Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
my Da Vinci ... And The Pope's address to Artists.
www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/11/pope-benedict-xvi-meets-with-artists-in.html
In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Latés, Lunch, Rain, and Flea-Markets.
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After Mass Lizzie and I made a quick stop at Starbucks for vanilla latés and continued on our way back to Paris for Lunch at the home of my little family. I was so happy to be formally invited to their home, not to baby-sit or do any work, but just to enjoy a nice Sunday Lunch.
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We had pre-lunch drinks, a wonderfully cooked meal (with wine), followed by cheese, and then a very yummy desert, and tiny coffee's after in the living room. It was so lovely to spend some time with them like that. Normally, during the week meals are very rushed, and never as formal. (little side note: in France the big meal of the day is lunch, not dinner, so people usually will invite you for Sunday lunch rather than dinner.) -
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In the afternoon, seeing as the rain had let up (it's been raining lots lately) and we knew that there was a flea-market going on a few blocks away, Lizzie and I decided to check it out, I bought a pretty little limoges porcelain box, three little old religious books (the gospels of Mark and John, and the Acts of the Apostles. which will probably just sit on shelf), a few holy cards (each like 100 years old), and a pair of earrings at a little shop nearby.
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We then went out for yet another coffee where we talked about life and shared a "mouelle au chocolat chaude", which was to die for!
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Now I'm back at my apartment. I just made some final adustments to the sketch i did yesterday afternoon of...(well, can you guess who it is? She usually had glasses on...) Actually don't feel bad if you can't guess who it is, I just noticed a few flaws, I'm gonna work on it again...
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Now hoping to get some painting done. hopefully Ben Folds will help me, or maybe Palestrina. I think I'll switch to Palestrina while I paint. we'll see.
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Much Love from Paris,
God bless y'all.
In Christo,
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Sandieness
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PS- as happy as I am with Ben Folds and the ever wonderful Norah Jones, I'm always open to new music suggestions, so feel free to send me the names of some artists and songs to check out. I could use some new tunes.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Can you draw me in 3 minutes? how about 3 seconds.
Here are a few pics from this morning's figure drawing class.
I will write an actual post some time... [maybe] soon.... hopefully.
For now you'll just have to look at my drawings,
Enjoy,
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Sandieness
Thursday, November 5, 2009
It's November???
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So what have I been up to lately? just vacationing, drinking wine, eating chocolate & fresh baguette, and sketching... but mostly taking care of cute kids, which is nothing to complain about. Life's good.
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In France, people have a lot of week long Vacations. When I expressed my shock to someone at how much time off the French get, she responded with, "Yeah we're not very hard working people" (that's just a rough translation.) For All Saints Day for example kids get a week and a half off of school. Most parents will take their kids to their summer homes in the Country. I was asked to accompany a young Couple's three little tikes to their Grandparents' winery for a week. I accepted and found myself at a beautiful chateau, with three adorable kids, and a very sweet old couple hosting all of us. I spent my days playing with the kids, and evenings drinking wine and relaxing. It was sweet.
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I've been back to my regular routine in Paris for a few weeks now, and am finding myself a little glum and homesick in the gloomy weather. But I'm never sad or bored, I'm continuing my explorations around Paris, finding new churches and museums around almost every corner. Not to mention all the shopping (well, window shopping mostly.)
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I spent an Entire Saturday at the Louvre which was AWESOME!!! I refused to go see the Mona Lisa, because there was a large crowd of people trying to get into the room where it hangs to see it, which was already packed with people. So dumb! I did however go to see this statue though, which was also surrounded by many people, but I like the Venus de Milo(this statue) better than the Mona Lisa.
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I took about 200 pics of Paintings and Statues, but they're not on my computer yet, I came to France with a camera, but no charger and no usb cable... I successfully lost both just two weeks before leaving Ottawa. UGH!! but Don't worry, my good friends at amazon.fr will be sending me an early Christmas presents, so Photo's will be up soon.
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Time is flying by way too quickly for my liking, I have lots to see, and will try to updae my blog more often.
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I miss my firends like crazy. You're in my thoughts and Prayers.
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In Corde Jesu,
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Sandieness
Monday, October 19, 2009
fugure drawing: 1st study of a nude model.
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Now please don't be too scandalised, but last weekend... I drew a nude model. yup, this lady was totally naked... (gasp, i know shocking, eh.) seriously though, it was so amazing. I'll admit I was kinda nervous about attending the class; I didn't know if it would be awkward or if the model would be in weird poses or what. But is was so cool. I learned so much in just one class and I could see improvements in my sketches from the first few I did to the last few.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009
Progress???
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As it's late, I can't stay and chat about how good my coffee was this morning or how odd lunch was. or how crazy the kids were after school (today was a bit of an off day for them) :( ...Still though, they're awesome kids. Oh and I met a really awesome group of people yesterday! new contacts, new social circle, new friends. yay! I'll have to talk about that in my next post.
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UdP In Corde Jesu,
-Sandieness
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Only the beginning
Other than that, I'm just trying to kill this cold. spent all my free time indoors today. resting, sketching, and listening to music. ended up listening to Yoyo Ma playing some Bach by the end of the evening. He's playing in Ottawa this month at the NAC, eh. Maybe it's already over? Not sure.
"Happy Tuesday everyone" -quote from Julie's facebook page. lol.
lots of Love,
Sandieness.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Hand.
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Sunday, October 11, 2009
Short Sweet Sunday Post.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Weekend Trip Fail.
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Yup, that's right. I'm presently* typing out this post rather than meeting new people and experiencing the magnificent beauty of that oh so glorious Mont. St-Michel. (insert Sandie's sad face here) "What?!?!" Why?!!? What happened?" are among the questions you may ask me. Well, now how can i say this without sounding like a total dufus... oh yeah, I can't. So here is the truth: Now picture this dumbness, Sandie sleeps peacefully in her fluffy loft bed. with her cell phone (i.e. alarm clock) by her head. Said cell phone, rudely awakens her at 4:55am. (the bus was leaving EARLY for Mont. St-Michel and she didn't want to miss it) About one third of Sandie's brain awakens to the sound of the annoying french cell phone jingle. However the two thirds of Sandie's brain that wished to remain asleep and kill all French cell phones, decided to play a mean joke on Sandie by turning off said cell phone alarm rather than hitting snooze. Sandie goes back to sleep and doesn't wake up again 'till after the bus had left. It was all a simple matter of wake vs. snooze, of one third strong vs. two thirds weak. And the weaker sleepier, Dumber side prevailed.
Once I realized what I had done, sadness naturally came, I still didn't have any friends in Paris, and I so wanted to go on this trip. "What the heck am I gonna do this weekend now.!?" I thought to myself (*cough cough* someone please throw a shoe at Sandie and remind her that she's in Paris!)
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I updated my facebook status (as I have taken to doing all too frequently), to seek the support of my friends back home. I was sent two huge blessings. A friend back home who couldn't sleep was an ear to my troubles and a long distance pat on the back who gave me a little news about current events at home. Then another friend who knows Paris, told me about this cool museum to visit, and about the surrounding area, namely a beautiful park and church which I must see.
Pictured here ->
(little side note: Victor Hugo - author of Les Miserables lived in one of the surrounding houses, cool, eh?) I started a sketch, but need to go back again to work on it some more. I kept making mistake with the perspective, and soon started feeling the chill of autumn in my feet, so I decided to give up on my drawing for a bit and make my way to my next destination, the church of St. Louis and St. Paul just a few blocks away.
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The Church was so pretty. I went in and said some prayers and then made like a tourist and proceded to admire every bit of the place. Completed in 1641, this awe inspiring house of God contained so much history I could feel it in the air. I love the smell of the stone in an old church. Oh and I just read that it's the oldest Jesuit church in Paris. I was especially impressed with the dome and the two side altars, one dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and the other to the Blessed Mother. I LOVED the statue of our lady, I decided to do a couple of sketches of here. So i set myself up and got started on a little sketch to get the basic look of the statue... I couldn't stop polishing my drawing and eventually ended up with this little piece (see image at the left). It's only about 3.5 inches high. and I plan to do another larger sketch of her face, which is really beautiful and is not portrayed well by my little sketch.
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Eventually I left this beautiful church and started exploring the nearby streets. I bought a little blue kettle for my little apartment and a canvas, but no shoes or scarves or pretty eclectic earrings. I stumbled upon this little vintage store, packed with young women trying on sweaters and coats. I squeezes my way in and noticed some odd looking dresses and very 80 looking sweaters, I kept rummaging through the racks and eventually found this beautiful coat for 15 euro!! AH! what a steal! I tried it on, and it was miles too big. why do I have to be so damn small all the time!!! LOL. I always forget my size and was sure it would fit. luckily I tried before I buyed.... and did not buy. I will however be revisiting this store in the future, I hope. Maybe I'll eventually get my hands on something in my size.
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le Petit Palais
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So as it turns out, my weekend was not a total loss. I took in a lot of art, architecture, and beauty. And am so grateful to be living in this gorgeous city.
A bientot mes amies!!!
In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness
* I started typing up this post last Saturday.
** I was going to say "life giving coffee", but thought it might be a little blasphemous.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunshine
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After that, I sat in the park by the eiffel tower (not far from where i live) and worked a little on my eiffel tower drawing. I was also people watching, there are some crazy people in the champ-de-mars. and lots of lovers! and they have no shame, well some shame i suppose. they keep their clothes on at least. lol. I continued my drawing a little and headed home for some late dinner. It's actually becoming normal to me to eat at 8 or 9pm, it's really strange. but It's the French way. speaking of food i think i've gained a little weight. woot woot!
Man, that was just my Saturday. How did this post get so long... I need sleep. hopefully, i won't read this tomorrow morning and find myself incapable of making any sense of it. Hopefully I won't be too annoyed by how many times I changed tense.
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Anyways, Readers, please forgive me for my run on and awkward sentences and any other errors, let alone my spelling...
Good night and God bless!
In Corde Jesu,
-Sandie
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Google pics.
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This is the Ecole Militaire. It overlooks the Champs de Mars,
accross wich stands the Tour Eiffel.
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And this is "Les Invalides" I believe it was a war hospital at one point.
I really should have researched this stuff before posting....
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Et Voila, here is a typical view from one of the streets in my neighborhood.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
random sketches
(the people sitting were in Ottawa, and the ones standing were in Paris)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Life is Good.
Time for some news about life in Paris, or rather for an introduction on life in Paris, since I haven't actually written about it yet.
Well, I arrived just about a week ago, jet-lagged and tired as heck, after... deep breath...: my brother's wedding in Ottawa, a 100 km Pilgrimage in Quebec, a 17 hour bus ride from Ottawa to DC, Mary's wedding, and a 13 hour flight from DC to Dublin, and then finally to Paris. Fewf!!! I hoep that just reading that made you tired. Though I must say that it was a pretty awesome way to leave. I was really glad to be able to say good-bye to pretty much everyone i know.
I was also so grateful that the mother of the family I'm renting my apartment from picked me up from the air-port upon my arrival, because I had two huge bags, a back-pack full of paints and brushes, a lap-top, and one of my huge purses, and there's no way i would have made it to my new place by train.
Within the first few hours of being here, the mom brought me to set up my cell phone plan so I could get started on finding a few baby-sitting jobs to make some extra cash. By Thursday i had met 8 mom's and arranged for 2 english classes and about 30 hours a week of regular baby-sitting work, all within walking or trotinette(scooter) distance of where I live. sweet! Yes, i do sometimes use a little scooter, the kind for kids, to get around. It looks really funny, but it's perfectly normal here to see men in suits and mothers with a bag or two of groceries buzz by you on their scooters. They really are quite practical, and can cut your travel time in half.
I've been having a somewhat dificult time finding my way around the zig-zaggy streets of Parisl it's not like at home. Intersections with 6 streets coming to a round-about and changing names are the worst!!! but I'll be a pro in no time i'm sure. plus I always have my trusty map to refer to whenever necessary, but I feel like such a fanny-pack tourist when I use it. oh well, it's good for my humility I supose.
I've been hit on twice by creepy frenchmen, and almost hit by pigeon stuff once... thankfully though, both birds and beasts have been unsuccessful in their endeavours. ;)
Today I took the Metro to Versaille to attend Sunday Mass at Fr. LeRoux's FSSP parish. I was so impressed with the choir! They sang the most beautiful 'Panis Angelicus'; I have to get a recording... and the sheet-music as well. I'll probably join the choir within a couple of weeks.
Sketching!!! what sketching? All I've done so far is the one I posted the other day and this little one which i started this evening. There's more to come, i promisse! Now that i have my schedule all worked out, i'll have time to dedicate to my art...
Friday, September 18, 2009
voila!!!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
1st post.
JMJ
Sandieness.