After Arles we hit collioure, the home of Matisse and Derain for several years. Fortress fishing village turned tourist trap. We went in off season, so it was totally chill and totally beautiful.
(someone remind me to post my art from this trip, I did a sweet little study of this wind mill)
(where the wind comes from)After a few days we drove along the coast into Spain to visit Cadaques and Figures, both were former homes of Dali and each had a museum dedicated to him. Little coastal town. mom drew some faces on rocks and put them back on the beach. We got a free hotel room one nite cause of our connection to Dali. Worked on some paintings in a city square one day and had a group of 4 year olds as my temporary fan club. I was missing French cuisine, so we split after absorbing so much Dali and headed to Toulouse.
On the way there we saw this huge castle from the high way and pulled off. It was called La Cite, and was super commercialized inside like Disneyland version of an ancient castle, yet it was the real thing. They had some strange tradition 600 years ago of throwing a pig off the tower that kept showing up on postcards.
Never can have enough prayer shots..
Toulouse was soooo amazing. I really loved this city! The colors were all orangebrowns and bluegreengrays. old ass bricks and wood. my fucking piece of shit ipod decided it didn't want to import my photographs so I was really limited as to what I could photograph. Anyway, it was a university town, and a nice blend of history and contemporary energy. I very much enjoyed the French version of a drum circle which consisted of an accordion, violin, standup bass, guitar, saxophone, and beer bottles. Dancing with Spanish girls till 3am....
My friend Charlotte (who I met in Paris a week and a half earlier) happened to be in town. We met up and had a nice lunch. The light was so amazing, reflecting off the river and filtering and fluttering through the leaves. Stunning.
Our flight back to NY ended up getting delayed for a day, so we had a bonus day in Paris. I took my time to walk and explore new areas, still looking for that perfect wine bar...girl...bakery. Went thru parks, old churches, shed a tear at sacre coeur, watching a French girl play accordion for change while herds of tourists shuffled down these streets where artists used to live hundreds of years ago when it was affordable. Locals playing the role in their barrets and scarves and sketch pads drawing caricatures... The public square where artists display the generic Parisian cityscape paintings that they make from memory day after day... Saw the Pompidou's yellow and blue pipes below and decided to walk that way. After an hour or so I made my way there and decided to take advantage of its late hours and catch some art. Rauschenberg and Yves Klein both had solo shows (I gained a lot more respect for Klein's vision), and while exploring an amazing Vija Clemens show I bumped into an artist who I had met in Chicago a couple of years ago. Small world. We got kicked out of the museum before getting to see the end of a huge art/cinema exhibition, which was so excellent. As we were leaving, I saw that there was a free Brancusi studio recreation museum right next door which was closed. He is one of my art heroes, and I felt like a real dumb ass for missing that one. After a nice vegetarian meal with my friend we said good bye at the Louvre, and I sketched some sculptures, trying to wring out every last drop from the trip...
Well, now its fall in NYC. Stain glass leaves over old central park playgrounds
Me and my cousin and her wonderful daughter
I miss that smile
This was my room for like 3 months, and I'm finally moving on up, away from the vintage darkroom fumes.... The next chapter starts tonight.
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