“I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands.”

Louise Bourgeois died yesterday, she was 98.

The art world feels the loss of such a creative force. A woman who created art her entire life without recognition until she was in her seventies. A woman who said, “I believe that not being picked up by the market was a blessing in disguise. It allowed me to work undisturbed, at my own pace and in my own way.” A woman who cared for her family while creating art for herself. A woman who threw the roast out the window when her family did not rush to the dinner table to show gratitude for the meal she prepared. A woman who represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1993. A woman who used artwork to explore the deepest parts of her psyche. A woman who showed great courage, strength and force, eventhough she appeared petite and frail outwardly.

I could go on to discuss her tumultuous childhood, her move from France to America with her husband, how she has grown as an artist over her long and eventful life. But why? All you have to do is look at her artwork. Every piece is personal; every piece represents a feeling and a moment in her life.

Her magnificent life continues in her prolific and magnificent body of work.

* photo of Louise Bourgeois by Annie Leibovitz, [source: www.nytimes.com]

Adventures in Art: The Getty Drawing Hour - February

Sunday I waited in a 35 min. line of cars into a parking structure. $10 to park to visit The Getty Center. The iconic museum on the hillside. The most wealthy art establishment in the world, and the collection of the estate of oil barron, J. Paul Getty. Not only are the views of Los Angeles breathtaking. But the architecture and artifacts are some of the worlds greatest treasures.

I have been taking advantage of a structured monthly drawing lesson they offer for free entitled The Getty Drawing Hour. So far it has been a fun refresher course for me. Since I will be not attending school until Fall, I thought it best if I did something in the meantime to keep my drawing "chops" up.

The Getty Drawing Hour theme for the month of February has been Gesture Drawing. Gesture is generally used as a warm up or a way to get the overall action or expression of a piece down in a short amount of time. Or it can be extended and layered upon to create a more in depth study. For this particular session none of our drawing extended beyond a 15 minute study. Instead of using models and/or live studies as is the standard for most art classes, we got to draw from the Getty's exquisite European Renaissance gallery.

The one piece I kept coming back to was the lovely sculpture Female Figure by Giambologna, Florence, Italy 1571 - 1573. Although it was easy to be seduced by the lucious colors of Titian, or the melancholy angles of El Greco, it was the subtle light and shadow that played upon the lovingly carved marble that caught my fancy. I plopped down on the floor and spent a few precious minutes beneath her. Gesture drawing and building up layers. An exercise in structured freedom.

It was so nice to be in class again.