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Patisserie Still Lifes

8/9/2019

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One of my projects here in Paris is to round out Daily Pleasures, my still life show for September. It’s hanging an alarmingly brief time after I return home (Playhouse schedules by the school year, so if you’re the first or second show, there’s not a lot of warning, and I already had my travels set.) I visited my frame builder before I left, picked out a frame to go with these tiny gouache pieces (I had already done two I liked, so I knew it would be a good fit for the show) and arranged to make my frame order the last week I’m here so they’ll ready to go when I get home. That way I can see how many and what size pieces I end up with. I love oils, but gouache is much easier for traveling.

I started with a big watercolor study in my sketchbook, which I had fun with. I really enjoyed doing some flow-y watercolors in Reims. I used it as a study to do a gouache of the same composition, but that one really fell flat. Working gouache-sized the scale was wrong, too small for the paper. I wrestled with it for a while, and finally I started over without the teapot and with a simpler composition that suits the size of the objects to the size of the paper. I’ll keep looking at the first one (below) just in case, but I came to feel that I was throwing good paint after bad by continuing to work on it. I’m much happier with the simpler piece.
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Last of Reims

8/8/2019

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I was in a total frenzy sketching Reims — both a new place to me and a scarcity factor. I’ve been really lazy in Paris, both settling in (unpacking, buying groceries, just walking around my favorite spots), but I plan to get going here soon. I had two afternoon naps, though, which has been marvelous. I’m still dealing with a little jet lag and a little it-was-crazy-getting-organized-to-be-gone-again exhaustion. I figure a few days of vacation are good. I walked to my very favorite market/flea market today, which took ages from the place I’m staying this summer, but it felt good to just let loose and walk.

So here are the last of my Reims sketches, and I’ll work on having some Paris things to show here soon. Above is just outside the building where I stayed, a few blocks from the cathedral. I also painted the Joan of Arc statue just outside the cathedral, and I sketched a bottle of champagne that was (delightfully) in my Air b&b along with a white peach, cut up in a bowl. It’s good to remember treats and savor them again later.
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Chagall Windows

8/7/2019

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The Reims cathedral was deeply wounded by WWI and consequently has some gorgeous 20th century glass (and some less gorgeous 21st century glass) in it. The standout work is the chapel in the apse, straight behind the main alter (and glowing throughout the nave like a beacon) which was designed by Marc Chagall. It’s exquisite. I love the thoughtful iconography, the worshipful colors with blazing bits surrounded by deep and peaceful blues, and most of all, the green madonna. It seems like such an obvious color for her with motherhood and fertility at the center of her identity. The colors around her remind me of the rich forests of the Pacific Northwest, alive with mossy beauty.
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I couldn’t get my camera to capture the blue that glimmers through the cathedral from the Chagalls all the way to the west entrance, so I tried in watercolor instead. Still not satisfying, but better. I also love the off centeredness of the crucifixion, with that white figure showing up on the right hand side, but the deposition and ascension above and below (though less discernible from far off ) to its left. Brilliant design. I did one more sketch of the whole bank of candles that people light and pray by. It was a worshipful space, and I tend to paint the things that move me.

I wish I’d taken time to sketch the 1930’s smaller rose window at the back. Mary is central, and she is surrounded in a circle by several biblical trees (a palm, a cedar of Lebanon, and an olive tree) along with the moon, the morning star, and the sun. I love creation being so central in surrounding and celebrating her. I would have chosen an apple tree to go along with the others, given both Song of Songs and that lovely carol “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree,” along with the connection from Eve through her son Jesus to correct the original wayward bite. But that’s a quibble. It’s a gorgeous window in its own right. I loved the mid century glass they added in the restoration all the way around. There’s some subtle and beautiful grisaille windows as well. I wish I could have done these windows justice, and I wish they would hire one good photographer and get good images to sell. I was deeply disappointed in what was on offer. But it was a gorgeous cathedral to be in, and I’m so glad I went somewhere new this year.
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Reims

8/6/2019

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I’ll mostly be cat sitting in Paris again this trip, but I decided to take a couple of nights and see somewhere different at the beginning of the trip. A gothic cathedral with some Chagall windows was a definite winner. In fact, they have a whole series of mid century windows that are exquisite and beautiful, both theologically and visually, even though the Chagall ones are the total standoust. The back rose window from the 30’s is dedicated to Mary, and around her are three trees, a moon and star, and the sun. I love the emphasis on creation in a lot of the newer windows.

Today I painted about half and half inside and out, partly because the weather today was half and half, half rain, half dry. I started with the outside view in my big sketchbook, knowing rain was coming later. Then I looked the other direction and did a smaller sketch of a Carnegie library in a charming Art Deco building.
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Lunch was at a sidewalk cafe while the weather was still fine. In the interest of this page loading efficiently, I’ll save the cathedral interior sketches for my next post. It was a good first day to hit the ground sketching.
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A few Memphis sketches

8/3/2019

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I've been home for almost three weeks except for the weekend in New York, but I've been running around getting things done. I've managed some sketches along the way, though in less quantity than when I'm traveling. Here are some of the last week or two, starting with two from Shelby Farms. The two trees are from the day I rode out from midtown on my new bike, a round trip of 24 miles. I was pretty proud of myself, as a newbie.

The next is a sketch from the Dog Days Open Studio Sale. I celebrated the end of that with a dinner at Huey's to hear a great band. Finally this morning was Memphis Urban Sketchers at the Peabody. (At right, with the flowers.) I'm heading out again tomorrow, so watch this space for more adventures. I'm so grateful to my house sitters who let me go travel and know that Mr. Darcy will be taken care of.
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    Martha Kelly is an artist and illustrator who lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee.


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  • HOME
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