Bayeux

Like Giverny and Etretat I had wanted to visit the Bayeux tapestry for as long as I can remember. As a young girl I read copiously during the summer months especially and then read a great deal of not only history, fiction, and art history but I was especially interested in European history and culture and therefore knew about a great many places I would wish to visit very very much. Bayeux was one if them.
This past summer I was finally able to and left Bayeux feeling as though I must return again and again. Hopefully I shall.
It takes a great deal of time to take it all in and as you are shuffled through almost as though you were at a blockbuster exhibition in a great museum and everyone wears earphones and that sets a certain pace, you can not easily go against the flow or even with it for that matter. I did not wear earphones because I really wanted to look and see for myself what was there. What I had not expected and what amazed me the most was how ANIMATED the figures were. It was alive and practically moving. There was also a great deal of humour in the depictions and scenes. I will show you above what I found . DO GO IF YOU CAN! Read up on it before so that you do not need the earphones and go early in the day if you can.
As a predecessor to comics and animation it is high up there for inspiration! Highly recommended to my friend Lamar!

Giverny

Claude Monet

Claude Monet


Claude Monet


This year I have been lucky enough to not only be able to visit the Alhambra in Granada and its magnificent garden but also Monet's Giverny. Both are places I have longed to see for more than twenty years at least!
We went to stay with a friend in Giverny and visited the garden out of hours and also in the dark evening with only the scent and sound to tell us about where we actually were. Completely magical and otherworldly. An unforgettable experience, one of the highlights certainly in my life.
Living in Europe again after such a long sojourn in the States has made it possible for me to visit more places here and for that I am truly happy despite missing my friends and life in the US.

Etretat

Matthew Alexander

Gustave Courbet

Claude Monet



We just returned from a trip to France and we finally visited Etretat. I have mentioned it before here on DJANG. Quite an extraordinary coast that Normandie-Maritime. White cliffs and coves for miles and miles. Then a dramatic carving by the sea culminating in Etretat. Sea art or land art?
So many artists have been inspired to record the place for themselves; Monet of course, but also Courbet and more recently ones like Matthew Alexander.
I hope you get to visit some day yourself.
This trip included several longstanding wishes for visits. Places I have wanted to see since my youth or childhood. Will get to them later though.

More from Lamar

Last spring Lamar Peterson had a show at the Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles. These images represent some of his new work shown there. If you look at earlier postings on DJANG you can see some of his previous work.
For more look up www.richardhellergallery.com or www.fredericksfreisergallery.com
What do you think?

Rain

We have been having torrential monsoon like rains here of late. The country side is drinking it up greedily since we have also had a spell of heat, sun and dry weather before.
It is amazing to see things literally GROW after the watering followed by more sun and warmth. If you sit long enough in a field or a garden you can...
I am reminded of Alan Dugan, a poet who lived on Cape Cod, who would take children to watch flora grow in the dunes in summer. Such wondrousness and eyes of discovery.
The cats are less fond of the rain and wait until its all over and then tread gingerly over the wet grasses and try to make headway to paths in order to get out and about.
They get quite stir crazy when it rains here and fight with each other like people sometimes do when they feel trapped. When they come back indoors all wet we towel them off!
I have not been able to keep up with all the growth and so called weeding that has to be done in the beds. I can not tell the difference between weeds and other plants really. I find most of them beautiful and keep them anyway. I have gorgeous large thistles, Indian paintbrushes, buttercups and dandelions.
One definition is that which is invasive.
Does that make us weeds? It would look that way!

Je retourne a Tarset

After a bon voyage with many adventures and discoveries I am back in the wee garden which became an impenetrable jungle in my absence! Tasting the many ripe raspberries on canes here and there scattered throughout between rose bushes and other shrubs and trees, mmmm....yummy. It is like a childhood dream place, very wild and filled with soft fruit like gooseberries and black currants. Most of them quite tart which I really like!
I hung up two hammocks, which I brought back, in the "orchard" consisting of 3 fruit trees, and placed a birdbath with a wistful verdigris glaze in the herb patch.
The cats and I had an affectionate re-union and have spent much time cuddling as far as one can with felines!
The sun has been shining and it is warm, almost swimmable weather, however the Tarset Burn is refreshing at the very least, and it has to be very hot to work!
Some heather is turning purple and the lanes and hedgerows are filled with wild flowers! I even found a purple orchid in the marshy part of the jungle.
Returning after time away the season changes have happened so fast and it feels almost like one has been in a coma and woken up after some time only to find the world transformed. I enjoy noticing all those changes and walking around saying hallo again to all that grows in the vicinity. I also go for a come back home walk to the burn down the hill and look for Patrick the heron, sitting on the bridge and taking it all in. These wee rituals make sense in a stressful time and we are in our prime!
This particular coma was a good one!

White Rabbits

Getting ready to be on the road for July. Mainly to take In Person 30 Poets the dvd-book from Bloodaxe Books to festivals and events around the UK.
I enjoyed the garden today in the unusually warm temperature. Planting the pots of plants I still had around but the weather had been so cold and wet I just had not done it yet. Sibirian Iris, White Dicentra, Euphorbia, Cowslips and Ox-Eyed Daisies...
Plus I mulched the Tuscany Superb rose I planted last month.
At the moment lots of species roses are in bloom, the white jasmine, cranebill geraniums, honeysuckle climbing everywhere and it looks so wild and wonderful.
I napped with Fergus and enjoyed his steady breathing and smacking sounds. I think he dreams he is eating something very yummy! He is so affectionate and lies close and I cannot stop looking at him and his little red head!
I will miss all the darling adorable cats when I am away. Very much.