Sometimes I use a computer to get ideas, as here where a collage of images has been alterred in lots of fun ways.  I use things like this as sources from which to draw and paint.  It's then that I fiddle around with the image using my own computer (the one between my ears).

I'm busy painting koi these days, doing my own version of Monet's Nympheas idea, living as it were in imaginary pools of water, becoming it sometimes seems a fish myself, so immersed I am in a world of blue.  So, it's intriguing to reencounter a work like this drawing of flowers and to find so many similarities in it to the fishes and the pool. 

Though the colors are entirely different and the associations are quite opposite, this picture bears a mirror likeness to the koi ponds.  This similarity is made all the more mysterious by their oppositions.  One takes place outdoors, the other inside the house.  One is natural, the other is civilized and artificial.  One is vertical, the other horizontal.  But inside both pictures are formal means of ordering the visual idea.  Both images have a "swirl" of sorts as its schematic center.  The implicit visual movement of the flowers in their design, both the flowers in the vase and the ones arranged on the design of the cloth, echo the swimming motions of the fish in their pond. 

I've noticed this kind of visual metaphor before in my paintings.  I have no idea what it means.  Beneath the subject matter lies a process of ordering and arranging that is as much the subject of the painting as are the objects depicted.  Somehow in the precise ways I order things, my personality lies hidden. 

It might seem that a person's way of ordering ideas would be the last thing about themselves that they would "hide," and yet I only discover these facts of self-hood for myself by this very indirect means.  And without even realizing I was doing so, naturally I reveal something of myself to others also by these tacit devices.

We project ourselves outwards upon the world in myriad ways.  Just that sense one has of knowing people, of taking the measure of them, even of people that we just meet when we make those crucial "first impression" judgements -- all these effects are signs of the self that is foisted out.  Even a shy self is thrust onto the stage of life despite one's efforts to seek shelter. 

We are all actors on the stage as William Shakespeare once keenly observed.  For the artist the picture is but another kind of garment one wears to demonstrate and manifest the self to the world.

A picture is a strange mirror because it distorts as much as it reveals, pressing ideas outward into the world in a thousand disguises.  Yet behind all forms of concealment, one person peeks through.  Paint.  Do paint, and I guarantee you'll gain self-knowledge though you may not always recognize the face you see in painting's strange mirror.

[Top of the post:  Drawing of Flowers in a Vase, by Aletha Kuschan, Caran d'ache on Canson paper]

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5100003

How I would love to have this beauty hanging above my mantle!  French spoken "Le Bassin aux Nymphéas" means "The Basin with the Nympheas."  It almost sounds pornographic but "Nymphea" translates to Water lilly.  A beautiful work of art that can be appreciated for generations to come.

Congratulations to the lucky owner.  Les félicitations et prennent bien soin de elle.

Good night,

Lindsey

Nous n'avons pas cherché longtemps: sur la route pour aller à Rouen depuis Paris se trouve le village de Giverny dont j'aime entendre le nom puisqu'il me fait instantanément penser à mon peintre préféré, Claude Monet.

Claude Monet c'est ce génial artiste qui a transformé le musée de l'Orangerie en jardin depuis que ses Nymphéas y sont installés.
Ces toiles ma fascinent et m'émeuvent presque jusqu'aux larmes tant elle dégage un amour pour ce jardin, de la fraicheur, de la lumière...quelque chose de magique.

Monet je l'aime tellement qu'en voyage je cherche toujours les musées qui ont la chance d'avoir quelques unes de ses toiles...et je m'y précipite. Paris, Londres, Chicago, Ottawa, New-York...

Et bien là c'est SON jardin que nous sommes allés voir. Et ce sont ses toiles que nous avons vu apparaître sous nos yeux, en moins belles puisque les yeux du maître ne sont plus. Quel filtre magique les yeux de Mr Monet!!

Il n'empêche que le jardin est sublime, et que c'est un régal pour les sens et les photographes. Je me suis un peu lâchée: plus de 200 photos en 3 petites heures. Quand on aime on ne compte pas, c'est tout...

Je ne vous en montre que quelques unes, pour en voir plus il ne vous reste qu'à aller le voir en vrai ce célèbre jardin. Allez-y tôt le matin sinon il y a beaucoup de monde, mais vous ferez une très jolie promenade c'est certain. Même le parking est beau!

On peut aussi visiter la maison du maître. Une maison pleine de lumière et de couleurs, où l'on peut encore voir du mobilier de l'époque. Elle est jolie cette maison, je suis tombée amoureuse de la salle à manger / office jaune (comme mon buffet qui y a des cousins!) et de la cuisine bleue et de ses jolies faïences. Il devait faire bon y vivre. Photos interdites, je n'ai pas l'audace de la gentille Méchante, pas d'images donc.

Quelques infos pratiques:
Dates et horaires d'ouverture: Les jardins sont ouverts du 1er Avril au 30 Octobre, tous les jours sauf le lundi, de 9h30 à 18h.
Entrée: 5,5€ pour les adultes. Les tarifs pour les enfants sont sympas (gratuit jusqu'à 7ans)
Le site de la fondation Claude Monet qui prend soin des jardins et de la maison: http://www.fondation-monet.com/index.html. On y trouve des informations utiles pour organiser sa visite, mais aussi des photos de la maison et un calendrier des périodes de floraison.
Pour y aller le plus simple est la voiture, en passant par l'A13. Les jardins sont situés à 75km de Paris, près de Vernon.
On ne peut malheureusement pas réservé ses billets à l'avance, il faut donc faire un peu la queue.

Early in his career, some of Monet's peers criticized his method, insisting that painting his impressions did not constitute "true art." Yet, more than 80 years after his death, Monet's paintings and prints are still among the most sought-after by professional and everyday decorators and can be found hanging on the walls of homes and offices around the world.

What's really exciting is the fact that Monet'sfine art is now affordable and easy to obtain. Just go to posters.com and browse through the grand selection of Monet prints. Then choose your favorite custom frame and buy it with one click. How easy is that? Take a look at some of Monet's most popular works of art with custom frames.

Nympheas
This serene painting of a water lily pond brought more than $20 million at a Sotheby's auction in 1998.

Poppies
Vivid colors and exquisite lighting bring this painting to life. It's said that to some viewers the poppies seem to flutter in a gentle breeze.

Jardin a Giverny
This popular painting was created in the artist's garden near Paris in 1900. Monet loved this garden of colors. It offered him secluded serenity and gave him inspiration for his work.

Antibes
"I'm truly a man of isolated trees and wide open spaces."
–Claude Monet, Antibes, France

Collecting and enjoying fine art is no longer out of reach for art lovers. Journey through the fine art collection at posters.com and treat yourself to classic prints that will delight your heart and enhance your home or office.

2008 - Huile sur Toile - 90x70 cm