Today Ciwt is in L.A. visiting three museums:
The Getty Center
LACMA
The Hammer Museum
They sure grow them BIG in Los Angeles...
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Ciwt in L.A. - Part Two: Museums --- Day 4/229
Walk: Around L.A. Museums
Today Ciwt is in L.A. visiting three museums:
Today Ciwt is in L.A. visiting three museums:
Monday, September 14, 2015
In Which Ciwt Goes Back to L.A.: Countdown -- Day 4/228
Walk: CPMC
Distance: 1 mile and home yoga
Ciwt is all packed
, her alarm is set for 5 a.m. 
, and she's ready to hit L.A. museums ** 
tomorrow morning.
** Original Winnie the Pooh animals at the New York Public Library. L to R: Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Pooh, Tigger. (Click link for more)
Distance: 1 mile and home yoga
Ciwt is all packed
, her alarm is set for 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. ** Original Winnie the Pooh animals at the New York Public Library. L to R: Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Pooh, Tigger. (Click link for more)
Sunday, September 13, 2015
In Search of Simple Beauty --- Day 4/227
Walk: No
Distance: 0, home yoga
Alex Matisse, Urchin, 2015, 5.8" x 7" x 7", clay: slip trailed and ash-glazed.
Turns out Alex Matisse may have inherited his famous great-grandfather, Henri's, artistic sense, creative drive and work ethic. Or maybe he picked up some art ideas from his step-grandfather, Marcel Duchamps, or his true grandfather, art dealer, Pierre Matisse. or his parents, both successful artists. Or he just came by his artistic gifts on his own.
With such a lineage, really the aristocracy of the art world, Ciwt feels Alex certainly must have great courage. Much would be expected if he too became an artist, the burden would be intense she surmises. But with Henri's life-long rigor, Alex indeed determined to be an artist and took himself to North Carolina where he apprenticed himself for years first to Matt Jones, then to British-born potter Mark Hewitt*. (Hewitt is no stranger to pressure-to-succeed himself being the son and grandson of former directors of Spode, the English fine china manufacturers).
Both his master potters were well-known, and Alex could have built a craftsman career continuing on in one of their potteries or others in North Caroline where the tradition is strong and proud. But, instead, he went further out on a personal limb, establishing his own pottery, East Fork Pottery, in 2010.
Ciwt recently acquired, Urchin, one of Alex's truly gorgeous pieces. When it arrived it was larger than she had anticipated (even though she had the measurements - duh...) so there was no place for it on her mantle as she'd planned. She wandered around, setting it down in various rooms anywhere from the floor to high atop a bookcase. Then, it occurred to her, of course!, and it worked. Alex's Urchin sits beside the definitive book and catalog of Henri Matisse's work - and it makes Ciwt's heart go pit-a-pat to see the two together*.
*Judging from a quote from Alex Ciwt found a while ago, she believes her happy heart is exactly what would please him. “I make pots half for myself and half for the people who will buy them. I want my work to connect with someone on a level that is beyond reason. I am in search of beauty and that one simple goal should keep me busy for some time to come.”
Distance: 0, home yoga
Alex Matisse, Urchin, 2015, 5.8" x 7" x 7", clay: slip trailed and ash-glazed.
Turns out Alex Matisse may have inherited his famous great-grandfather, Henri's, artistic sense, creative drive and work ethic. Or maybe he picked up some art ideas from his step-grandfather, Marcel Duchamps, or his true grandfather, art dealer, Pierre Matisse. or his parents, both successful artists. Or he just came by his artistic gifts on his own.
With such a lineage, really the aristocracy of the art world, Ciwt feels Alex certainly must have great courage. Much would be expected if he too became an artist, the burden would be intense she surmises. But with Henri's life-long rigor, Alex indeed determined to be an artist and took himself to North Carolina where he apprenticed himself for years first to Matt Jones, then to British-born potter Mark Hewitt*. (Hewitt is no stranger to pressure-to-succeed himself being the son and grandson of former directors of Spode, the English fine china manufacturers).
Both his master potters were well-known, and Alex could have built a craftsman career continuing on in one of their potteries or others in North Caroline where the tradition is strong and proud. But, instead, he went further out on a personal limb, establishing his own pottery, East Fork Pottery, in 2010.
Ciwt recently acquired, Urchin, one of Alex's truly gorgeous pieces. When it arrived it was larger than she had anticipated (even though she had the measurements - duh...) so there was no place for it on her mantle as she'd planned. She wandered around, setting it down in various rooms anywhere from the floor to high atop a bookcase. Then, it occurred to her, of course!, and it worked. Alex's Urchin sits beside the definitive book and catalog of Henri Matisse's work - and it makes Ciwt's heart go pit-a-pat to see the two together*.
*Judging from a quote from Alex Ciwt found a while ago, she believes her happy heart is exactly what would please him. “I make pots half for myself and half for the people who will buy them. I want my work to connect with someone on a level that is beyond reason. I am in search of beauty and that one simple goal should keep me busy for some time to come.”
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Taking Time --- Day 4/226
Walk: Up and Down Ciwt's stairs
Distance: ? and home yoga
Los Angeles, Part 2: Museums is coming up for Ciwt on Tuesday. So she spent today getting organized; that's three days ahead. Maybe it's because she doesn't travel much actually (imaginary trips excluded), but Ciwt cannot understand people who pack at the very last minute. The most extreme examples she can think of are a woman she went to an evening art event with who was going to Berlin, Germany for three weeks the following day - and hadn't begun to even think about what she was going to bring. Even more last minute was a stranger years ago who kept everyone in Ciwt's Super Shuttle waiting because she was upstairs in her house packing.
Ciwt may have inherited her pre-trip style from her grandmother. After the Christmas holidays she and Ciwt's grandfather would spend the rest of the winter in Florida. All Fall after returning from the Lake House there would be open steamer trunks
in her Town House packing room into which she would slowly and methodically add items. Then the trunks would be transported to a Pullman car for the journey South. She did not fly - ever; lucky woman..
Distance: ? and home yoga
Los Angeles, Part 2: Museums is coming up for Ciwt on Tuesday. So she spent today getting organized; that's three days ahead. Maybe it's because she doesn't travel much actually (imaginary trips excluded), but Ciwt cannot understand people who pack at the very last minute. The most extreme examples she can think of are a woman she went to an evening art event with who was going to Berlin, Germany for three weeks the following day - and hadn't begun to even think about what she was going to bring. Even more last minute was a stranger years ago who kept everyone in Ciwt's Super Shuttle waiting because she was upstairs in her house packing.
Ciwt may have inherited her pre-trip style from her grandmother. After the Christmas holidays she and Ciwt's grandfather would spend the rest of the winter in Florida. All Fall after returning from the Lake House there would be open steamer trunks
in her Town House packing room into which she would slowly and methodically add items. Then the trunks would be transported to a Pullman car for the journey South. She did not fly - ever; lucky woman..
Friday, September 11, 2015
Not such a stand up guy, but... --- Day 4/225
Walk: JCC, Laurel Village, Trader Joe's (utility loop)
Distance: 2.5 miles and yoga class
Pablo Picasso, Bull. Cannes, c. 1958, Plywood, tree branch, nails and screws, 46 1/8 x56 3/4x4 1/8"
Ciwt had dismissed the big Picasso sculpture show at MoMA, but now that it has opened, she's reconsidering. We'll see
Distance: 2.5 miles and yoga class
Pablo Picasso, Bull. Cannes, c. 1958, Plywood, tree branch, nails and screws, 46 1/8 x56 3/4x4 1/8"
Ciwt had dismissed the big Picasso sculpture show at MoMA, but now that it has opened, she's reconsidering. We'll see
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Yoga Rx --- Day 4/224
Walk: Driving Day, Union Square
Distance: 1 mile, Restorative Yoga
Viparite Karani (Legs up the Wall) Pose. Ciwt highly recommends for the California heat and numerous other times when she just needs some deep energizing and restoration. (Pillow is optional; a folded blanket can feel soft and supportive as well). Enjoy...
Distance: 1 mile, Restorative Yoga
Viparite Karani (Legs up the Wall) Pose. Ciwt highly recommends for the California heat and numerous other times when she just needs some deep energizing and restoration. (Pillow is optional; a folded blanket can feel soft and supportive as well). Enjoy...
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Iconic Women --- Day 4/223
Walk: Not Much - H-o-t
Distance: Not far, small yoga just to get the kinks out
Wayne Thiebaud, Two Kneeling Figures, 1966, oil on canvas
It's still suddenly summer out here this Fall. Bathing suit weather, (but who wears those these days?). Here is Wayne Thiebaud's wife and constant model, Betty, painted in two suits.
Is she hot or cold, happy or sad, available or guarded, inside or outside? Without losing her identity, Thiebaud has transformed her into an icon, stylized, enigmatic. Perhaps carrying the weight of hisory on her strong, bare shoulders. In many ways these could be Greek marble statues of women.
Peplos Kore, dedicated to the goddess Athena on the Akropolis in Athens c.530 BCE
But then before the Greeks were the Egyptians
and the Babylonians
and those ancient stone age carvings 
Willendorf Venus
Venus of Parzadzik
And what about the East and Russia and Persia? Has Thiebaud's female image taken us back to the beginning of civilization and traced its artistic expression? Silence encapsulates the answer: Like most artists, Wayne Thiebaud is not in the explaining business.
Distance: Not far, small yoga just to get the kinks out
Wayne Thiebaud, Two Kneeling Figures, 1966, oil on canvas
It's still suddenly summer out here this Fall. Bathing suit weather, (but who wears those these days?). Here is Wayne Thiebaud's wife and constant model, Betty, painted in two suits.
Is she hot or cold, happy or sad, available or guarded, inside or outside? Without losing her identity, Thiebaud has transformed her into an icon, stylized, enigmatic. Perhaps carrying the weight of hisory on her strong, bare shoulders. In many ways these could be Greek marble statues of women.
Peplos Kore, dedicated to the goddess Athena on the Akropolis in Athens c.530 BCE
But then before the Greeks were the Egyptians
Willendorf Venus
Venus of Parzadzik
And what about the East and Russia and Persia? Has Thiebaud's female image taken us back to the beginning of civilization and traced its artistic expression? Silence encapsulates the answer: Like most artists, Wayne Thiebaud is not in the explaining business.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Ish; or to be a Fish --- Day 4/222
Walk: JCC, Hi Tech Nails
Distance: 2 miles and take yoga class
Most San Franciscans wish they could swim with the fishes or go back to their down jackets during our annual Fall-summer. Ciwt wonders, if you grew up in California and then went back East for college or work, would you be surprised by real (ie, brisk, cold) Fall?
Distance: 2 miles and take yoga class
Most San Franciscans wish they could swim with the fishes or go back to their down jackets during our annual Fall-summer. Ciwt wonders, if you grew up in California and then went back East for college or work, would you be surprised by real (ie, brisk, cold) Fall?
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