Viva Impressionism --- Day 3/87

Walk: Legion of Honor, Mindful Body
Distance: 1.5 miles and teach yoga class

Just when you think you know 'all about' Impressionism, you sit down and view a 12-hour Great Courses set of videos on it.  Finally, finally Ciwt is beginning to grasp the art strides that were taken in that complex, inventive, agitated, courageous, art window that opened in France from roughly 1860 to 1900.

But, even though Ciwt was just finished with this great Great Course on Impressionism, she had already reverted to the 'been there, done that, probably won't bother with another Impressionism show' mindset when she arrived at today's lecture at the Legion of Honor. Luckily arrived! It was given by the Museum Director, who has expertise in Renoir among other artists, and introduced the current Intimate Impressionism show at the Legion.  And, oh my, what treasures are here - in their small ways (because the paintings are all small ones, painted often for fellow artist friends) encapsulating the entire history of the Impressionism movement.

Certainly Ciwt will return to the show.  Meanwhile, a few fresh paintings that caught her heart today were of intense flower beds by Van Gogh and two dogs on the street by Bonnard. It is difficult to understand from our perspective that the loveliness and charm both - really all - these paintings display were the last thing the artists intended.  They were intent on authentic engagement in modern life, capturing lived experience on canvas.


Vincent Van Gogh, Flower Beds in Holland, ca 1883, oil on canvas on wood


Pierre Bonnard, Two Dogs in a Deserted Street, ca 1894, oil on wood

http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/legion/exhibitions/intimate-impressionism-national-gallery

MFK Fisher and the Spring Closet Caper --- Day 3/86

Walk: Mindful Body, Trader Joe's
Distance: 2 miles and teach yoga class

So now the clothes letting go number is @55.  If you've been following Ciwt's Spring Closet Caper you know this is 10 less than yesterday. The letting go of clothes/possessions is complex/not easy as we all know.  As a yoga teacher I'm often in the proximity of Buddhist thinking since the spread of Buddhism was concurrent and often intertwined with the spread of yoga from India farther East. And at the heart of Buddhism is the notion of non-attachment.  A notion that winks at me during these closet caper times and tries to entice me to act from a place of 'purity', a place of 'letting go,' a place of 'non-attachment.'

But then it occurs to Ciwt that non-attachment is not really what calls to her. She likes some semblance of order, dislikes jammed, crammed closets and the stale energy that attends them, is attracted to the intuitive energy of having 'just the right feeling' things around her.  She also likes this M.F.K. Fisher quote she found.

“...for me there is too little of life to spend most of it forcing myself into detachment from it.”
― M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition

Spring Closet Caper Begins --- Day 3/85

Walk: Sundance Kabuki Cinema Club (Happy Christmas)
Distance: 2 miles

65.  Ciwt was so energized by the lighter-then-air, non-stop dancing precision of SF Ballet's 'Shostakovich Trilogy' yesterday she marched right into some clothing stores on her walk home and bought nine summer things. Which means 90 old items must go out into the world to be enjoyed by others. Since it's seasonal closet time again, she re-instituted her 10-for-1 rule. Ie, for every one thing she buys, she needs to get rid of ten.  So far she's at 65 for the day and optimistic about reaching 90 tomorrow.



        Out of the closet, into the staging area....

Tomorrow the World --- Day 3/84

Walk: Opera House (SF Ballet: Shostakovich Trilogy), Hayes Valley (MAC)
Distance: 5 miles adnd try on bunches of clothes



Big day for Ciwt.  Ballet great (see previous).  She'll be up with the sun and on it tomorrow.

'Shotakovitch Trilogy' Coming Up --- Day 3/83

Walk: All over the 'hood including mailbox to mail taxes (yay!)
Distance: 5 miles and take yoga class



Ciwt is Really looking forward to 2 Hours! of exceptional ballet tomorrow.  A collaboration of the San Francisco Ballet and ABT, the program is a trilogy of dances set to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich and choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky called 'the most gifted choreographer in classical ballet today.'  Just the athleticism of great dancers alone is enough to enthrall Ciwt.  The addition of choreography by a man of whom the renowned Mikhail Baryshnikov said 'Russia never had anyone better' and a deeper understanding of Shostakovich's music and post-revolution Russian history should make for a thoroughly enriching an afternoon.  

Here is just the first paragraph of The San Francisco Chronicle's opening night review: 

Wednesday evening's West Coast premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's "Shostakovich Trilogy" by the San Francisco Ballet yielded one of those rare co-commissions (with American Ballet Theatre) in which every moment feels like a fragment of a masterpiece. Indeed, this was simply one of the company's most satisfying nights in years, a grand, ambiguous, mysterious and thrilling entertainment. 

ww.sfgate.com/performance/article/S-F-Ballet-review-Thrilling-Shostakovich-5373803.php

Starting From Here --- Day 3/82

Walk: Metro Lock, Marin Farmers Market, Macy's Terra Linda
Distance: 1.5 miles and small home yoga practice

I was recently sent this poem which I like very much.  Could apply to 'big things' but often as not to coming to CIWT or my yoga mat.

Start Close In   

Start close in.

Don't take the second step, or the third.

Start with the first thing, close in, the step you don't want to take.

Start with the ground you know, the pale ground beneath your feet, 

your own way of starting the conversation.

Start with your own question.

Give up on other people's questions.

Don't let them smother something simple.

To find another's voice, follow your own voice.

Wait until that voice becomes a private ear, listening to another.

Start right now.

Take a small step you can call your own.

Don't follow someone else's heroics.  Be humble and focused.

Start close in.

Don't mistake the other for your own.

Start close in.

Don't take the second step, or the third.

Start with the first thing, close in.

The step you don't want to take.

~

David Whyte

How Does Your Garden Grow in April, Pt 2 --- Day 3/81

Walk: Union Square, Metro Lock, Fillmore Street
Distance: 4 miles and small home yoga practice

Even Andy couldn't save this one from 'House Arrest' Day 3/71:



Wonder if/when/what will arrive next.

  Stay tuned.....

How Does Your Garden Grow in April? --- Day 3/80

Walk: Metro Locksmiths, Trader Joe's, Mindful Body
Distance: 2 miles and teach yoga class

My pet tree is back!  And bigger!

And it has tiny flowers that mimic the color of the leaves.




But are bright when you look closely.