the bus at the base of the city. We walked up to the cathedral at the top of the hill getting a great view of the outer lying lands below. Descending to the lower parts of the city, we got some food and kept smelling this delicious food. John told us that we were right by one of the best restaurants in not only Provence, but in all of France, Le Fournil. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time, to stay and have a meal because we were on a tight schedule.
Making our way back to the bus, we all reconnected by a small Boulangerie. Our next stop was Lacoste. We arrived and walked through the forest a little bit and made picnick in a shady area. It was a great way to reengergize for the rest of our trip.
Our next stop brought us to a dirt road where we got off. The town of Gordes is known for it's Bories which we were about to find. John took us through the forest on a hike to see these Bories. Bories are huts made from stone. The dates are unclear when they were errected, but man, are they great. Some Bories have up to 5 or 6 rooms. They are incredible structures situated in the middle of no where. It was great hiking to find something as cool as those. We sat in one of the Bories for about 20 mins just taking it in. This particular one had 5 rooms in it. All of which were equipped with a small window. Great place for taking long exposure photos! :) I had a great time playing with my camera in the rooms. I got some pretty great pictures as well.
After our hike, we walked back to the bus to go Abbaye de Senenque, a cistertian monestary. Because John has been there so many times, he was able to take us on a tour instead of doing a normal tour. The first half hour of our tour through the different rooms and areas of the monestary was in complete silence, paying respect to the ground we were on. And it complete revolutionized the whole experience. The church itself had the craziest acoustics I've ever heard in my life. This monastry in particular was for Gregorian Chant, that's why the sound absorbed and reverberated what was sent. It is a muscians dream to have something like that. The monestary held many stories with in architecture and also, in history. We were more focused on the architecture which allowed us to see the simplicity that these monks, lived and still do today.
A long day closed on the bus ride home as we returned to Aix with the sounds of Gregorian Chant overhead. Once we arrived in Aix, we decided we should all grab some dinner and bring it over to Mary's apartment for some more quality Marchutz time. Martha had found a mexican place earlier in the week and we all started drooling at the sound. Let me tell you, I've been CRAVING mexican food since the last day I was in the US. When we got there I was never happier to be drinking a Desperado waiting for a burrito. Everyone recieved their food and we were off to Monoprix to get a few bottles of wine.
We had an amazing time conversing and just enjoying one anothers company. A few glasses of wine, some singing and interpretive dance by Nick, we headed out into the night. We went to the Cesar where we had a few glasses of beer + a Giraffe (which is this huge 3 lt tube full of beer). Our night ended at the Jazz Club where we danced for a while and parted ways around 2:30.
I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache...!
Let's jsut say I may never drink Port wine again.
Sunday I spend the day doing copies of master paintings at the studio. I finished the night by watching Olympique Marseille vs. Monaco. Marseille was defeat 2-1, but no big deal for me. I don't know much about them.
I didn't sleep very well because of a ridiculous migrane i had in the middle of the night. With little to no sleep, I did some of my better work in the landscape which was encouraging for me!
This Friday, I'll be going to Arles & St. Remy for our second field trip!
When you're a Marchutz, life is good!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Marchutz, Art, Cezanne/Picasso
So! The past week has been kind of nuts. After recovering from Oktoberfest, I came back to my senses and realized I had work to do. A LOT. At Marchutz, we started oil painting. Now I've painted a little bit in my time but never with oil. I consider myself more of a watercolor girl. It was really interesting to see the difference between the thickness, amount and all the other necessaries needed to paint with oil. Turpentine, poppy seed oil, LOTS of paint, a palette knife, brushed, rags, easel, prepared surfaces... the whole bit. I've used oils before while doing prints (monotype, block.. etc) but this was a whole new experience for me.
We were to choose a painting that spoke to us and of course all of the landscapes didn't interest me, so I chose Monet's last painting that he did in Venice called "Gondola in Venice". It's a very beautiful painting but has a lot of depth to it. It's filled with so many incredible colors that it was hard for me to distinguish a lot of them. I cranked out my first copy in the first session and it was too dark. The second I completed the second day with a 5 hour session but it still wasn't right. The third is still incomplete but you can definitely see the progress made from one to the other. I think that since I was using a new medium that I was getting used to what I was doing with it as opposed to seeing what I was actually doing. I kept getting stuck in certain areas of the painting worrying about the color moreso then the relationship that was on the canvas. So I have a bit of work ahead of me to finish that one. But by the end of the semester I'm bound to finish it.
Thursday night "Les Marchutz", hit the town. Unfortunately we were with out two because both Joy and Jamin we're really sick. We planned a whole evening together. Last week was the ending of the Picasso/Cezanne art exhibit at the Musee Granet in Aix. We decided that we'd go to the exhibit then have dinner at the school later on. Since Marchutz (the school) is so far away from town, Mary, a really awesome lady in our group offered her apartment up for the evening. So, we went to the exhibit.
My first impressions of the exhibit were that It was wonderful to see the works separately but I together it seemed kind of like a far stretch. Of course Picasso is a descendant of Cezanne but I think that the two are on different levels of work. There were some really hard comparisons to comprehend. It didn't seem like the exhibit was fully brought together. That was my personal opinion, but it wasn't all negative. My favorite room was probably the third as you went through the exhibit. A wall called "Les Fumees", was enthralling. Cezanne's painting of "L'homme avec une pipe" contrasted against Picasso's 2 abstract paintings of the maritime men with pipes made you really think about color pallete and how it's applied to the painting as a whole.
The upstairs portions of the exihibit was great. There was a lot more Picasso than Cezanne, I feel, but that wasn't the best part. I got to see some other artists that I'm quite fond of. Paul Klee, LOTS of Giacometti, which was impressive. I saw my first real Piet Mondrian that totally blew me away. There was also Ingres, David, Constantin, Granet and Rigaud. I feel that it was a great way to end my experience at the exhibit because i was taking in so much information about the latter two, it was nice to be able to just stand and be WOWed by some of France and the world's greatest artists. It was about time for me to return to meet up with the group. So i made my way back through the exhibit to find everyone.
Have you ever had the opportunity to look at a painting, hear a song in your head and be able to sing the whole thing through while navigating your way through the brush strokes? I had this experience after we regrouped with everyone. I spotted Picasso's "Woman with mandolin" and immediately in my head started "Little Motel" by modest mouse. I've never been so drawn in by a painting composed by the song in my head. It was absolutely insane to have this kind of moment. The way her face just held the power of the majority of the painting lead me to believe I have a connection somehow with this woman and her mandolin.
Alors, j'ai oublie finir ma rapport, donc, a plus tard!
(i forgot to finish this entry, so I will a little later)
We were to choose a painting that spoke to us and of course all of the landscapes didn't interest me, so I chose Monet's last painting that he did in Venice called "Gondola in Venice". It's a very beautiful painting but has a lot of depth to it. It's filled with so many incredible colors that it was hard for me to distinguish a lot of them. I cranked out my first copy in the first session and it was too dark. The second I completed the second day with a 5 hour session but it still wasn't right. The third is still incomplete but you can definitely see the progress made from one to the other. I think that since I was using a new medium that I was getting used to what I was doing with it as opposed to seeing what I was actually doing. I kept getting stuck in certain areas of the painting worrying about the color moreso then the relationship that was on the canvas. So I have a bit of work ahead of me to finish that one. But by the end of the semester I'm bound to finish it.
Thursday night "Les Marchutz", hit the town. Unfortunately we were with out two because both Joy and Jamin we're really sick. We planned a whole evening together. Last week was the ending of the Picasso/Cezanne art exhibit at the Musee Granet in Aix. We decided that we'd go to the exhibit then have dinner at the school later on. Since Marchutz (the school) is so far away from town, Mary, a really awesome lady in our group offered her apartment up for the evening. So, we went to the exhibit.
My first impressions of the exhibit were that It was wonderful to see the works separately but I together it seemed kind of like a far stretch. Of course Picasso is a descendant of Cezanne but I think that the two are on different levels of work. There were some really hard comparisons to comprehend. It didn't seem like the exhibit was fully brought together. That was my personal opinion, but it wasn't all negative. My favorite room was probably the third as you went through the exhibit. A wall called "Les Fumees", was enthralling. Cezanne's painting of "L'homme avec une pipe" contrasted against Picasso's 2 abstract paintings of the maritime men with pipes made you really think about color pallete and how it's applied to the painting as a whole.
The upstairs portions of the exihibit was great. There was a lot more Picasso than Cezanne, I feel, but that wasn't the best part. I got to see some other artists that I'm quite fond of. Paul Klee, LOTS of Giacometti, which was impressive. I saw my first real Piet Mondrian that totally blew me away. There was also Ingres, David, Constantin, Granet and Rigaud. I feel that it was a great way to end my experience at the exhibit because i was taking in so much information about the latter two, it was nice to be able to just stand and be WOWed by some of France and the world's greatest artists. It was about time for me to return to meet up with the group. So i made my way back through the exhibit to find everyone.
Have you ever had the opportunity to look at a painting, hear a song in your head and be able to sing the whole thing through while navigating your way through the brush strokes? I had this experience after we regrouped with everyone. I spotted Picasso's "Woman with mandolin" and immediately in my head started "Little Motel" by modest mouse. I've never been so drawn in by a painting composed by the song in my head. It was absolutely insane to have this kind of moment. The way her face just held the power of the majority of the painting lead me to believe I have a connection somehow with this woman and her mandolin.
Alors, j'ai oublie finir ma rapport, donc, a plus tard!
(i forgot to finish this entry, so I will a little later)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Probst!!!
This weekend was my first weekend away. Let's just say, WOW. I flew to Munich with two of my friends from the Marchutz program, Nick and O'Neil. We got to Munich about 830 and had to make our way to the city. None of us speaks german so that was kind of interesting trying to buy tickets for the train. But two very kind australian guys helped us out and we were on our way.
Once we got to the Haupbonhof, I parted ways with Nick and O'Neil to meet up wtih Monica and her friend Marcus. I decided to stay with Monica and her friends at this place called "the tent". It was much cheaper then the hostel I was staying at, but my forgetfulness made me pay for the hostel anyway. (Way to not cancel!) I was near the Haupbonhof when my minutes ran out on my phone so I was stuck using payphones, which are RIDICULOUSLY expensive, to try and get in contact with Monica. I had no idea where I was but she was pointing out certain land marks and said "The Erotic house"... in my view there wasn't one in sight.. so I walked a little ways to see if I was in the right place. BOOM, in front of me, "Erotic House". I knew I in the general vicinity so I walked back to the central station stop at the Haupbonhof and finally Monica and I connected!
We made our way back to "the tent" and went to sleep. The morning started verrryyyy early. We were up at 4:30 to shower and get ready for the day. Monica, Marcus and I all left around 6:00 to get to the Oktoberfest grounds. Their other friend, Tim, wouldn't wake up, so, he had to make this way over by himself later on. We got to the fairgrounds and so many Bavarians were dressed in their traditional lederhosen and dirndls. It was so early that the sun hadn't come up yet but once we exited the U-Bahn station it looked like we were in the tent because the sky was so cloud covered. It looked almost eerie, like we were entering another world.
Marcus' goal was the got to the Schottenhammel and be there on time to see the Mayor of Munich tap the first keg, kicking off the festivities. We waited in line for 4 hours and the tent had quickly filled and we were in a huge mosh of people. Finally, decided to just walk around. We saw the little parades of the keg floats coming in. It was kind of boring, but was cool to see. Some of Monica's group from Cologne found a table outside the Schottenhammel where we were earlier so we decided to make our way back and prepare ourselves for the craziest two days of our lives.
12:30 our first beers finally arrive. When i say, i mean, a HUGE fucking beer. (pardon my german). This was not a place for beginners. Spatel was the beer we were being served. These giant liter mugs for 8.80Eu a piece were absolutely WONDERFUL. The day continued to pass and so did the beers. By 2-3 o'clock, we were all getting kind of rowdy. I was happy to be with a group of people that were so cool and that we were able to connect. Momo always knows how to pick the good ones! :) So the frivolity ensued and so did the day.
The haze of the Spatel took effect but it was okay, we were at OKTOBERFEST!!! everywhere you went you could hear people alike singing "Auf Probst...Auf Probst" as loud as they could, to a final PROBST!!! then a drink of your beer. The Bavarian people were so much fun. I'm not sure where the hours of 5-8pm went but Monica's friend Tim and I got separated from everyone else. We decided to go on a ride because a fest isn't complete with out at least some rides! We picked the one that flipped us upside down, sprayed water, etc. (Good choice Tim). The ride completely rocked us. Not only were we drunk and on the ride but when we sat down, Tim's arm was still around me and the harnesses came to lock us in, with it still behind me. An uncomfortable way to spend 5 mins on a ride thats kicking the shit out of you. And shit kicked it did. The next morning I woke up with a huge bruise on my collar bone from where the harness had me positioned. Tim had similar features.
We continued to walk around the fair grounds for a good 3 hours trying to meet up with people. Everyone's phones were dead and we had no way of contacting them. We finally foundn Jaimin, another of Monica's friends. He was such a funny guy to be with at this point of the night. We decided it wasn't worth getting pissed that we coulnd't find anyone-- so we just went back to the Schottenhamel and had some more fun. I saw a reserved table with a few people sitting there and it looked pretty empty so I went over and asked these guys if it was okay if we sat with them. Good karma was with us because not only did we get to sit inside a tent, we got to sit at the reserved table. These people were so nice and loved hanging out with us for some reason. They tried so hard to get us to go to the club with them afterwards but Tim and I were overserved that point so we opted to just go back to the hostel.
On our way back to the hostel we took the 17, but got off at the wrong stop so instead of getting back on it, we thought it was a good idea to walk around and follow the tracks. This was another 3 hour adventure Tim and I had. We kind of dozed off waiting for the train and finally realized where we were and Tim led us back to the hostel. it was a brutal day, but it was serious fun.
In the morning we were happy to find Monica and Marcus curled up in their beds. and boy did we all have stories from the night before. Apparently EVERYONE was separted at some point and then ended up together on this big hill, where they watched all the drunks do stupid things. Man, I wish I could've seen that. Tim lost his wallet and his cell phone the previous night, either on the ride or somewhere inbetween. So we went back to the fair grounds to check it out. Hang overs were starting to set in, but for some reason we all still had the urge to drink. So drink we did.
We sat at a table with a bunch of Australians, who were so funny! Tim, Marcus, Monica and I all had a great time that afternoon. Singing songs, giving kisses, playing drinking games. Nothing but pure fun with some awesome people. On our way out, we hopped the wrong train to the Haupbonhof ended up in the wrong area and had to make our way there on a different route. We got the Haupbonhof, I said good bye to Monica and Tim walked me to the train because Monica ran to get a salami sandwich. I didn't have time to go back to the hostel to get my stuff, so, I left with Monica. Me, my purse and my waterbottle were on a train that didn't go directly TO the airport but around it. So, I missed my flight. I was so pissed that I cried almost the whole way to the airport.
There were these two nice Texan's who live in London and said that if my plane got rerouted there I could stay with them, which was nice, but in all reality I knew that I'd be sleeping in the airport. I got my plans and stuff changed, wasn't cheap, but had no other option. After i got that taken care of, I called Monica and they too missed their train back to Cologne. Kind of funny that it happened to the lot of us. I was hung over, tired, spelled like beer and pee (don't ask why), and all I wanted to do was get home and shower. I slept on some benches in the airport and made friends with the cleaning guy. My flight left for Marseille at 6:45 and i made it back to Aix with in hours.
Now i'm sitting here trying to upload photos from the weekend to facebook but it's not working. So i'm going to make a list of what I need to buy before I see monica again to get my stuff back....
Toothbrush, power adapter, hair brush... good thing I traveled light this trip!!!
More ridiculous stories to follow, I'm sure.
for now, PROBST and good night.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Dancing in the... daylight?
Yesterday was a very interesting drawing class. For the past 4 sessions we've been drawing models and the human figure, like it was our job. I think by the time that yesterday's class rolled along we were all kind of sick of doing the same thing. But little did we know a quater of the way into class that John and Allan had something planned for us.
When drawing you usually use your dominant hand, no? Okay, so we'd been doing that. We tested the waters of drawing with our non dominant hand... lets just say we've seen some better work. Also, when drawing you tend to use your wrist and move it along with your forearm and fingers. Well, John and Allan came up with a creative method to get us thinking and drawing in a different way.
Firstly, we were drawing only by moving from the elbow. A lot of the strokes were turning out rounded because we weren't told that we could move our wrists. The second was by isolating the shoulders and drawing only from the shoulders. By this meaning moving your upper body at the shoulders to create line and depth. Some of us fashioned a Britney Spears shimmy as our method while others used the push and pull from each to get through the exercise. The most noteable and third part of our experiment was attatching our arm at our side and moving from the hips to draw. (Sidenote: Along with drawing we had latin salsa music playing in the background to help get us going.) A guy in my class, O'Neil had the funniest way of drawing. He squatted down a little bit and just started going after it. This made the whole class burst into laughter which got the energy flowing through the room.
I think that it's safe to say that we were all a little bit airy and loosened up when it came to continue drawing regulary.
Good work guys, mission accomplished.
When drawing you usually use your dominant hand, no? Okay, so we'd been doing that. We tested the waters of drawing with our non dominant hand... lets just say we've seen some better work. Also, when drawing you tend to use your wrist and move it along with your forearm and fingers. Well, John and Allan came up with a creative method to get us thinking and drawing in a different way.
Firstly, we were drawing only by moving from the elbow. A lot of the strokes were turning out rounded because we weren't told that we could move our wrists. The second was by isolating the shoulders and drawing only from the shoulders. By this meaning moving your upper body at the shoulders to create line and depth. Some of us fashioned a Britney Spears shimmy as our method while others used the push and pull from each to get through the exercise. The most noteable and third part of our experiment was attatching our arm at our side and moving from the hips to draw. (Sidenote: Along with drawing we had latin salsa music playing in the background to help get us going.) A guy in my class, O'Neil had the funniest way of drawing. He squatted down a little bit and just started going after it. This made the whole class burst into laughter which got the energy flowing through the room.
I think that it's safe to say that we were all a little bit airy and loosened up when it came to continue drawing regulary.
Good work guys, mission accomplished.
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