Monday, November 30, 2009

I polished the Da Vinci face (don't think i can make it much better than this)... and drew a man's back. I like backs. I've been drawing them a lot lately... but this is by best one thus far.

Monday, November 23, 2009

my Da Vinci ... And The Pope's address to Artists.

Today, I've got one unfinished drawing...
(It's a copy of a famous drawing by DaVinci, which is of course much more beautiful)
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and a link to the Pope's recent address to Artists:

It's a very deep and beautiful article.

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.

Today was a lovely lovely day. I woke up early and enjoyed as I do most mornings, (well at least on the mornings when i get up on time) a Café au Lait, and some baguette and jam. yum. Right after breakfast I was off to sing at Mass in Versaille. It was a solmn High Mass this week and the Church was packed! Also I finally made eye-contact with my future husband. He doesn't know yet that we're going to get married, but don't worry he'll figure it out eventually how wonderful I am and marry me. And we'll both live happily ever after in France. see how simple life is. lol. If this sounds a little crazy, it's probably because it is. don't worry I am mostly kidding. But seriously though you've got to see this guy, he's got the face of a god (small "g"). ANYWAYS!!! I'm sure he would be quite disturbed to find out that I had been speaking of him in this manner on my blog.
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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.

Hello Friends,
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

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

It's November???

Clearly I have told a big fat lie in saying that I would post a sketch every day. Life's busy, ok! and it's not slowing down any time soon, so a sketch a day is not exactly happening, but I'm not too worried about my portfolio,... K, I'll admit that I am a little worried, but I do already have one full sketch-book of figure drawings done, and more to come; my next class is on Saturday!. woot woot. Can't wait.
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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.

Dear Readers,

I've taken a huge step into the art world. And I'm really excited about having practically doubled my portfolio in just one day.
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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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The atmosphere in the little studio was so good. they were playing Gregorian chant and early polyphony in the background. the model was very comfortable and tasteful with her poses and movements. we had to do really quick sketches at the beginning and end of class as the model slowly moved around in diferent positions, doing this contemporary dance-thing, and for a little more than a third of the class time she did 10 and 15 minute still poses which allowed the artists to study the figure and do more detailed drawings or paintings. Some of the other artists' paintings were so beautiful.
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Attending this class was a very good experience. Everyone in the room was very professional and peaceful. they were all so focused and happily hard at work in this amazing little space of creativity and learning.
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While my sketches paled in comparison to those of the more experienced artists(all the other artists had at least 20 years on me), i thought it would be nice to share a few of my sketches and drawings with you.
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WARNING!!! these photos may contain a naked woman. But don't worry guys, I'm only posting the ones where you can't really see anything (and in the 2nd last one, i blurred out the "bad parts" with photoshop.)

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Progress???

I don't know if it shows at all, but here's todays work which consisted of a lot of erasing and redrawing... unfortunately erasing pencil from a primed canvas doesn't work so well. it'll smudge and darken about 10 times before it actually starts comming off... ugh! it's slow going. but i want it to be good. And actually now that i look at this picture of it, I'm noticing that i made her forhead too narrow (among other flaws.)... how'd i do that? oh well, I will fix it later. I think the fabric draping is going to be the hardest part of this piece to draw/paint. Voila.
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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

Today i'm bravely posting a first sketch that is very ugly of what will hopefully be a pretty painting when completed. It's a copy of the face of Our Lady as seen in Michaelangelo's Pieta. This amazing artisit is one of my biggest inspirations, but very difficult to copy. I'm only doing one small part of his impressive Pieta. The entire piece is so amazing. I've studies so many pics of it, and now I'm finally trying to paint Mary's portrait. here goes. So here's my first day's work.

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.

Today's sketch... my skinny little left hand. complete with short bitten-finger nails and everything ;)
It's not great, but it's something. voila.
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I just got off the phone with my family. It was really nice to talk to them all. even little Tony! Aw. miss them! They're all at home having Turkey dinner tonight with my aunts and uncles, and cousins, and Grandparents.
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Clearly my mind is a little bit more in Canada... in the kitchen, probably eating, than it is here.
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So what's new,
I was teaching english this evening and just can't understand why "heat"and "eat" are so difficult to pronounce for these kids... or one i love to torture them with; "I hear with my ear." they get it wrong every time!!! LOL.
But other than that, all my pupils are doing well, I have 7 so far, all at different times, so it's more like one on one tutoring; I really enjoy it.
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I was mostly just watching kids today. which doesn't always give a lot of blogging substance. The baby (well 13 moth old) who I watch most mornings is just starting to walk and is adorable.
Then I had lunch with these two kids that I don't really like. lol. I guess they're always tired and therefore cranky around lunch time on Mondays, and it's only the one time a week that i see them. but whatever. it's a free meal and 16 euro. so i'll put up with them. Maybe i'll figure out how to get them to like me.
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This afternoon i was watching "my kids" the ones of the family i'm staying with. They always make me feel very much at peace and "chez moi." They're my anchor kids. They are sweet and polite and kind, and very affectionate. The littlest one made my day today at the park. They were all playing in the sandbox building a "chateau" when suddenly the littlest one jumped up and ran up to me to whisper in my ear, "Sandie, je t'aime!" gave me a kiss and a smile that would melt your heart; what a little sweetie. oh and later he was telling me how he has two "loves" at school. they're both blonds. he "adores" pretty blond hair! teehee. cute! He's five and a half and told me once that he "adores pigeons" too.
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Well, with that, I bid you all goodnight. (it's 11:15 here, and i'm trying to get over a cold)
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Lots of Love from Paris,
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In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness
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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Short Sweet Sunday Post.

So the Blogging Elders have informed me that, in order to be a truly virtuous blogger, daily blogs are absolutely required... geeze!!! It's a strict society i've entered. Even the Catholic Church only requires weekly attendance at Mass.

So Here is my Sunday Post.


I went to Versaille for Mass this morning, and guess who I saw.....


Abbé DeBoisse! Si! C'est vrai! :)

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And He showed me that he still had the goodbye card (with spiritual bouquet) from the school that we had given him way back when he left Ottawa. I had made the card with "God Bless you" on the cover in fancy lettering. lol. I couldn't believe he still had it! aw.


Well that's all the news I have for now.
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Also here's a sketch i did the other day. It's not based on a model. I just drew a standard skull and attempted to build up some realistic features on it. keeping in mind the direction of the light, and rules of proportions, etc... More sketches and paintings to come. I have a lot of unfinished stuff on the go... I seem to have artistic ADD because I can't seem to stick to one project.


Happy THANKSGIVING to all of my Canadian friends and family. miss you all. and am incredibly jealous of the turkey feasts you'll be having.
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God bless!!! Love and Prayers,
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In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness



Friday, October 9, 2009

Weekend Trip Fail.

And the Failure of the Year Award goes toooo...... (insert drum-roll here).... Miss Sandra Sauvé!!!!!!!!!!!!! for missing the bus to Mont. St-Michel.
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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.
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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.
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Things were looking up and the kettle was whistling. I bid my friends good night and good day. And put some freshly ground coffee into my french press to brew, while i dashed down to the bakery to buy some comfort breakfast. "Deux croissants au burre, s'il vous plait, madame."
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I rushed home, ate the flaky deliciousness of french baking, drank up the freshness of of the life boosting** coffee, threw some pencils and a sketch book into a backpack and headed for the metro station. Even the sun was shining; things indeed were looking up.
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I went to a free museum called "Musee Carnavalet" a mansion converted into a museum. It has some really beautiful paintings of various scenes in Paris as well as some awesome portraits, some cool old iron store signs, and rooms filled with 17th century Parisian furniture. I wandered around in there for a while taking in all the art and feeling quite humble as an artist, but also very inspired.
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Next was lunch, a slice of pizza and a tarte au citron from a nearby bakery, which I ate in the most beautiful park, called Place des Vosges.
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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On Sunday I went to Mass in Versaille in the morning, went home, took and nap, and spent from 4pm 'till 6pm checking out the beautiful art in Le Petit Palais.
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Here are two stolen-from-the-internet pictures of the bridge I took to get to the museum and the museum itself. very pretty and well worth another visit. The permanent collection is free and awesome!
Bridge.
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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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What a lovely weekend, not only did I make some cash teaching and baby-sitting this weekend, but I also had a chance to go to Mass in Versaille, sketch in the champ-de Mars, read up a little on Notre Dame, visit Notre Dame, and shop in the Latin quarter. Awesome weekend!!!
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I woke up way later than I intended to on Saturday after having baby-sat pretty late the night before. but none-the-less, I made some freshly ground french-press coffee, ate some baguette and jam, got dressed grabbed my little sketch book and left to take the quick 7 minute metro trip to Notre Dame.
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I stepped of the train with a huge crowd of people from all over the world. French, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Canadian, American, I even brushed shoulders with a British artist who was lugging a little folding chair and a huge bag of art supplies(he had a little union jack sewed to his bag.)
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As the culturally-diverse crowd shuffled up the stairs and out of the Metro station, I started to squint. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was shining with all his might, I looked around me, and right there standing proud and tall and strong, like nothing could change her or move her, like her purpose had been set from all eternity, The Cathedral of Notre Dame.... wow! I felt so small and so humble in her presence. I decided not to follow the huge crowd inside today, but rather to enjoy the sunshine and study the many little (and huge) figures and carvings on the stone-work outside the Cathedral. It's so beautiful. (I will upload pics soon, but fyi I also have a lot on Facebook in my album: "Chartres Pilgrimage II")
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I made my way around to the garden behind the Cathedral and sat for a few minutes just taking it all in. "The flying buttresses are gorgeous!" I thought, "maybe i'll draw them." HA! Maybe NOT. The millions of details on the back of Notre Dame, with carved stone traveling in every direction would be a pretty huge undertaking for me and my pencil. So, i decided to start small (I'm no great artist yet) and I did a little sketch of the Statue of Mary and baby Jesus, which crowns the fountain in the middle of the square.
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After a good 30 minutes or so of drawing and staring at the beautiful cathedral, I could feel some grumbling in my tummy, so i figured i should find a quick "que'q chose à manger". I found a little café nearby and got myself a chocolate-banana crepe, and a coke. yummy.
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Not really sure where to go next, I guessed from memory where Ste Chapelle was in relation to the Cathedral, confirmed my hunch by consulting my map and headed in that direction. When i arrived, very excited to see the stained glass on such a sunny day, to my dismay, there was a huge line up outside, and people were grumbling something about it costing 20 euros to get in. "ugh!" I thought, "do i stay and wait, do i go somewhere else...?" I decided to continue on my way and find something else to do, Ste. Chapelle could wait for a less crowded day.
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I continued up to Latin Quarter which has a huge beautiful fountain with a larger than life stature of St-Michel l'Archange on it on the face of a building at the main intersection before entering the area, one of the oldest parts of Paris. The streets were tight and windy and there were a good 50 restaurants to choose from tucked into every possible little corner of all the old and crooked buildings, too bad i had already eaten near Notre Dame.
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I soon stumbled upon some stores, and started looking for shoes. I was in desperate need of some little black flats. I didn't bring any with me and knew my feet would not withstand being confined to 2" heels for another Sunday trek out to Versaille for Mass. I found something perfect for 15 euro, and i got a black purse too, another necessary buy, as i didn't bring a good sized black purse with me. I was tempted by many pairs of earrings, lots of scarves (oh! the scarves!!!) but I only got the shoes and the purse. well done Sandie! oh... and a Latté; I found a starbucks too, and gave into my northamerican craving.
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I went home and rushed off to teach my Saturday english lesson, which actually paid as much as the shoes i had previously bought that day had cost... does that mean i can go buy more shoes now? ;P
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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!
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Once i had stuffed myself with enough baguette, I finished up a drawing for the mom of my little family, It's her birthday today (Sunday).
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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.

Today I'm uploading (with my oh so awesome on-again/off-again internet connection) some pictures (merci à google) of day-to-day stuff I see in the 7th (i.e. my area/ neighborhood in Paris) unfortunately the pics loaded in backwards order, and i can't re-arrange them... but please enjoy nonetheless.
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Rue St. Dominique. This is where I do my groceries and get coffee.
And if you come visit me, I'll take you here.
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This is a typical French boy.
I don't even know who this kid is, but he's so French!
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Pastries are EVERYWHERE.
I've already started filling out my pants a little better. :)
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I buy a half baguette most mornings for .55 Euros
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At most cafés the tables and chairs are very neatly lined up like this...
why?
for People watching, of course.
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And here's a pretty little Café near where i live... actually it's a pretty huge café
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This is a cool old fountain surrounded by cafés... it's very old, and i don't really know anyting about it. All I know is that Obama had coffee in the place to the left of it. However, I've heard that the pastries there aren't that great.
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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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In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness
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Monday, September 21, 2009

random sketches

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Some rough and random sketches.
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The legs above are my legs. I did this sketch while in ottawa, but wanted to share it.
I couldn't think of anything else to draw at the time.
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This is a picture i started to the blessed mother, but never finished because of some proportion errors i made, her face i still like though. hope you do too.
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Voila, These roses were on the coffee table of a very eclectic Parisian woman.
I was baby-sitting her daughter and decided to draw them.
(just a rough sketch, could use some polishing)
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Gesture drawings and rough sketches of random people.
(the people sitting were in Ottawa, and the ones standing were in Paris)
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Lots of love from Paris,
Sandieness
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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Life is Good.


Hello Friends,



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.




I pay for my apartment, by watching this family's kids for a few hours a week, which i thoroughly enjoy, because they're the sweetest little children I've ever met; I just love them! the other day one of them said to me, "Je t'aime de tout mon coeur!" :) aw... could any other child be so sweet? ...not that she doesn't have her moments of imperfection, but still, these kids are awesome!



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...
In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness
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Friday, September 18, 2009

voila!!!


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My first Sketch in PARIS!!! I was baby-sitting and rather than just watch tv... i decieded to sketch the view from their kitchen window.... hope you like it. I may write more lengthy post some time soon. for now... all i have is this to offer.

in Corde Jesu,

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Sandieness

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

1st post.


JMJ

Just a few short days before I arrive in Paris.

I've decided to post pictures of the first sketch i did back a few moths ago that got me back into drawing. as well as my latest painting, and final piece before leaving Ottawa.

I'm really going to miss all of my friends here and I know I'll be missing my family at Christmas time. :( especially my little siblings.

But this is going to be an amazing year. and as long as I'm always keeping close to the Heart of Christ, all my friends can find me there.

In Corde Jesu,
Sandieness.
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This one made me decide to get back into art.
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my latest painting.
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