EXCERPT FROM SARA’S JOURNALNovember 18, 1998
Cameyrac et St. Sulpice
Today is free museum day for students, and we have decided we are
students of Life. There are five attendants milling about the lobby of La Musee
d’Aquitaine. They are engrossed in conversation and we wander through the first
floor’s out door. This is known as the ever useful "Can I Help You?"
riff and we are promptly shown the proper direction in which to view the massive exhibit.
It’s a detailed history of Aquitaine beginning with prehistoric times and tracing the
development of the region to the present day. The museum is housed in the former
literature and science faculty. The attendants continue their banter for two hours while
we suck in the low down on wine making, fishing, baking, weaving, prune production and
oxen shoeing. There’s also an extensive department devoted to Gallo-Roman Bordeaux.
Archeologists found 3000 Roman coins beneath the silt in the harbour. In 1986 construction
began on a supermarket in the middle of town and a month later they uncovered the remains
of a now underground Roman Temple complete with marble and bronze statues. The Grande
Theatre stands on the foundation of Bordeaux’s Coliseum.
La Musee d’Art Contemporaine is across town in the former
Laine warehouse. Built in 1824 for storing goods imported from the French colonies, the
structure is comprised of a three storey central aisle running the length of the building
flanked by huge semicircular arches. The building is stark and provides a blank canvas for
installations. I am anxious to find a well-stocked and mouth-watering bookshop but most of
the museum’s catalogues are cheaply produced with meager photographs.
There’s an international Maison de la Presse on Rue Ste. Catherine
and we pour over the American and British magazines, paying through the nose for such
publications as Wired and American Vogue. La Rue picks up at lunch. Everyone
is en route and carries a half-munched baguette stuffed with cheese and ham. There are
less café dwellers as the temperature has dropped to a nippy 6 degrees.
We’re browsing in yet another Art supply shop. This one is
well-organized and filled with professional quality materials. Canvases are exorbitant at
60F for a 24 x 30. I decide on a block of 140Lb Arches paper.
Painting, exploring, journaling, exploring. It’s a challenge to
get the metabolism up to tackle paintings when the mind is absorbing new views. Leaving
the studio from time to time is the best thing. After a few weeks of heavy work, getting
into the car and driving cleans the palette for fresher works. Now I find myself with the
challenge of constant stimulation and the need to paint, but my distracted mind can’t
complete the arc I need to produce good works. If one were to split painting into five
categories they might be assembly, digestion, illumination, application and evaluation.
Today, I am at stage one - assembly.
