Adventures at the Museum

It is no secret how much I love the Chrysler Museum. I would spend my entire day, every day, wandering the collections and studying every work of art I could. I love the quiet echoes and changing sunlight of the courtyard. I love Wisteria Cafe's Earl Grey tea. I love their knowledgeable and friendly staff and volunteers. Most of all, I love the scope and the strength of the Chrysler's permanent collection, and the insight they bring with their rotating exhibits.

Dignified Blue Jay

Photo by Cathy Wilson

I'm very fortunate to have friends that take such beautiful photos. I personally have little interest in photography so it's fantastic to have talented people grant me permission to use their images from time to time.

Drawing Julia Last Tuesday Night

I'll be honest. Life has been pretty tough lately. The holidays are always busier than I care for, although they were good. I was especially despondent over the losses of George Michael, Carrie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds at the end of the year. What a year. It left me in a funk and I ended up skipping out on Drawing Night two weeks ago. On top of the holiday break - no classes to teach two weeks in a row - I hadn't picked up a pencil or charcoal in almost three weeks.

I'm finally starting to emerge from that funk.

One of My Favorite Moments of the Whole Year

My son dutifully holds onto his littlest sister's hand. (She's fast!)

In Norfolk, VA we're fortunate to have The Chrysler Museum. This is not a particularly large art museum, but it has a stellar collection, inventive, thoughtful exhibits, and awesome staff. I LOVE this place. I would live there if I could. I would go every single day and just sit, or draw, or paint, or study. I don't go very often because the bulk of my life right now is taken up by raising these three little monsters. (I say that with the utmost love - I'm blessed to have such great kids, but now with No. 3, my husband and I are officially outnumbered and exhausted!)

Chiaroscuro and a Drawing Dictionary

One of the things I take for granted when I talk about art is terminology. I've been around it so long that it feels like I absorbed it by osmosis rather than someone actually explaining anything. I'm the kind of person that gets the gist of most things simply from context, which is not a good thing when you want to teach others. And I often feel like proclaiming to the world, "I'm an artist! If I wanted to have to explain everything with words I'd have been a writer!" However, my husband, a music teacher, has said to me on more than one occasion that if I can clearly explain a concept to someone, then I'll have a solid understanding of that concept. The stubborn, lazy side of me has always hated that saying but it's absolutely true.