art gallery visit

NaNoWriMo update: 24,261 words written, 25,739 to go. Woke up with a bit of a cold today, ugh. Hopefully I can get rid of it soon; I don't want to lose any valuable writing time! :-)

Yesterday was a draggy, molasses day. Have any of you had that kind of day? For some reason I was unmotivated to do much, was tired all day. I was probably coming down with the cold but didn't realize it yet. Anyway, churning out those 2,000 words was tough yesterday, as was my other work. And then I went to the gym despite the fact that I really REALLY didn't feel like it, but was motivated because Jeff's working on re-tiling part of our shower stall, so we have no shower at home right now.

By the time 5 pm rolled around, the last thing I wanted to do was go to the art gallery, but my friend Craig and I had already made plans to check out the Gauguin/Matisse show at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario). Jeff couldn't come because he had to work. Hey, I just noticed that in that photo l just linked to, I'm wearing exactly the same thing I did yesterday.

Anyway, I found that by the time Craig picked me up, I was already perking up. Craig's so cool; I'm not sure if I've raved about him before. He's the editor at MapArt, which makes the best maps in the world. He's also incredibly creative, positive, adventurous, and passionate about life. I met Craig through the same group of close-knit university friends I've mentioned in earlier Blatherings.

But back to the art exhibit. I have to confess that I wasn't blown away by Gauguin or Matisse - just not my kind of thing; I liked some of the other artists in the gallery much better. I've never considered myself an art expert, and have also been turned off by over-analysis of works of art or literature. One sure way to turn me off any piece of literature in school, for example, was to make me have to study it. I find art the same way. If I don't like a piece of art (like a piece of canvas painted totally black or very abstract pieces), then I won't like it no matter HOW expensive it is or how much in-depth analysis you throw at my face.

On the other hand, I find something tremendously soul-satisfying about looking at a piece of art I really like. Not sure why, exactly. Take the painting I'm looking at in the cartoon at the top of today's Blatherings, for example. The painting is called Naiade and is by Henri Fantin-Latour, a 19th century French painter (see a larger version here). It was my favourite painting in the exhibit. I love the colours, the soft textures, the wonderfully peaceful but joyous feel of the whole piece.

For me, one of the tests is whether or not I'd be willing to hang the piece in my home. I can appreciate technique and innovative use of colours and etc. etc., but like my enjoyment of movies and books, ultimately the whole thing has to hang together in a satisfying way that doesn't leave me depressed or confused at the end.

After the AGO, Craig and I had dinner at a place on Baldwin called Caffe del Gaffe. Really good roasted vegetable pizza, yum (a whole other type of soul-satisfying :-)). And now I'm thinking I'd like to go back to the AGO sometime, on my own. Perhaps take my laptop and work on one of the benches, perhaps not take my laptop and just stare at the paintings I like for way too long.

Links/News:

One year ago, I found out I had misspelled "ice cream" all my life (thanks, Rand).

Four years ago, Jeff bought a webcam for my home office.