The Parisians - LES PARISIENS

©estandrea 2009 click to enlarge the picture

This is how it goes here, people everywhere, always something to see.

And I have been kissed by a probably homeless man today. When I was on my way from the Metrostation to my afternoon job, I had just bought a sandwich for lunch) a homeless man, shuffling along, he seemed to be slightly disabled, and asked me if I had some coins. I gave him some money, and before I could hurry away, he hugged me and planted a kiss on each cheek. I wasn't so keen on that, but I was so flabbergasted, that I just let him and then I said OkOKOKOK (about a hundred time) awkwardly and then hurried away. After a while I turned and saw him standing there, still smiling at me, and I waved. He waved back.

While I am writing this, I have a "déjà-vu" , the impression that this has happened before, I mean me being kissed by a homeless man, and that I have written on it on my blog, but I'm not sure....

Have a great Thursday,

love

andrea

Good Day from Paris and the Iron Lady

©estandrea 2009

Hello hello, I'm preparing the "100 views of the Eiffeltower"....
no, that's a joke, but wait, why not?:)


But I thought the Iron Lady would be the perfect thing to start my new project. You know....new blog, new website....

I'm working on both, and have fun to imagine what could interest you in Paris. I better not start a survey cause I wouldn't be up to the task. So you will have to do with what I'll give you, tee hee. And it starts here with LA TOUR EIFFEL. I will transfer everything to a Wordpress blog in due time, but for now, we'll stay here, cozy and warm, don't worry too soon:):)

By the way, today is Guitar-Day, I LOVE IT
Have a wonderful Day, !

Andrea

Le Musée Jacquemart-André: Who was Nélie Jacquemart André?

©estandrea 2009 - click to enlarge
Watercolor on Arche Paper, 26x36cm - 140 lb / 10 x 14 in

In my previous post I told you about my discovery of a painting of Anton Van Dyck in the Musée Jacquemart André here in Paris; Today I'd like to talk a little more about this beautiful place and the people who lived in it and later made a museum of it.

Nélie Jacquemart André was a painter, and one of the first women of her time studying at the prestigious "Ecole des Beaux Arts" in Paris. She became a "high society" portraitist.

She met her future husband, Edouard André, a very very rich banker, because he comissioned his portrait from her. At first, they met in the presence of a "chaperon". When she married him, she was 40 years old, he 8 years older than her. So being a woman at that time meant that even at 40, you needed a chaperon to stay alone with a man in a room!

As she was a painter, she was allowed to use her maiden name as well as her husband's.

They both were passionate about art, travelled a lot and together they decided to create a museum in their beautiful home on 158 Boulevard Haussmann. After her husband died in 1894, Nélie travelled to the Middle East and later to Japan and India. When she died in 1912, their entire estate was donated to the "Institut de France" and the museum opened in 1913.


This is a view of one of the elegant interior staircases. I quickly drew this sketch on barkpaper with inkpen and Gouache and a bit of oilpastels. The sketch gives you a good impression of the
"ambiance" of this place, it is awsome!

Also, I wanted to talk about some changes that I am working on, I am planning a new blog and a new website, both things that take time to set up. During this time I'll switch to my new subjects here on CESTANDREA.

IT'S ALL ABOUT IMAGINING, LIVING AND PAINTING PARIS. ILLUSTRATING PARIS !

Places I imagine you'd like to see and hear about, a bit of fashion too perhaps, stories about places and people here in the city of lights. METROHEADS too, of course. MISS DOODLE TOO, of course:)

Parisian Places full of inspiration, which will make it easy for me to communicate my passion for this city for you. The style of the paintings will be mainly like those presented in this post. Little sceneries of "real" places, spiced with what my imagination comes up with.


I would love to know what you think about this new project, perhaps you can let me know when you have a moment?
have a wonderful weekend
love
andrea

HAS TIME CUT THE WINGS OF YOUR LOVE...?

Postcard www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com -Click on the image to enlarge it!

"Le temps coupe les ailes de l'Amour"
Anton VAN DYCK (1599-1641)
Musée Jacquemart-André - Paris

Did you ever stumble into an exhibition and got completely absorbed by one painting or object?
You see all the other paintings and/or object too but this one painting gets to you? First the title, then the subject then both. It's cruel, brutal and I can't accept the message. Or can I?


An old man with a muscular body, naked but a cloth over his loins, he holds a chubby little angelbaby on his lap. The baby is fighting to get off the old man's lap, mouth open, crying, contorting itself. The old man cuts into the babyangels right wing with nasty looking pliers, he is cutting off the upper third of the angel's wing. On the bottom, beside the old vital man's left foot lies a scull. Blackened and already half eaten by time. Death. There is also the scythe.

Oh, this old man has wings too! Bright, beautiful, feathery strong wings. So, TIME never gets it's wings cut, but LOVE does, as early as that? There is also a vessel carrying some arrows lying on the ground, probably the arrows LOVE has been hunting with. I can see big withered flowers, which must have been so beautiful once, and everything except the old man and the angel, has the "color of night", there is only one glimmer of light in the upper left background, but I don't know if it means sunset or dawn....


Before seeing the temporary exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart André here in Paris: Flamish masters (Bruegel, Memling, Van Eyck and more) of the 15th and 16th Century,
I went through some of the rooms of this "hôtel particulier" (wikip.def.:In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort.), incredibly decorated, and stumbled upon this huge painting. I wrote the text in my notebook while standing in the dark, under this painting which measures at least 80 x 60 in. and it's a pleasure to share with you what I saw and felt!

"Tweedledum", hit the magic button....

click to see it big

©estandrea 2009

Just as I hit the "insert a picture" button, the button hit me back!!!!!!!

WOW...

I mean, I hit this button, then a picture I painted appears on a screen by I don't know what means, and then, right there, YOU can see it!!!! Something I will always marvel at, but often I forget how magical this is and that I'm lucky to be able to communicate with you out there. And you with me. Aren't we lucky?

Tweedledum could be the dance we dance with modern life:)

Have a wonderful weekend,
love
Andrea

Like a watergod out of water- Frick Collection New York City

Found this page in my notebook, a souvenir of a visit in a NYC museum. There was this little statue, (as an interpretation of a greek legend, but I forgot which:), a water-god with his lover), and this golden grandfather clock, with rich ornaments. I cut the sketches out of another notebook and scotch-taped them into the moleskin.

I'm feeling a bit like this water-god there, sitting on my chair as if I'd left my element which would be the water, where I would be much more nimble and elegant than here, on the land, where I shlep like a walrus today.....

Well, tomorrow I will draw myself an eagle:)

"Unexpected" Watercolor and fuzzy Tuesday, so to speak

©estandrea 2009

I worked late yesterday evening, (after watching a weird movie, a mix of Comedy and Horror, lots of body-substances flying around yuck) with the result that this morning I had a "fuzzy Tuesday morning" experience... Everything felt fuzzy, especially Oscar the cat:), and also, this morning the sky was so grey that I had to skip my exercise-outdoor' practise.....sorry for that, dear body.

I'm definitely NOT an iron lady. Hmmm. Tomorrow perhaps?
love
Andrea

"Greendream" and "Tulips" in the Flowershop

©estandrea 2009

On Friday I brought two of my flower-designs to the flowershop around the corner. The owner is a very nice lady who always takes artists' works.

I thankfully used the two nails the previous artist had put there for her pictures, how convenient!
On Friday evening around 10 I discovered a message on my cellphone which was off for the afternoon cause no juice. It was the lady of the flowershop, asking me to call her back cause when opening the shop in the morning, she had found one of the paintings had fallen down, the glass broken and the frame damaged...

The night I didn't sleep so well, thought perhaps the fallen frame and glass had damaged some of her vases and flowers! But the picture fell down just behind a sideboard, between the wall and the sideboard and nothing else was damaged, thank you universe:)

Next day I had appointments and couldn't go there right away, so my dear husband did and picked up the damaged frame, put the painting into another frame and later we returned together to put in more solid nails for both paintings.

So, this story is just to tell you that I discovered that every action causes other actions. Nothing ever stays as simple as it can, no? :)

Good night sleep tight and don't let the nightmares bite
love
Andrea

BLURRED MORNING!

©estandrea 2009

Today, Friday, 9/11, who does not cringe when writing or saying or hearing this date?

Things this morning may have been a bit blurred, but I always try to keep the connection to above and beneath:)

Let's be nice to each other. I love you:) yes YOU!!!!!

Andrea

"Urban landscape"

©estandrea 2009

"Urban Landscape" Acrylic on canvas 23.5 x 15.5 cm / 9.3 x 6.1 in
painted in Germany a couple of weeks ago....

Something flew directly from one of those visual-memory-boxes onto the little canvas...Remembering New York, it's incredible density and rush, it's colorful way....

Today, Tuesday, a warm September day here in Paris, a bit overcast.
I pick the following, somehow provocative quote :

The strongest and most effective force in guaranteeing the long-term maintenance of power is not violence in all the forms deployed by the dominant to control the dominated, but consent in all the forms in which the dominated acquiesce in their own domination. Robert Frost

Have a great day,
love
Andrea