By now I hope we’re settling into a bit of a summer routine, or maybe finding that space between “I have all the time in the world” and “summer is slipping away!” On my list of things I hope to get to this summer are things I want to frame so I can hang them up in my still-needs-to-be-cleaned office. Thinking about this, I was reminded of the poster sales in the student union way back in my undergraduate days: I bought a Monet print and a theatrical poster from the film Reds.
One of my current to-be-framed prints is by the Spanish Surrealist Remedios Varo:
For this week’s prompt, I’d like to ask you to share a piece of art that you connect with because it inspires you, shocks you, welcomes you, or otherwise has some impact. Feel free to drop in a URL if fussing with copy and paste in Blogspot is too time consuming. Or, skip the prompt and share how your week went, what you’re thinking about, and what you’re looking forward to this week. Last week’s goals follow below.
Daisy
1) Check on or get official permission to do off-site research
2) Plan analytical next steps for Project Garnet, prepare and mail samples
3) Do sample photography for Project Garnet, do detailed descriptions
4) Go through all field gear and check/replace/organize as needed (aka buy new pants because old ones don’t fit after this year!)
5) Sort out roles for new councilors on national organization
6) Do something fun with kid to celebrate school opening again!
Dame Eleanor Hull
Get Albatross complete enough to send to RL writing group and another more specialized reader.
Start work on Domestic chapter.
Read a friend's essay & comment.
Latin & Greek each x4.
Grade things & change student's Incomplete to grade.
Buy supplies & paint my study.
Regular exercise & stretching.
Campus run to pick up books.
Pay bills, write letters, iron linen clothing.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Set and breakdown June goals.
Finish peer review.
Read two articles on Prudence, making notes, and tracking citations.
Make appointments with two doctors.
Email co-editor.
Write and mail thank-yous and birthday cards.
Good Enough Woman
1. Draft 500 words of Rambling essay.
2. 2 30-sessions on creative writing.
3. Do all the things for all the celebrations (my daughter's 16th b-day on June 8 and my son's HS graduation and my dad's 80th b-day on June 9th). Try to accept that preparations and celebrations will take most of my time.
heu mihi
1. Write 5 hours
2. Finish big book I stopped reading in January
3. Read 2 articles
4. Prep 1 article for issue 49.1
5. Sit x5, Latin x5
6. Finish first sleeve of cardigan and start the second
7. Two social things
humming42
1 overdue World review
2 overdue poetry review
3 Road review
Susan
1. Get book orders in
2. 2 x 2 hours on Famous Author
3. 2 more (formulaic) sections of self study
4. Start reading when I get my assignments for book prize (In good news, I've learned that they divide the pile up, we read our group, and nominate up to 4 for everyone to read.)
5. Exercise, sleep, read
6. Do fun things with humans
Well, I can't for the life of me figure out how to post a picture in a comment! So I'll describe it:
ReplyDeleteIt's an artwork that I bought in the spring. A watercolor tree, rendered in blue, with its abstracted limbs and leaves blurring upwards, impossibly high, like smoke on a white background. The lower branches of the tree lead up into a strong black line--horizontal--that also blurs upwards in the middle of the tree. Below the black trunk is a flat black horizon, mirroring the line of the lower limbs. The black blurs downwards, hear and there, and the trace of blue leaves is reflected below.
Oh and WAIT. Now that I've written that out, I realized that I can link to the gallery's page:
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/kelly-edwards-released-above
I find it mildly exhilarating, but in a calming way, if you know what I mean? The upward spiraling aspirations instill in me a desire to dream and move, but the colors and the way that they fade into white are soothing. It's like swimming in cool water.
Last week:
1. Write 5 hours - Yes
2. Finish big book I stopped reading in January - YES, finally
3. Read 2 articles - Yes
4. Prep 1 article for issue 49.1 - Mostly (waiting on the author)
5. Sit x5, Latin x5 - x5, x4, but the last of the 4 was longer and more challenging than usual
6. Finish first sleeve of cardigan and start the second - Yes
7. Two social things - Yes (a neighbor's vegan barbecue, where I talked to nice local people whom I didn't really know before, and a drink in a friend's backyard)
This week:
1. 5 hours on My Project (reading/writing/note-taking)
2. Read and edit essays for first part of collection
3. Read painfully difficult (but short) book in anticipation of teaching it next spring
4. Prepare one new lecture for fall
5. Sit x5, Latin x5
6. Celebrate my birthday! Host son's birthday party! Host parental post-party visit! Too much celebration, frankly!
6a. Have private whatever-I-want time on the afternoon of my birthday, while the house is empty (start a fun new knitting pattern, maybe?)
7. Process journal article
8. Run stuff to thrift store for donation
OK, so this feels a bit like a like a dumping ground for all of my ambitions. I'll leave it there and see what I manage.
You had an excellent week! And that painting suggests swimming to me, too . . . I hope you enjoy your quiet time on your birthday, and many happy returns of the day!
DeletePrivate "whatever-I-want time" on your birthday sounds excellent. Have a great birthday! (And I love your painting!)
DeleteI love your description of the artwork and then being able to see it after your description. I hope you've had a wonderful birthday week, my Gemini sister.
DeleteThat painting is so serene and soothing--it's gorgeous!
DeleteTopic: Great prompt, and I look forward to seeing everyone's inspirations. When I cleaned my office recently, I found a postcard that I acquired as a teenager, and I wish I'd brought it home so I could see if there's a link to its painting, which is by an Eastern European artist whose name I cannot remember. But since I don't have that, here's a link to a Pieter de Hooch painting I love, which I've also had as a postcard for a long time: https://uploads6.wikiart.org/images/pieter-de-hooch/the-bedroom.jpg
ReplyDeleteI love the Dutch painters of the Baroque period, because they do such interesting things with light and interiors, and I find de Hooch's treatment of light entering houses especially evocative. He often layers openings, as here, with both interior and exterior windows and doors.
How I did:
Get Albatross complete enough to send to RL writing group and another more specialized reader. YES and NO. Sent it to writing group, but want to provide a proper intro and conclusion before it goes to the specialized reader.
Start work on Domestic chapter. NO.
Read a friend's essay & comment. NO.
Latin & Greek each x4. x3, x1. Better than nothing.
Grade things & change student's Incomplete to grade. NO.
Buy supplies & paint my study. YES!!! It still needs some touching up but I am very happy with the pale blue I chose. The room seems bigger and more welcoming.
Regular exercise & stretching. YES. A little skimpy on stretching . . .
Campus run to pick up books. YES.
Pay bills, write letters, iron linen clothing. YES, NO, NO. I think I am going to buy a hand-held steamer this week. My old gym had a big steamer in the women's changing room, and I used to take things in to steam. I hadn't realized how small and cheap little ones are.
New goals:
Work on Albatross's intro & conclusion, send to reader.
Start work on Domestic chapter.
Read a friend's essay & comment.
Scholarly reading x4.
Latin & Greek each x4.
Grade things & change student's Incomplete to grade.
Move books back into my study.
Regular exercise & stretching.
Write letters, buy steamer and steam linen clothing.
This may be over-ambitious, since we also have some social events (live and in-person!) this week, but hey, heu mihi also did the "dumping ground for ambitions" thing, so I'm in good company! :-)
Hooray for painting! That takes a lot of time, usually more than anticipated, so it's great that you got that done.
DeleteI love the (other kind of) painting that you linked to. So warm and soothing. It's cool how you can look out through windows, and more windows beyond. Thanks for linking it!
I just noticed how the floor tiles are similar to the ones in humming42's choice. The similarity is even stronger in other de Hooch paintings!
DeleteAnd the same chair appears in "The Gold Weigher" and "Woman reading a letter"---I think he must often have painted his own home.
DeleteI love the way the two characters in this painting exchange a knowing look. So much brava on progress with Alabtross. The novel I just finished reviewing, There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job,features a local bus called the Albatross. A very quirky story...thought of you and your Albatross.
DeleteI have lots of artwork that has accumulated over the years, or been inherited from family members. And I'm wondering about what inspires me or connects. So I've now walked around the house, and there are three clusters of themes: flowers/nature, landscapes --paintings or photographs mostly of places I've been, and works by people I know which may or may not fit into these categories. The flowers give me joy, and include not only a 19th c print of a vase of flowers that I inherited from my grandmother, and a framed poster of the Van Gogh Irises from the Met (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436534?&exhibitionId=%7ba758e746-0813-4cdf-ab11-0294bcd54740%7d&oid=436534&pkgids=310&pg=1&rpp=4&pos=4&ft=*) but a framed piece of embroidery by grandmother that I rescued from the chair seat, and a piece of fabric that my great-grandfather sold. I have the Van Gogh above my bed, and it makes me happy to see it.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1. Get book orders in YES, EVEN STARTED THE LIBRARY STUFF
2. 2 x 2 hours on Famous Author YES, 3
3. 2 more (formulaic) sections of self study 1, but it's OK
4. Start reading when I get my assignments for book prize (In good news, I've learned that they divide the pile up, we read our group, and nominate up to 4 for everyone to read.) STILL HAVEN"T HAD ASSIGNMENTS< I'm getting anxious
5. Exercise, sleep, read YES, though I would like to inform the cats that 4 AM is NOT morning.
6. Do fun things with humans YES (went to dinner, that counts as fun!)
I've also selected the paint for my guest bathroom and ordered I think everything I need. I went to 3 different dr appointments with my mother, and took both cats to the vet for their annual checkups. The good news is that my mother doesn't need IV antibiotics, which is a huge relief.
Goals:
1. 2x 2 hours on Famous Author
2. Start reading for prize (assuming 20 books, get through at least 5)
3. Read article for review (it's an R & R I read for the first round, so should not be terrible I hope)
4. 2 more sections of program review
5. Have fun with my brother & his family when they come for the weekend
6. Exercise, sleep and read
7. Do fun things with friends
A most successful week! And I was particularly happy to have some time with your Van Gogh. I'm glad to know you don't need to read ALL of the books and hope you get your assignment soon.
DeleteApologies for late and brief posting. I’ve been at an online conference this, but still have goals as ever.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1 overdue World review: Yes
2 overdue poetry review: No
3 Road review: No
This week:
1 overdue poetry review
2 Road review
3 Novel review
Checking in super late, I got out to do some preliminary field work set-up and orientations for students, so I was gone all week, and mostly without internet... For an excellent cause!
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals were mostly completed, and I'm not even bothering with new ones right now except for one...
Goal: Take weekend off and enjoy quiet time at home before field chaos starts up again!
One of my favourite paintings is a Pissaro. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avenue_de_L%27Opera_(Effect_of_Snow_in_the_Morning)_IMG_6902.JPG
DeleteHe has a few versions, but the snowy one is the only one I really like, no idea why...
Also many by members of the Group of Seven, sort of iconic Canadian landscapes... https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/celebrating-100-years-group-seven
I have framed prints of this illustration in my campus office and near my desk at home. I love it.
ReplyDeletehttps://davidwyattillustration.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/the-word-witch/
Last week's goals:
1. Draft 500 words of Rambling essay. DONE.
2. 2 30-sessions on creative writing. DONE.
3. Do all the things for all the celebrations (my daughter's 16th b-day on June 8 and my son's HS graduation and my dad's 80th b-day on June 9th). Try to accept that preparations and celebrations will take most of my time. DONE (although my daughter is having a movie night with friends on Sunday the 13th, so we still have that, and also I feel like I never do a good-enough job with celebrations, which is hard.
This week:
Well, after the b-day and the graduation, I kind of collapsed a bit. Since it's the end of the week, I'll just put a few things:
1. Clean out the medicine cabinet.
2. Clean out dresser drawers.
3. 2 20-minute creative writing brainstorming sessions.
4. Float like mist through daughter's movie night with her squad. (We are boarding the dog for the evening, which will help tremendously. We boarded him for the first time on Wed for my son's graduation, which meant my folks could come for dinner without us worrying about him knocking one of them over).
5. Eat some of the greens my friend brought from her garden.
And I'm checking in just to prove I'm still alive. My goals will be the same--sigh--as the week had many unexpected things that took over with glee.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, my favorite painting is one a friend of mine painted https://janrdobbs.wixsite.com/myart/gallery2?lightbox=i26ts0
My mother loved to photograph flowers, and this piece reminds me of her. Thank you for posting pictures--it's so lovely to see them all.
Float like mist, everyone!
That painting is beautiful! Thanks for sharing it.
DeleteThanks, heu mihi. It hangs in my living room where I can see from the chaise longue in front of the fireplace--and helps get me through the winter!
Delete