WASH YOUR DIRTY MONEY WITH MY ART, watercolor

WASH YOUR DIRTY MONEY WITH MY ART, watercolor in my art notebook. This image is actually Praha's Central Train Station, painted while standing in the cold, waiting for the Airport Express bus to arrive.
The phrase "Wash your Dirty Money with my Art", I saw it written on a wall, at the entrance of a Contemporary Art Exhibition at a gallery in Prague.  Here, in one blog publishing, you have two for the price of one: a little watercolor sketch of a train station building, and a fantastic phrase. You are so lucky!!And it has a lot of yellow, which my friend Elaine likes!!!

PRAHA, VIEW FROM THE NEW TOWN HALL, watercolor and ink sketch

PRAHA, VIEW FROM THE NEW TOWN HALL, watercolor and ink sketch in my notebook.

The construction of the tower begun in 1348, when Charles IV was pursuing a grand-scale program as the future Holy Roman Empire. After paying a few Czech crowns and walking up about 150 steps, you have a wonderful view of Prague.

SEVILLA, Rio Guadalquivir, watercolor sketch in art notebook

SEVILLA, RIO GUADALQUIVIR, watercolor sketch in art-notebook.
Beautiful river in Sevilla, Spain, where two clubs on the river allow people to do canoeing, kayaking, and other water sports. La Torre del Oro, where once the Spanish conquerors deposited the gold they brought from the Americas, stands still, watching time go by...
I painted this sketch while navigating in a turist cruise along the river at sunset.

PIETRA VIVA, watercolor sketch

PIETRA VIVA,  book by Leonor de Recondo, watercolor sketch in my art-notebook.
The author of this book is a violinist, who studied in Boston, directed orchestras. She has received a literary prize for her book "Forgotten Dreams" (2012). I was impressed with her resume.
The book deals with Michaelangelo Buonarroti, in 1505, when he leaves Rome for Carrara, to get the marbles for the tomb of Julius II, and to spend time alone. The book disappointed me somewhat, I guess I expected more. Interesting story.

TERRASSON, FRANCE, watercolor on paper

TERRASSON, FRANCE, watercolor on my art notebook.
Beautiful citadel, high up on a hill, buildings in stone, and classic gardens overlooking the river. There is an old bridge nearby, from the XII C. , where the open air market takes place every Saturday morning. That's right, on the walking bridge. Beautiful town, Terrasson, about an hour from Brive la Gaillard in France.

ALFONS MUCHA, watercolor and ink on travel note-book

ALFONS MUCHA, watercolor and ink in travel note-book, after Alfons Mucha's poster.
Mucha was from Prague, the Check Republic, and became famous in Paris, almost overnight. He designed one poster for Sarah Bernhardt, and she loved it so much, she immediately offered him a 5 year contract. His posters were a fantastic success, contributing to the birth of Art Nouveau.

His best works show figures with a longing look, almost in a hipnotical state. His own immersion in art was often in a state of trance. His drawings and pastels show he never stopped drawing.
We should learn from him. Never stop, keep drawing, practice, practice!

SIGNER SAND, watercolor sketch

SIGNER SAND, watercolor sketch in my art-notebook. I made it as part of my summary of the book: SIGNER SAND, by Martine Reid. The book deals mostly with Aurora Dudevant's decision of choosing and signing her name....differently. How different? To begin with, a man's name: George, and the last name: Sand, the last part of her editor's name. But why? why would a young girl in 1832 want to sign her writings with such a name? Why write? The author argues that George Sand (Aurora Dudevant) had a terrible identity complex. She tried to hide her pain...for her father's early death and her mother's distance. What do you think?

EUGÉNIE DE MONTIJO, pencil sketch

Eugénie de Montijo, l'impératrice solitaire, pencil sketch in my art notebook.

I was reading the lives of famous French women, who have done something special to be remembered. Eugenia was born in Spain, in 1826, to well educated parents, the Counts of Teba. Her mother was a modern aristocrat, travelling all over Europe with her daughter since she was very young. This is almost 200 years ago!

Eugenia and Luis Napoleón fell in love when she was 23, on a visit in France. They got married a year later. She was intelligent and contributed to make the Suez Canal a reality, which she inaugurated in 1869. She worked hard in the social sphere, among other things: improve the condition of women, at work and more schooling for young women. She supported George Sand when they wanted to suspend her publications. She visited victims of cholera in 1865 and 66. During WWI, she offered her hatch to organize an ambulance for the sick, etc. She died in 1920, at 94 years of age. She's my heroine!!!

MY LIST OF WISHES, watercolor

MY LIST OF WISHES, watercolor on my art-notebook
I have loosely translated from the title of the book in French: LA LISTE DE MES ENVIES, by Grégoire Delacourt. It's the story of a seamstress who discovers herself and what's important in her life, after some disappointments. It's a story that invites us to re-visit our own list of our wishes. An interesting quotation included in this book:
"Love supports absence and death better than doubt or treason." by André Maurois (1885-1967)

Sylvia Plath's saying, watercolor

SYLVIA PLATH'S SAYING, watercolor in my art notebook.
"I am sure there are things that can't be cured by a good bath...but I can't think of one." Sylvia Plath said.  Don't you agree?

I recently read THE ART OF HEARING HEARTBEATS, by Jan Philipp Sendker. Beautiful story of a young woman traveling the world looking for her father, and finding a lot more in the process. The really important things are invisible to the eyes.

BIRTHDAY TULIPS, ink and watercolor

Birthday Tulips, ink and watercolor on my art-notebook.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was reading THE BOTANY OF DESIRE by Michael Pollan. Chapter two: Desire: Beauty, is dedicated to the tulip. I learned that the word "tulip" comes from the Turkish: "turban", that it takes seven years before a tulip grown from seed flowers and shows its new colors, and that Jews and Christians alike discouraged flowers, believing that a devotion to flowers posed a challenge to monotheism. There were no flowers in Eden?!!!