Bucket List...

Speaking about my art work to the Kaysville City Art Club. Super fun!

Doodles...

Baby Great Dane...

We had fun doodling in Stake Conference... We got permission from our Stake President :) Sorry L. spent almost the entire meeting exercising (taking laps around the building) so she didn't submit any art work for this post. It was a great meeting.

Finds...

I was tempted, but couldn't buy one of these in California. Who can lug home a suitcase full of rocks? But, in person these are so beautiful. Some California artist has used copper wire and a bunch of sea polished rocks and chunks of recycled glass to create these "things" I don't really know what they are called, but you hang them outside and they accentuate the sound of the rain. Many of you are tired of the rain, but I love it. I just pretend that I live in Ireland. :) So, I kind of wanted one of these, but didn't have anywhere to hang it so I took a picture instead.. But lovely.. right?
Also, I have a new face cream.. huge jars cheap at Costco.. does a great job of keeping the exema off my face so far...(ooh how I hate the exema! ..it's a constant battle).
Then, there are the new short sleeve Thomas Pink shirts for summer... They are so beautiful. I would never buy a $200 shirt.. but, I love looking at these. They are sooo pretty!

Who Gets Two Bowls of Ice Cream???

ME! ME! ME!

I am now the proud owner of these two lovely paintings

by my very favorite artist...

Ally Sweeney

I love.. Love.. LOVE them!

A Tale of Two Cities... Hale Centre Theater

So, we finally went last night to:

A Tale of Two Cities at Hale Centre Theater

A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite books. It's my favorite if you count the fact that I don't even know how many times I've read it. Since the director's (John Sweeney) wife Ally is my very dear friend, I wanted it to be amazing. I had no worries. It was a great evening of theater. The actors who play the central characters are incredible. I will put Utah voices up against any I've heard in New York or elsewhere. Ally and I were able to speak with the writer of the Book, Music and Lyrics Jill Santoriello during intermission and she agreed. (She was gracious and lovely. It was a treat to meet her. Her story in incredible.)

Angela Jeffries can raise the roof with her powerful voice but, the feeling she puts into the character and the depth of the script makes this Madame Defarge the first one I've seen that is at all three dimensional and true to the story. Madame Defarge is one of literary fiction's most evil villains, but Dickens is careful to point out how she became so hateful. Madame Defarge is truly the product of brutality. This is the first production to show that.

An introduction to the French people has cast members literally seen crawling from under ground like rats symbolic of how they are treated. Then, when caskets of wine are spilled in the streets, the starving people are seen licking it up the foreshadowing how the streets will run with blood and the people will become blood thirsty. I was stunned at how these crucial elements of the book were included seamlessly in the production.

The staging of the little funeral for Gaspard's son is so tender and touching that I was weeping by that point.

Sydney Carton is sensitively played by Kyle Olsen who has the voice of an archangel, which is fantastic in this production because it is one of the most musical, musicals I've seen. The show doesn't have musical numbers that put a point on the action, rather the music in Tale of Two Cities moves the story line along. In this way, it has an operatic quality.

The show is chocked full of fantastic talent. Charles and Lucie are brilliant. I thought Jeffrey Whitlock gave a stand out performance as Mr. Cruncher.

The costumes are amazing and made in house according to my friend Ally.

I could go one about it, but at the essence, A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most beautiful stories in our literary canon. Tales of redemption are poignant to all people who yearn to be better. The writer Jill Santoriello and this amazing company have created a glorious piece of art. The kind that inspires the best in us... that part that hopes to be more.

Vincent van Gogh... Lust for Life..

Kirk Douglas does an amazing job of looking like Vincent van Gogh and Anthony Quinn is also amazing as Paul Gauguin, but I didn't love this film. I far prefer the book by Irving Stone. In fact, I love the book and I love van Gogh and I thought his treatment in this film was a little harsh.

I know that he was a passionate man and that he could fly off the handle, but I think that his worst qualities were a fault of the lead paint that he used to create his timeless masterpieces.

He was tactile. I know that he used his fingers and hands to mix his colors. I know that he's had paint on his face, in his mouth, I know I have and I'm not a van Gogh. I believe that his exposure to lead and some of the other environmental conditions that he either couldn't help, or didn't know about affected his health in many ways.

He had an irrepressible drive to create and yet could not see clearly why. He only sold a single painting in his lifetime. And, yet, it makes me cry to think of the beauty he left us. His tortured heart was wrung out in paint on canvas. He helped us to see those who lived in poverty, the holiness of work, the yearnings of his heart, the brilliance of God's creations.

The only real comfort that Vincent ever had was his brother Theo who loved him and believed totally in his gift and in his brilliance. Without Theo, we wouldn't have Vincent's paintings.

In the year 1889, while van Gogh was trying to recover at at the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, he painted these beautiful Irises. There is no sketch for them, they were meant to be a study. But, Theo loved them and took them to an exhibition.

Vincent van Gogh died the following year. He died unrecognized for a lifetime of beautiful work. In 1987, this painting sold for $53.9 million dollars. Adjusted for inflation, it is still one of the top 10 most expensive paintings ever sold... but to me, it is priceless.

He was the white Iris in this painting. He was always apart and never understood and all of that complicated by his terrible illness. But he was a beautiful man and I am forever grateful for the talents that he worked so very hard to earn and for the riches he left to inspire us.

I love THIS tribute to Vincent set to the beautiful song Starry, Starry Night... Enjoy...

Your Refined Heavenly Home...

That's what I want. To be surrounded by real beauty; good music, great art, the best books and most importantly of all, a spirit of peace and love.

I love this BYU Devotional talk by Douglas L. Callister sent to by my sister Jackie. Beautiful.

Here is a favorite quote: The nearer we get to God, the more easily our spirits are touched by refined and beautiful things.

Read More...

Carl Heinrich Bloch...

I can't wait to see this exhibit. This is my favorite painting, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.

See more HERE...

BYU MOA...

Painting from the Reign of Victoria

The Royal Holloway Collection London
runs through Oct. 24, 2009

BYU MOA

Don't miss this exibit, or the

American Dreams:

Selected Works from the Museum's Permanent Collection of American Art

exhibit.. which is just wonderful.

Ally's Eat My Art Store...

My friend Ally is painting all this lovely food. This pink cupcake is my very favorite! Check out her fun paintings at

EatMyArtStore.com

Megan & Mendy's Art...

Liz told me about Megan & Mendy's darling art work some time ago.. but this piece in particular.. I saw just today and it is the happiest thing I've ever seen. I was able to see lots of Winborg art HERE.

Why is this kind of thing marketed for kids. I would adore this over my mantlepiece and you never know.. I may just hang it there.

Art Of Andrew Daniel...

I like THIS artist very much and had a small print framed from my new yellow hall.

Dido & Aeneas...

... was fabulous! Thanks Jackie!

Images from the Eighth International Art Competition...

This painting of a warrior mother was a favorite.

This "Orion" quilt was simply brilliant and amazing... You have to see it in person.

I always look for the beautiful paintings of Larry Winborg, a very gifted artist from Farmington.

These are some paintings depicting the sacrifices of the Utah Pioneers that I thought were lovely.

The International Art Competition is on display and The Conference Center until sometime in October. Don't miss.

My Favorite Modern Artist...

... most recent composition by

little c

I love it!

Crocodile by Emily McPhie...

I love this painting by Emily McPhie and the idea behind it.

Mary Hamilton...

For as long as I can remember Mary Hamilton has been one of my very favorite artists. I wish that I could show you more of her work, but it seems to be disappearing. Mary Hamilton has been an artist for Hallmark Cards for over 50 years and all her practice with a paint brush shows. Best of all, I love her little angels, fairies and nativity scenes. When I was about 10, I started getting her Psalms calendar every year for Christmas. Hallmark no longer puts those out, but I sure wish they would. They were wonderful in every way. The art of Mary Hamilton is sweet and inspiring in it's delicate beauty with a touch of glitter here and there... I still look for her work every time I pass a Hallmark store. What an amazing career and to have spent all that time creating such loveliness... is just what I aspire to as an artist. With 40 years more practice.. who knows! Thank you Mary... it's all so beautiful!

Sarah Jane Studios...

I love the sweetness in the art work of this Utah artist.
See more of her work here!

Monet to Picasso...

Fabulous exhibit comes to Utah... Read here. I'm hoping to take c very soon.

*** We went to this exhibit and it is wonderful! I was so thrilled to be able to stand and gaze at these beautiful and amazing works of art in UTAH!!! The exhibit was much larger than I expected and really well done. c loved it!

Union Pacific Rail Depot...

It's tragic that we didn't have the will or the cash to make
the Union Pacific Rail depot .. the SLC hub.
It's so sad.. I can just see this building filled with leather arm chairs and news stands.