Notre Dame, community, art, outside my window, my practice

I went to Notre Dame at 7:30 am. There wasn’t a crowd. Th sacred Patin has been lost. It feels like a reproduction of an original. I met staff and other artists in the afternoon. I went to the open studio and talked for a bit to a German women Laura on the fifth floor balcony over looking the Seine. I pondered the view from my atelier window. I worked on slightly larger pieces using soft and oil pastels on paper.

Work begins

I am sketching. I woke up early and sketched between 8 and 10:30 am. I am using some soft pastels from Sennelier, the premiere art supplier in Paris and oil pastels from the USA. I am preoccupied by the Paris gardens and statuary after walking through the Marais and it has a presence in my work. There is an overwhelming spirit  of open and closed spaces. Within these spaces there are a complex interaction with an emotion both from looking outward and contemplating internally. There is a contract of vivid color of the formal garden flowers enclosed by the somber stone, clay and timber of the surrounding courtyards. I met a colleague from the USA staying at the Cite. We visited and had a conversational lunch at Fika, a favorite cafe of mine. We shared many stories and overlapping histories. It is a small world as the saying goes.

 

Jardins and Street Scenes

I woke up and walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg after working on some sketches. On the way to the garden, I got coffee and a croissant. Then, I walked to the Sennelier Art shop and picked up paper and pastels. I walked by the Louvre and took the train M1 back to the atelier. I made contacts with an artist staying at the Cite and will visit their atelier tomorrow. I am in contact with potential patron about purchase of a piece of my work. I got a placement for an open studio on April 23. I am preoccupied by the gardens of Paris. They are all in bloom and the weather is most comfortable to sit and lounge in the parks. 

 

Sunday Sunday

I went to the Paris Art Fair today. The Grand Palais was grander than the art. The poor dealers who have to peddle such decorative trash for the wealthy. It is truly an “Emperor has no clothes”scenario. I later went to visit my artist friend Jacque and ate pasta with a fish sauce.  I walked the street and listened to church bells chime and watched the Sunday crowds fill the streets and cafes.