Monday, February 16, 2009

Inspirations


Yesterday, I went to the Palm Springs Art Museum with a friend. It was spur of the moment, but we both had a great time. We specifically went to see the Wayne Thiebaud 70 year retrospective. Thiebaud has always been one of my favorite painters. This was the first time I had ever gotten to see one of his paintings in person. As expected, they are so much more impressive in person, and I was not disappointed in the show. His handling of paint, and his mastery of color are certainly two of the reasons to love this California painter. I am so glad I got to see the show! In addition to the retrospective of Thiebaud, there was also a show of Mapplethorpe's portraits. Wonderful! Even though we have lived here for over a year, this was my first visit to the Palm Springs Art Museum. Now that I have been there, and seen what a great facility it is, I am confident I will be back. Palm Springs is only about a half hour drive from Joshua Tree.



While I am blogging about sources of inspiration, I have been putting off telling you about an exciting event from over a week ago. I love sweaters, especially cashmere ones. I tend to be cold-blooded, and cashmere is perfect for me, since it is really warm and soft. Once I have a cashmere sweater, I will wear it until it is frayed and holey. Well, I found out about an artist who makes teddy bears out of old wool sweaters through my blogging friend, Melissa, over at Pugnotes. (It is actually Melissa's twin sister, Melanie.) So I sent her my old sweater, with the desire for my beloved sweater to be given a second chance on life as a teddy bear. Much to my surprise and delight, Melanie made a bear for me out of my sweater, and mailed it to me!!! The day I received my bear, I had other errands to run. My bear rode around in the car with me, propped up on the dash. Every time I looked at him, I smiled. He is wonderful! Thank you, Melanie, for my bear! If you are interested in seeing more bears created by Melanie, you can visit her etsy shop here. What a wonderful new form my sweater has taken, all thanks to Melanie.

5 comments:

Patty said...

Ooh, I'm a Thiebaud lover myself! He makes those rows and rows of confections look incredibly beautiful, yet there's a wonderful abstract quality there as well. I'm a real fan of his cityscapes.
How lovely for you to get to see his work in person.
And congrats on the snuggly bear, what a great idea!

Archie and Melissa said...

hi karine!
oh my gosh! that is my favorite painting of Thiebaud. that is another thing we have in common!
i am so glad you like your bear. melanie loved making him for you.
xoxoxo
melissa

Anke Martin said...

Hi Karine, sounds like a fun day. It amazes me everytime when I see an original Painting how awesome the look in real. Photos just don't get the thing of it ususally. You know we have an art museum 30 minutes away as well and I have never been there! It's a shame acutally...but I bet if I would be here visting this area I would have been there already. Too funny how you discover an vacation site better than your home area. So inpsired by your close by Musuem visit I guess I will see how the Musuem is close by, smiles, Anke ;)
PS: This Teddy Bear looks awesome, what a great idea!!!!

Unknown said...

Karine, thanks for sharing the museum visit with us, you are my docent! The little bear Melissa made for you is so cute, did Pono think it was for him?
xxxooo

Amy Schimler-Safford said...

Wayne Thiebaud is one of my all time favorites. It sounds like a great show.... thanks for sharing.