Chez Paul, iPad Art and all text ⓒIrene O’Garden
Another “postcard” from our trip:
One of the pleasures of travel is the unplanned stop.
We set sail from Gaudi’s Barcelona on a ten-day Mediterranean cruise. First port: Marseilles, where we boarded a tour bus to Aix-en-Provence for history, fragrance and Platonically-ideal strawberries. Here, life itself waxes poetic.
But the grand surprise was when our tour guide said “It’s closed, but we’ll pass Paul Cézanne’s house. Shall we stop?”
Cézanne. After seeing an exhibit of his work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I found my face wet with tears. For me he conveys not just how things look, but how they are. A vigorous sense of love and companionship in physicality. And of course, sheer beauty.
“Yes!” we all replied, and shortly thereafter found ourselves gazing down this allée.
I want to share what I felt that gleaming morning at the home of the master. Cézanne, however, resists words. The photo I snapped wouldn’t do. This sketch is my humble attempt.
Have you ever visited the home of one of your icons?
If you are near Cornwall, New York this Saturday from 4-6, I’ll be opening up a new Poetry Trail at the beautiful Hudson Highlands Nature Museum. Please join us for the delight of children’s nature poetry, and the delight of children delighting in their poetry!
Also, I’m proud to be part of “A Slant of Light,” a brand new anthology of Hudson Valley contemporary women writers. There are readings throughout the Hudson Valley and I am glad to be part of the 7 pm November 1st reading at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck. Please stop by!