City Shore

City Shore
Oil on Wood Panel
8"X8"

Inspiration is everywhere you are. Yesterday on the spur of the moment, my neighbor Mary and I darted into The City to see the Fisher Collection at MOMA which had been held over, seemingly just for us. Large paintings, sparingly placed in big open spaces, with only occasional museum goers passing through the galleries like dancers choreographed to augment the art. Dreamy. Soothing. Satisfying. The last 50 years of amazing art. Afterward, I couldn't wait to get home and start painting.
As if that wasn't enough, in the evening we went to see the Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay at the De Young. Whiplash. From Modern mostly American Masters to the older, European ones. Seeing Van Gogh's "Starry Night" in real life was to see it for the very first time. Rich, dark blues, luscious paint oozing from the surface. I came home thinking. Paint. Just paint.
Then this morning. The fog was in, the City was shrouded in a vast array of grays with occasional warm rays of sun shining on the water. I walked along the shore with my generous friend and fine painter, Kristen, sharing ideas about art and life while taking in the grandeur of the scene and exercising our dogs all at the same time. Like the song says, "is that not the way...to start out the day?"