Impressions Of A Would-Be Artist: March 2014

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Marseille!!

Stop number two on my trip to Europe was Marseille, France! I was so excited to go to France. Unfortunately, this was the only stop we made there. It was still a beautiful place that I'll never forget though.

Here are some highlights:

Sailboats at the Vieux-Port de Marseille

Notre-Dame de la Garde

This Catholic basilica was built on the foundations of an ancient fort. It is located at the highest point in Marseille and is seen as the guardian and protector of the city, or la bonne mere (the good mother).

It was quite a climb through the steep, winding streets of Marseille to get there. At one point along the way, they had this stairway to cut up to one of the higher roads.

Needless to say, our legs got quite the workout that day.

This photo is overlooking the city from part-way up to the Notre-Dame de la Garde.

Another steep and winding street.

Vieux-Port de Marseille (Old Port of Marseille)

This is a very busy place in Marseille. In the morning, the fishermen set up stands and sell fresh fish. There are also lots of restaurants and side-walk cafes.

Eglise Saint-Vincent-de-Paul

Palais Longchamp, which houses the Musee des beaux-arts de Marseille and the Museum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille.

It's very beautiful. Construction began in 1839 and took 30 years to complete.

Musee des beaux-arts de Marseille (the left wing of the Palais Longchamp). It houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 16th-19th centuries.

This picture is looking back towards the Vieux-Port de Marseille. You can see the Notre-Dame de la Garde on top of the hill and the two spires of the Eglise Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.

Another narrow, winding street.

As the sun set over Marseille, we started making our way to the next stop: Savona, Italy.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Color Overload

Whenever it comes time to actually decide on what colors I am going to use on a project, I suddenly become very indecisive. I usually have a general idea of what I want, but to make a final decision is always hard for me. There are so many beautiful colors. And among all those beautiful colors, there are so many different tints and shades. And then there are those with a sort of grain pattern to the color or those that are solid. They also vary being anywhere from opaque to completely transparent.

...As you can see, it is not necessarily an easy decision.

A decision must be made, however. So I made one after lots of deliberation and after the wonderful glass store owner pulled out almost every piece of glass she had and we both discussed the qualities and/or defects of each. Here they are:

I apologize again for my awful camera.

As you can see, I have decided to go for an Autumn look. We will see how it turns out in the end.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Barcelona!

As a graduation gift to myself, I recently took a trip to Europe! It was my first time travelling outside of the United States and it was pretty awesome.

The first stop: Barcelona, Spain!

Before I left, I had several people tell me that they (or someone they know) love Barcelona most out of all the places they have travelled... So my expectations were pretty high. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. Out of all the places I went on this vacation, I would have to say that my favorite was Barcelona. I can see myself living there and really loving it. The people are so laid-back and really seem to enjoy life. It's of course a lot older than the United States and I love all the old buildings and monuments everywhere.

Here are some highlights:

Torre Agbar

Sagrada Familia

The Sagrada Familia was designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They began building it in 1882 and only passed the midpoint to completion in 2010. It is expected to be complete in 2026 (100 years after Gaudi's death.)