SHORT TRIP TO BEAT THE HEAT

You are probably thinking I've been locked in my basement, working on the Four and Twenty painting...but you're wrong! My Sweetie and I took a day trip over to Indianapolis for a trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (too hot to tour the grounds much but we did walk out to the Lilly House - home of Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant and a big employer in Indianapolis). Other than that, we spent over 2 hours visiting the paintings and having a wonderful early dinner at the cafe.

This was a beautiful little Renoir "sketch" in preparation for his larger painting. I like the sketch better - it's looser and shows such and energetic brush handling. I've always loved this painting. This little one was so small - about 5" square, you had to stand close so it was an intimate experience to stand close and view the couple in their eternal dance. (I believe he only has eyes for her...but who has captured her eye as they swirl and twirl around the floor?)

As I viewed the paintings, I wanted to think about what aspects drew me to certain paintings and I'm sure now - it's the light. The way the artist handles the light makes me envious and awestruck at the same time. For example, as I turned a corner and came into a room of Europen artwork, I saw this...and had to walk over to it first and see it better.

By de Monfried, an oil painting of the Mediterranean coast.

I've always been a fan of O'Keefe. This large Jimson flower acrylic painting was commissioned by Elizabeth Arden to be hung in a parlor in her spa. It was large and beautiful...the colors so clean and pure.

Sorry for the slant on this one - you could not stand back far enough to get a straight on shot because it was in a smaller room where there were several O'Keeffes and a Dove and a couple of Marsdens.

Here is a smaller O'Keeffe (in oil on canvas), one of her animal pelvis paintings called Pelvis and Distance.

Some shots of the Eli Lilly house on the grounds of the IMA...

It was hot and humid, over 90F, so we didn't walk outside much...they even had a 100 acre sculpture park - but we'll have to save that for another day.

That night we had booked into a place called Sybaris - a members only get-away place. We walked in to find rose petals strewn across the bed, and we had a swimming pool inside our cottage. Very private, very romantic! A chance to shut away the outside world and relax in the pool, hottub or sauna (yes - you get all of them inside your own private cottage).

The next day we went to the Indianpolis Zoo - will share some photos from that next time.