Sweeps

I usually clean my house on Fridays and when that is over the weekend starts. Well, Labor day  weekend was crazy and strange and it never got done. I thought about doing it  during the week.  But.... Last week was all about taking my Mom to her doctor. We had to see her for stress testing and then go back two days later to get the results. My Mother is in extremely good shape. 

I cleaned my house on Saturday. I took my time and put things back in order and rearranged and as I was sweeping the floors, the final chore before I mop, it dawned on me.  I had not planned the art show for this week. As I sat there with no ideas; exhausted yet happy it came to me.

Sweeping. Brooms. What could I find that was about sweeping or brooms that did not involve witches with brooms or witches on brooms. That was my challenge. 

Young Girl with a Broom - Rembrandt van Rijn or possibly Carel Fabritius

This week enjoy.....Sweeps.

Bats

Thursday we went on an adventure to Old Tunnel State Park near Fredericksburg Texas.

The tunnel was built for the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway which was a connector line between Fredericksburg and the San Antonio Aransas Pass Railway.  It was in operation from 1913 to 1942.

The tunnel is 920 feet long.  In 1942 after failing to show a profit the railway was terminated and the tracks and rails sold for scrap.

With no activity in the dark confines; Mexican Free-tailed bats 

started moving in and now it is home to over 3 million of them and about 3 thousand Cave Myotis bats.

The tunnel is now under the care of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 

May through October you can arrive at the park at about sunset and for a fee a ranger will guide you through an evening of bat emergence. During the day there is a trail to hike and enjoy. If you look through the tunnel you will see hundreds of restless bats moving about.

This week enjoy Bats. 

Gentlemen with Glasses

During our Appropriation of Loupgarou in New Orleans #loupgarou we visited the Ogden Museum ofSouthern Art. Why, because we all know Loupgarou are passionate about art.

There are paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures by artists from Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and several other Southern States.

One painting in particular grabbed my attention. Portrait of a Bespectacled Gentleman by Jean Joseph Vaudechamp 

painted in 1832. 

Why did he not take his glasses off while having his portrait painted? Who was he? What is the Gentleman’s story? Who commissioned the work?  How often had I seen a portrait where a Gentleman wore glasses?

This week enjoy Gentlemen with Glasses. 

Degas New Orleans

My daughter called me a few weeks ago and tells me we are going to New Orleans. OK!  A friend and I put together a great itinerary on a very helpful web-sight of places we wanted to go, places to eat and things to do. We carefully, or so we thought, planned our three days. 

On the list was to see the Degas house and eat at the little cafe up the street called Cafe Degas. In our excitement we over looked one thing. Neither the house nor the cafe were open on Monday. We tried to rearrange plans but somethings could not be changed so we had our Lyft driver take us by the house. 

In the fall of 1872 Edgar Degas traveled from Paris to New Orleans. He wanted to visit with his mother's Creole family, the Mussons. When he arrived the city was still recovering from the ravages of  the Civil War. He was presented with stark destruction and uncommon beauty from every angle. 



The home of his family was very large and in the 1920s it was divided into two separate homes.



A restoration was completed on the main house and it is open for tours.


Degas in New Orleans

He stayed just 5 months 


Degas in New Orleans
and is known to have created 18 paintings and at least 4 drawings  of his family and their life in New Orleans. 

This week enjoy Degas New Orleans. 

Mirror Mirror Here I Stand

Mirror, mirror here I stand.
Who is the fairest in the land?

Wilhelm Grimm wrote this many years ago and it comes from a story we know as Snow White.
It is a German Fairy Tale and was originally called Sneewhittchen and was tale number 53.


There have been several studies done and theories put forth as to the origin of the tale. Was it based on fact or pure fictional imagination.


The “Talking Mirror” at the Spessart Museum in Lohr am Main

I will tell you that in the Spessart Museum in the Lohr Castle is a mirror called The Talking Mirror.



Lohr am Main Spessart-Museum

This mirror is known for its ability to tell the truth. A gift to a new wife who became the step mother of a young girl named Maria Sophia Margarethe Catharina in 1743.

The creator of the mirror was Kurmainzische Spiegelmanufaktur,  Lohr Mirror Manufacture.

This week enjoy what the mirror shows.

Artist's Daughters

I have four daughters. No, I was not trying for a son. 
Let me rephrase. I was gifted with four daughters. 
They are all very different and yet some are the same.  My oldest and youngest are the more alike and the two in the middle while seeming the same are so vastly different from each other and each sister. 
Sometimes I look at them and wonder "where did you come from? and Whose child are you really?" 
They seem nothing like me yet three of them know more about me, Tamara, the person  than I ever believed could be possible. 
They know how I see my world and they will join me there. They laugh at me and will make fun of me and I have seen them all be fiercely protective of me. 
Daughters.
This week we will take a look at Artist's Daughters.

Earring - Adornment

Exactly what inspired me I am not sure this week but I came across Girl With A Pearl Earring - Johannes Vermeer. 



I got curious about other paintings of people where the story was about the earring.  So I went looking for specifically the word Earring in the title of the work and surprised myself with the number I found in just a short time. 

Vermeer's painting has had several names over the years, Girl In A Turban, Young Girl In  A Turban, Portrait of A Young Girl and a few other. The earring in the painting has even been accused of being a fake. It also makes an appearance in at least 9 other Vermeer Paintings.  But that is all just whispers that increase the mystery and not why I am here today. 

Voltaire said "The ear is the avenue to the heart."  
Jennifer Lopez loves to adorn the avenue. 
This week enjoy .... Earring -  Adornment.