Friday, November 14, 2014

My heart yearns for Paris...

Paris Salon, oil on canvas, 11"x14"

Can you be 'homesick' for a place that is not - and will most likely never be - 'home?' I occasionally feel a very strong pull towards Paris. The last time I felt such a yearning for a place was when I lived in the heartland, and I spent a number of years yearning for the Colorado mountains; listening to John Denver's sappy music and feeling 'homesick' for the place I was born, but had not, in my memory, ever really lived.

Paris Gothique, oil on canvas, 11"x14"

But, with the weather here in Colorado leaning towards winter, getting grey and cold, I find myself thinking that if I'm going to be in grey, cold weather, I may as well be in Paris, where all weather is beautiful. And, if it's not, I could just spend the day in the Louvre or in front of the Unicorn tapestries.

Pont du Neuf, 5"x7" print on canvas

Reasonable desires, I believe. Am I not right?

But I am not in Paris today, nor will I be there tomorrow. So, I'm adding a few Paris paintings to my Etsy shop, in case there is someone else out there who yearns for Paris. And I am pulling up my Paris photos, and thinking of painting another view of my time there, because the act of painting a scene is a 'take me away' activity. It will sweep me over the miles and the hours and will take me back to where I am today longing to be.

2 comments:

Trish White said...

Hi Kathy! I regularly follow your blog but don't comment very often. I was reading about the way you finish your tapestries and noted the gridded base you measure them on and then pin to get the sizes equal. What sort of mat is that and do you have any idea where one would obtain one? Or at least, what it is made of? Thanks so much. Trish

K Spoering said...

Trisha, the mat is just a cardboard cutting mat, available at any place that carry sewing supplies ( a fabric shop, Joanne's, Hobby Zlobby, etc.) I use two, one on top of each other, or, for smaller tapestries, I use one doubled, so the pins don't go clear through.

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