HELLO FROM THE GREAT USA
I’m so thrilled to be back home and in my own environment!!! Being here in the comforts of my husband, family, friends, Sophie (my Schnauzer), and everything I know and love is magnified by the time away. You take so much for granted until you are away from it and then it becomes more alive than ever. I’m so grateful!!!!
I spent time the last week of my stay in France trying to soak up as much as I could knowing my time was coming to an end . I went to the little museum downtown Agen and found one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen and spent a lot of time on Sunday just perusing around. There were corridors I wasn’t sure I was allowed to enter only to find winding stone staircases going up and down and so many other rooms and areas where they had art displayed. It was quite extensive and I was proud to stand in front of at least 10 Goya paintings. I found out later while bragging about how beautiful the building was, that it had once functioned as a Monastery for the Monks. No wonder it was so awesome. That made it even more special for me.
I went through my last week enjoying the company of my fellow students and having dinner with Lisa on Tuesday evening at Le Nostradamus. It was a great meal and with great company, we enjoyed our last evening we would get together alone. Lisa became one of the most precious people for me in France and we shared so many common beliefs, passions, thoughts, tears and other things I cannot get into. She is such a precious person and I believe was sent to me and me to her during the last module. Her presence in class touched everyone around her. We both grew exponentially during those last six weeks and shared all of our experiences with each other. She became a sister and was a gift!
I learned even more about Nostradamus and how they lived while he was there for those six years. They kept themselves warm by keeping the animals underneath the primary floor. I can only imagine how much smell they had to tolerate in order to keep warm, but was a smart plan for the animals and them not to freeze. The owner of the restaurant was so generous and spent a lot of time answering any questions Lisa and I had for her, as well as explaining everything line by line for us on the menu LOL. It’s a small restaurant but the care and concern of the owners adds such a benefit to anyone who is privileged to dine there and the food was delicious as well.
Our class finished up the mural and the beach scene and it was so wonderful to learn how to create an ocean and the look of it being so real, it looked like we were taking our pictures in front of an ocean scene. I am tickled to come home with the two last pieces we did in the last six weeks. This makes a total of 27 panels I have from work I’ve done under the direction of Michel Nadai. Quite an extensive portfolio.
We did four days of prospective, a couple days of composition, and a week of color theory with a wonderful teacher named Helene and then Michel worked with us on the murals for the remainder of the class. It was all so surreal to learn all of these techniques and yet to know, our time was almost over and we would all be returning to our lives, me knowing I am forever changed by all of the experiences of what I had learned about art, about the French, about myself and the personal things I learned about relationships and so much more.
We all went to a Moroccan restaurant with a belly dancer to entertain us on Thursday evening, our last evening together. We presented Michel and Kyoko with some gifts from all of us and we had a great time just enjoying each other’s company.
On Friday, Lisa left and then I and then the other classmates were to leave just after class finished. It was both profoundly a happy and sad time to leave. I am forever grateful for everything and everyone who touched my life and changed my world in all of this. A special gratitude goes to Michel and Kyoko for all that they did to cause all of this to happen to and for me. What I learned because of them is so much more than the actual teaching of Michel and I am so thankful for everything that happened to cause me to grow.
Jacques was kind enough to drive me to the train station and I was waving to everyone who had followed us downstairs to the car, as we drove away, I told Jacques, “it is finished, I did it and now I get to go home.” He said “there is a time for everything to begin and a time for everything to end.” He was so kind to take me into the train station and direct me to where I was supposed to go to catch my train to Paris. I told him how generous he and his girlfriend Genevieve were to me and thanked him and told him he was a great representative of the generosity I experienced with some of the French. He smiled and said he knew I was that way too. It was a sweet moment.
Once in Paris, I realized how exhausted I was and rested on Friday evening, determined to make it to The Louvre on Saturday. I did just that and if you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting there, it’s quite the experience and it would take a week or so to see all of it, so I determined to see the French, Italian painters as well as the famous Mona Lisa. It was such a pleasure to stand in front of those beautiful paintings and know what I had been taught and experienced and to see it in a different way that I could have ever seen it before. There was such an appreciation for what I’d learned and what these Old Masters had accomplished in their lifetimes.
I found a quaint little café close to where the Mona Lisa was and stood in line to meet this beautiful woman named Jacqueline. She turned to me and spoke in eloquent English for me to be patient and we would be seated, that the French are impatient and that they all would leave the line and we would get ourselves a table. We became instant friends and ended up sitting together while she enjoyed a café and me a salad. She was most kind and wanted to know who I was and what I was doing in France. When I told her of my artist training from a Frenchman she was most interested. She was so knowledgeable about The Louvre and I asked her many questions about how some of these pieces were acquired and because she knew so much, proceeded to tell me all about the stories about the pillages of war, marriages, unions and agreements as to how some of these pieces were acquired. It was amazing stories.
She was also very candid and open about the French vs. Americans and other people and told me almost verbatim what another Frenchman had been so generous to tell me while I was leaving Paris at Christmas. Both of these people well educated and well traveled. They were so kind to me and I appreciated their insight as to some of the things I’d been pondering about the differences. It was almost as if my heart questions I’d been trying to understand and assimilate were answered by these two precious people who were in my life for a moment, but a special one. If you would like to learn more about this, please ask me personally.
Jacqueline invited me to go spend some time with her at an Oyster Bar restaurant very close to the Eiffel Tower and we enjoyed each other’s company. She was so kind and I told her how some of the French had been so generous and kind to me and that I will always have an affinity in my heart for those who touched me, a total stranger while I was in their land.
I’ve been home for two weeks and am finally feeling my bearings at home. The knowledge of knowing this journey is over and all the lessons with it is such a blessing. I am thankful for everything that happened and how it happened, so I could learn what I learned.
To sum it all up, I’d say I learned to get out of my own way. I learned that I am the only one that can stand in the way of my own accomplishments and success. There is great joy in this alone. I tore down emotional walls I had up for protection, as my ego wanted them in place. I faced my ego and realized how much our egos can play a part if we allow it. It only leads to hurt, for ourselves and for others who are in our lives. Just as I shared earlier, there is gold underneath the huge stones in our way. We cannot walk around these hindrances, we have to face them and get them out of the way. Being in France and experiencing all that I experienced helped me to see this and so much more. I saw the Laws of Attraction in rare form and this is even more cemented in my belief system. I saw how powerful that truly is.
What is happening in my life since my return is evidence of what was accomplished on a personal level. Let me just say that opportunities are happening without my even working for it. There is great joy in all of this for me.
May we all find grace and peace and most of all love in all of our individual journeys and may we all be more open to ourselves, honest and full of integrity. Once we own things and admit them, they seem to go away. This life is short and full of hope and glory for those of us who are courageous enough to see, hear and learn.
I learned that fear is nothing but a cloud that dissipates as soon as you start to walk through it.
May you all be blessed!!!!!
With great love and affection and thanks for your portion in all of these learning experiences and for the ones who played a huge role, how could I ever say thanks??? Tom, my children; Tyler, Katie, Grae, Keri, Robyn, Susan, Sly, Cse, Lily, YOU are the ones who held me tightly and I'm SO thankful for you in my life. I'm so much richer with you in it!!!!!!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Last Weekend in Agen
Hello everyone. Hope this blog finds you all well and doing some fun things.
Lisa and I went to Albi, France this past Sunday, which is over two hours south of where we are in Agen to see the museum of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrac (known to the French). He’s well known around the world as Toulouse Lautrac. He was famous in his time and was born in the same hometown of Michel Nadai. Albi was a charming and beautiful town/village and I enjoyed it immensely and would love to go back sometime with Tom. Toulouse Lautrec is very well known for his love of “women of the night” and spent most of his time with prostitutes and especially at the famous Moulin Rouge. A lot of his art is capturing these women in various scenes. He is also well known for his scenes of horses and was injured as a boy on a horse and the growth centers in his legs were damaged, so the rest of his body developed normally, but his legs didn’t. He was called a midget, but wasn’t and from the pictures I saw in the museum, wasn’t too much shorter than average height for that period of time. He was the first silk screen printer and the museum was so touching to see his paintings with what I’m learning. Lisa was generous enough, as this is her favorite artist, to take me around and show me different techniques and how he used the colors to bring such harmony to his paintings.
I was especially touched by one piece of art he had sketched in pencil. He captured this woman partially undressed in front of the mirror as she was washing her face with her top down. Even though from the side and back of her you could see she was overweight and her breasts, being large, hung below her, in the mirror, was an image of a thin woman with perfectly shaped breasts. Lisa and I mused over this piece and I found it especially touching and told her I wonder if this is how he saw all his women. He saw the beauty in them, his art certainly depicts this, his appreciation for women’s bodies and he was not prejudice about size or age. I told Lisa how our culture teaches women to do the opposite and we have got to see ourselves as beautiful in the mirrors, instead of critiquing every inch of our bodies. He saw perfection in the mirror and so should we. (My loose translation and how this personally touched me at least). We all are perfection in the flesh.
Had a funny experience as we walked our way back to the train station and Lisa went across the street to put some postcards into the post (mail) and I waited on the street corner. This lady and two men passed by and I looked the female in the face and smiled at her and she instantly smiled back and I was in shock. As I stood there thinking on how unbelievable it was that someone smiled instantly back at me, she passed me and finally turned and walked back to me and asked me in French where I was from? I spoke back in French and told her from Carolean de Sud (how they pronounce South Carolina) and she laughed and said “where?” I said, “Oh my gosh, you are American” and grabbed her. She and I hugged and she laughed and told the story about how when she passed me and I smiled at her and she told the two men, “that woman is not French, she smiled at me first and also, she’s not wearing black”. LOL. We all found out where each one respectively was from and the three of them are in the development and building of Boeing airplanes and are located in Toulouse for months at a time helping the French. We all laughed at how I was standing there wondering why this woman smiled so quickly and laughed about how we are constantly trying to get the French to smile at us, as it’s our natural instincts and some of them will smile, but only after you hold it for awhile. The woman invited us to stay with her in Toulouse, as she was tickled to find other Americans here and we told her we were leaving and couldn’t get back her way. What a joy to meet someone else from America and have a few moments of fun with them.
We had a full week of finishing up the mural and then starting on the seascape. It is amazing to paint the waves of the ocean and the water. I love it and found it very relaxing just because the scene is so peaceful itself. I’m so thrilled about all the things I’ve learned and found myself today, while walking around Agen thinking, “T, you are a real artist now, you are growing up.” LOL.
I spent today for five hours walking all over Agen, going to my favorite places, spending my last weekend here reflecting and rejoicing. It was absolutely beautiful outside and the joy of having a full day to me and just going where I wanted to and when was awesome. I missed Lisa though, as she’s gone for the weekend and missed being a tour guide for either Lisa or Osamu or both. I’ve been a tour guide; imagine that, for Agen since I arrived back in January LOL. Too funny.
Today, I walked the three miles or so to visit Le Nostradamus. It’s a restaurant where Nostradamus lived while here in Agen. I made the trek so Lisa and I could try to get a reservation for this coming Tuesday evening. (Her payback for me visiting the museum with her LOL). Once I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant was open and went inside to have a cappuccino and talk with them. I asked if anyone spoke English and was tickled to find out the owner was who they sent over and she and I had a great conversation about Nostradamus. I told her what I had read on the internet about him living there and she said he had only lived there within a six year period of time. The information about him marrying a woman from Agen and having two children was correct. That this home she now has her restaurant in, was his actual home and was a part of his wife’s family. It was a farm and some of the people who have visited the restaurant since she and her husband purchased it five and a half years ago, tell her stories about their families coming to the farm and getting milk. They claim it was the best around. They purchased it from another couple who had run the restaurant for ten years previously. There is a picture of him hanging just inside the door.
It was stone and mortar, exactly like the home Serge and Mary Rose live in and I found it so charming. All the interior walls were stone and were not as thick, were about 18” thick, where theirs is at least two feet. The ceiling is wooden and some of it was tongue and groove boards with pillars. It was emotional for me thinking of all the history in that place and if I could just get the walls to tell me about all the history, I would be so thrilled. There was a fireplace and I am so excited to come back this coming week and I’ll take pictures then. So sorry I didn’t have my camera with me this weekend, I left it at the studio after we took a picture of the beach scene. I do, however, have more pictures posted.
I’ll be writing one more blog when I get to Paris next weekend. This journey is almost over and I’m so thrilled I made it through it all. It’s been a revealing and beautiful journey, although painful at times, that added to the beauty of it all. What I have learned about me personally and life cannot be captured in a small blog, it would take a book to unload all the information, but I’ve tried to share the main things with you all.
Some interesting things I’ve found out while here in France is that there are so many American influences in France and so many French things in America. They are proud of the fact that the Statue of Liberty was donated to America and Lisa and I both laughed when we were asked if we actually knew that this past week. OF COURSE, we knew that LOL. There are a lot of French words in our cuisine. The words menu, crème brulee, even though much sweeter and not as good LOL, trompe l’oeil, and so many others I thought of today and cannot think of now, are inherited. I’m wondering why we didn’t make them different and why certain words were adopted as was from the French. Made me smile to think of how much we really, all share with each other.
I’ve learned that everyone has the same basic need. We truly are all connected and are so much alike, when you break down all the cultural differences that keep us apart and separate us by unwarranted prejudices. That I will, no matter what others may try to tell me, hold hands with anyone who will allow me. I’ve found quite a few who do and are willing here. It’s been a gift. I’m determined in life to find those who can sit around the campfire with me and sing KUM BAH YAH together LOL.
My friend Christine and I had dinner again this past week and all the things I’m saying above is evidence of how much we are so much alike. She’s the shoe woman I found in the elevator at Appart Valley LOL. We have developed a friendship and enjoy each other’s company so much. We have seen each other or had dinner every time she’s come into town since we finally connected in the store that Saturday. She is absolutely precious and has found the love of her life over the Christmas holidays. I could not be happier for her. She’s been single for over 20 years.
I relayed the story about how Tom and I met and that the very first dinner date we had, he took me to a French restaurant in our area and the very first time he told me he loved me, was in French and he waited over two more months to tell me in English. She laughed as she thought of me being in France at this point in my life. She’s also invited Tom and me to come back for a visit and spend some time with her and her new love.
Life is good and I’m almost finished. I’m rejoicing, like I said above in the accomplishment of it all and can say that it tested me in everyway imaginable. I’m so grateful for everything I’ve tasted, felt, experienced, learned, seen and touched. I will not go back to America the same. The French have seen to that. Today I found myself with a baguette of bread hanging out of a bag to bring back to Appart Valley to go with the spaghetti I was cooking for dinner. How’s that for a French influence?? I will sorely miss their bread, it’s awesome!
Lisa and I went to Albi, France this past Sunday, which is over two hours south of where we are in Agen to see the museum of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrac (known to the French). He’s well known around the world as Toulouse Lautrac. He was famous in his time and was born in the same hometown of Michel Nadai. Albi was a charming and beautiful town/village and I enjoyed it immensely and would love to go back sometime with Tom. Toulouse Lautrec is very well known for his love of “women of the night” and spent most of his time with prostitutes and especially at the famous Moulin Rouge. A lot of his art is capturing these women in various scenes. He is also well known for his scenes of horses and was injured as a boy on a horse and the growth centers in his legs were damaged, so the rest of his body developed normally, but his legs didn’t. He was called a midget, but wasn’t and from the pictures I saw in the museum, wasn’t too much shorter than average height for that period of time. He was the first silk screen printer and the museum was so touching to see his paintings with what I’m learning. Lisa was generous enough, as this is her favorite artist, to take me around and show me different techniques and how he used the colors to bring such harmony to his paintings.
I was especially touched by one piece of art he had sketched in pencil. He captured this woman partially undressed in front of the mirror as she was washing her face with her top down. Even though from the side and back of her you could see she was overweight and her breasts, being large, hung below her, in the mirror, was an image of a thin woman with perfectly shaped breasts. Lisa and I mused over this piece and I found it especially touching and told her I wonder if this is how he saw all his women. He saw the beauty in them, his art certainly depicts this, his appreciation for women’s bodies and he was not prejudice about size or age. I told Lisa how our culture teaches women to do the opposite and we have got to see ourselves as beautiful in the mirrors, instead of critiquing every inch of our bodies. He saw perfection in the mirror and so should we. (My loose translation and how this personally touched me at least). We all are perfection in the flesh.
Had a funny experience as we walked our way back to the train station and Lisa went across the street to put some postcards into the post (mail) and I waited on the street corner. This lady and two men passed by and I looked the female in the face and smiled at her and she instantly smiled back and I was in shock. As I stood there thinking on how unbelievable it was that someone smiled instantly back at me, she passed me and finally turned and walked back to me and asked me in French where I was from? I spoke back in French and told her from Carolean de Sud (how they pronounce South Carolina) and she laughed and said “where?” I said, “Oh my gosh, you are American” and grabbed her. She and I hugged and she laughed and told the story about how when she passed me and I smiled at her and she told the two men, “that woman is not French, she smiled at me first and also, she’s not wearing black”. LOL. We all found out where each one respectively was from and the three of them are in the development and building of Boeing airplanes and are located in Toulouse for months at a time helping the French. We all laughed at how I was standing there wondering why this woman smiled so quickly and laughed about how we are constantly trying to get the French to smile at us, as it’s our natural instincts and some of them will smile, but only after you hold it for awhile. The woman invited us to stay with her in Toulouse, as she was tickled to find other Americans here and we told her we were leaving and couldn’t get back her way. What a joy to meet someone else from America and have a few moments of fun with them.
We had a full week of finishing up the mural and then starting on the seascape. It is amazing to paint the waves of the ocean and the water. I love it and found it very relaxing just because the scene is so peaceful itself. I’m so thrilled about all the things I’ve learned and found myself today, while walking around Agen thinking, “T, you are a real artist now, you are growing up.” LOL.
I spent today for five hours walking all over Agen, going to my favorite places, spending my last weekend here reflecting and rejoicing. It was absolutely beautiful outside and the joy of having a full day to me and just going where I wanted to and when was awesome. I missed Lisa though, as she’s gone for the weekend and missed being a tour guide for either Lisa or Osamu or both. I’ve been a tour guide; imagine that, for Agen since I arrived back in January LOL. Too funny.
Today, I walked the three miles or so to visit Le Nostradamus. It’s a restaurant where Nostradamus lived while here in Agen. I made the trek so Lisa and I could try to get a reservation for this coming Tuesday evening. (Her payback for me visiting the museum with her LOL). Once I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant was open and went inside to have a cappuccino and talk with them. I asked if anyone spoke English and was tickled to find out the owner was who they sent over and she and I had a great conversation about Nostradamus. I told her what I had read on the internet about him living there and she said he had only lived there within a six year period of time. The information about him marrying a woman from Agen and having two children was correct. That this home she now has her restaurant in, was his actual home and was a part of his wife’s family. It was a farm and some of the people who have visited the restaurant since she and her husband purchased it five and a half years ago, tell her stories about their families coming to the farm and getting milk. They claim it was the best around. They purchased it from another couple who had run the restaurant for ten years previously. There is a picture of him hanging just inside the door.
It was stone and mortar, exactly like the home Serge and Mary Rose live in and I found it so charming. All the interior walls were stone and were not as thick, were about 18” thick, where theirs is at least two feet. The ceiling is wooden and some of it was tongue and groove boards with pillars. It was emotional for me thinking of all the history in that place and if I could just get the walls to tell me about all the history, I would be so thrilled. There was a fireplace and I am so excited to come back this coming week and I’ll take pictures then. So sorry I didn’t have my camera with me this weekend, I left it at the studio after we took a picture of the beach scene. I do, however, have more pictures posted.
I’ll be writing one more blog when I get to Paris next weekend. This journey is almost over and I’m so thrilled I made it through it all. It’s been a revealing and beautiful journey, although painful at times, that added to the beauty of it all. What I have learned about me personally and life cannot be captured in a small blog, it would take a book to unload all the information, but I’ve tried to share the main things with you all.
Some interesting things I’ve found out while here in France is that there are so many American influences in France and so many French things in America. They are proud of the fact that the Statue of Liberty was donated to America and Lisa and I both laughed when we were asked if we actually knew that this past week. OF COURSE, we knew that LOL. There are a lot of French words in our cuisine. The words menu, crème brulee, even though much sweeter and not as good LOL, trompe l’oeil, and so many others I thought of today and cannot think of now, are inherited. I’m wondering why we didn’t make them different and why certain words were adopted as was from the French. Made me smile to think of how much we really, all share with each other.
I’ve learned that everyone has the same basic need. We truly are all connected and are so much alike, when you break down all the cultural differences that keep us apart and separate us by unwarranted prejudices. That I will, no matter what others may try to tell me, hold hands with anyone who will allow me. I’ve found quite a few who do and are willing here. It’s been a gift. I’m determined in life to find those who can sit around the campfire with me and sing KUM BAH YAH together LOL.
My friend Christine and I had dinner again this past week and all the things I’m saying above is evidence of how much we are so much alike. She’s the shoe woman I found in the elevator at Appart Valley LOL. We have developed a friendship and enjoy each other’s company so much. We have seen each other or had dinner every time she’s come into town since we finally connected in the store that Saturday. She is absolutely precious and has found the love of her life over the Christmas holidays. I could not be happier for her. She’s been single for over 20 years.
I relayed the story about how Tom and I met and that the very first dinner date we had, he took me to a French restaurant in our area and the very first time he told me he loved me, was in French and he waited over two more months to tell me in English. She laughed as she thought of me being in France at this point in my life. She’s also invited Tom and me to come back for a visit and spend some time with her and her new love.
Life is good and I’m almost finished. I’m rejoicing, like I said above in the accomplishment of it all and can say that it tested me in everyway imaginable. I’m so grateful for everything I’ve tasted, felt, experienced, learned, seen and touched. I will not go back to America the same. The French have seen to that. Today I found myself with a baguette of bread hanging out of a bag to bring back to Appart Valley to go with the spaghetti I was cooking for dinner. How’s that for a French influence?? I will sorely miss their bread, it’s awesome!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
LAST TWO WEEKS!
HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!
Sorry I haven’t been able to write in two weeks, and thank you for your patience.
We went through the worst storm I’ve ever been through this past weekend in the southern part of France. It was worse than the one they had in 1999 in force winds, which clocked over 175 mph at the west coast of France. A lot of people have been without power and water this entire week because of the storm and we were some of the very fortunate in Appart Valley to only have problems with the internet for a few days. Some of you are asking me about this because it’s been in the papers and in the news. It lasted for many hours during the early morning of Saturday a week ago. I was so thankful to feel in a safe place. There were a lot of families who had to come and stay at Appart Valley because of their lack of utilities for the week.
I’ve had a lot of great food, and such sweet times with Osamu and Lisa. They became two of my best friends while here. Osamu left today to go back to Florence, as his school is starting back on Monday. He will be sorely missed, especially by Lisa who found a brother in his time here with us. Lisa and I are going tomorrow to Albi, France to see her favorite artist’s museum and his works. I’m looking forward to going, but am wanting a day off too LOL.
We had an Open House at the studio all day today and were busy there watching Pierre do his famous marbles. It was so tediously and eloquently done and I cannot describe poetically enough how beautiful it was to watch his hand doing the marbling. I felt privileged to be in the presence of such a Master and to feel his sweet and humble spirit again since meeting him in Paris in early December. He remembered the “American hugs” and I was able to hug him again.
We are all fatigued and worn out from the long hours we are working on our mural in the studio each day. I leave at 7:45 in the mornings and don’t get back into my room until well after 7:00 p.m. All of the students are tired. The extensiveness of the mural Michel chose is much more than I could have possibly imagined doing and is a very complex and technically challenging mural. (See photos). I’m working through it though and we should be finishing with it sometime early this next week. YEAH. Then, we get to work on an ocean and sky and also come up with a project we want help with in prospective and composition. The next two weeks will fly by.
We had two weeks when we first returned from Christmas break of prospective and color theory. We loved what we learned and then the mural started. We are thankful to gain the knowledge and experience of painting this piece and are proud of our accomplishments. All of us who have been in the program for the entire five months can tell a huge difference in the energy levels in the three new students in this particular module LOL. They are raring to go and we are all exhausted LOL, and it’s NOT just because we are older either.
I have been going through a lot of personal growth and am learning so much more about myself and others and by listening and paying attention. There’s so much to be learned when you put yourself in a position like this.
I read something in regards to the personal things I’m learning and wanted to share it with you, just in case you find yourself in this place in your life. I’ve found it takes courage to look at yourself and see what you need and what you want in this life. Deciding that you are going to expand yourself and grow, is HUGE and costs you something along the way. I’ve also found that fear is nothing but a cloud and when we start to walk through it, it dissipates.
There were five lessons to make you think about how you treat others sent to me via E-mail by my sister and this one was the fourth. Sorry the author is unknown; else I would give credit to him/her.
The Obstacle of Our Path
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then, he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
This is so about what I’m learning about me, about others, about life, about love, about getting in my own way in life, about faith, trust, hope, and moving into my future. It’s not easy being here and in this place, but I’m facing it and am actually thankful for all the struggles with me personally, because a lot of my walls I didn’t even know I had are tumbling down before my eyes and there is freedom in facing things inside yourself. There is gold to be found later when you uncover things and get things not needed or wanted out of your life taking up your space.
I hope this E-mail gives you all some hope for your own lives. When you don’t have the normal vices in life to divert your attention and fatigue is your best friend on a daily basis, you find a lot out about yourself. It’s truly the best gift I could have received during this time in my life, even though through difficult times.
I must say that my precious husband has been through so much in this journey with me as well and has been the most patient and loving husband I could have asked for. He’s sent me so many care packages and reminded me of his love for me, his belief in what I’m doing and the purpose of me being here and our relationship is blooming even more over it all. I’m so thankful for him in all of this and don’t feel I would be quite so brave without his support, kindness and love through all of this.
I also want to thank Susan for all the cards and notes and pictures she sends frequently while I’ve been here. You are such a GREAT friend and I’m thankful for you woman!!!!!
Thank you to the rest of you who are watching, listening and learning through my experiences here, you are on this journey with me as well. I am thankful for the “village” it is taking to raise me LOL.
Until next time, with great love and knowledge of a much fuller life to come ---- Tammy!!!
Sorry I haven’t been able to write in two weeks, and thank you for your patience.
We went through the worst storm I’ve ever been through this past weekend in the southern part of France. It was worse than the one they had in 1999 in force winds, which clocked over 175 mph at the west coast of France. A lot of people have been without power and water this entire week because of the storm and we were some of the very fortunate in Appart Valley to only have problems with the internet for a few days. Some of you are asking me about this because it’s been in the papers and in the news. It lasted for many hours during the early morning of Saturday a week ago. I was so thankful to feel in a safe place. There were a lot of families who had to come and stay at Appart Valley because of their lack of utilities for the week.
I’ve had a lot of great food, and such sweet times with Osamu and Lisa. They became two of my best friends while here. Osamu left today to go back to Florence, as his school is starting back on Monday. He will be sorely missed, especially by Lisa who found a brother in his time here with us. Lisa and I are going tomorrow to Albi, France to see her favorite artist’s museum and his works. I’m looking forward to going, but am wanting a day off too LOL.
We had an Open House at the studio all day today and were busy there watching Pierre do his famous marbles. It was so tediously and eloquently done and I cannot describe poetically enough how beautiful it was to watch his hand doing the marbling. I felt privileged to be in the presence of such a Master and to feel his sweet and humble spirit again since meeting him in Paris in early December. He remembered the “American hugs” and I was able to hug him again.
We are all fatigued and worn out from the long hours we are working on our mural in the studio each day. I leave at 7:45 in the mornings and don’t get back into my room until well after 7:00 p.m. All of the students are tired. The extensiveness of the mural Michel chose is much more than I could have possibly imagined doing and is a very complex and technically challenging mural. (See photos). I’m working through it though and we should be finishing with it sometime early this next week. YEAH. Then, we get to work on an ocean and sky and also come up with a project we want help with in prospective and composition. The next two weeks will fly by.
We had two weeks when we first returned from Christmas break of prospective and color theory. We loved what we learned and then the mural started. We are thankful to gain the knowledge and experience of painting this piece and are proud of our accomplishments. All of us who have been in the program for the entire five months can tell a huge difference in the energy levels in the three new students in this particular module LOL. They are raring to go and we are all exhausted LOL, and it’s NOT just because we are older either.
I have been going through a lot of personal growth and am learning so much more about myself and others and by listening and paying attention. There’s so much to be learned when you put yourself in a position like this.
I read something in regards to the personal things I’m learning and wanted to share it with you, just in case you find yourself in this place in your life. I’ve found it takes courage to look at yourself and see what you need and what you want in this life. Deciding that you are going to expand yourself and grow, is HUGE and costs you something along the way. I’ve also found that fear is nothing but a cloud and when we start to walk through it, it dissipates.
There were five lessons to make you think about how you treat others sent to me via E-mail by my sister and this one was the fourth. Sorry the author is unknown; else I would give credit to him/her.
The Obstacle of Our Path
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then, he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
This is so about what I’m learning about me, about others, about life, about love, about getting in my own way in life, about faith, trust, hope, and moving into my future. It’s not easy being here and in this place, but I’m facing it and am actually thankful for all the struggles with me personally, because a lot of my walls I didn’t even know I had are tumbling down before my eyes and there is freedom in facing things inside yourself. There is gold to be found later when you uncover things and get things not needed or wanted out of your life taking up your space.
I hope this E-mail gives you all some hope for your own lives. When you don’t have the normal vices in life to divert your attention and fatigue is your best friend on a daily basis, you find a lot out about yourself. It’s truly the best gift I could have received during this time in my life, even though through difficult times.
I must say that my precious husband has been through so much in this journey with me as well and has been the most patient and loving husband I could have asked for. He’s sent me so many care packages and reminded me of his love for me, his belief in what I’m doing and the purpose of me being here and our relationship is blooming even more over it all. I’m so thankful for him in all of this and don’t feel I would be quite so brave without his support, kindness and love through all of this.
I also want to thank Susan for all the cards and notes and pictures she sends frequently while I’ve been here. You are such a GREAT friend and I’m thankful for you woman!!!!!
Thank you to the rest of you who are watching, listening and learning through my experiences here, you are on this journey with me as well. I am thankful for the “village” it is taking to raise me LOL.
Until next time, with great love and knowledge of a much fuller life to come ---- Tammy!!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
First Two Weeks in School
Welcome back to France with me!!!
Since returning to France, it has been a totally different journey and I’m thankful for every moment in this experience. We have three new students. Osamu, who is Japanese and is studying at an art restoration college in Florence, Italy for four years and is on winter break. He will not be able to finish the entire six week module, because his winter break will end at the end of this month. He is kind, quiet, sweet and tugs on his little goatee constantly, even while eating lunch or dinner LOL. He’s a darling and is 26 years old. The youngest student we have.
Then, there’s the American Lisa Burns. Lisa and I hit if off the moment we first wrote each other. I was in class one day in the first module and heard Kyoko answer the phone in French and immediately say “yes, I speak English”. I knew in my heart at that moment it was an American and asked Kyoko if I could write her about my experiences here and see if she had any questions about the school. This sweet thing Kyoko gave her approval over; started a unique friendship between Lisa and me. She is absolutely precious and I am learning more and more about the French culture from her as she can explain the differences in the American ways and the French ways. She married a Frenchman this past year and has been living with Tom in Belgium for the past four years. They met in her home state of Oregon. She is delightful and adds so much to our class. She has been doing art for years and I enjoy watching her work, she's great.
Jasque is a French Architect who joined us as well. He’s been an art instructor and is talented. I love how he has moved the window treatment portion of our mural. He swims during lunchtime, while the rest of us chill and eat lunch together and just enjoy each other’s company. He’s high energy and very active and is nervously running around all the time trying to get his things done LOL.
We have been celebrating since our first day back at class, this custom with the French called “The Epiphany”. It is the celebration of the three kings visiting Jesus and Mary and Joseph. They celebrate this custom by putting little prizes into cakes and tarts. If you are the one who gets the prize, you are a Queen or King for the entire year and you have a crown to put on. Then you have to purchase the cake on the following day. I keep winning this stupid little prize LOL. No, actually I and Kyoko won the first two on the first day. Patrick had bought two cakes and then we each bought a cake. Marina and Osamu won those two and Marina bought the third one, as we all said we could not eat four pieces of cake to find the prizes, so we cut this down to one cake, instead of two. When Marina bought the third day, the last piece was left for Jasque and we knew it had the prize in it. When he came back, we told him the piece of cake was waiting on him. Before he could even eat it, a visiting artist came into the studio; we’ve seen her a few times. All of a sudden, the piece of cake disappeared and we all laughed when we realized she took the piece belonging to Jasque and didn’t bother to let us all know. We didn’t celebrate this tradition again, until this week. Michel bought one and started it all over again. Patrick received the first prize and on his tart he bought, Michel won. We thought it was all over, until I was eating my piece and low and behold, there were two prizes in that tart and I had the second one LOL. You’ll love this, the tarts were prizes of The Simpson cartoon characters and our crowns were Simpson crowns.
Getting back to the school and what we are learning. I cannot begin to describe how intense this module is compared to the others. We were warned about this many times before by Michel and Kyoko and none of us could have prepared ourselves for this learning curve. I believe that in the prospective, color theory, where we had a visiting artist and teacher come to teach that portion and then the composition of art we have done in the past two weeks is as much as you would get in a year in an art college. I cannot believe how much information and subsequent change in my life. I’m so thankful I didn’t get to The Louvre before I left Paris and that when I go home in February, what I will see in these paintings will be totally different and my appreciation much greater. This module is exhausting us and by the time we get back to our rooms, we are can hardly function. Our eyes, minds and bodies are suffering LOL. We are all so grateful though, that Michel built this curriculum around giving us, as is his method, everything humanly possible to enhance our growth as artisans. I am now beginning to understand why he said this entire course was the equivalent to a seven year apprenticeship.
I am shocked at what I’m learning and gleaning from all of the teachings of Michel and so are all of the other students along with us. The new students got introduced to a very loving group and they are commenting on how close we all are and we have embraced them as part of our family. I personally am spending a lot of time with Osamu and Lisa taking them around town, introducing them to my favorite crepery restaurant, taking them to Chinese buffet and generally seeing around town. Agen truly is a beautiful experience. I did find out that the population here is around 70,000 and outside the perimeter of the town limits is another 70,000 people.
Oh, and one thing I have decided since my last blog. I said I would tell you when I figured out if I liked the French custom of how long it takes them to bring the check. Thanks to Lisa explaining why they do this, I think it is a wonderful concept. She says the French think that the dining experience is just that, an experience and they consider it rude to interrupt you to bring you the check. They expect you to ask for it LOL. All this time, I’ve been waiting patiently and getting frustrated at times when they were just being respectful of my time and meal LOL. The culture differences are most difficult in this regard, what is meant as a courtesy can be perceived in a totally different manner. I am so reminded of the movie Crash so many times as I see what happens around me in regard to how humans relate and look at each other. I think we could all learn from each other and be better people just by being open to listening and hearing what others feel, sense and how they function in their lives.
You’ll get a kick out of this, on my way into Paris at the airport, I was asked by this couple where the train station was in the airport and I guided them there. Now, mind you, they were totally speaking French and I had to get the woman to speak some broken English with me speaking broken French and I mean broken LOL. When we got to the train station in the airport, they were heading to where they live in Bordeaux, which is one train stop before Agen. While waiting in line at the café to get a cappuccino, they got behind me in line and were asking more questions about me liking being here in France and studying. She told me that she had been in NY quite a few times and that her opinion of Americans was that we all walked around with our head’s off. ROFL. I laughed at this and knew she had not been around many Americans and thought of the biases we all have toward one another. It was sobering. Come to find out, she wasn’t French and was from Amsterdam. This is all saddening to me on so many levels, wishing that we could all just hold hands and love each other. (I know, I hear you Tom, me wanting to sit around the campfire and hold hands and sing Kum BA YAH with everyone and you keep telling me that’s not the case LOL). I still wish for a more united world. My being here is opening up the French more to Americans and me to the French. In that regard, this is a beautiful experience!!!!!
Don’t forget to look at the new pics on the blog (you'll have to scroll down to find them, don't know why they don't automatically go to the top of the page), and the article for Artisphere is completed and it will be coming out soon. They changed their minds from them writing about the opening of Michel’s studio, to me writing the article. They are planning on doing a personal article on me when I complete the course. I’m excited about that as well and have found working through this process of this article an absolute wonderful experience with the Editor, she is awesome. Had an interview and photo shoot while in Greenville for the local magazine called Talk Art, look for that article by Ann Hicks coming your way soon as well. Ann is a good friend of mine and I can’t wait to see what she has to say. She is a wealth of knowledge herself.
Hope all is well with each of you. Thank you so much for going through this experience with me and I am finding out that there are more of you reading this than I knew. I love that you are finding something in this reading that touches you and hopefully, you are being enlightened as to what it is like living in a foreign country. We can all grow from each other's experiences. Thank you for your portion in this.
Happy Birthday to the love of my life - Tom!!!!!!!
Tammy Goben
Since returning to France, it has been a totally different journey and I’m thankful for every moment in this experience. We have three new students. Osamu, who is Japanese and is studying at an art restoration college in Florence, Italy for four years and is on winter break. He will not be able to finish the entire six week module, because his winter break will end at the end of this month. He is kind, quiet, sweet and tugs on his little goatee constantly, even while eating lunch or dinner LOL. He’s a darling and is 26 years old. The youngest student we have.
Then, there’s the American Lisa Burns. Lisa and I hit if off the moment we first wrote each other. I was in class one day in the first module and heard Kyoko answer the phone in French and immediately say “yes, I speak English”. I knew in my heart at that moment it was an American and asked Kyoko if I could write her about my experiences here and see if she had any questions about the school. This sweet thing Kyoko gave her approval over; started a unique friendship between Lisa and me. She is absolutely precious and I am learning more and more about the French culture from her as she can explain the differences in the American ways and the French ways. She married a Frenchman this past year and has been living with Tom in Belgium for the past four years. They met in her home state of Oregon. She is delightful and adds so much to our class. She has been doing art for years and I enjoy watching her work, she's great.
Jasque is a French Architect who joined us as well. He’s been an art instructor and is talented. I love how he has moved the window treatment portion of our mural. He swims during lunchtime, while the rest of us chill and eat lunch together and just enjoy each other’s company. He’s high energy and very active and is nervously running around all the time trying to get his things done LOL.
We have been celebrating since our first day back at class, this custom with the French called “The Epiphany”. It is the celebration of the three kings visiting Jesus and Mary and Joseph. They celebrate this custom by putting little prizes into cakes and tarts. If you are the one who gets the prize, you are a Queen or King for the entire year and you have a crown to put on. Then you have to purchase the cake on the following day. I keep winning this stupid little prize LOL. No, actually I and Kyoko won the first two on the first day. Patrick had bought two cakes and then we each bought a cake. Marina and Osamu won those two and Marina bought the third one, as we all said we could not eat four pieces of cake to find the prizes, so we cut this down to one cake, instead of two. When Marina bought the third day, the last piece was left for Jasque and we knew it had the prize in it. When he came back, we told him the piece of cake was waiting on him. Before he could even eat it, a visiting artist came into the studio; we’ve seen her a few times. All of a sudden, the piece of cake disappeared and we all laughed when we realized she took the piece belonging to Jasque and didn’t bother to let us all know. We didn’t celebrate this tradition again, until this week. Michel bought one and started it all over again. Patrick received the first prize and on his tart he bought, Michel won. We thought it was all over, until I was eating my piece and low and behold, there were two prizes in that tart and I had the second one LOL. You’ll love this, the tarts were prizes of The Simpson cartoon characters and our crowns were Simpson crowns.
Getting back to the school and what we are learning. I cannot begin to describe how intense this module is compared to the others. We were warned about this many times before by Michel and Kyoko and none of us could have prepared ourselves for this learning curve. I believe that in the prospective, color theory, where we had a visiting artist and teacher come to teach that portion and then the composition of art we have done in the past two weeks is as much as you would get in a year in an art college. I cannot believe how much information and subsequent change in my life. I’m so thankful I didn’t get to The Louvre before I left Paris and that when I go home in February, what I will see in these paintings will be totally different and my appreciation much greater. This module is exhausting us and by the time we get back to our rooms, we are can hardly function. Our eyes, minds and bodies are suffering LOL. We are all so grateful though, that Michel built this curriculum around giving us, as is his method, everything humanly possible to enhance our growth as artisans. I am now beginning to understand why he said this entire course was the equivalent to a seven year apprenticeship.
I am shocked at what I’m learning and gleaning from all of the teachings of Michel and so are all of the other students along with us. The new students got introduced to a very loving group and they are commenting on how close we all are and we have embraced them as part of our family. I personally am spending a lot of time with Osamu and Lisa taking them around town, introducing them to my favorite crepery restaurant, taking them to Chinese buffet and generally seeing around town. Agen truly is a beautiful experience. I did find out that the population here is around 70,000 and outside the perimeter of the town limits is another 70,000 people.
Oh, and one thing I have decided since my last blog. I said I would tell you when I figured out if I liked the French custom of how long it takes them to bring the check. Thanks to Lisa explaining why they do this, I think it is a wonderful concept. She says the French think that the dining experience is just that, an experience and they consider it rude to interrupt you to bring you the check. They expect you to ask for it LOL. All this time, I’ve been waiting patiently and getting frustrated at times when they were just being respectful of my time and meal LOL. The culture differences are most difficult in this regard, what is meant as a courtesy can be perceived in a totally different manner. I am so reminded of the movie Crash so many times as I see what happens around me in regard to how humans relate and look at each other. I think we could all learn from each other and be better people just by being open to listening and hearing what others feel, sense and how they function in their lives.
You’ll get a kick out of this, on my way into Paris at the airport, I was asked by this couple where the train station was in the airport and I guided them there. Now, mind you, they were totally speaking French and I had to get the woman to speak some broken English with me speaking broken French and I mean broken LOL. When we got to the train station in the airport, they were heading to where they live in Bordeaux, which is one train stop before Agen. While waiting in line at the café to get a cappuccino, they got behind me in line and were asking more questions about me liking being here in France and studying. She told me that she had been in NY quite a few times and that her opinion of Americans was that we all walked around with our head’s off. ROFL. I laughed at this and knew she had not been around many Americans and thought of the biases we all have toward one another. It was sobering. Come to find out, she wasn’t French and was from Amsterdam. This is all saddening to me on so many levels, wishing that we could all just hold hands and love each other. (I know, I hear you Tom, me wanting to sit around the campfire and hold hands and sing Kum BA YAH with everyone and you keep telling me that’s not the case LOL). I still wish for a more united world. My being here is opening up the French more to Americans and me to the French. In that regard, this is a beautiful experience!!!!!
Don’t forget to look at the new pics on the blog (you'll have to scroll down to find them, don't know why they don't automatically go to the top of the page), and the article for Artisphere is completed and it will be coming out soon. They changed their minds from them writing about the opening of Michel’s studio, to me writing the article. They are planning on doing a personal article on me when I complete the course. I’m excited about that as well and have found working through this process of this article an absolute wonderful experience with the Editor, she is awesome. Had an interview and photo shoot while in Greenville for the local magazine called Talk Art, look for that article by Ann Hicks coming your way soon as well. Ann is a good friend of mine and I can’t wait to see what she has to say. She is a wealth of knowledge herself.
Hope all is well with each of you. Thank you so much for going through this experience with me and I am finding out that there are more of you reading this than I knew. I love that you are finding something in this reading that touches you and hopefully, you are being enlightened as to what it is like living in a foreign country. We can all grow from each other's experiences. Thank you for your portion in this.
Happy Birthday to the love of my life - Tom!!!!!!!
Tammy Goben
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