Paint Party Friday - Week 8 - Inspired in Houston

I'm back from my busy 10 days of travels and while I am still not caught up, life will soon be back to normal, (I hope). No painting has been done on my WIPs as I haven't had time or energy (yucky cold/throat thing) to do much. What they need would take more than the time I had available, so instead - to ensure I painted - I started something new.

My flight back was later in the day last Friday, so I had a little extra time on my hands in Houston and decided to put it to suitable Paint Party Friday use. I went to see the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston! With limited time before my flight, I focused on the Impressionists special and regular exhibits. There were many fabulous pieces but this time what fascinated me the most was Seurat's work and that of several other pointillist artists (whose names unfortunately I did not write down  - which leads to one of my biggest pet peeves with galleries/museums.*)

I decided to start a pointillist piece this week. I have done ink versions but never before in paint. I was a bit surprised by the size of the Seurat's dots, they were larger than I'd imagined.

Camera 2 View

First I decided to gesso the canvas adding a little background colour to the gesso:

Then I started with dots and got this far:

Camera 1 View

I think I may be halfway there....  Hopefully by next PPF I will have finished one of these WIPs!!

I'm looking forward to seeing all of your painting efforts AND in a much more timely fashion than the past two weeks! My daughter wants me to thank you all for your lovely comments on her portrait of my father as a young man. My Dad was also very flattered and appreciative. Thank you!!

* Museum/Gallery Pet Peeve - No more photos in galleries, it seems.  :(   So I think to myself, okay I will buy postcards of the pieces I like when I leave. But while they have some, they are only for what someone else perceives to be the most interesting pieces.   :(   None for the pieces I like.  :(   So I think to myself next, I will look online when I get home. The National Gallery in Ottawa has almost everything online (though remembering the name of the artist helps.) The Museum of Fine Arts however has their 100 "most popular" (or famous) and so the creator of the beautiful pointillist tree that inspired me remains unknown.  :( 

Why do Galleries/Museums not have postcards for ALL pieces? Or show ALL pieces on their websites?? Sigh. Okay, my rant is over. What do you think? Do you share my pet peeve?

Have a great Paint Party Friday!

Tranquility and Calm

In the National Gallery of Art
There is a spot that calms my heart

An atrium of windows to the sky
I quietly sit, watching the clouds go by

Through panes of glass, the sun brightly shines
Bringing warmth to the gallery's cool, clean lines

Here I love to come and sit
To write, to draw, or think a bit

To ponder the art that I've just seen
Or dreams of places that I have been

When others enter, there is sound
Else very quiet, when none abound

The guards peek in and out
Unobtrusive yet still about

Leaving you to your private thoughts
Whether silly poems or novel plots

Here one can sit and quietly write
Drenched in rays of the sun's bright light

I wonder what it's like when it rains
How loud or echoed the sound on those panes?

Do they in winter stay covered in snow?
I must return then, so I will know

Every time that I've been here
I plan to return often, my thoughts to clear

Rarely has it happened that way
To my normal routine, I stick and stay

Unless visitors come that I can take
A special trip to the Gallery, I rarely make

I really should become a member
And visit more often - May, June or December

This is a place that can make you whole
Let you relax, think and calm your soul.