This is beargrass and grows up high in alpine regions.  Do you know now?  Okay, so these are the ones who really like the beargrass, and I saw several of them on this trip.  Actually, this is a small one – a cub.

One more hint.  I will give you a longer view from the Continental Divide…

Isn’t this beautiful?  Maybe it is in the eyes of the beholder, but to this family Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton National Park in Canada (collectively known as Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park) is a place we find amazing beauty.  This is the oldest international park in the world.  We love it there and I just spent two weeks contemplating the beauty this earth shares with us!  Inspiration is at every turn and I have returned with so much I can hardly get anything else accomplished.

So now you know where I have been.  Do you know this park?  Do you have a favorite natural place to visit?  Does it fill you with inspiration?

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Where will this door lead me?

As you may have guessed, I have been away for a bit.  It seems doors are opening and closing all the time now (maybe it is because I am looking for them).  When I travel, I find my work becomes very charged with new ideas and new explorations.  This time is not different.  The challenge is there are also a lot of personal things needing my attention at the moment.  Do you ever find there are too many other things pulling you away from your creativity?  Things like insurance drive me nuts – too much linear thinking involved.  I am also not a phone person, so that doesn’t help, does it?  Over the next little while, I will share with you some of my trip experiences.  For now, I am off to get some of these things done, so I can eventually open the studio door and get some work done!  I love that so much!

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from my sketchbook

When I was in France, earlier this year, I took a photograph of a perfectly French gate at Giverny. I came home and gave it my own twist!  I think a gate is a door of sorts.  Do you?  Are any gates/doors opening or closing for you this summer?

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If you are ever in Paris, it is well worth your time to head out there.  The public transportation makes it very easy, but go early as the crowds soon make it a challenge just to move around the palace and grounds. Do make the effort to go out to the Le Grand Trianon and Le Petite Trianon as the bumpy train ride will be so worth it.  I actually liked Le Petite Trianon better than the palace and the gardens are amazing.

I am currently working on some new things in my studio, so I need the time to head in there and to get some photographing done.  I hope all of you who are heading into a holiday weekend enjoy the time with friends and family.

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When we were in Paris, we also visited Notre Dame. Like everyone else, we had some lovely time on the grounds and enjoyed this amazing, cutting edge at the time, architecture.  We also enjoyed the inside of which I want to show you a little bit.  Now the photographs can be a challenge as there was a musical celebration going on and there are lots of people, too.  But I want to give you a sense of this beautiful cathedral.

This is a view from the back looking straight up to the altar.  I wish I could give you a better sense of the space, but it goes without saying that the volume is truly amazing.  Can you imagine a special service here such as a wedding?  The bride might need to wear hiking boots rather than heels, but the music would swell beyond belief!

This is one of the chandeliers.  As you can see the light is dim, but creates the perfect ambiance.

This is one of the rose windows found in the cathedral.  Would you like to see it closer?  Here you go:

I love these windows so much.  Like any good art, they have an incredible way of drawing you in and making you think.  I find they are truly fun to study and explore throughout Europe.  Where they are located within the architecture depends on the symbolism.  France, by-the-way, has the largest number of medieval rose windows.

Everyone wants to go to Notre Dame, and it truly is an amazing piece of architecture.  I have a soft spot in my heart for these great cathedrals of Europe as they are so inspirational in so many ways, although I am not a religious person.  I am always find it is the little bits which draw me in. I also find it facinating to contrast and compare these structures in different parts of the world.  Just in Europe you can begin to see the influences of the area as well as of the church.  Some of them are so simple, however others are amazingly ornate!

Can you find inspiration in places (architecture) which you are not directly involved with?  Is it a different kind of inspiration than the original intent of the place?

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This cemetery even has a resident cat.  This one really knows his/her way around jumping into openings and onto graves.  This is a very old place way up on a hill overlooking the city.  Here the cat decides to bide time on one of the benches.  I suppose climbing the hills is tough on cats, too.

We walked and we walked and we walked up hills and down hills, over cobblestones and climbing steps, for several hours looking for these graves.  There are sections marked off, however it isn’t as clear to two Americans as I think it would be to the French.  Finally, up the hill we went again, across the way and in the distance I spotted it.  Once you are close, you can see it!  Look:

Oscar is so loved.  There were several people there, reading and taking photographs, too.  Do you know what those marks are?  Here, look closer:

Yes, the marks are lipstick kisses!  There must be a million of them along with notes to the famous writer.  Truly, it was a moving tribute.  Do you want to know if Elizabeth and I left our own kisses to Oscar?  No, the lipstick is pitting the monument (what does that say about what it does to skin?), so we did not want to add to ruin.  Also, being a rather neurotic American I wasn’t willing to share those germs (although I would have considered drawing some lips).  There were flowers and written words presented like this:

Which were left for the great writer.  It was so interesting being able to explore this place.  If you are interested, the web site is excellent and gives an amazing virtual trip.  You can find a famous person’s grave and gain images right to it.  One could spend days, no weeks, exploring in here.  See if you can find Modigliani‘s, Gertrude Stein‘s or Colette‘s grave.  There are others, too.

Well, all of those crypt doors did not pass me by.  Nope, I couldn’t help myself and had to snap a few photos and try my hand at sketching one.  Now, this really looks like a door from Alice’s rabbit hole, but that would get me going on a whole other subject.  In turn, that would be opening myself up to your learning about some of my more questionable humor, so we will not go there.  You use your own imagination.

The truth is, it does have a rather whimsical character about it.  I am not one to find cemeteries morbid or to dislike talk of moving to the next plane in life.  Truly, this visit was fascinating on so many levels.  Does this subject bother you?  The more I look at this, the more the curvy doors appeal to me…well the whole crypt appeals to me in the way it appears to move.  I guess it tells of the life beyond.  What do you think?  Do you want me to stop drawing crypt doors?

This was a fun adventure with Elizabeth, but we never found Proust’s grave site, before we had to move on.  Well, on another trip, we will go looking again.

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Were you right, did you guess the bridge was the Pont Neuf in Paris?  This bridge was build between 1577 and inaugurated by Henry IV in 1607 and is one of the most famous bridges in Paris.  Of course, even if you did not know the Pont Neuf, you knew right away when you saw the photo of the Eiffel Tower!

You are right, I did not go to Paris for the bridges or the monuments.  I went to become inspired and that happened, too.  I have made some decisions about my art which I will be sharing with you, and which I am very excited about.

I know many of you want to know if I caught up with Andrea of Parisdreamtime while I was in her city.  The answer is YES!  Andrea has known about this trip since I made the decision to go.  She, her wonderful family and friends shared their city with my daughter and me and introduced us to many wonderful experiences which influenced my research so much.  This was my fourth trip to Paris, and I still find the wonder of this city amazing.  I traveled to places there I had not been before and explored some outlying areas, too.

I look forward to sharing this trip with you as the weeks and months progress.  For now, I am back to my research and settling everyone back into our home.  It is wonderful to have us all under one roof again!

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