Paris:Change

When I wrote down my 2010 New Year's Resolutions this year one of the first things I wrote was that I wanted to travel. I remember telling my teacher and she smiled at me. (of course she knew at the time that she was inviting me to Paris and I didn't know that!)  :)  I will be honest I was nervous and excited at the same time at the thought of going to Paris. It was something completely out of my element. I had to get my passport and experience jet lag for the first time.  As a kid I traveled with my parents within the United States. We went to places like Boston, DC, Baltimore, Martha's Vineyard and Florida. The idea of international travel was never really a thought in my head.

This year I really knew I had to do something different to change. I will be the first to admit I like comfort. Change can be scary. The school I belong to, The Dalvero Academy, that is one of our major philosophies. The idea of change. I think that's what I like most about it, and the thing I find most challenging. My teachers say change at least every 30 seconds or less when we draw from the model in class.  There is no such thing as going back or getting stuck on one pose. It's one important thing I have learned as I grow older as a person and an artist. The only thing in life that is constant is change, as my teacher put it.  It has taken a lot of hard work  on my part to learn how to appreciate the advantages of change and to go with the flow.

Paris offered something else to me as an artist and as a person now that I think about it.  Everything I saw was new.  I got to see the Tour de France, the Louvre, the  Tuileries, Montmartre, Versailles, Rodin Museum and Notre Dame.   All offering their own individual experience. I mean it was 9 days of "boot camp" drawing and experimenting as artists to see what else we could do and learn. Most days I was totally jet lagged and coffee deprived hahah but my hands and eyes were not.

One place I really enjoyed was Montmartre. I liked the old feeling of it and I fell in love with the church there called,  Le Sacre-Coeur.

I will be posting many of my drawings from Paris during the next month. So stayed tuned! -D

Check out Rosa Lee's post on Art On Location!