scrapologie

Watercolor Dreams

Thank you all for the very sweet words on the last two posts about grace and the weight loss. I read all your comments and wish we could connect personally so I could thank you for them, they mean a lot to me. I've been busy traveling - took a much needed trip to Washington, DC and spent six glorious days (three extra ones as I was stuck there due to Hurricane Sandy). I was visiting a dear friend who lives in a charming house on Capitol Hill. We spent multiple days at the National Gallery of Art - just drinking in all the art --- I was in heaven. I'll have to dedicate a whole separate post to that trip!

This will be quick - just had to pop in, to share the beautiful watercolor renderings of British fashion illustrator Cate Parr. Her gorgeous work leaves me speechless. I especially loved the Indian inspired paintings below. The poem that accompanies them is by Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, painter and writer who was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for literature, in 1913. It's one of my favorites, and hope you'll enjoy it too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Woman!

 
O woman, you are not merely the
handiwork of God, but also of men;
these are ever endowing you with
beauty from their hearts.
Poets are weaving for you a web

with threads of golden imagery;
painters are giving your form ever
new immortality.
The sea gives its pearls, the mines
their gold, the summer gardens their
flowers to deck you, to cover you, to
make you more precious.
The desire of men's hearts has shed
its glory over your youth.
You are one half woman and one
half dream.
-Rabindranath Tagore

Where Art Reigns Queen

The Toilet of Venus, Francois Boucher, 1751, Oil on Canvas. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of William K. Vanderbilt, 1920. 

We had a lovely time in NYC. Bob forgot to bring my camera so sadly I have no photos to commemorate our visit, but I do have some wonderful memories. We took the Amtrak Saturday morning and arrived in NYC around 10 am.  We grabbed a bagel at one of the eateries in the subway -- which was fine until Bob pointed out a baby mouse that was scurrying around scavenging for food (not in the eatery we were in but in one of the main passageways). I felt sorry for the little mouse, but couldn't help but be grossed out at the thought of a rodent sharing the same rental space as all those food vendors! 

We then took a subway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was just amazing. I was trying to decide between the Met and MOMA and settled on the Met. There was so much to see -- and we had so little time. We had to condense our choices of what to see and finally decided upon Greek and Roman Art (the marble sculptures were so beautiful, I could barely stand it!), Arms and Armor, Medieval Art, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (love loved this!), and European Paintings (Boucher and the Rococo and Baroque artists are among my favorite). We also did a quick walk-through of the Art of The Samurai, a special exhibition that ended yesterday.There was so much more I wanted to see but we were short on time. We stopped at the American Girl store to pick up an outfit for Alekha's doll (promised since she had to stay home with the grandparents) and then went to Tiffin Wallah on E. 28th to satisfy our craving for Indian food. We headed back to Penn Station after checking out the Borders across the street and then caught the Bengals versus Jets game before taking the Amtrak back to Hartford. A really wonderful weekend and SO inspiring. Art is just amazing, especially when you see that which combines fine arts with history. I was in art heaven 

If you're looking for something fun and interesting to read, I have been reading a really fantastic book series called Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull. If you love Harry Potter, you'll like these books as well. It's a wonderful fantasy series in children's literature. Of course no one trumps JK Rowling, but Fablehaven does a great job of holding its own.

 

Have a great week!  Can't wait until I'm back in my own little house on Friday. There's no place like home.