Basquiat's 'King Pleasure' Exhibit in Los Angeles, CA

I had a recent opportunity to see the sisters' selected works of Jean-Michel Basquiat in an exhibit at The Grand in L.A.

The exhibit was well-presented with a range of Jean-Michel's works, a re-creation of his studio and early family home environment, informative videos with interviews of some of the people who knew him -- all contributing some context about the artist's short life.

It didn't, however, speak to Jean-Michel's first foray into mark-making with a school friend doing graffiti works signed as Samo, the club-drug scene and how it influenced his life/work choices, the importance of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring to his intention of making it big in the art world (there were 4 Warhols in the exhibit), or even how or when he died. I knew little more about Basquiat when I left than when I entered the exhibit. That seemed a missed opportunity. However, www.basquiat.com has a very good timeline about the artist's life that I recommend perusing before going to the exhibit, if you're planning to. It is a resource I didn't check out beforehand.

A few pieces I liked from the show included Cabeza completed in 1982 (yellow piece below), the bass player drawing, and the Bird painting (Bird was the nickname of Basquiat's friend, Charlie Parker, the musician).

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Visiting The Hague and Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Paris!

Since late March, I've been planning an international solo trip that included meeting up with friends. The planning is what makes a trip an adventure, and it was definitely fabulous -- now that it is in the rearview mirror -- so to speak. During my two weeks abroad, the sights visited included the: Mauritshuis, a lovely art museum (The Hague, Netherlands) Binnenhof (The Hague, Netherlands) Delft (Netherlands) Kasteel de Haar, a castle (Haarzuilens, Netherlands) Museum Speelklok (Utrecht, Netherlands) Walking Tour of Amsterdam (Netherlands) Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Dutch Resistance Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) De Oude and Nieuwe Kerks aka old and new churches (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Sainte Chapelle/Conciergerie (Paris, France) Giverny - Monet's residence at one time (outside Paris) Versailles (outside Paris) Musee d'Orsay/VR Event titled 1874 Impressionists First Exhibition...

New Project in Progress

I'm working on a new project with multiple layers and shapes of different colored organzas. It is an interpretation of lighting on an ice rink...from a show I recently saw. There is a lot more stitching to do, but I like how its coming along. I'm learning organzas are not easy to work with especially when you layer them and have overlaid edges. The fabric also tends to ravel easily. This post also linked to http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com .

Fabric Basket - Pretty Easy

This basket was made in Jane Hall's half-day course at IQF 2014. The greatest amount of time involved in making it--was cutting and sewing the strips together. Otherwise, it went together easily and quickly (3 hours). These baskets are a great holiday gifting idea that you can match to family and friends' home decoration color schemes. They're fun and useful besides.

Cay Denise

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