This past week I was fortunate to see works from two great artists.  It started with Seattle Art Museum’s Picasso exhibition.  Yes, I waited until the last minute but am so glad I went.  Travel through Spain in 2007 provided a new admiration for Picasso’s work.  The trip taught me I don’t have to love certain things – his blue period, rose period or cubist movement – to appreciate the intent and brilliance behind them.  What I do love are almost everything prior to 1915, especially his etchings. Many of his pieces are purposely unfinished, a statement that art is within the control of the artist.  Love this.  Nearly all my photos are right out of the camera, mostly because I’ve yet to delve into post shoot production.  So while they are not perfect, I’m okay with that.  This Picasso statement on art speaks to me.  My all-time favorite Picasso painting is the 1909-1910 Sacré-Coeur  oil on canvas of the basilica of the same name found on Montmarte hill in Paris.  It is as stunning as the church is in real life.  The piece I’ve never seen before but left an indelible mark is Massacre in Korea.  One day left…if you haven’t been and can get in, go! Check the Seattle Art Museum’s blog for ‘real-time’ ticket updates. 

The second exhibit was Ginny Ruffner’s Aesthetic Engineering show at the Bellevue Arts Museum.   Stunning!   Closing February 6th, this is not to be missed.   We are so blessed to have this piece of hers in our home.  Competing with a skylight, overhead lighting and dark skies led to lighting challenges so this photo absolutely does not do this piece justice.  But let me tell you why it’s one of the most cherished things in our home.

floozie floor blossom, ruffner: stainless steel + blown glass, 2000

 

Eleven years ago we were looking for art for our new home. Both Goldfarb and I love glass pieces so our friend and gallery owner John Braseth took us to meet Ginny.  It was a meeting that both touched my heart and motivated me.  Ginny is a award-wining renown artist who brought lampworked glass to the world.  She sculpts, she paints, but most of all, she laughs.  She loves life and you see it in her eyes.  On that day eleven years ago, she warmly welcomed us into her studio which is also her home.  She shared her rooms and magical garden with us.  What I left with was the knowledge that things in life don’t define you – you define life. 

 

Why? In 1991 Ginny was in a near fatal car accident.  Prognosis was not good, but she perservered.  And while she had every reason to start making ‘dark’ art, she didn’t. Her work celebrates all aspects of life.  The main reason the piece above is so important to me is because it’s one of the first things I see in the morning and last things I see at night.  It reminds me that even though there are things in life that can bring you down, you have it within yourself to find the good and happiness within each day.  Creative, courageous and celebratory.  Those are the three words I’d use to describe my friend Ginny.  And those are the three things her work motivates me to be.

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