The Blue Balloon

On New Year Day I went outside to feed the birds and squirrels.  A blue Mylar helium balloon was entangled in our brush.  I extracted it and brought it inside, where I tied it to my lamp on the piano.  It happily floated to the ceiling, remaining there until just a few days ago, when it began to drift lower and lower, until it finally ended up on the keyboard.  I cut it loose, and it slowly drifted around the house today.  At one point, it silently soared over a sleeping cat, then landed in the empty cat bed right next to him.  On the side of the balloon, in marker, was written "Bugs Not Hugs," a somewhat skewed version of the popular "Hugs Not Drugs" saying, something that amused more than one student at their weekly piano lesson.  Anyway, the balloon got two more months of existence, but it has now come to the end of its useful life.  It likely originated in Michigan, floated across the river and landed in our yard.  That is the end of my balloon story.

Today I saw my optometrist, and procured a new prescription for reading glasses.  I require glasses at 50 cm for my piano music reading, and about 20 cm for reading.  I do not need glasses for distance vision.  They are going to be graduated lenses, so hopefully they will prove useful.  They will be ready in a week or so, and then I'll take a week at least to try them out, before deciding on a concert date.  The woman who assisted me at the desk was a former student, one that I remember with fondness.  She lives quite close to me, and even offered to drop off the glasses at our house when they are ready!  That's Amanda D. for you.

Yesterday I saw my retina specialist.  It had snowed again overnight, and the school buses were cancelled.  The roads weren't bad by the time of our travels (my appt. was at 9 am), but due to the eye drops I was given to make my pupils large, it sure was bright coming up, with all that fresh, new fallen snow.  No drops today, just a quick checkup and eye test.  Yesterday Deb was able to get her bi-monthly blood test in the same building as my retina exam.  All is well with my retinas for this year!

Tomorrow Deb has an echo cardiogram in  Windsor.  Before that we will head to Detroit for lunch, and a mailbox visit.  I have four SF books awaiting.  Yes, I order a lot of books.  However, in the short month of February I managed to read and review 12 books!  The next blog will talk about the February reading highlights.

And now on to today's painting!

 The Window, by Matisse, 1916.  Detroit Institute of Arts.

146 cm x 117 cm.  

Most of our own landscape viewing is through our two front picture windows.  We see the Detroit River in all of its moods; bright and sparkling, grey and menacing, with white caps, calm and reflective, ice-covered, ice flowing, with huge ships, with small sailing boats, and especially at sunset, like just now.  In front of the river from our vantage point is a Native American cemetery, with its trees, and our own grass and trees.  Dozens of times each day we look outside, often to see which birds or squirrels (or ducks) are feeding at the bird feeders.  We have a small flock of goldfinches that have been around lately, too.  The ducks usually arrive during the first week of March, and have been coming for years now.  They come for the corn and the drinking water, and frequently nest in the creek bed.

Most of us view landscape through windows, whether from our homes, cars, trains, buses, or even airplanes.  And most of us view urban landscapes.  Very few of us get to observe the wilderness, and experience it first hand.

Matisse also seems interested in urban landscapes.  His carpet has leaves or trees, there are fresh flowers on the table, and a tree and some lovely green growth can be glimpsed outside.  I can't wait to look out our own windows and see green things again.  There has been a lot of white this winter, with yet more on the way for Saturday.  I guess I chose this work because I need some green in my life.  It is coming.  Slowly.

Mapman Mike

An Odd, Very Wild Winter Continues

It has been an odd winter, following upon an odd autumn.  The odds are in favour of an odd spring.  I am less than fond of odd weather patterns.  As I type we are enduring yet another raucous wind storm, which began early Sunday morning and will continue overnight.  We get the full frontal blast right off the river, and sometimes it seems as if the entire house shakes.  The is the 6th or 7th major wind storm here since January 9th, when it all fell apart.  Last night we had heavy rain.  Today there is blowing snow and falling temps, again.  With winds this strong hitting us directly (nearly 50 mph gusts), the house leaks.  Drafts come in everywhere, except through our newer windows.  It's all growing somewhat old now.  Really cold temps are coming yet again, followed by a small warm-up, followed by another blast next weekend.  This also happens to be early in the late winter astronomy session.  I had hopes of getting out three or four times over the next two weeks.  If it does clear up, it will likely be too cold to go out, and/or too windy.

Medical mayhem continues here.  Last Friday Deb went for her heart check up.  They gave her two more appointments, on the next two upcoming Fridays.  One for an echo cardiogram, and then another for a stress test.  Routine stuff, which she hasn't had done for many years now.  Next Wednesday I see my retina specialist for my annual check-up.  Thursday I see my optometrist for my one month post-surgery check-up.  Then Friday it's back to Deb's heart clinic.  And that is just this week.  Oh, Deb also needs to have her blood work done on Wednesday.  And she may need to go to the clinic Monday for another small problem.  And we are still waiting impatiently for her MRI appointment, for her shoulder injury.  It's only been one month-likely two more to go....

Back to paintings:  I first really fell in love with Venetian art when I got to study paintings at the Prado Museum, in Madrid.  We spent a summer there in the mid-80s, taking courses.  We had a free pass to the museum whenever we wanted, and we went about 20 times.  I wrote an essay on the Venetian painters based on their vast holdings, including Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, and the rest of the boys.

Giovanni Bellini was one of the greatest innovators of using paint, and enriching the colours available.  His general direction influenced many Renaissance painters.  He, in turn, was influenced by paintings from the northern (Flemish) school.  Detroit has a masterpiece of his that I admire for several reasons.

Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Child, 1509.  Detroit Institute of Arts.

85 cm x 106 cm.  

The painting is nearly divided in half by the green curtain, which gives the portraits a degree of intimacy, and the naturalistic landscape.  The intense colours are one of the innovations that Bellini brought to painting, as well as the vast amount of single colour that he used in a picture.  The colours in the painting seem as rich as the day they were painted, too, so he obviously was on to something.

 Detail of above.  

One of the things I love about this painting is that the Virgin is a redhead, and she is quite the aristocratic beauty!  Jesus has quite a head of curly red hair, too, and the same aristocratic expression as his mother.  The detail above allows the viewer to focus on the colours, without being distracted by the landscape.  They also share the same olive green eyes, much easier to see in person.

Detail of the faces.

 Right side detail, showing the full landscape.  That is a Venetian sky!

The landscape certainly echoes northern paintings, but as we are in Italy, at least there are mountains here.  However, it is more likely that the landscape in fictional, like many of them from this time.  Still, it is a wonderful place to wander about, an idyllic place certainly in harmony with the painted figures and what they represent.

Upper part of the landscape, minus the sky.

 Bottom of landscape, with sleeping shepherd and nose-to-nose rabbits. 

At this point I am not certain when our next visit to the DIA will be, but I hope it's soon. 

Mapman Mike

Finally a Power Blackout

We lasted through some of the worst ice and wind storms we've had down here in a while.  but all it took yesterday was a light drizzle in calm winds, and everything went dark.  I was just finishing up with Januda, a piano student.  He was on the last page of a piece by Debussy.  I held the flashlight while he finished it.  My next student arrived with her mom, but I had to send them back home (their house was dark, too, but mom thought it might come back on as they drove here).  So I have some more teaching to do tonight, rescheduled from yesterday.  Even though it was pretty mild yesterday (around +1 C), after 90 minutes of having no working heating system the house temp dropped from 68 to 62 F.  But then the power came back on, and life resumed.

Our Detroit day was last Tuesday.  I had to return a pile of empty beer bottles, ones I had purchased returning from NM last September.  I also had two classic SF novels waiting at the Dearborn mailbox.  We dined at La Shish, splitting an epic portion of Rice/Almond salad, and topping it with a side of baba ganoush.  An inexpensive lunch, and delicious.  They certainly don't stint on the slivered almonds, either.  Then it was off to yet another new coffee shop, this one on Michigan Ave. not far from the old Tiger Stadium.  A totally decrepit 2-story building has been completely renovated.  The cafe is upstairs, with large windows offering fantastic views towards downtown.  I enjoyed the house Costa Rican coffee; Deb had a Kenyan peaberry pour over, which was really delicious and bodacious!  We split a vegan chocolate raspberry granola bar thingy, made it Detroit.  Filling and delicious!

Deb's new eyeglasses were ready, so on the way home we stopped and picked them up.  She is able to read again!  She is currently reading a book by John Sladek called "The Reproductive System."  It's a very funny SF book, one of the Avon/Equinox series.  I am reading a book by E.C. Tubb, covering the first 35 years of colonizing Mars.

On to art:  The Detroit Institute of Arts currently has over 60,000 of its objects on-line.  This means that paintings that are not currently on show can be seen on-line, as well as many other things, too.  Such as graphic arts.  Prints, drawings, and the like rarely go on exhibit, and when they do it is usually for a brief period.  This is due to their fragile nature when exposed to light.  So browsing the graphic arts department is a lot of fun, and I will be including many of these images as long as I continue this blog and art project.

If you visit the DIA website, and find "Search the Collection," and type in Winter, you get over 100 things that have the word "winter" in it somewhere.  There are some lovely artworks in this category, including today's image.  Hope you enjoy it!

 Large version.

 Winter Morning, Walter Koch, ca. 1900.  Woodcut, 37cm x 26 cm.  Detroit Institute of Arts.

Full image version.

This is one of the more beautiful winter images I have ever seen, and that would include many Japanese woodblock prints.  Koch captures the quiet beauty of being in the woods on a slightly foggy day.  It reminds me of where Deb and I snowshoe, when there is enough snow.  So far this year, we have not had enough snow. 

Mapman Mike

Winter's Death Throes

Winter is trying to hang on.  A little snow here, a little there; pity the poor beast.  It's death is so near.  We currently have no snow on the ground, but for the 15th or 16th time this season, that will change this evening.  Yesterday morning we awoke to a "snow globe" snowfall, as if someone had shaken the Amherstburg globe.  And then it melted.  I managed a number of chilly walks this week, and hope to continue on into Spring.  Not much to report around here.  Deb has completed another episode in Yorick's adventures; I continue to struggle with my piano pieces due to eyesight reading problems.  The 28th can't come fast enough.  I suspect that I will need a different strength for each eye, as no reading glasses seem to work for me.  However, I am able to read books.  It's the mid-range computer and piano music distance that is causing me grief.

We still have no travel plans, other than a short jaunt to Cleveland in April, and another to Sudbury in early May.  If Deb is accepted into their film festival again, we will return to Cincinnati in August.

Today's offering from the DIA is a Gobelin Tapestry, from around 1535.  Hope you enjoy! 

Winter, Gobelin Tapestry (17th C.) from The Seasons of Lucas Series, designed ca. 1535.

7 m x 4 m.  Detroit Institute of Arts. 

This is one big tapestry!  Unfortunately, it is rarely on display.  Created 30 years before Bruegel's famous Seasons landscape series, there are some people who believe his painting was strongly influenced by such tapestries.  This is easy to believe, as there are many details in there that remind us of Bruegel, including skaters on the frozen moat, a fire in the background, with people rushing towards it with ladders, and that ominous stormy sky approaching the castle.

Detail of right side, showing the barren forest.

The busy central area, with skaters, a grand castle, and views into the distant background.

 Detail of the left side, showing a large number of people in the foreground, 

and others rushing to a large fire in the background. 

Mapman Mike

Staff Luncheon

One of our retired teachers group had a 60th birthday today, so there was a considerable gathering at a local restaurant for a long lunch.  Because there were no classes this afternoon, a number of still-working staff were able to attend.  Deb and I just went to chat and have tea.  As Deb said once we got home, we were greeted like royalty, or long lost friends or relatives.  I guess we need to get out more.

Well, it's mid-February and the weather looks quite reasonable for the next ten days.  Colder than it should be, but not bad.  Some snow, but nothing major.  Maybe we have turned the corner.  Cities like Ottawa, Montreal, Sudbury, and many others are solidly buried beneath near-record snow.  Ours has melted yet again, but more is coming Sunday and next week.  As we approach the full moon (this coming Tuesday), I am beginning to look forward to the late winter astronomy session.  I'm hoping for three or four good nights, clear but not too cold, with no snow on the ground (it reflects upwards and brightens the sky).  That session officially gets underway next Friday night.  I'll be ready!

Back to paintings for a minute.  One of the first styles of painting I connected with back in the day was early Flemish.  The colours, the precision, the clothing, and especially the background landscapes got me interested ahead of most other styles.  One of my favourite paintings from this period and style housed in Detroit is the one shown below.  Called "Virgin of the Rose Garden," it is by an unknown painter working in Bruges in the 1400s, who is called today The Master of the St. Lucy Legend.  Though he paints in the style of van der Weyden, very few works are attributed to him.  His namesake altarpiece is in Bruges, and I would like to visit there someday soon.

 Virgin of the Rose Garden, ca 1475-80, by the Master of the St. Lucy Legend.

Flemish, 79 cm x 60 cm.  This is a truly remarkable and very beautiful painting, and I've had the good fortune to have known it well for several decades now.  It seems fitting to enjoy this picture as winter comes to an end, though it will still be some time before we see roses here.  Not even any snowdrops yet.

 Detail of above, showing in the background the artist's depiction of Bruges.  I also love the landscape backgrounds in early Flemish paintings!  Note the English-looking hills!

 Detail of right background, showing horse and riders emerging from the city, fantastic mountains, a church, a castle, and a stately home, as well as the ocean, way back.  

Last night was Lupercalia, now known as Valentine's Day.  We enjoyed a fire, take-away food (vegan pizza with all the trimmings), and some beautiful songs by Brahms (Op. 59).  To us, this date represents the beginning of the end of winter.  Feb. 2nd, or Imbolg, is the traditional Celtic celebration, but we are usually still mired in misery at that time.  By delaying it by almost two weeks, however, we seem to hit the proper weather nearly every year at this time (note: for much of Northern Ontario, March 21st is a better bet--we are very fortunate living as far south as we do, at Latitude 42 N.). 

Mapman Mike

Round and Round We Go

Two ice storms inside of a week.  Winter, which began late (exactly on January 9th), has been pretty miserable for us since then.  Cold temps and a bit of snow don't bother me too much, coming from the background that I have.  But extremely cold temps combined with gale force winds tend to get under my skin, in more ways than one.  Luckily all the driving we had to do over the last month (mostly medical appts) went well.  We seem stuck in a weather loop:  cold, windy weather, followed by a warming, then moisture, usually either snow, sleet, rain, or a combination of all three and more.  Then it gets briefly mild.  Then the wind and cold air come again, and on it goes.  The wind is just beginning to die down from the umpteenth iteration of this pattern.  In the good old days, when you could predict weather a bit more without complex computer programs, our winter would begin to wind down by mid-February.  Let's hope it holds true for this year, though somehow I doubt it.

Last week my retina check up appointment was cancelled, because the power was out at the clinic.  I now go on February 27th.  As to my cataract surgery, it has now been over two weeks and everything is fine.  I can now lift things again, which is a relief.  And on February 28th I see my optometrist for reading glasses.  Last Saturday was the second performance class for my students.  For the November one I only had 2 show up.  Saturday I had 4.  That is a 100% improvement!  Next one will be in late May.  I am off the hook for a year-end student recital this year, due to my small number of students.

Continuing on with a brief look at some of the best paintings from the Detroit Institute of Arts, I would like to follow up with a second painting by Salvatore Rosa.  This self portrait is one of the most stunning, outside of Rembrandt, that I have ever seen.  The museum has a large number of artist self-portraits, including famous ones of Gauguin and Van Gogh, and even Whistler.  But this one is totally amazing!

 Salvatore Rosa, Self Portrait, ca. 1650s.  72 cm x 63 cm.  DIA.  I am beginning to 

look something like this, as our dreadful winter carries on.    

 Detail of above.  What a head of hair!

Rosa, by contemporary accounts, was not a nice man.  Things were done his way or not at all.  He had few friends, was somewhat of a recluse, and would have likely fit more comfortably with the art scene 200 years later.  The landscape by him that I showed last time has a pendant, a painting that was meant to hand with it.  It is in the National Gallery, London, and is also a very wonderful and romantic-era landscape.  It would certainly be fun to see an exhibit devoted to Rosa's art, and to see the pair of paintings side by side.

Over the weekend we watched an epic film by Kurosawa called "Red Beard."  Though it meanders sometimes, this is a wrenching tale of doctors working at a public clinic in Japan in the 1800s, as they try to reconcile traditional medicine with what they have learned from the Dutch.  Mifune is a wise elder doctor who holds the clinic together.  He request a new, young doctor, one trained in Dutch treatments and diagnosis, and the movie is really about the character development of the young doctor.  He arrives arrogant and wanting to get out no matter what, but as time goes on and he deals with the poor class of people who depend on the clinic, he learns much and gradually accepts his vocation.  When he gets a chance to leave,he refuses.  it's a very long movie, but we watched it all in one go without any trouble staying tuned in.  Fascinating stuff!

 Based on a Japanese novel, and also one by Dostoevsky.  A really great film!  

Mapman Mike

Paintings and Music

We have watched a number of art documentaries recently on Amazon Prime, hosted by Waldemar Januszczak, a British critic.  We have watched a 4-part series on the Renaissance, a 3-part series on the Rococo, and several  one-offs on individual artists, such as Holbein and Dobson.  We still have several more to watch, including ones on Manet and Gauguin.  We have also constantly visited great American art collections in Detroit, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and many others, and have explored the paintings in London, UK, in great detail, as well as the Prado (several dozen visits over a summer spent in Madrid), and, most recently, two visits to Vienna, mainly to see works by Bruegel the Elder.  We hit the jackpot both times; in the fall of 2017 we saw the Vienna paintings, as well as a major loan exhibit of his works on paper at the Albertina; then, in the fall of 2018, a stunning and unprecedented exhibit of his paintings and graphic works.

The collection I know best, however, is the one housed in the Detroit Institute of Arts.  I just finished reading one of the many publications about that great art museum.  This one was called European Vistas, Cultural Landscapes, and discusses many of the great landscapes in the museum.  The DIA is where we really got our art education, and the Detroit Symphony and other musical organizations over there (we live just across the river from Detroit) gave us our music background.  I have heard virtually every major living pianist thanks to Detroit, some of them many times.

When I returned from the first visit to Vienna, I began showcasing some of my favourite paintings from Detroit here (look back to October or November 2017).  I am going to resume that feature, beginning today, and will try to put up a different picture each time I blog (time permitting).  So here is painting number one....

 The Finding of Moses, by Salvatore Rosa, ca. 1660-1665.

158 cm x 255 cm.  

This is a very large painting, and one of my very favourites!  It is one of the finest landscapes Rosa ever painted, and when you come across it in the gallery, you are struck by the drama of the sky, the rocks, and the trees.  The human action seems dwarfed by nature.

Detail of above.  The detail makes a complete painting, with the human actions now getting top billing.  However, even if this was the whole painting, it would still be considered a fabulous landscape!

 Detail of the right side.  Very much like a painting from the late 1800s.

 Detail of the top right side of the picture.  

What kind of artist could paint in such a Romantic style, but in Baroque times!  Next entry we will meet the man in person, as Detroit also has his self-portrait!

Speaking of concerts, we have six great ones coming up, March through May.  Four of them are at Orchestra Hall, featuring the DSO.  Among works we will be hearing are Mahler's 5th Symphony (for another blast of Austria), the Beethoven 4th Piano Concerto, performed by Helene Grimaud, whom I adore, Prokofiev Symphony #4, an all-Vivaldi concert, Brahms 4th Symphony, the incomparable Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (there is also a terrific solo piano version), and Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra.  We also have two chamber concerts in there, one of them Bartok and Haydn with the Julliard Quartet, in very intimate surroundings at Wayne State University (where I attended part time for 7 years to earn my M. Mus.), and next day to hear the Julliard again, performing a Beethoven quartet, and one by Dvorak.

And around the house we are continuing with the listening program of 104 Haydn Symphonies (our 2nd time around), the complete works of Brahms, the complete organ works of Buxtehude, the complete works of Britten, and the Mozart Piano Concertos and operas.  My own piano program is getting its final polish.  As soon as I can get some good reading glasses, I will announce a date.  And of course Deb continues to win awards and fans, this time with her web series featuring Yorick the Skull!  I get to reprise my role as Hamlet (a TV host).  In fact, my bit part as Hamlet was in a movie of Deb's that showed in Stratford Upon Avon, England.  So I can now say, with authority, that I have played Hamlet in Stratford, England!!

Mapman Mike

One Week Eye Check-up

Time passes quickly.  Already 7 days since my eye surgery.  Dr. Emara does surgery every Tuesday, so for the one-week office check-up an optometrist does the job.  She had a good look.  My eye pressure is down to 21 from 26 the day after surgery, which is quite good, and she said that the lens is sitting perfectly.  All is well!  I have to avoid lifting 20+ lbs for another week.  On March 7th I see my own optometrist for a final check up, and I can get an updated reading glasses prescription.  It's a bit tricky practicing piano now, but luckily I can play most of the music with eyes closed by now.

On Friday I go for Part 1 of my two-part annual retina check up, with a different eye specialist.  Part 2 is two weeks later.  Lots of eye stuff going on these days.  In the meantime, Deb is awaiting her new eye glasses, as well as an appointment for her MRI on her damaged shoulder.  It's been a busy month of appointments, but so far we have not had any weather-related driving problems.  And we have had three snow storms in there, too.  Tonight freezing rain is predicted through rush hour tomorrow.  Luckily we have no driving planned; not till Friday, when it begins to turn really cold again.  It's been one of the more unusual winters, and there is still a ways to go.

This week is double lesson week.  Regular piano lessons tomorrow, and then a group lesson on Saturday.  That will mark the halfway point for this school year's teaching.  So far I have had no new students, and can still easily complete all of my schedule on Wednesdays.

We are up to Symphony #57 with Monsieur Haydn!  Each of his symphonies is completely unique, and one can hear his skills building through each and every work.  We are also continuing with the Britten and Brahms cycle, too, and the complete Mozart Piano Concertos and operas.  Lots of good sounds around here.  I found out today that the complete cycle of Beethoven String Quarters will be performed in Detroit over six days in June.  The ticket costs are reasonable, but it means six trips to a far Detroit suburb, six days in a row.  I have a feeling it isn't going to happen.

Mapman Mike

Surviving a Harsh Winter

Surviving a harsh winter is quite easy.  In fact, there are only two requirements.

1)  Be a cat.

2)  Live with the Ethiers 

 Gustav and Mogollon survive the polar vortex.  Barely.

Gustav seeks out some supplemental warmth.  

Anyway, it's all over for now.  It's sunny and mild today, and we went for our first walk in well over a week.  The snow is melting and it's pretty wet everywhere.  But it feels lovely.

Yesterday was Imbolg, and our Brigid doll is out on the mantelpiece, encouraging Spring to hurry along.  Usually for us at this time it is still deep winter, and we postpone our celebration until mid-February, when the thaw often arrives.  Since it is now virtually impossible to predict climate anymore, we celebrated yesterday because the temperature rose slightly above freezing.  A real wood fire, some great music, food, and looking at art on-line, made for a wonderful afternoon and evening.

Brigid catches some sunlight atop our mantel.  She will be put away when

we are certain that Spring is just around the corner.  This year the thaw 

arrived the same day she came out of her box. 

  

My reading eyes have changed, as I knew they would.  I can no longer see anything close up with either eye.  My reading glasses seem to still work, but my piano playing and computer glasses are no longer effective.  It will be at least a month until I am allowed to visit my optometrist for a new prescription.  In the meantime I will try some drug store reading glasses.  My distance vision has never been better, however!  I am anxious to try the new right eye lens at the telescope eyepiece.  Later this week, if it is clear.

Mapman Mike