Perfect Days and Purple Paint

At the end of 2018, instead of making New Years Resolutions, Jim and I talked to the girls about what makes a perfect day for each of us. My perfect day includes being with my family, hanging with my friends, being active, being productive, writing, and spending time outside.

I just had the perfect long weekend.

It kicked off Friday when I went to lunch and the Eli Broad Art Museum with my dear friend. If everything else went wrong that day, it still would have been an awesome day because burritos and art? Come one. There’s no beating that.

My favorite part of the Eli Broad is the rotating exhibit in the basement. A MSU art student gets to pick a piece of work from the mysterious “Vault” collection and write a blurb about why they picked it. If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember a Salvador Dali painting I posted a while back- that was from The Vault (which I imagine is much like Gringotts, and they get to ride a roller coaster with a goblin to find the art). On this visit, the student picked a piece by Henri Matisse to be featured.

I don’t like it. I mean. My favorite thing about Matisse is his use of fun, bold colors, but take that away and it’s just… squiggly lines. In contrast, here is a Matisse that I love: Woman in a Purple Coat.

This is more "Henri!" Fun and funky Fauve.

The model for this painting was a close friend of Henri’s named Lydia. I don’t think Matisse was particularly religious, but it’s interesting that he painted her in purple as the Lydia from the New Testament was, “a dealer in purple cloth…” Isn’t this so much more fun than the drawing? I’m sure my unsophisticated art eye just doesn’t see the genius in it, but I never claimed to be an art connoisseur!

I hope you have a perfect day today, whether that means burritos or fine art or underwater basket-weaving! Enjoy!