Those little choices in life....

[Lise]

I am here! I am online! Oddly enough, I can't open my aol mailbox from my brother's computer, but I can come to TE. Probably all for the best...

I thought of this thread today. I've been wiped out, working hard this week and not much sleep. All I could think of was getting to my brother's and going to bed. Tomorrow my sister arrives, and we all drive to Virginia for my cousin's wedding, and then dirive back, and then fly back to Chicago...it felt so hectic that I had no plans to do anything except sleep. But I slept for an hour on the plane, and felt much better. So Mom and I went to The Phillips Collection, an incredible little art museum down the street from my brother's office. They just reopened after major renovations. Those little choices...

About 7 or 8 years ago I came to visit my bro, and he suggested I go see an exhibit of modern art up at the museum. I'd never been, didn't have any particular feeling for modern art. BUT I had dated an artist not too long before this visit, and learned a lot about how art is made. It opened my mind a bit...so I went. I walked into the "Rothko room", and it changed my life. It's a small room with one large abstract painting by Mark Rothko on each wall. A bench in the middle, nothing more. There is something about these paintings that gets to me on a very emotional level. It almost feels like a cellular level, that my body reacts sooner than my mind. Whew. A very spiritual experience. The exhibit I'd gone to see that time was John Walker, also an abstract modernist. I came home and bought some paints and canvases, and started to paint. I'm not very good at it, but it makes me so happy. A few years ago, I made a painting for my brother to thank him for introducing me to this museum.

18 months ago, I was here for a conference, and when I went to the Phillips, I learned that the Rothkos were in storage during the reconstruction. I was so disappointed. Now they're back, in their glory. The new building also has one of the Walkers that I saw at that exhibit. Oh, yeah, and they've got a big Renoir/Degas show going on...but it's the Rothkos that move me. So glad I decide to take his suggestion all those years ago.

[DirtDiva]

There's a "Rothko room" at the Tate Modern here. Quite a dark, almost oppressive effect. It's pretty cool, but there's always too many other people there, which ruins the self-reflective effect.

[Lise]

There's a "Rothko room" at the Tate Modern here. Quite a dark, almost oppressive effect. It's pretty cool, but there's always too many other people there, which ruins the self-reflective effect.

I'll have to visit next time I'm there. The one at the Phillips feels filled with light to me, although the lighting itself is not that bright. Rothko was really depressed at the end, and some of his paintings are very dark. I haven't seen any of the dark ones except in pictures. Make sure you get to the Phillips if you're ever in DC.

[DirtDiva]

The ones here are a dark red coulor and black. They were originally comissioned by a restaurant, but they ended up not really being appropriate. Tate Modern is one of London's public galleries/museums, so it's free to go see everything except the special exhibitions.

[pkq]

Since I don't follow celebs, what is up with Tom Cruise that has raised the female ire?

I'd be interested in a TE riding weekend. You girls crack me up with your humor, impress me with your wisdom and intellect, and create hope in humanity.