art for art's sake

            today was spent mostly in class. class from ten thirty to twelve, from one to three, and from four fifteen to six thirty. that sounds like a lot of class and that doesn't sound like a lot of fun. and then i remember that i have my art history class in museums where we actually stand there up close and personal with the art we are studying and i think to myself, class isn't so bad after all.

            and so today we were back at the musee d'orsay (which i highly recommend) and i was excited because i knew we would be looking at degas. edgar degas did the series of ballet classes that i just love. we looked at impressionists and post impressionists today, and i must say they are probably some of my favorite artists. monet, manet, cezanne, degas, i love the way they study light, the way they capture ephemeral moments, the way they use every color but blue to create water, the way they fragment their strokes to let the eye do some work too. these are the paintings that make me wish i could paint.

            the degas lived up to my expectations. it was lovely to see the real deal, but what i was not expecting was to fall in love with a certain renoir mini series. renoir was an impressionist and he painted two paintings called the country dance and the city dance. 

 i immediately fell in love. i think what stood out to me the most was the detail of the country-woman's dress. those little rosettes just caught my eye and wouldn't let go. but i love it all. the clothes, the gloves, the expressions, the contrast. these paintings capture two real moments, two different seconds on the dance floor. and i love it.

            i am grateful for my art class. i am grateful for painters who stopped painting art exactly how they were told and started painting art for art's sake. i am grateful for painters who wanted to capture everyday moments. i have really come to appreciate art.

pastry du jour: framboisine

description: a raspberry cream surrounded by a darling sponge cake, topped with fresh fruit

taste rating: fresh and fabulous

(the best part might have been the fresh raspberries on top)

why do they have to be so cute?

we love pastries

friends on a bench.

 new high heels.                          

em is too cute.

she loved her caramel millefeuille

 these shoes reminded me of something...

mom, jenn, any ideas?

 now i am in the loire valley in a little hotel. 

room 3 ELEVEN. that has to be a good omen, right?

everyday an adventure.

we shared girls camp stories on the drive here. gotta love liahona forever.