Friday, August 29, 2008

Impressionists at The Kimbell

I was never much for visual art. I'd look at the paintings in the art books and they never had much of an impact on me. Like many college students I thought Escher was cool, but that was about it.

When I was on a college band trip we spent a day in downtown Chicago and a few of us wandered through the Art Institute. In the middle of my wandering, I stumbled into the halls that held their Impressionist paintings. I may have seen some others first, but the My photo of the painting, in Chicagoone I remember, the one that completely changed my opinion of visual art, was Renoir's Two Sisters.  In the muted natural light of the hall, it blew me away in a manner I hadn't ever expected. Posters and prints don't come close to the real thing. The vibrancy of the colors - the flowers in the little girl's hat and the woman's corsage, the blueness of the girl's eyes, the way just the softest touch of colors depicted their faces so well....it was just amazing. There are boats at anchor in the Seine behind the models, but I'd never noticed them until seeing it that day.

The Art Institute is apparently remodeling the wing where their Impressionist collection (the best in the world) is housed, and some genius at Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Museum asked the Institute if they couldn't maybe keep an eye on them for a bit - and they agreed! The result is The Impressionists. So if you can get to Fort Worth, a city with an museum and park district that puts cities twice its size to shame, you have a terrific change to see the paintings in the much more spacious and airy digs of the Kimbell's barrel vaults.

My wife and I took the morning off to catch the show before I start a The Modernround of more traveling. We had brunch at the The cafe is integrated into a reflecting pondcafe in The Modern,  another beautiful museum we've gone far too long without visiting . Not today though - Impressionists to see!

In a word, it was terrific. Plus we managed to get there before it got crowded, so we could really examine the paintings close up - like a couple of feet away. It's definitely a little weird to be leaning in on something so precious...and so massively valuable. Hands in your pockets, hands behind your back, don't sneeze...

My favorites were the Two Sisters, Renoir's Chrysanthemums, one Chrysanthemumsof  Monet's water lilies, and a Van Gogh self-portrait.

Being able to see a Van Gogh like this in person is simply...arresting. The painting has such an intensity to it. He stares straight into Self Portraityou (how DOES someone make eyes like that with oil paint? In person, you can lean close enough to see). The trademark heavy brushstrokes seem to emanate from a point somewhere between his eyes so the hair, mustache, and beard all flow away from it.

It was a great getaway. If you can make it to Forth Worth before November, it should be the first thing you do.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Local girl makes good

As you may have heard, Nastia Liukin won the women’s individual gymnastics final last night. You may have also heard she trains in Plano. We actually held a birthday party for our son years ago at her (and Carly Patterson, Athen’s gold medalist) gym, World Olympic Gymnastics. (As you can imagine, with two gold medalists it’s a growing business.)

I remember walking into the place and immediately noticing the smell. Not unpleasant (to me), it brought me right back to college because it smelled just like my karate dojo in Lansing: People working out hard, on carpet. Not that I’ve been into too many other gymnastics schools, but that’s the only place I’ve ever encountered it.

It also had a pit built into the floor filled with foam blocks. It was like quicksand! Amazingly hard to get out of; I'm sure it's easier for those lightweight gymnasts :).

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

A Day In Yosemite

I was in Fresno last week, and found that I had an opportunity to zoom up to the friendly neighborhood National Park - Yosemite - and make a quick acquaintance. I was there a total of 16 hours. I figure, better to have a whirlwind visit than no visit at all!

Fresno is in the San Joaquin Valley, essentially the irrigated desert of Central California between the coastal range to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east. Driving out of Fresno, I slowly lost the 100 degree temperatures as I climbed into the mountains. The last few miles to the park entrance became amazingly twisty, with substantial banks in each curve. What a perfect place to drive a convertible!

My first surprise was that it was another 45 minute's drive from the South Entrance to Yosemite Valley, along more twisty roads. I Tunnel View eventually counted over 200 curves in the road between the South Entrance and the tunnel to the valley. Immediately after you exit the tunnel, the valley is laid out before you and it's stunning. I had time to do a little quick research before I came, so I was forewarned of the traffic and the Tunnel V

iew viewpoint and parking lot. Crowded! And the light wasn't very good, so I snapped a couple quick photos and moved on. The clock was running before sunset and I had a new camera to break in.

I was spending the night at Curry Camp, a fun, various-degrees-of-camping community at the far east end of the valley. I'd managed to snag a last minute cancellation for a heated cabin, which were very basic - two beds, a small dresser, heavy plywood walls, no toilet or sink - but the top of the pile for Curry.

But the view was million dollar. This was the view outside my front  08 07 23_0016door. The reverse direction was equally stunning, as Curry Camp backs up to a sheer wall up to Glacier Point, one of the highest points along the valley.

I dropped my stuff and hustled over to the visitor's center, feeling desperately short for time. By then it was almost 6:30, sunset would start to get interesting in an hour. and I still had no idea where the best vantage point was. I walked right by the famous Ansel Adams Gallery, as much as I wanted to spend an hour there. Finally, I got an excellent tip from the Visitor Center's ranger, well worth the minutes spent: Sentinel Dome.

Sentinel Dome is a formation on the south rim of 08 07 23_0176Yosemite Valley,  three quarters of the way to Glacier point. It's a short hike off a small parking lot, but at a little over 8000' elevation, the last climb up to the dome gives you a workout.

Well, the view up there is spectacular. 360' of the Valley, Half Dome, Vernal Falls, and the Sierra all the way to Nevada. As icing on the cake, this is also where the fallen remains of the Jeffrey Pine made famous by the Ansel Adams photograph. Estimated to be over 400 years old, it died in the drought of 76-77, even though rangers and hikers carried buckets of water up to it. I took a bunch of sunset photos, though 08 07 23_0179the conditions were pretty hazy, including some photos of a couple with their new baby. I'm still trying to figure out how to stitch  together panorama shots with Photoshop Elements 6 - most frustrating! It was easy with Elements 2...isn't it supposed to get easier, not harder??

It was a long, twisty drive back in the dark to Curry, and I was on a mission: I hadn't had dinner yet and it was 9:30. I managed to scream up to the Curry pizza shop literally 5 minutes before they closed at 10, and finally ate half a medium pizza at 10:30 after a very full afternoon and evening. I haven't been so hungry for a very long while!

Walking  back to the cabin from the car, it felt like a grown-up version of Boy Scout camp - very dark, lots of people walking around with flashlights or sitting in the dark, well-used camp building and grounds.

Next morning I was up and out at 5:45 AM to go wildlife (read: bears) Breakfastphoto hunting*. I got some decent photos of Bridalveil? falls, and walking back from the falls encountered a couple of juvenile bears playing around, foraging, and trying to dig through the garbage cans. By 8:30 I was out of there and headed back for my 12:30 flight out of Fresno!

I'm posting photos shortly to http://picasaweb.google.com/sean.deuby/ADayInYosemite. Once I can figure out how to make those damn panoramas...

- Sean

*The Norwegians have a great saying. In a land where the summer nights are very long - but the winter nights are longer - they take full advantage of the summer and say, "You can sleep in the winter!".

 

PS - Since beginning this I've heard about the wildfire west of Yosemite that's wreaking havoc for the homeowners in the area and possibly threatening the park. Here's hoping that damage is kept to a minimum. If you've never been to California in the summer, it's really quite surprising how dry much of the state is. When driving east to the park through all the bone-dry grassy landscape, I couldn't help but think it was like a tinderbox. The fire was started by the sparks from a fired weapon. Geez, it's a miracle they don't have more wildfires more often than they do.