Some Mornings

Some mornings I begin the day by writing in my journal and reading from four inspirational daily readers that reside on my Kindle.  I’d like to say every morning but that would be a bold faced lie.  I’d like to say most mornings, but lately I’m not even close to most.  So, I’ll stick with Some Mornings, adding that those are the days that seem to go better than the rest.  If that is true, you might ask, why don’t I do it every day?   That is a topic for another morning.   Besides the books on my Kindle, there are three books (real books, hard covered!) on my desk that I read from: Dr. Bernie Siegal’s 365 Prescriptions for the Soul, Good Poems selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor, and A Year in Impressionism, a collection of 365 impressionist works by an assortment of artists.  One prescription for the soul, one poem and one impressionist painting … Some Mornings.

Friday Favorites 6/24/2011

I’m traveling to Washington, DC, next week on business but I hope to find an hour or two to visit the National Gallery.   I’ve loaned them Renoir’s Girl with a Watering Can, a Friday Favorite in August of last year, and I want to be sure they are taking good care of it.  As I said back then, my favorite artist of any era is Claude Monet but Girl with a Watering Can may be my favorite painting.  Does that seem inconsistent?  How can my favorite painting not be by my favorite artist?  I think it comes down to Monet’s body of work.  Claude Monet did things with light and color and atmosphere … the very things that characterize Impressionism … unmatched by any other artist.  While I can easily settle on my favorite Renoir, there are so many of Monet’s works that I love … his water lilies come to mind … that in the end, I settle on a series of paintings – The Rouen Cathedral series.  Monet painted the cathedral over thirty times at different hours of the day and in different weather, not only capturing the variations in light and color but the changes in mood.  Yes, I’ve loaned the National Gallery Rouen Cathedral, West Facade and Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, too. Very generous, don’t you think?  This one is my favorite:

Friday Favorites 8/13/10

When I traveled regularly to Washington, D.C., I tried to schedule at least a half day of free time to visit the museums there, and my favorite was the National Gallery of Art.  It has a fine collection of Impressionist works, my favorite style of painting.  I’d probably say my favorite artist was Claude Monet, but my favorite painting would be Girl with a Watering Can, by Auguste Renoir.   Artistically, there are a number of