ALORS! - a traveling art blog by Sue Scoggins

Tree Line
6x12 original oil on canvas

These I left out the top of the buildings

I've noticed something through drawing. I never connect the lines. The lines are left  unfinished and n-e-v-e-r quite touch their next point.  I wonder what a psychologist would say about that.  Hmm. Where's the sofa?  It's not a conscious thing where I intentionally leave them unfinished.  It's definitely subconscious.  Does that mean I have unfinished business?  Or that my life is incomplete?  Or that I'm waiting for something or that there's more to do with my life?  Or am I lazy and undisciplined? How about ...it could just be my my astigmatism!   I mean...it's not just an occasional line or two....it's all of the lines!  So, I've tried to make sure now that I "connect" the dots now, finish my lines and I've gone back and tried to complete them all.  

 ALORS! (well..)

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.  (A little bit of Peter, Paul and Mary)
In the last 6 weeks, my vocabulary has consisted of primarily one to three word sentences. Bonjour!  Merci!  Ca va bien? Très bien. Au revoir. Oui.  Non. Je suis en peintre. Je ne comprend pas. Vous ne comprenez anglais?  Un peu. C'est bon. C'est beau! Très jolie! Voila! Pardon. No problem.  Reservation. L'addition. Un billet. Expresso noisette, s'il vous plait. aperitif, pour manger, quelque chose a boire, vin blanc, vin rouge, vin rose, mojito! 

Oh yes!  Don't forget  "Ou est le bus pour Les Baux?" and "il est chaud."

My diet has consisted of (In order of importance)
Expresso
Bread, loaves of ...(which includes pastries and pizza)
Wine, bottles of...
Cheese - goat, ewe (brocciu), parmesan
Tomatoes - heirloom and grape
Olives - tons
Hummus
an occasional zuccini
white fish
shrimp

I've had no meat in 8 weeks accept
one goose leg (that was in Hungary)
one lamb (not the whole thing)
one filleted chicken breast
very little refined sugar  (that was a "creme glacee".  I had to do it.)
nothing processed or fried  (not that I don't crave a french fry right now!)

My jar of Nutella is empty now. (It was a small European jar.)  

MUSEE GRANET, the Pearlman Exhibit - a traveling art blog by Sue Scoggins

The right half of
La Montagne Sainte Victoire

My friend Catherine and I said our last goodbye yesterday.(That's Caterrreeeeene, with a rolled r).  She was such a highlight of this trip.  She'll be off in the country to teach next week.  I'll be heading back to the USA.  My easel now has a new home with her.  It's too heavy and takes up too much room for me to carry back and maybe this will encourage her to pick up the oils again.  Thank you, Catherine, I'll remember our heartfelt conversations.

Did you know that Cezanne painted his beloved Monte Sainte-Victoire mountain 87 times?  He died of pneumonia at 67 years old after being caught in a rain storm while painting it for the 88th time.  Now, I'd say that was a magnificent obsession.

After beginning to sort, toss, cut and finish up things, I decided to take one last visit to the Musee Granet to see the Pearlman Collection of Cezanne.  I don't usually rent those little recorded tour headsets, but I finally talked to myself and said, "Self.  How are you going to learn if you don't listen?"   I found myself mesmerized as it was told as a dialogue between Henry Pearlman and a questioning little girl.  Cezanne's first exhibition was after being "rejected" in the Paris salon show and his  first solo exhibit wasn't until he was 56 years old.  Pretty interesting.  He pretty much became a recluse and no one knew where he was...even thought he was dead.  I guess that's a common thing about artists....they get lost in their painting, become isolated, sometimes forget to even eat.  (Of course, that's not the case with me.  Eating, that is.)

In one room, I found myself completely spellbound by his most famous painting, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire.  I examined every brush stoke and every color against color.  I'd move from one side of the room to the other.  Other's did the same.  In fact, waves of people would come in and just stand as if in some sort of a dance trance, shuffling around as if hypnotized by it's movement.  Sketching them had to be quick. How could a painting of a mountain be so captivating?  Aix en Provence is very proud of their Cezanne.

Bye, bye Musee Granet.  Bye, bye Cezanne.  Bye bye La Montagne Sainte-Victoire.