​I hope you had the happiest of holidays and your new year is all that you expect it to be. 

We had a chance to visit the Tate Modern in London over the holidays. I can't say I'm a big fan of modern art most of the time. When I see something like a cut-up canvas hanging on the wall:

​Here is the description by this painting:

"Michael Buthe 1944-1994
Born and worked in Germany.

White Painting
Weisses Bild 
Wood, cotton, gesso, and steel

Though it initially suggests the haphazard slashing of a canvas, Buthe's work is carefully composed in order to achieve a dynamic, relationship between the grid of the stretcher and the looser, more irregular arrangements of the fabric. He used various processes, stitching lengths of cloth together and folding, tying and wrapping sections around and underneath the stretcher bars to emphasize the space in front, within, and behind the stretcher. He painted the stretcher bars with white gesso to unify the composition."

Yeah - baloney! 

Or Tracy Emin's unmade bed:

​This one is awful. Truly rubbish. Charles Saatchi bought the work for £150,000 and was sold at auction in 2014 for just over £2.5 million.

Elected to the Royal Academy in 2007, and for some strange reason between 2011 and 2013, she became an Honorary officer: Eranda Professor of Drawing 2011 - 2013 at the Royal Academy. 

Here's an example of her drawing. 

​I'm sure you can recognize her expertise and can appreciate the value she brings to drawing. 

Neither can I. 

So, I guess I don't understand art. 

What I do understand is that sometimes, well, all of the time, art is subjective. We don't have to agree.

Andrea liked this Gerhart Richter painting, and I didn't. 

​There were some things I thought were great that didn't move the interest needle for Andrea. 

I could, for some reason, sit and stare at this Monet for a long time. 

​We sat in the Rothko room for a little while, and both of us didn't get that one. 

There is one thing we agreed on. We thought the exhibit called The British Library was fantastic. The works highlighted in the display are all from first or second-generation immigrants to the United Kingdon. 

There is a corresponding website to this installation, which catalogs all of the books involved in the display.  https://thebritishlibraryinstallation.com/

I encourage you to visit the exhibition if you are ever in London. The display is exceptionally pleasing, and I like the narrative behind the work, possibly because I am a first-generation immigrant. 

I think the display is beautiful. 

I love looking through art galleries. There may be things that you don't like, don't get, or don't understand. I'm certainly that way. However, I always seem to find a nugget of gold in the endless sea of dross. 

It inspires me. 

Until next week, I wish you peace. 

Trail - 81 DAYS and counting

For the artist of the week this week, I am choosing the village of Câmara de Lobos in Madeira. Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal about 400 miles west of Morocco in the Atlantic. I think that means they belong to Portugal but govern themselves. 

​We were staying in Funchal with our friends at the beginning of December and decided to trek to this lovely little village. It's a picturesque walk with all kinds of stuff to see. 

In January 2018, we spent some time in Funchal, and while we were meandering through the streets of the Old Town, we came across painted doors. Those doors enhanced the beauty of the backstreets and alleys of the town. I made a poster of it. It hangs with pride of place in Brian and Jan's kitchen. 

This year, after our little excursion to Câmara de Lobos, I was inspired by the creative ways they used discarded cans. Many of the doors and windows down one particular street 

Here's a collection of what was there in the same poster(ish)  format. 

​We saw a lot of art on the island. It's just about everywhere you turn. 

This sculpture is on the docs around where the cruise ships come into port. I loved it partly because the artist made it of old discarded nets, tire, fishing line, and lots of odds & ends.

​Art is all around. It's part of who we are. 

Now go out and make some ART!