The Ghost Mirror

A days painting - and there are still little touches to do, thin lines etcetera which will have to wait for the paint to dry again.

But it is very close to done and once again not quite what I wanted. Why not will niggle and niggle at me until I find an answer - probably in a future painting. Guess that's what keeps us going - if I could paint the perfect painting, would I stop?

Before I went I knew I'd be tacking photographs for reference, but did not expect Enki Bilal's The Ghosts of the Louvre exhibition.

The Louvre's ghosts seem particularly near to me, too. Odd, when I live in building that is over a hundred years old. But something about the building as well as the objects now on display brings to mind all those past lives. D'Artagnan, Napoleon, royalty, revolutionaries and artists (amongst others) have all walked these same stairs and maybe paused to look in this mirror. Even film makers have been here, with Goddard setting his threesome runnning through the place in Bande a Part. We could spend all day summarising the works of fiction set at least partially in the place. The list of famous people that have visited is even longer . . .

Some of the ghosts are of the makers rather than visitors - Leonardo coming to die, bringing with him what would become the most famous of all paintings. Rubens painting incredibly skillful and rather boring wallpaper for Marie de Medici. Gericault's frustration at the (initial) rejection of the Raft of the Medusa, echoed later with the Impressionists and Manet's Olympia. Degas drawing Mary Cassatt looking at the works. For some reason I feel the friendly presence of all the creators here more than in other gallery I've been in - maybe partly because I know that most of them would also have stood and admired other's work in much the same place and manner as I do.

And then there is the ghost of me. When I was thirteen and first visited the place, probably as bored as the teenagers lurking around the Nike are today. Sixteen, appreciating both the art and the foreign totty. A big jump to mid twenties and just beginning to awaken again to art making. A couple of years ago, just having started using oils, and eager to see what is possible. Now, when I am more focused in my appreciation and thinking about creating art of my own out of the place.

And so it goes on.

More Reflections in the Louvre

More work on the Louvre painting today - a struggle, as the paint wasn't entirely dry so all I could do was vaguely put in some colour and strengthen the tones. Now I will wait for the paint to dry and with a bit of luck there is enough there that I can finish this in one more session.

What I am aiming for is there to be subtle variations of colour within the larger blocks of tone - this should give a balance to the high contrast, brightly coloured area down in the left hand corner.

Against this also is me - almost insignificant amongst the beautiful ancient artifacts in the cases, the lovely Paris building seen in reflection and, of course, the grandeur of the Louvre building itself.

Reflections in the Louvre

The last full day in Paris was spent in the Louvre - I was there at nine for the doors opening, and had permission from my husband to stay until closing time.

The place is huge. Mega huge. By four I had seen all the paintings and a few other things on the way past but was absolutely knackered, brain fatigued, and decided to leave. So once again I missed out whole sections - most sculptures, decorative arts and historical areas.

But what I did manage to see! Between here and the other galleries I have visited I really feel I have seen the whole history of painting in a few days. My sketchbook is full of notes, ready to be worked on now I'm back home. But one of the interesting things for me was a clarification of the kind of art I like - simple, often people based, colourful. Big set pieces like in the Rubens room, for example, leave me utterly cold.

One of the ideas I had before going was of using the building in some way as a subject for paintings. So I took my camera - and many, many pictures were taken. All of windows, doors and chairs. The guards were giving me funny looks - but a "je suis artiste" got them nodding!

This is the start of my first painting on the theme - a kind of self portrait, reflected in a very grand mirror which also shows the buildings of Paris behind me. There are also a couple of cases of stuff, which will be clearer later.

The Commercial Galleries of Paris

No pictures today, as I am not quite sure of the morality or legality of sharing contemporary work.

Anyway, I had heard that Paris was only good for museum type art work, with no current scene to speak of. So I wasn't hoping for much.

But I had read that Galerie Claude Bernard would be having a show of Giacometti's drawings so I thought I'd have a wander along.

And I'm so glad I did. There are a plethora of galleries within about 5 minutes walk of each other and as they all are clearly visible from the street it is very easy to decide which ones to inspect further. This particular gallery has shown a stunning range of artists in the past - check out the list of previous shows on their webpage.

The Giacometti drawings were in some respects a disappointment, but in an odd way also encouraging - it's always nice to be reminded that the works that end up in museums are the distillation of gazillions of not-quite-as-good work.

Galerie Bayart was showing Christoff Debusschere's lovely paintings of museum interiors - much nicer in the paint than they seem online - they have an amazing sense of light to them, which just doesn't seem to be captured oline. This is a theme I have been thinking about so it was nice to come across a kindred soul.

H Craig Hanna at Laurence Esnol Gallery was colourful and lively, with a real mix of media - interesting to see life drawings given the full gallery treatment. Claire Castagnet at La Galerie du Crous de Paris was showing a whole wall of watercolour pigeons. I was very tempted, but decided that one would not be enough!

Another surprise was the quality of the art magazines - Beaux Arts (especially the special editions), Connaissance des Arts and L'Oeil all stand out, but there were others. Even better, they were not only available in the galleries, but also at the airport and the one kiosk I visited.

Overall, a refreshing change from both the atelier style representational art from America and the ongoing traditions we have here in Britain.

Fernand Pelez - Grimaces et Misere

After the Musee D'Orsay and the Orangerie, I went to the Petit Palais. It is a lovely place, empty apart from me, the guards, and a group of primary school kids (who were being taught about the different supports you can paint on. They were about six years old!). The building itself is lovely, with huge ceiling decorations, a japanese garden and cafe as well as a wide ranging collection of artworks.

It has a fascinating (big) room full of portraits painted around 1900 - the stuff that is generally considered a bit boring, but very inspiring and useful to us painters.

But the highlight for me was the above painting. It stopped me in my tracks. It has been quite while since that has happened - partly as I have read a lot of art books, so most things I have seen before. This I never have.

Nor have I heard of Fernand Pelez and judging by his wikipedia page, few other people have, either. His other couple of paintings on show, although well painted, were not as strong - but I will be looking out for his work again.

(Have a look at the google images here for some more close-up looks. Totally worth it.

"

The Orangerie and the Waterlilies

After the Musee D'Orsay, I went to the Orangerie, where I sat with Monet's Waterlilies for quite some time.

While there, I thought of death and war.

This may seem odd, but I have developed something of an obsession with Monet over the last year, since I have started painting landscapes myself. So I know a little of the history of these paintings and that they were installed in 1922. They were donated by Monet as a monument to World War 1.

They are both incredibly sad and joyful. Life goes on. This too shall pass. Light and darkness co-exist. The willows weep, the clouds pass, the lilies float.

All created by a man in his 80's.

In Praise Of Lautrec's Bed

This is Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's "In Bed", as the Musee D'Orsay calls it.

Since I first saw it (at around 14) this has easily been one of my favourite artworks. Well into the top five. So I went and paid my respects, much as I do to the Botticelli Mars and Venus every time I am in London.

Being in love with a painting is as mysterious as love of anything else, but I will have a go at explaining why I think this is so great.

Firstly, it is fresh in technique, composition and subject matter. Previously I have said that I think originality in painting is over-rated, but a new vision has a place - Lautrec painted what he saw around him (like the Impressionists before him) but the world he created for himself had not been considered a fit subject for painting before. This world has been a favourite of teenagers (who identify with those on the outskirts of society) ever since.

His compositions and colours are unlike those of official art and work hard at looking careless and unposed - a stratagem that is aided, oddly, by the artificial poses that his performers like to strike. This one, however, comes across as a snap-shot - despite taking half an hour minimum to paint (and likely much, much longer) as well s working in various compositional techniques, such as the placement of the center of interest. Much of it is very sketchy - but like all truly great works, nothing could be added or subtracted without lessening the work.

It is nothing less than a painting of love - any two people who have this kind of connection are among the blessed. Here is sex, trust, honesty, familiarity, warmth, joy - all from one and a bit faces and a crumpled bed!

There is ambiguity, too - are they two women, two men, one of each? I don't care and do not think it matters.

Paris Again

This time of year is horrid - so dark and grey, so many competitions coming up I don't have good enough paintings for.

So this year I have decided to go back to Paris.

Paris is fab. I loved it as a teenager (and loved even more having "Paris bought" clothes), loved it as the first holiday my husband and I took together over ten years ago, loved it on honeymoon (when it was 37 degrees most of the time - far too hot for us freckly blonds), when we sat about in the Luxembourg Gardens and watched both the fish and the french

I have even loved it on the very occasioal day trip over on the channel tunnel from London, where I've packed in a visit both to the D'orsay and the Louvre.

This time the plan is to go to lots of museums - the above two, of course, but also the Pompidou (where I've never been), the Orangerie, the Petit Palais and the commercial galleries.

So with luck, an increase in knowledge.

And some lazing about, watching the world go by.