Fruit and Roses, by Donalee Nelson
Perspective
We always plant a small vegetable garden in the spring. This year it seems more important than usual since some foods are harder to get. Ours will be larger so we can share. We already have an orange tree, a lemon tree, a persimmon tree, a pineapple guava tree and a pomegranate tree but no pear or apple tree. My Grandmother always planted vegetables in the spring which made me think about her garden and what she taught me. My maternal Grandparents have been on my mind more than usual. I suppose it also has to do with the situation we find ourselves in right now. They survived World War I, the 1918 Pandemic, the Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and the Vietnam War as well as personal triumphs and tragedies. When they built their house, and I mean built it with their own hands, their children pitched in by dragging their wagons to the beach and loading up with sand for the project. After it was built the first thing they did was to plant a garden. They were so thrilled to live in a place where the weather made it easy to grow plants year round. By the time I was born they had an orange tree, a lemon tree, a grapefruit tree, a Babcock peach tree, a plum tree and some sort of tree that my Grandfather called an orchid tree. As I said, my Grandmother always planted a small vegetable garden for fresh produce. During WWII there was rationing of many essentials such as food and gasoline, and I think I still have some of those ration cards and books. They planted a Victory Garden, bigger than the usual one. My Grandfather was opposed to war but that did not stop my family from pulling together with most of their friends to get through this bad time the best they could. Years ago I learned how to preserve fruits and vegetables so will probably use that skill again. (I hope it’s like riding a bicycle.)??? They didn’t have to social distance but probably should have. My Grandparents’ lives were much different then than now. Their expectations were not the same. Self-reliance was their mantra. My Grandfather sold stuffed animals door to door, repaired typewriters and taught astronomy to get through college. He even invented a board game to keep his family occupied. My Grandmother worked anywhere she could, including under difficult conditions in manufacturing plants, to accomplish their goal. They didn’t feel entitled. I would like to think that when they complied with the limit on what each person could purchase and when they planted their Victory Gardens they understood that everyone was in the fight together and that is why they prevailed. Let’s hope that we won’t go back to exactly the way things were…that we learn some lessons from this, foster growth, carry out some changes and make things better.
Where you can see my artwork
My artwork is available at Rons. The shop has just reopened from 10am-3pm. Call the shop at 805.489.4747 for the most up to date information. Rons is located at 850 W. Grand in Grover Beach a few blocks from the train station, a golf course and the beautiful Pacific Ocean. For more information go to Rons website at www.ronsingroverbeach.com or find him on Facebook. You can get in touch with me on Facebook messenger.
Most Museums are currently closed but their galleries and shows are available virtually
Currently the Catalina Island Museum is closed but check www.catalinamuseum.org to find more information as to when it will open. Set to start June 20, 2020 the museum hopes to be open to the public when it plans on presenting Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray. Muray was a friend, lover and confidant of Kahlo and his intimate photos of her span the period of 1937 – 1946. This is a traveling exhibit and will be at the museum through September 27, 2020.
The Laguna Beach Art Museum is truly a museum dedicated to collecting California art. While it is temporarily closed it is featuring +LAM+ LAB at Home on line which is set up for all ages. This looks like a lot of fun so for all the information go to www.lagunaartmuseum.org.
The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana is bringing many exhibits on line. BOWERS AT HOME will give you a peek inside many of the exhibits that were scheduled such as Inside the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Preserving the Magic. On display are more than 400 items such as costumes, original artwork, and props. Included are sketches for Fantasia and maquettes from Frozen. Take a look at www.bowers.org for more facts and interesting information.
The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena invites you to Explore the Collection with a virtual tour of its wonderful artworks. To learn more about this go to the museum website at www.nortonsimon.org where you will find information on this and future exhibits.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is closed but has set up Watch, Learn, Listen, Read, Browse for those who would like to see more at the museum. Information is available at www.lacma.org about this program.
Since the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is also temporarily closed check on line for Virtual MOCA. Included are Back to School/, Giving Tuesday/, Past, Present &Future/,Movie Night/, Feel Good Friday/, Artists at Home/, and Book Club/. With Pleasure: Pattern and
Decoration in American Art 1972-1985 is just one of many exhibits on line right now. It is the first scholarly review of this American art movement and includes paintings, sculptures, ceramics, collages, installations and performance art. Fifty artists from across the country are represented here and many different mediums including carpets, quilts, embroidery and wallpaper are part of this show. The movement has been overlooked in the past as being inferior to fine art. Sometimes acceptance comes slowly. I can think of many fine artists who used pattern effectively in their work. Henri Matisse is the first that comes to mind. The work of Frank Stella is all about lines, shapes and pattern. Find views of this exhibit at www.moca.org which also has other information.
Michelangelo: Mind of the Master is currently in place at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Since the Getty is currently shut down you can check it out from home. Do you know why the artist used red chalk for his drawings? Find out here. The Getty Center also has many other Online Exhibitions. Information at www.getty.edu will fill you in on all that is happening at the museum as well as dates for reopening.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art has been undergoing a renovation, and is currently closed. However there is hope that a very special exhibit will be able to go on as planned. Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources is set to debut October 11, 2o2o. It features various artists’ works as well as literary works that influenced him. The show will include first editions that fired his imagination as well as paintings by Delacroix, Monet, Gauguin and artists of the Barbizon school. This will be a major traveling exhibit. Currently the museum has many activities available online and Portrait of Mexico Today, painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros while living in political exile in Los Angeles in 1932, has a home in the front façade of the museum. It is intact and is in a protected spot. Check on line at www.sbmuseart.org/ for more details.
While shut down during the pandemic, the de Young Museum has issued a call to all Bay Area Artists to submit work for an upcoming show. What a great idea! You can also go online for views of current exhibits. Check www.deyoung.famsf.org which will have all you need to know.
While the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art remains closed to the public it is open 24/7 online. The museum has gathered videos and articles from its various galleries for your enjoyment. So go ahead and take a tour. Visit the museum’s site at www.sfmoma.org for images and much more on their many exhibits.
The Seattle Museum of Art is asking everyone to Stay At Home with SAM. There are many interesting videos on the museum website. Go to www.seattleartmuseum.org in order to obtain more information. All are wonderful and the interactive videos online are great!
Just as so many other museums are closed so is Crystal Bridges. It is optimistically expected to reopen May 15. If it does open then Ansel Adams: In Our Times is expected to come to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas on May 23, 2020 and leave in September. Touring the American west with the photographs of Mr. Adams is inspiring. In fact, many photographers credit his work for prompting their interest in environmental causes. More than 20 pieces by these photographers will join in this show. Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere, seeks to expand on what we know of the silversmith and patriot. We are all familiar with the portrait in Wordsworth’s poem and Mr. Revere’s midnight ride…”the British are coming, the British are coming.” The exhibit, which features over 150 objects, helps us learn more about the man. Just in time for the 4th of July celebrations, it will be on view through October 2020 so go to www.crystalbridges.org to find out more. Like so many other museums, Crystal Bridges has many online tours of its holdings.
The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver is currently closed to the public until further notice. Go online to learn more about this artist and his unique vision. Check out www.clyffordstillmuseum.org for all the details.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, while closed is offering a virtual tour of its latest show, Queen Nefertari: Eternal Egypt. As a part of a grammar school assignment I tried to make the head of Nefertari out of clay. She looked okay but would not stay upright. She kept tipping over…not what you would call a success. You will find other tours of the galleries online. They are celebrating India and there is much information and printable line drawings perfect for adding your own color choices. The museum’s website is at www.nelson-atkins.org and will provide more information.
The Art Institute of Chicago has many exhibits available virtually and its store is open for business even though the museum is closed. More details are at www.artic.edu for these fascinating exhibits and things for purchase.
The Detroit Institute of Arts will is making it easy to access many exhibits while it is closed. Guests of Honor: Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dali is very special since the artwork of Kahlo and Dali will be installed adjacent to Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals from 1932-33. The murals are magnificent and will add to the appreciation of the artist’s creation of a subjective surrealistic world of myth, dream, mirage and magic. Also From Bruegel to Rembrandt: Dutch and Flemish Prints and Drawings from 1550 to 1700 is available virtually and is from the museum’s collection and features more than 70 works on paper by these artists. There are also activities that sound like a lot of fun to keep everyone engaged including drawing activities, writing activities, a community collage, and a tutorial on making stabiles like Calder. How much fun is this! Check the museum website at www.dia.org to find information on these activities and its collections.
Currently the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C., including the Zoo and the museum in New York are closed. To find out more about future plans and reopening dates check out www.nmaahc.si.edu for information.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is offering virtual tours of many exhibits including Raphael and His Circle. Joining in on the 500th anniversary of his death, the Gallery will display 25 prints and drawings. Nine works of art will be by his closest followers including Caravaggio. Five paintings by the master will be on display and 10 engravings are included. The Gallery has also included educational content to keep those kids stimulated. Find more details at www.nga.gov with several examples for you to enjoy.
The Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens has made it very easy to explore the museum and gardens from home. If you are a lover of the decorative arts this is a good place to go. You can see the exhibits such as Bouke de Vries: War and Pieces which explores the contemporary work of the Dutch artist and his take on the Eighteenth Century Banquet Table. He has created seven tableaus that are inspired by the trend toward elaborate centerpieces at the time. They are comprised of classic porcelain, sugar and modern plastic. Or you can visit Natural Beauties: Exquisite Works of Minerals and Gems includes close to 100 pieces either from Hillwood’s collection or on loan. The exhibit focuses on the history and beauty of the precious stones. The museum’s website at www.hillwoodmuseum.org will give you information and reveal some of Post’s amazing pieces of eye candy as well.
One of my favorite museums, the Albright-Knox Museum in Buffalo, New York has some great activities for adults as well as children. Using famous artwork for inspiration you can make a print, a collage, or a large sculpture. Not only are they great learning experiences but are enjoyable. The museum’s website at www.albrightknox.org will keep you up to date with some interesting information and a timeline for its reopening.
The New York Historical Society has a beautiful website that you must see. The fourth floor of the museum has been turned into a Gallery of Tiffany Lamps from the museum’s extensive collection. This ongoing exhibit features 100 lamps, many designed by women. Also ongoing is Audubon’s Birds of America Focus Gallery which will display watercolor models for the artist’s work, The Birds of America. The society also has Picasso’s Le Tricorne on display. The painted theater curtain from the ballet was produced in 1919. Visitors to the site can also have a look at Ed Ruscha’s Fanned Book from 2013. There is much to see at the New York Historical Society so check out www.nyhistory.org and prepare to be surprised by all the wonderful historical pieces on view.
While all three of the Met’s locations are closed, many tours of exhibits such as Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera are available online. This is an ongoing exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. With over 50 large paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the show covers the 1940s through the 21st century and has works by Pollock, Frankenthaler, Herrera, Twombly, and Nevelson as well as abstract work by artists from different countries. In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection continues until May 17, 2020. The collection is a gift to the Met and this exhibit features more than 80 examples including French and American couture and pret-a-porter as well as accessories and illustrations. More information on these special shows is at www.metmuseum.org so look for highlights there.
Several interesting shows are at the Museum of Modern Art in New York this year. You can enjoy many online such as Dorothea Lange: Words and Pictures which is her first retrospective in fifty years and shares many of the photographer’s images and words focused on the human condition. Judd is the first retrospective of the sculptor’s work in thirty years. His work, though using industrial materials, combines sculpture, painting and drawing. Felix Feneon: The Anarchist and the Avant-Garde – From Signac to Matisse and Beyond is also available to watch from home. Mr. Feneon was a collector, critic, publisher, and anarchist. The portrait that Signac painted of the influential gentleman is at the center of this exhibit along with over 160 artworks that Feneon admired and championed. Artists that he collected included Matisse, Signac, Bonnard, Seurat, and Modigliani. MoMA also has many free online courses, info on how to teach with art, etc. The museum website at www.moma.org has more information.
The Whitney Museum of Art in New York invites everyone to see many special exhibits online. Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945 While many American artists traveled south, many Mexican artists came to the U.S.A. and their influence on American artists was profound. This exhibit features over 300 works by 85 Mexican and American artists. The major Mexican Muralists, such as Orozco, Rivera and Siqueiros, spent extended amounts of time here. In fact, we have several of these murals in California such as the Siqueiros mural at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. By the way, the Rivera mural in Detroit is extraordinary. For more about this exhibit go to www.whitney.org and find much more information. The museum also has an amazing collection that is available for view online and has activities for young and old to keep all of us inspired.
Go to the Guggenheim Museum in New York and look through their wonderful collection of art. One that is ongoing at the museum is the Thannhauser Collection, which features many French masterpieces by such artists as Degas and Picasso. Don’t forget to check out other museum locations such as Bilbao and Venice. Bilbao has a great Giacometti show as well as one from van Gogh to Picasso. Feel free to go to www.guggenheim.org for information and to learn about and sign up for virtual art classes for students. The museum also has over 200 free art books online.
African Arts-Global Conversations seeks to place African art in an international historical context. The exhibit features 33 works and shows shared themes and ideas and how they developed in different parts of the world. The show is just one of many you can tour while the museum is closed. The museum provides pages of artwork to print and color, an art history quiz and flash cards so you can brush up on information about different works. To learn more go to www.brooklynmuseum.org for more details.
The Boston Museum of Fine Art’s online presence is set up so that you can follow exhibition tours and listen to artist interviews. It has a very interesting virtual show, Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation, which centers around his painting, Hollywood Africans. Please be sure and look at www.mfa.org to find more information as to when the museum will reopen and continue to check so you don’t miss anything.
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts is offering virtual tours of its collection, podcasts and stories while it is closed. As many museums are offering tutorials for art projects, so is PEM. They will show your kids how to make fish puppets, milk jug elephants and how to make prints using found objects. One place to find more information is www.pem.org where more detail is available.
At the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, online images of various collections are available. The museum has also designated Wednesdays as storytelling time. It has suggested a treasure hunt theme created around objects you find at home. There is a tutorial for making costumes and sets. Next it’s time to get ready for a performance. This will certainly keep families busy while the museum is closed. For more information check this out at www.vam.ac.uk if it is of interest.
The Tate Museum has several campuses, all of which are temporarily closed. Many exhibits such as Andy Warhol are available for viewing online. This major retrospective of his work is the first exhibit at the Tate in nearly 20 years. More information on these exhibits is at www.tate.org.uk which will have everything you need to know. While you are there, check out the amazing videos at the site about various exhibitions and van Gogh’s Starry Night over the Rhone. Currently the Tate is offering Tate Paint which allows you to pick a canvas and paint online. What fun!
At the National Gallery in London, Titian: Love, Desire, Death includes a group of six canvases commissioned in 1551. The artist was commissioned to paint a group of canvases based on Classical myths. After four centuries all six paintings are back together again. They travelled from Boston, Madrid and London and depict moments of high drama. Since the Gallery is closed this exhibit along with others is available online. You can view the collection, go on virtual tours and go behind the scenes. Find more details at www.nationalgallery.org.uk when you look for information.
Since the Louvre is closed go online with your child and visit One Minute in a Museum. Believe me you will learn a lot too. Each minute focuses on a work at the museum with cartoon characters explaining the history of various artworks. If you are interested the museum website at www.louvre.fr has many more details.
Simply the Best:
Arcana: Books on the Arts is the best place to find books on the arts. While it is currently closed to the general public, this very special bookstore located in the Helms Bakery complex in Los Angeles is open by appointment only. If you are looking for something special give Arcana a call. I have known owner Lee Kaplan for decades and his selection of books is as superb as his taste is impeccable. Collectors and book lovers are in luck as he has scoured his archives and has many rare books for sale. Arcana: Books on the Arts is at 8675 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232. For information go to http://www.arcanabooks.com or call 310.458.1499.
Michiko Jewelry Design is an incredible jewelry store in downtown Seal Beach, CA, and like many other shops is currently closed. However, the shop owner and artist, Carol Matsumoto, custom designs beautiful pieces. Michiko is at 228 Main Street. Call 563.431.3237 for more information or check www.michikojewelrydesign.com
Remember:
· Our Freedom depends on personal responsibility
· Social Distance…wear a mask, wear gloves, stay at home as much as possible…stay safe so you don’t put others at risk
· Do something for another, help a neighbor or loved one
· Make masks…Our friend Flora Dalglish, who has a full time job and is working from home, moonlights making masks to donate…she has donated hundreds to those in need. It is my understanding that masks reduce the spread of the virus by 45%
· Do yardwork for someone who can’t
· Read that book you never got around to finishing
· Do something creative…draw, paint, sew, learn to play an instrument, write that memoir or novel or movie script.
· Watch YouTube and learn a new skill…build something
· Garden…grow food…give some away
· Help the local animal shelter…we collect old toilet paper and towel tubes that are made into toys for the animals
· Organize something…clean out drawers and closets…make your garage beautiful…get that scrapbook together and organize old photos…organize your kitchen or office
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