Tag Archives: Claude Monet

Memory Fail

5 May

I have been sharing my painting efforts on Facebook and some of my friends on that platform have been following the progress. Out of the blue, my American housemate from my college days mentioned that she still has a piece of my work hanging on her wall!

Initially she shared the picture on my wall and I complimented her that the picture was pretty and asked was it her effort? To my surprise, she wrote that I painted it for her in college. Oh my goodness.

Memory fail here because I don’t recall. This must be the pre-Monet days where I still used the brush because the strokes on the painting didn’t look like a palette knife effort.

And what’s even more amazing was that apparently I did another piece of a cabin subject and sold it to the owner of the cabin! Super memory fail here again.

How can I have forgotten such significant moments?

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The Monet in Me, Part 2

23 Mar

Thoughts of Monet gave me a push to paint for two consecutive Sunday afternoons. The first piece at 8”x24” the weekend prior took two hours only. The second time, I did two pieces – a 10″x14” and a 10”x10” which didn’t take long to complete either. It was rather therapeutic on both occasions.

I must have lost my touch painting for I made a mess not on the marble floor (thank goodness) but on myself. There was paint on my fingers, thigh, ankle and even my eyelids! Goodness.

On top of the mess, I didn’t realize I nicked my thumb with the palette knife on both occasions and even went one step further by accidentally slicing my palm whilst cleaning the knife after I was done painting the first time. Ouch.

But all these efforts was worth it. Am pretty proud of my finished pieces.

 

This tool can slice you effortlessly if not careful!

  

Mood evoking pieces

 

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The Monet in Me

21 Mar

I love Claude Monet the Impressionist artist. Whenever I travel abroad, I always make the effort to visit art museums to view the Impressionist collection and especially to stand in front of a Monet or two to be inspired. I must say Musée d’Orsay ranks up there for me over the Louvre.

This love for Claude Monet started in college. I was very taken with the Impressionist style. One of my early Illustration classes, I did a portrait of Mr Monet. And it was during my summer Painting class that I did further studies on him. I remember one assignment called for us to emulate our choice of artist.

Obviously I chose Claude Monet. And the particular piece I chose was ‘Poplars on the Banks of the River Epte, Seen from The Marsh’ (1892). My two feet by two feet effort still hangs at home in the TV room today.

I loved the Poplar series so much that I recreated the ‘Seen from the Marsh’ piece at a smaller scale of eight by ten inches. The Monet in me then did a little series of my own with two additional interpretations of the poplars. But unlike Monet, I used the palette knife, my choice of tool to paint.

 

The paper may have faded but he’s still looking good!

  

My version of the Poplars

  

My Poplar series

 

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The Mona Lisa

13 Jan

I started reading the book ‘How to Think Like Da Vinci’ a Christmas gift from hubby. It sure is an interesting eye opener not because of Da Vinci himself but more of the fact it made me recall my encounter with the Mona Lisa.

I have been to Paris twice. The first trip when we wanted to visit the Louvre, we didn’t know the museum’s schedule well enough. It was closed and we were due to fly home the next day. Disappointed, we vowed that if we ever went back to Paris, we have to make the museum trip.

Went back we did, a few years later – 2013. During the second trip, hubby and my sibling were off for a business meeting, so I was left to my own devices. I decided to visit the Louvre. Thankfully, it was open.

And like every other tourist, I had to see the great painting. It was such a huge crowd, I couldn’t get any closer. And having a barrier and protective glass over it, it sure was hard to have a good look at the masterpiece.

Was it worth the hoopla? Depends on which angle you look at it. For me, it was merely a ‘been there, done that’ moment; didn’t move me. Give me a Monet anytime, I’d be totally inspired.

So back to my book, maybe reading it and trying to think like Da Vinci may move me better.

    

    
 

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The Scream

20 Jun

Ahh… ‘The Scream’. Everybody knows ‘The Scream’. It may be an iconic and celebrated piece of art in Art History by Norwegian Edvard Munch, regarded as a pioneer in Expressionism, my favorite is still Claude Monet, the French Impressionist.

While I always instill artistic and design skills in both M1 and M2, I never shared much Art History with them. I didn’t think they would be interested.

During the pre-iPad years, I was caught by surprise when M2 showed me her version of ‘The Scream’.

 

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M2’s version of ‘The Scream’

Then both girls would slap their ears, roll their eyes and pretend to scream before breaking out in contagious laughter. It’s a scream to watch them do this whenever the piece of art is sketched out in the car.

 

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