Do You Love to Travel?

 

Travel is a gift - do you feel the same way?

To explore a new place; even if it's in familiar territory.

To sit in the sun on a street you've never been to before.

To notice that the trees you are seeing on the horizon are totally unlike the ones you pass on your way to work every day.

To smell unrecognized spices wafting from a restaurant on a crowded city street.

To recognize the hum of conversation all around you, but maybe not all the words.

To sit at a quiet café on the corner of Rue Cassette & Rue de Rennes

                                                                                                            in Paris, France.

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My cafe' prints and I are traveling to France soon for their exhibit starting November 10, 2014 at La Caféothèque in Paris. A selection of the prints are currently on exhibit at The Grit, in Athens, Georgia through October 5 for you to enjoy now.

Urbino, Italy

The new owner of my sweet painting-on-silk of the piazza in Urbino, Italy, of a view looking through the town at the hillside beyond, asked me to write about the painting, and the experience that inspired it:

Urbino was a Roman town that eventually became a center of learning, sophistication, and the fine arts in the 15th Century. It is located towards the north of Italy, an hour from the Adriatic Coast. The great artist Raphael was born in Urbino; his father was court painter for Fredrico da Montefeltro (1422-1483), the Duke known for supporting the arts who lost his right eye in a tournament, and would only allow his portrait to be painted showing the left side of his face.

My daughter, Kate, studied Art History & Italian at the University of Urbino (founded in 1506!) for the academic year 2004-2005, and we visited her there during Thanksgiving-time. A few kilometers from town we stayed on a farm overlooking the beautiful rolling Italian countryside. A Giant Schnauzer named Ula lived on the farm, and she would visit us every evening, come in, and stay awhile. In Urbino, I had the best hot chocolate ever - it was dark & thick, thickened with potato starch! Besides the hot chocolate, I must say it was wonderful to be in an Italian hill town with its Renaissance Architecture and fabulous use of space. The hills were steep & the pathways winding, and there was one main street, Via Giuseppe Mazzini, that seemed to go straight up into the sky. The views revealed at the top made any climb in the area well worth the effort.

Frontier UpFront Gallery

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Meet the Artist

In Athens, Ga at the Frontier UpFront Gallery

 there is a ‘Meet the Artist’ event on March 22, 2014.

Items available are René art, wearables, and hand-created home items all made locally for the month of March!

Frontier Art & Gifts, 193 E Clayton St., Athens Ga.

French Coffee; French Landscapes

René Art is at Donderos’ Kitchen for the month of March. Both the Coffee Cup prints on paper and the silk paintings of the French experience are beautifully displayed together. The food at Donderos' is delicious, and the ambiance is fabulous - go check it out if you are in town! 590 N. Milledge Ave, Athens, GA, 30601

This is a precursor of the exhibit that will be in Paris at La Caféothèque this winter. Do come see if you won’t be able to make it to Paris for the opening!