New Year, New Feature: The Art Corner

The Sleeping Gypsy

by Henri Rousseau

Well, this may be the snootiest thing I have done on my blog yet, but I have decided to start The Art Corner.  I like art, but I was never really into art history before, but doesn't everyone need a little more culture in their life?  Well here you can get a little taste.

The idea came to me when I was helping my mom clean out a bookcase this weekend.  I came across a book she bought when she lived in New York.  It's called something like, 50 Paintings to see at the Modern Museum of Art.  I decided to look at one ever so often and actually read about each painting. 
The Sleeping Gypsy is the first one I came across.

I must admit, I was not a huge fan at first glance.  But as I read about the painting, I came to appreciate it more.  For one thing, the book actually had some quotes from Rousseau describing the painting himself.  I would much rather hear the actual artist's explanation rather than some art student's interpretation of it.
What do you notice about the painting?

Did you see that the lion is passing by the gypsy?  Yeah, I didn't catch that either. But here is Rousseau's quote: “A wandering Negress, a mandolin player, lies with her jar beside her (a vase with drinking water), overcome by fatigue in a deep sleep. A lion chances to pass by, picks up her scent yet does not devour her. There is a moonlight effect, very poetic.”

Apparently, when he tried to sell it to the mayor of his hometown, he was rejected.  The paiting did not receive any true recognition until around 20 years later!  Pablo Picasso was among the first admirers.

I personally think Rousseau was stinkin' good for being self taught.  The more I look at it, the more I love his use of color and the strong lines.  It also reminds me of what life will be like in the Kingdom, when the lion will lay down with the lamb.  That sure isn't the case nowadays.  There is a sense of peacefulness here and a sense of danger.  I like how the two contradicting feelings are present.  Okay now I'm at least on the verge of sounding like a pretentious art student myself.  (No offense to art students out there!!!)

What do you think?  Do you like it or hate it?

5 Places I Love

South Africa

A team from the high school group recently went to Malawi and it reminded me of how much I love South Africa.

Right below is one of the main reasons. The Archer's live there!

And here are some other reasons:

Animals

We actually got to PET this little guy.
Beauty! We were able to spend part of our time at a place callled Hope Valley in the middle of some sugar cane fields.

And fun times with friends and sisters. :)

(And here's a couple more animal shots that got out of order.)

Monterey, CA

I don't even know quite what it is about Monterey, but I love it. I think I was in 6th grade the first time my family went on Spring vacation. I think it was a mix of the fresh, crisp air, the pletheora of cute, fuzzy otters and the quaint old-time feel of Cannery Row. I remember sitting on a rock overlooking the ocean somewhere off the 17-mile drive and just being amazed over God and His beautiful creation! I especially liked walking along the streets of Cannery Row at twilight. The streetlamps would come on, sounds of fog horns came off the water and I just felt so relaxed. Let me just say that it also didn't hurt that a Ghirardelli's is located along this street. Yum!

It was once the destination of one of Megs, Mel and my road trips. :) We are at Ghirardelli's in the picture below.

(There is just one thing I DON'T like about Monterey. And that would be the underground wax museum. There is an added creepiness of a wax museum being near the ocean. Yuck. I get shivers just thinking about it.)

Monterey does have a fabulous Aquarium. If you haven't been, what are you waiting for??

Ephraim, Wisconsin

My great great grandparents moved here from Norway. They helped found the town. The pictures above and below are of Anderson dock. My relatives, the Anderson's, owned it and all the big ships that brought supplies to the town would dock here. It's really fun too because the building is now all covered with names. Kind of like an "Amanda was here" kind of thing. The sunsets there are beautiful. My relatives chose to move here because the peninsulas reminded them of the fjords in Norway. You can see in the picture below. Ephraim is now a touristy town and it is really fun to visit. We've gone kayaking, took hikes in the peninsulas, eaten delicious ice cream at Wilson's (they put a jelly bean at the bottom of the cone), and explored family history. The Anderson's also owned a store and one of their homes was turned into a gift shop.

(The sunset's there are AMAZING!)

New York City

I could never take a good picture of Times Square so here's a nice one from the web. When Em and I first saw Times Square in person, it was right after a show and it had been raining but the rain finally cleared up. I felt like the princess in Enchanted when she comes out of the pothole. I was overwhelmed!

There's nothing quite like the view from the top of a skyscraper!

The first time we went to New York, I tried to take a picture of this fountain and my camera died right as I started to shoot. So here it is in summer!

Downtown Bozeman, Montana

Beautiful mountains and wide open spaces. :)My mom went to MSU for her last two years of college. My family drove to Bozeman every summer to visit my grandparents who retired there. They fell in love with the town when they came to visit my mom. My mom used to take Emily and me to the college so that we could toss pieces of bread to the ducks in the little pond they had on campus. It's to the left in the picture below. I absolutely LOVED going there.

I could have added another five places, but this post would be too long. These are the top five now. I can't wait to see where else I get to travel to someday!

Empire State Building

These aren't great pictures, but I wanted to post this to show how much I'm loving my new lamp from Carly's yard sale! Here's the shadow it casts on the wall:

Here it is in daytime:

And at night:

The pictures definitely don't do it justice, but it fits in my room so much better than I had even imagined. Thanks again, Carly!

Recent Times in Pictures (First Installment)

There are a lot of things I have wanted to blog about in the last 4 of 5 months that I just never got around to. So I will start the new year out by being a little more...bloggy. :) I'm kinda gonna start my way near the end and work my way back. First off...

The 4th Annual Sister Day took place on November 6th. We took it up a notch since this Sister Day was the first ever to fall on a Saturday. We included Friday night in order to celebrate Sister Day Eve and we drove down to Santa Barbara and stayed in a Bed and Breakfast!

The entry to our room. It included a little porch with a table and two chairs and a jacuzzi. :) The room was really cute inside, but sadly I deleted most of those pics on accident. :( Well, sad for me...not for you.

Our yummy breakfast!

Sister Day always involves presents. These were mine from Emily. The book is a huge decorating book!

Em also got me this...

because of this...

Cruisin' down State Street. While listening to Boston of course!

We had always wanted to rent one of those two people bikes. A surrey. Let me tell you, those things are a lot of work!

It was a beautiful day for the most part.

Lunch. This pasta had chunks of brie cheese in it! So good!

What's a sister day without taking nerdy pictures of each other?

Santa Barbara pier.

And Santa Barbara ice cream!

And a beautiful Santa Barbara sunset. A perfect way to end Sister Day.

In December, Jeremy invited Em and I to tag along with him and Karli to New York! Amanda would not be Amanda if she turned down an offer like that! My Aunt Donna had enough frequent flyer miles for us all to go for free!

Here are Jeremy and Karli in front of the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree!

Em and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to wear our hats, scarves and winter coats.

Times Square a couple weeks before the craziness!

I REALLY wanted to skate on that ice. But you should have seen the line...

I have a few favorite New York moments. One was eating at Carnegie Deli. Em and I ate there before seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway. It's so popular and packed that you have to squeeze at tables with other people. We sat with this older couple, a subway conductor and his wife, and we talked to them the whole time! They were so sweet. :) The subway conductor came to New York from Puerto Rico. And we had just seen West Side Story the night before. It fit perfectly.

We all ate at Cafe Metro two mornings while we were there. Including the morning that Em and I were supposed to leave. Unfortunately we didn't know that we were supposed to be flying on a plane while we were downing those pancakes and pieces of french toast. But that's another story...

The Guggenheim! So Jeremy and Karli did their thing while Emily and I did ours most of the time. We really liked hanging out here.

And we loved spending time in my favorite place in New York, Central Park! This is the view from Belvedere Castle.

Ice! I don't think I had ever seen a lake frozen over before.

Inside of the Guggenheim.

Washington Square. At NYU. I had always wanted to see this after seeing it in tons of movies.

Gray's Papaya. We had also heard of these amazing hot dogs from a movie. The movie didn't lie. They were scrumptious. Sauerkraut on a hot dog just works.

The price did too. Only $1.50 each. Our cheapest meal in New York.



I had always wanted to take a picture like this. Walking down a crowded street with all those heads!



And what's a trip to New York without visiting Tiffany's? Especially when Em had never been. I like the Christmas flair.

Well, we didn't have snow in New York, but guess where we did?! Sunny Southern California! Santa Clarita to be exact! Granted it wasn't much, but I know many friends who made miniature snowmen in their yards and threw real snowballs. I was home alone taking Christmas decorations down from the window and all of a sudden, I thought, that doesn't look like normal rain! Then I started freaking out and running around the house yelling, "It's Snowing! It's SNOWING!!!" The dogs must have thought I was crazy...

I didn't mind getting me or my camera a little wet.

Second installment coming soon....