'Tis A Gift

Song - Take Me Home by Phil Collins

Happy to be at home and painting again!  Above is a painting that I started yesterday of a bouquet of peonies.  The photo reference was taken this spring in Paris. (see below)

Can you believe this beautiful and massive bouquet taken through a shop window?

"Just living is not enough....

one must have sunshine, freedom, 

and a little flower."

--Hans Christian Anderson

So Much to Do - Day 23

Song - Napoleon - Viva La Vida by Coldplay

April 30, 2018

 Having taken photos of window, doors and door knockers all over France, I find the best one right across the street from our hotel.  Not sure about the symbolism but I like the whimsy of it!

 Another rainy day in Paris so we decide to take an Uber over to the Musee Jacquemart Andre to see the exposition "Mary Cassatt - an American Impressionist in Paris".  After being dropped off on Boulevard Haussmann I decide that I need some meds for my cough which is keeping me awake most nights and walking to the pharmacy we passed these amazing flowers at a shop.

 I do love Peonies!

 This was the advertisement for the exhibit and unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photographs once inside.

 Inside the Musee Jacquemart Andre before getting to the exhibit.

 This is a painting of Mary's sister from a postcard that I purchased there.

 We decided that it would be nice to get our three son's some bread knives from Boulangerie Poilane.  I bought one for us many years ago and it's a very special knife.

 And right next door is the newly remodeled and expanded Comptoir Poilane which just happened to have an open table just as we arrived. It was pouring rain outside so it was nice to be somewhere warm and cozy.

 They serve tartines or open faced sandwiches both hot and cold on Poilane's famous bread. I don't know why but it tastes so incredibly delicious this way.

 Luckily we dropped our knives off at the hotel before heading over to Napoleon's Tomb at Le Invalides because........

 .....machine gun toting police were doing body scans and bag searches!

 Mr. B nor myself have ever been here before and while it was an amazing building, once was enough.

 The marble floors were richly decorated...........

 And the tomb is built of red quartzite and rests on a green granite base.

Several of Napoleon's family are buried here as well as important military hero's. Now we are off to E. Dehillerin to do some more shopping!

 Dehilleran's is a chef's store in the Les Halles area of Paris and noted for their fine copper pans.

Which I purchased a cute little shaped sauce pan that just spoke to me.  It has sloping sides that help hasten the process of reducing or thickening sauces!

Next door was a cozy bistro named Loup and since it was still raining, we decided to head inside for a glass of wine and to give our feet a chance to rest.
 

 We are seated near this massive rotisserie full of golden brown meat going round and round...
.

The chef decides that the Prime Rib is done and takes it into the kitchen.

 But returns with this little smiling piggy......

...that every time it went around it's little tail would go "plonk"......too much for me!

Le addition s'il vous plait!

Check please!

The hotel had made us reservations at Brasserie Lipp but we canceled because...well....they serve trotters.....

We had dinner around the corner from our hotel at Cafe Louise and it was perfect!

"You won't realize the distance you've walked 

until you take a look around and realize 

how far you've been."

 --Anonymous

Sunday's Challenge

Peonies.

Song - Sous le ciel de Paris 

Who would ever think of Peonies as being a challenge?

Not me....but on Sunday they were a big painting challenge.

Thursday in my Painting Class, I did a rough painting sketch from the two photo's below.  I am painting them on two canvas's so that they can be hung together or separately - a diptych.

I love Peonies and when I was in Paris last Spring, there were a lot of window displays with beautiful Peonies.

I ducked my head into one little floral shop where a woman was arranging this incredible Peony and Snowball flower display and in my very broken French, I asked politely "Bonjour Madame, Je voudrais un photo, s'il vous plait?".....and pointed at my camera, just in case my accent threw her off!

She was very sweet and responded in lovely English (phew)...."Yes you may take as many photo's as you would like."

Isn't this incredible?  Just gorgeous!

So I wandered around her shop snapping up lovely little vignettes of beautiful arrangements.  But mostly I wanted shots of her glorious front window.

As I began to paint them today, I got so thrown off because there are so many of them and I wanted each petal perfect!

But that's not really how I want to paint them...... 

I want lines in there for exciting energy and yet I want them to be "loose" but yet still look like Peonies.

So I decided to "grid" them with Photoshop Elements.

Mr. B gave me a funny look and said "flowers don't need to be gridded....they are flowers!"

I actually think I just needed to take a break from feeling frustrated.

Of course, I have never gridded anything in PE, just on paper with a pencil & ruler.  Thank goodness for "Google" and in no time I had my photo's all gridded and ready to go.

New skill learned!

Then I figured that I would blog about my adventurous Sunday revolving around Peonies. I am sure this is actually some kind of "P.A.T." (painting avoidance technique) because as soon as I post this, it's time to water the garden and pour myself a glass of wine!  Tomorrow is a new day.....

Peonies in my garden this morning.

I'll share a photo of the painting with you when it is finished.

"Self esteem comes from being faced with a challenge, whatever it might be, and meeting it."  ~ Linda Fields  (Art teacher)

And guess what I discovered when I went into the garden at 6:30?

......there was a funny color in the atmosphere.....oh my....the eclipse was happening.....call Mr. B......poke a hole in a sheet of paper

Mr. B holding the paper with a pinhole and the partial eclipse shining on the deck railing.

.....grab the camera....do mom & dad know this is happening.....yep, they were right on top of it.....cool !  Kind of a weird cool feeling.  Great long shadows too!

 

Wonder how it makes the birds and animals of the earth feel.

A double pin hole eclipse on a bird statue

 “You can turn off the sun, but I'm still gonna shine.” - Jason Mraz

Spring Iris

Song - John Denver "Inch by Inch"

Our garden is a riot of color right now due to my obsession with Bearded Iris!  Well, that and roses and Spring bulbs and Lilac's and Wisteria and......well, you know how it can be.

My Grandpa Art got me started with roses.  He always had several roses in his front yard in Oakland with cuttings and onions underneath.

Grandma Sophie in the rose garden in Oakland

Grandpa Art with 3 of his 4 daughters in the rose garden.  My mom is on the far left.

Both of my parents are wonderful gardeners and their yard looks like a park.  They are in their mid-eighties (shhh...don't tell them I told you that!) and it wasn't until this year that they hired someone to "mow & blow" but all of the rest of the work, they do themselves.  They get great satisfaction from working in the soil and coaxing a plant along.

My parents at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco while they were dating.

My mom & her sister Marie in a garden

 

My Grandpa Art working in the rose garden while his four daughters pose for the camera.  L-R is my Aunt Bernadine, my mom, Aunt Alma and Aunt Marie.  Not sure who the little girl giggling on the steps is.




Now that all of the Spring blossoms have left the trees and the bulbs are withering and my roses are just about to burst into bloom, I have time to enjoy my Iris.

I hope you enjoy them too.....

 

 

Where I relax after gardening.  Ahhh......

Had to add a beautiful white Lilac!!!  Can't you just smell the lovely fragrance?

And some Peonies just about to bloom!!!  So exciting.....

Our Wisteria at the back gate.

You would not believe the iridescent colors on this Iris when the sun is shining.  Unfortunately it was a hazy day today.

Some white Clematis on our fence.

The entire fence is a beautiful creamy white.

A little American Goldfinch taking a sunbath on the birdbath.

 

PS - I picked my first bouquet of Sweet Pea's today and they smell glorious! 

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. " - Luther Burbank