Laume's Studio

I had a nice artsy day. Nooooo, I didn't MAKE any art. Sigh. I've been trying! Honest. But stop bugging me. I mean, the pressure is just making it worse. Sheesh.

Oh, back to... I had a nice artsy fartsy day. Jeff, William and I decided to take the day off and go adventuring, and ended up spending the afternoon at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, something I'd wanted to do for quite a long while now.

It was a nice museum, not as big as some, but enough that my son and hubby had their fill and had started to sit on benches and give me that "I"m tired and hungry" look before we were through.

The best was definitely the visiting show of Russian Icons, ranging from selections dating back to the 1300's up to as recently as the 1800's . Both Jeff and I have a fondness for these images. The show was nicely displayed, with large text displays that discussed the history and evolution of the icon.

They also had another temporary show entitled Modernism in American Silver - 20th Century Design. Jeff took one look at the room and said "It's nothing but dishes." Okay, maybe it was, mostly. But hey, Nevada is The Silver State. And some of the art nouveau pieces were pretty cool.

The rest were permanent pieces, mostly paintings although there were quite a few sculpture pieces as well, most of those very large and the kind of thing that doesn't take itself too seriously, so they were entertaining. One that made us laugh were a couple of GIANT "jacks" that were covered in plaid flannel. I joked we only needed a giant rubber ball so we could play with them and then I suddenly "got" it. Plaid. Flannel. They were Lumberjacks! Jeff and William's favorite piece was a giant face, strung out with lights and built around a golf cart. I strongly suspect it's origins have something to do with The Burning Man.

The paintings and other graphic art didn't keep the guys interest too long. Jeff turned his nose up at the one Matisse, declaring it one of his lesser works. I pointed out they also had a Rousseau, which peaked his interest, until he pointed out that it was a Helen, not Henri, Roussea. Oooooh, art snob, are we?! Although the two taller members of our group didn't spend too much time in the permanent galleries, I (5'2") enjoyed them very much. Very mixed selection - everything from "THAT is amazing!" to "I could make THAT!"

In fact, I kept thinking of all the wonderful textile artists I have come to know and love, and was pleasantly surprised (although, I guess I really shouldn't have been surprised) to come to the conclusion that the folks I know, the work I've seen from them, is every damn bit as good, sometimes better, then what was hanging in this museum of fine art. It was a real treat to spend the day viewing such a diverse collection of creative expression, and it was an unexpected extra treat to leave with a renewed sense of conviction and pride in both my own creative talent and that of my wonderful collection of wild, eccentric, artsy friends.