Lovelies. Something I enjoy doing year round is visiting museums. I love the rush I get when I walk through the doors - eager with the anticipation that my brain will be a little more expanded and the hope that my world view will broaden.
So, I was recalling today my all time Favorite Painting. It's probably not one that many people would call their all time favorite, but also you have to take into account how I happened upon this painting...
I was 20 years old, a junior in college and studying for the semester in London. We were so lucky to have an art history class right at Tate Britain. (That's not Tate Modern people, it's the old school museum.) So we had this lovely old man who was a professor that toddled all around the museum and showed us various works of art. But my favorite part was the fantastic stories he told us! Just amazing stuff!
Sometimes they were stories about the artist's tragic life. Sometimes they were about the subjects in the painting. But my all time favorite was when he brought us around a corner and there was a big (10 x 10) beautiful oil painting. It was John Singer Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" and it was magnificent.
And then my teacher told us how Sargent tried to capture the twilight everyday and how he spent the two whole summers at his friend's home and waited everyday to paint by that light.
Also, the children who were his subjects were his host's children.
It's not much of a grand story, but it intrigues me.
That part of day is so beautiful and as I sat & stared at the expansive painting way back when in Tate Britain, a nostalgic feel washed over me. I was brought back to my memories of my own summer evenings when I was a child.
I could remember and recall wonderful detail of running with sparklers (like the young girls here are playing with lanterns) and how cool it got as the sun went down and the sounds of the birds settling and the toads croaking.... Guess that's why it's my favorite. I have a little print hanging in my room, but someday I hope to have a big beautiful replica!
I totally "get" what you're saying but remember YOU are right where YOU are supposed to be right now. Your journey is your own and comparing yourself to others is soooo not the way to go. You've accomplished so much and had such awesome experiences and YOU ARE FREAKING YOUNG (cuz we're the same age and if ur old then i'm old and i'm not having that, ok?!) so smile and be happy and enjoy your youthful, passion pursuit and dont worry about any other "should" nonsense.
ReplyDeleteOh, PS - i love your blog, you're fun. I was going to buy actressinthecity.com but then I saw your blog and didn't want to "steal" it from you haha.