More words from a wise woman

"People grow
through experience
if they meet life honestly and courageously.
This is how character is built."

Eleanor Roosevelt, My Day

Wow. this is big.

here's some big & surprising news.
I'm leaving for
italy tomorrow.
It was a surprise -- and for a while,
all i could say was Wow.

I will be celebrating valentine's day
in Florence.
Eating, drinking and looking.
this is my First Time
to see italy.

Wow.
i am SO excited.

The blog will be quiet for several days.
i will post as soon as i can.

The Accademia Gallery in Florence

I found this on
a tourism website for Florence (links later on,
not today)


The Accademia Gallery
Via Ricasoli 60
Florence

The most enlightened prince
of the Lorraine family that
ruled over Tuscany for over a century,
the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo,
united in 1784 all the
Florentine drawing schools into one Academy.
He also founded a gallery to
exhibit earlier paintings with
the aim of facilitating the study
of the Academy's pupils.
The seat chosen is the present
location of the Museum,
a building that originally
housed the Hospital of St. Matthew,
enlarged in time through the addition
of several adjoining spaces.








The consistency and composition of the
collections displayed in this museum has
changed over time due to the addition of
works of art removed from suppressed convents,
but also due to loss of works
temporarily given or returned
to other Florentine museums,
in particular to the Uffizi
(Botticelli's Primavera was
displayed here for many years).
Over time the Gallery has
become one of the main museums in town,
also thanks to the acquisition of some extraordinary masterpieces,
such as the Pietà by
Giovanni da Milano (14th century);
the Annunciation by
Lorenzo Monaco (15th century);
the splendid frontal called
Cassone Adimari showing a
sumptuous marriage procession (c. 1450)
and the Madonna of the Sea
attributed to Botticelli (1445-1510).


It is evident that the museum
started to become the favourite
gallery of tourists in 1873, when
Michelangelo's David was exhibited
for the first time on a specially arranged tribune.
For protection purposes, the statue
was in fact removed from Piazza Signoria
where it had represented for over four
centuries the strength and dignity of the
Florentine Republic.
In the early years of the 20th century,
this statue was joined by other extraordinary works of art by the same
artist, such as St. Matthew and the four
Prisoners originally made for
the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome,
but placed in the grotto of the
Boboli gardens at the end of the 15th century,
and finally by the Pieta di Palestrina
(whose attribution to the master is
still somehow controversial).
A capillary organisation and restoration of
some of the rooms on the upper floor
have allowed the museum to recently
integrate the collection with a series of
paintings from the 14th to the
16th centuries and to open a room
displaying the chalk models of famous
19th century sculptors like
Lorenzo Bartolini and Luigi Pampaloni.

Feeling Contemporary ?

The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Ingenious3 3 exhibitions:
Jean-Pierre Gauthier
Jérome Fortin and
Guy Ben-Ner

This exhibition is on
Now
and goes until April 22, 2007.

I haven't seen this exhibition yet -
i'm just spreading the word.
I'll be going for a museum visit
later on this month.

Did you know that the MACM
has tuesday art-workshops
for adults?
check out the link, here. Scroll
down a little, the family-oriented
Sunday workshops are listed first.
then you'll see the listing
for "Creative Tuesdays".
Tuesday afternoons are for the adults.

In the mood for branching Out ?

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Exhibition entitled " Sacred Africa"
is on
until June 7th.
If you haven't seen it yet, go and
have a look. it's a fairly small exhibit
so you can
even have a taste
of the exhibition on your lunch break

"Sacred Africa:
Ancient Art from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Works from the Collections
of the Cirque du Soleil, the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
and the Redpath Museum,
McGill University.

Yum: Chocolate matters

valentine's day is coming up.
don't be fooled that this is only
a day for sweethearts.
it's for chocolate.
And for everyone.

more about this later

Temptation/rainbows

"You should never
resist the temptation
of painting a rainbow."

Aude Kamlet


Thank you to Kelli for
bringing this
fabulous quote to my life.
And - have you
seen the photos at Kelli's
blog ?

Six things

As Mona says "Tag is me"


from Karine - i have been tagged.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts
with the 6 weird things about you.
People who get tagged need to write a
blog entry
of their own 6 weird things as well
as state this rule clearly.
In the end, you need to choose
6 people to be tagged and list their names.
Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are
tagged in their comments
& tell them to read your blog.


weird (? ) things about me.
Ok, weird? that is so objective.

Six things:

1. preppy jargon & vernacular.
i'm not saying i'm above it,
but some words
really make me cringe.
For example: think out of the box,
and Peeps. And Par taay.
and i'm not alone in this.
have a ponder
at Keri's list of six things (item one)
at the Wish jar.

2. i don't like to eat the heads off
of chocolate easter bunnies.

3. Same goes for Ginger bread men (see item 2)

4. i don't like bugs.
(except the cute ones don't scare me, like
butterflies, moths and ladybugs. however,
they are preferraby, of course,
Out of doors.)
some people are weirded out
by snakes. me? the bugs.

5. i have a lot of ... "stuff".

6. i may be allergic to Blueberries.
I love them, but the last two times i ate them,
i stopped breathing.
The weird part of this is a Doctor.
i went to a specialist
& said i had a reaction to blueberries.
His response ? " not possible". (what an idiot)
My response: where did this nincompoop
learn to BE a doctor ? Of course it's
Possible!

7. it seems that i have the
attention span of a six year old.

Tag: Mags, Kelli,
Helen S.,
Sara, Julie, Yoko in Japan

Scenes of domesticity

domesticity
noun [U]: life at home looking
after your house and family.
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)


Some views from the kitchen. These
are images of someone who
may not be very domestic,
but does need to eat.

cardamom,
sealed tightly inside a jar.


a sunny afternoon
lends itself to fruity photoshoot.

the rooster
bowl: just the right
shape and size for whisking eggs.



making rice
pudding with cardamom
and cloves.

visual updates

snow scenes at home.

brrrr.

it's.
So.
Cold.

minus 33 this morning.

Chez nous

I'm making rice pudding
this afternoon.
I can't tell you how nice it has been to stand
over a hot steaming pot.
My kitchen is bitterly cold.
it's about minus 33 degrees out today.
My feet can feel the draft while i'm at the stove.
at least the top part of me was warm.

Inspiring And fun

Do you read
The wish Jar?
Have a look Here,
and see the Licence to speak the truth.
Keri is Fabulous.