I can empathize with anyone with feelings of over-work. I happen to be rather hungry atm, too. :P
So work--the book-selling is in an intense period right now because--ta-da--I have/had a ton of new or newish books that could easily be assigned in any number of Sociological/Cultural/Religious, art, etc. college courses.
Hey, I knew getting that Masters would pay off some day. Heh.
It's no big feat to recognize a college textbook or one of the many "adjunct"-type college books--expensive little buggers that are either mandatory to buy in addition to your text or "suggested" (I could never afford to buy the "suggested reading"--I'd try to find it elsewhere). So I've had many student customers of late. Just had an amusing encounter with a Hawaiian student about his getting a chem text in time for class. I think maybe he didn't believe me when I said in my book blurb on Amazon.com that I'd ship it Priority Mail (though I didn't know I'd have to pay for it to go to Hawaii :/ ) for no extra charge. But he received it today and he's happy and I know how to say --in Hawaiian (I think) Mahalo nui loa---thanks very much. 8)
I found a cool oil-on-canvas Monet reproduction at the shop today, "Girl With Watering Can."--not my very favorite but a nice one. Has an ornate gold wood frame-- and it's the size of a poster(!). Reading about it helped me figure out why I sometimes get Renoir and Monet confused. They were best friends who invented the Impressionist art movement. Duh on me. Actually I feel okay about it, Now I think I can keep the two guys--who both did quite well for themselves in the producing excellent work dept. ;)--separate.
The other cool thing today besides a good, long swim ALL BY MYSELF in a pool that was tub-warm, was that I started music tonight.
OMG. We're doing spirituals and folk music and we are so white-sounding. It's got to be hysterical to hear us being coached on how to try to sound like a Baptist church choir. Too funny. Especially with the kid behind me in the tenor section doing it with a Jamaican accent (he's a white dude from the 'burbs).
But it was fun. We're not sure if we have enough people to meet the expenses to hire the conductor and an accompanist--we need both (and I suppose, to give the Park District it's cut--they own the rehearsal space and the historic audtorium that we practice/perform in) so we didn't get to keep our music tonight. Next week shall tell but everyone will be mega-disappointed if we don't come up with 40 peeps to pay up.
But I can't really focus on that atm, as I have S.F. to think about before next Monday night! :) :) :)
So that's about it. I am soooo wiped out--and I have to drive up near Wisconsin tomorrow, so I must pack it in for the night.
Wishing you all (especially Jam in B.C.) a pleasant tomorrow.
--Cyn
About this painting...
Pierre-Auguste Renoir began his artistic career as a porcelain painter and went on to be employed by the Louvre, in Paris, as a copyist: a painter who copied works of the Old Masters. Among the copies he produced were two works by Peter Paul Rubens, whose influence was vital during Renoir's later years when he departed from Impressionism.
The most critical historical event for Renoir was the relationship he formed with fellow artists Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Frederic Bazille. The four artists met in their early twenties, became friends, and founded the basis for what was to become the Impressionist movement...
Renoir would receive much support from this circle of friends throughout his career. The group would later expand to include Paul Cezanne and Camille Pisarro. They were known to go on excursions outdoors in the Forest of Fontainebleau, in search of artistic inspiration, wandering around the woods in France with their easels and knapsacks, painting what they would observe in front of their eyes.
It was in 1869 that Renoir and Monet began to paint in what would be known as the Impressionist style. Located at the Seine river near Chatou, Grenouilliere (the Frog Pond) was the location where Renoir and Monet painted three landscapes apiece, each from the same view. These would be the first Impressionist paintings. Impressionism is a style of painting in which the work is spontaneous. The idea was to paint immediate impressions as they would supposedly appear on the retina of the eye. They eliminated black shadows and painted in rainbow colors, thus creating a feeling of lightness and atmosphere. They used complementary colors when modeling forms, eliminating lines and perspective.
Although both artists painted in the Impressionist style, Monet preferred landscapes, while Renoir preferred to paint nudes and portraits, as well as narrative genre scenes, over pure landscape painting. Still-lifes are rare in his oeuvre. Seen from close up, Renoir's figures are unfocused. They are meant to be viewed from a distance, and A Girl with a Watering-Can is no exception.
Renoir frequently painted portraits of little girls. He brought to his subjects charisma and sympathy. He gave them expressions of genuine feeling. In A Girl with a Watering-Can, the child's bright blue dress with white lace and the brilliant red ribbon in her hair, contrast with her surroundings to draw the viewer's eye toward the girl, thus effectively establishing her as the focal point. Renoir's frequent attention to the costumes of his subjects is thought to be related to his family's involvement in the garment industry.
In A Girl with a Watering-Can, he depicts the scene from a low perspective, thus allowing the viewer to perceive the same visual space as the little girl. In its spontaneity, this painting evokes a feeling of childhood.
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