I love living in a big city!

Last week I only had to work until Tuesday, then I had off the whole weekend off! So, I went to Sherman for a few days since it will be my last break for a while, before the dreaded holiday shopping shenanigans! My visit was great and the kid is even taller than he was before, I swear my mom puts miracle grow in his cereal.

Dad and I left early Saturday morning and came back to the city. We had plans to go to the Kimball Art Museum and see the Impressionist Exhibit. http://impressionists.kimbellart.org/ It was incredible. I have always had a thing with art from this time period and Claude Monet is my favorite artist of all time. There were rooms of priceless art and most of them were paintings I've studied in art classes over the years. Right there, in front of me, they hung. There was the giant painting "Paris Streets, Rainy Day" by Gustave Caillebotte. This painting took up an entire display wall and towered above everything. It's scale and precision were remarkable, and my dad was amazed at one detail in particular...the dainty vale on the woman's face. It was incredible to see this in person.

There were displays from Gauguin, Seurat, Pissaro, Manet, and so many others. They all show such passion, such talent, such vision! I know I sound like an art groupie, but I'm ok with that! In the painting by Renoir "Two Sisters" (At the top), the colors nearly jumped off the canvas and in others there was light and shadow like a photo.

Then there were a few paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, who always makes my heart skip a beat. This one, entitled "The Bedroom" is so childlike and yet intricate and detailed. To get up close, like we could, we could see the brushstrokes themselves and the attention to the detail that must have taken an agonizingly long time to achieve. There were others of his, but not too many. The museum had recently hosted the Van Gogh collection as it's own exhibit. All the art this time was from Chicago.

Finally I found a little piece of heaven...there was an entire room of Monet. They had a few of the series of haystacks. They had the views of Venice that make you want to go get yourself a passport just so you can see them for yourself. There was this one, "Bordighera" that literally took my breath away. It brought tears to my eyes that could not be stopped. I wasn't even embarrassed. I can't help that I have a strong reaction to his art. At last, I got to see the famous "Waterlilies" and others from that time. Again, I couldn't breathe and couldn't look away. My father just stood beside me and looked at the art. At the end of one of the galleries was "Poppy Field at Giverny". It's so beautiful there are no words.

I could have walked thru the galleries for days and not tired of the unadulterated beauty that was all around me. I know many don't like or understand art, but I think I came to realize something. You don't have to understand it, you just have to let it touch your heart. It's almost spiritual sometimes. I was so happy to get to spend that time with my dad and share that experience with him. He loved all of it as well, though he didn't shed any tears, he was quiet and reverent and edified. It was an awesome day.