over the weekend ceej and i headed into the city to see a special exhibit at the de Young...they had paintings on loan from the musee d'orsay: renoir, van gogh, cezanne, gauguin, seurat, sargent, and so many more. unfortunately for this exhibit there was no photography {or even sketching!} allowed. so we tried to soak every stroke into our brains while elbowing our way through crowds wearing earphones. some of those paintings really pull you in, and pull on your heart in a way you've never known.
once we felt we saw every painting sufficiently we moved through the rest of the museum. i love going to museums i've never been to before. i get excited to find paintings that weren't in my art history books that stop my heart in its beating tracks. we slowly walked from room to room, most of them quite empty as most people were only interested in the special exhibit. so nice to be able to really see the paintings without everyone else discussing paintings you want to experience for yourself upon a first face-to-face meeting.
into this room we came, and there was this wonderful painting : irving ramsay wiles' "the sonata." i was immediately swept off my feet...a combination of excited giddiness and a longing homesickness. i wanted to be in this painting wearing a whispy gown, anticipating the next song i would be playing with a sister. i felt like this scene was my scene...yet it has never happened to me before...but it was all happening in my mind and in my heart. after gazing at it, every second claiming more and more ownership to this moment, i asked {well, more like told} cj to paint a replica for me. i don't want a print. i want the paint strokes to be alive...and it will sit over our piano for me to gaze at and feel a wonderful yearning for something that never happened to me, though my soul is quite convinced it did indeed happen to me.
i am loving my new-found dedication to music...and in turn this is reigniting my passion for art. one of my brother's pointed out that once we start following the path we were meant to follow it is like riding a bike...it takes effort, but it is smooth and natural. this is how i feel about following music...it's wonderful to exert all my energy to something so rewarding and uplifting.
and i want to add that i disagree with mr. howe on one point...someday i will be playing good music in a beautiful gown with one of my sisters or perhaps my own mother, this is not just homesickness for something i will never have...it has made me homesick for something i will make happen...it has inspired me to create such wonderful memories.
this i believe.
6 comments:
thats so funny, Jeremy and I went to the exhibit on Friday. wasn't it just a total dream
I went to the Crocker Opening (actually performed there) and I, too, was thrilled and inspired by such beauty. But that painting, the one above, is simply so divine it makes me miss the days of playing the piano. I, too, have always wanted to play in a grand dress like that.
I know *exactly* what you mean about feeling homesick for moments in the future.
music is such a beautiful a powerful thing.
beautiful painting.
Maybe the painting triggered a memory of a past life. I often feel that's what's going on when I get that deep nostalgia for something I've never seen before.
wow you blow me away x
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