I've been having quiet mornings and walking to museums in the afternoons. Today was the Orangerie, which had an exhitbition of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works from a collection in Tokyo that was well worth seeing. Then I couldn't resist going upstairs to the rooms with the enormous, all encompassing late water lily paintings of Monet. It was crowded, but I still love sitting in those rooms. (The back room is never as pushed as the front one.) And I always want to sketch. Today I didn't even try to get any details of the paintings. I just did a quick sketch in the general palette, which happened to match the French ink I just bought. It was fun to go for the impression. I had done more precise work this morning, working on the Mr. Darcy book, so it was nice just to surf art and sketch loosely for the afternoon.

I followed about the same pattern yesterday and went the Musee d'Orsay instead. I didn't even sketch inside, just a quickish view from out on the roof, yesterday being one of the rare and unpredictable days they allow people out to enjoy the stunning view.

The weather is overcast and chilly, and the light isn't calling my name for painting in a serious way, so I went to my favorite Saturday markets today instead. First to my local one for tomatoes and avocados and a small umbrella (necessary equipment to carry in Paris, though gratefully I didn't need it today), and then to the Marche d'Aligre, my favorite brocante, which is my favorite French word, meaning any second hand store or flea market or sidewalk sale. One word fits all for second hand goods. It's an alluring word. It was quite thin for August. The booth where I got my favorite teapot last year wasn't there. But I got another long sleeved shirt, which I feel I will need this trip, and I got my favorite mint tea, with a huge sprig of fresh mint and pine nuts floating in the top. I sat and sketched and wrote in my journal and generally breathed deeply and stopped moving for the first time in a long while. It felt good. I'm enjoying the quiet time to walk and contemplate here after feeling underwater with the church book project (marvelous though it was to be asked to do) for much of this year. Two weeks at home with multiple repairs and business to attend to followed it, so Paris, where all I have to do is feed cats and myself for the moment, is quite a restful change.

I also sketched on the way home. The city had taken an expanse of cobblestones off to the side of the Pantheon and erected benches, one of them with enormous gargoyles scattered down its length. One of the things I love about Paris is its creative use of public space. It continually plays with different options to invite people out into its spaces to mingle and enjoy. I love that, coming from the land of everyone being sealed up in their air conditioned cars and houses. It's hard to mingle in Memphis. So I sat to sketch a bit and then bought some Angelina's hot chocolate to drink in the park on the way home. Bliss.

I did a lot more walking today and once again ended up in the Musee d'Orsay. The nice thing about getting a pass is that I can go and do several rooms deeply without having to see the whole museum. I can also take time to sketch. They move and switch out the artwork. This Redon wasn't out last year, and it really moved me. I love the figure rising out of the ocean. So I sketched him standing up (and halfway in the dark -- they keep the symbolism rooms super dark for some reason) and then sat down out in the middle and sketched a few people. I need to get in more practice doing people, and Paris is a great place for that.

I also did one quick sketch in the Tuileries. I had tried to do a gouache study at lunch, but I had forgotten the actual gouache in my jet lag fog. I'll have to go back and do it a different day.

I got to Paris today for what has become my annual August stay. I was pretty groggy, so I only did one quick sketch. I also went to the Musee d'Orsay to renew my pass and revisit some favorite pieces. I'm looking forward to the exhibition of Cezanne's portraits when I have more brain power.

​I also did did a quick sketch leaving Memphis, since I couldn't resist going ahead and testing my new grey sketching ink.

I came back across the country with my marvelous friend Jill, who came out to help me drive home. We took it pretty quickly, wanting to get home and see my family, and she had stuff to do too. But I did do one sketch in the Badlands, which we got to see briefly at sunset and then again the next day. I've been covered up with printmaking and playing with gouache any time I wasn't doing that, so this was my very first journal sketch since early July, and I realized how much I'd been missing it.

Several years ago I did an Arts and Crafts inspired series of travel prints. Not the big national park places, but places that were my peculiar heart places. I've added a new place this summer, and I decided to add a new print as well. This is smaller than that first lot, t-shirt sized, since the bakery owner here might use it for just that. The idea came together quickly my last week here, and it was fun to have a small, autonomous project just for fun, after the big push of finishing the book illustrations. I printed several by hand yesterday to leave a few here (I'll be traveling back across the country starting tomorrow, so art blogging will be on hiatus for a bit), and I'll print some more when I get home to my press. I may do a second one with the iconic concrete silos that welcome visitors. It would be fun to do them of my favorite nearby parks as well. We'll see if I have the time and oomph for a whole series.

Here is the block in progress plus the first proof, so you can see how I refined it for its final form.

I had such fun today painting blueberrry bushes at the original Cascadian Farm farm stand. I have eaten their cereal for years and was fan girl excited to find out that this place was just up the road from Concrete. It's a lovely place to stop and have an ice cream -- they make their own from their organic berries, and the just-right-tartness of the raspberry chocolate chip is some of the best ice cream I've had in my life. I went to paint today, since the blueberries against the mountain had been calling to me. The sky was perfectly gorgeous, so it was a fun morning. I came home with ice cream too...

I've always lived in Memphis except for college in a smallish Kentucky town that was still considerably bigger than Concrete, WA, where I've been spending several months. I love the small town events more than anything. Today was the 4th of July parade, that lasted maybe five minutes. Highlights were the mayor dressed as Uncle Sam plus the 4-H club with a number of dogs and one goat. I had a ball sketching. There was also a fun acoustic band at the picnic afterwards to give me something to listen to.