Art Institute of Chicago!

Partial view of Chagall's window

Hello Beautiful Art Friends,

I just published my quarterly newsletter (you can read here) but I wanted to go more in depth about my trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.

We started by having breakfast at Wildberries, wonderful American food just a mile or so from museum. There is meter parking on the street. We were super early so we drove the the Art Institute of Chicago after breakfast to scope the parking situation. Someone had told us there was free parking near by but not true. There is no free parking. There are meter parking spaces for $13.00 for two hours (but who wants to stop in two hours and go back and feed the meter, and what if you forget), or parking garages near by that start at $16.00 if you go early enough for their matinee prices, regular prices after 9 am is $32.00 per day. Some people take public transportation. I opted to pay the $28.00 valet parking on the Modern Wing entrance and added a tip.  Hours for valet parking are from 10:30am to 5:00pm. This is a great option as you don't have to waste time looking parking, and when you come out of Art Institute tired from walking their three levels of wonderful art, it's nice to have someone bring you your car.

Regular admission to the Art Institute is $25.00 per person. We got the Audio Tour for an extra $7.50. May I suggest you use their coat facility to check in your coat, purse, or whatever you are carrying. They charge $1.00 per item but it's worth not carrying anything while you view art. 

We started on the third floor, viewing their Modern Art collection. The Old Guitarist by Picasso is here, from his Blue Period, and so is Bathers by a River by Henri Matisse.

Then we went to the second floor where we explored Contemporary art and our favorite, Impressionism.
We took in Monet, Georges Seurat's famous A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,  Paul Gauguin, Joan Miro, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and many more. The institute is huge!  We took a lunch break for 20 minutes at their cafe and continued viewing European art but after almost 6 hours I was tired.

We made our way to see Chagall's windows, and I was struck with awe! I had to sit in front of them and allowed myself to be taken by these three beautiful stein glass window panels.  Overwhelming beauty! Definitely my favorite part of the institute. 

I felt so grateful to be able to experience so much creativity and wonderful works of art.  This is a must when you are in Chicago.  I am returning again next year to finish viewing the rest of their art collection. I didn't even make it the Modern American Art wing, to see Edward Hopper's Nighthawks! And Since Grant Wood's American Gothic was on tour, I really must return.

There is a LOT of traffic in Chicago so plan accordingly.

Until next time...

With Love,
Glad

With Love,
Glad

http://gladsart.com

MAM!!! Love this Place!

Hello Beautiful Art Friends,

I had the opportunity to travel to Milwaukee, WI. I loved this city, with 20 sculptures along the river bank, including Bronze Fonz...aayyy.

I have been to many museums in my life, including the Louvre and Rijks, but MAM pleasantly surprised me. I was in heaven and didn't want to leave! I actually spend five hours there looking at all the diverse art.  So many artist I have done lessons on when I taught children in elementary school, their work was here! I could see it up close, every stroke, how thick or thin they applied paint, the actual size of their work, and on some, even the painting cracking.

Where do I start...Rembrandt (Loved how he did thick lines for forehead wrinkles), Parmigianino, Wayne Thiebaud (first work I saw upon entry), right along with Andy Warhol, Kandinsky, O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Giacometti, Chagall. There was modern art, realism, abstract, sculptures, so much yet well placed.  

I have always loved Dutch painters, Vermeer being an old time favorite, my first love actually. This time I am flirting with the wonderful German Expressionist painters...they just wowed me this time around.  They also give a space to self-taught artist.

If you have time to visit this museum I hope you do. It's nicely set by the lake, so you have a wonderful view to sit by when your feet get tired of exploring this beautiful place and you need a break. They also have two nice cafe's and a restaurant. Locker's for 50 cents if you don't want to carry your things around, and a gift shop.

I caught a terrible cold that put me in bed for a few days so didn't make it to Chicago as I wanted on this trip but returning in November, and looking forward to exploring it's museums.

Hope all is well with you.

Love,
Glad




 http://gladsart.com

September Begins!

Studies in progres

Hello Beautiful Art Friends,

September is going to be a hectic but fun month for me. Today is the first day of the Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge and I'm all ready for it! It took a lot of work and I did so much learning. This is the first time I will be offering my studies to my art fans. You can read more about it on the website.

I will also be traveling for two weeks in September. I will be up North in San Jose for four days visiting my son before he goes to boot camp in IL, then I myself will travel to WI and IL for ten days. I'm so looking forward to this time off. August turned out to be way busier than what I normally allow myself to be.

When I return I will get busy at my easel as I do have a solo show in October. New abstracts are being created but many more need to be finished by then. I love experimenting with texture so you will see some fun pieces!

Hope you summer was fun, don't forget to remain playful and to laugh often as we go into the Fall.

Love,
Glad


With Love,
Glad


http://gladsart.com