Tag Archive for: photography

I ran out of time … at a museum!

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OK, so if you’ve been following my posts, you know that I’m not a big fan of museum, but that I still appreciate zooming through them, mostly to see the architecture and also just in case something catches my attention, either visually or energetically.  I am a curious being, but there’s something about museums that I find either stale or overstimulating – not quite sure how to describe it.  Anyhow, today after eating our bagged lunches in class, Donnalyne and I headed out to the Neue Burg – the big palace I walk by every day on my way to school, to visit the 4 museums there that we have free access to with our annual museum membership card.  And would you believe it? I ran out of time just going through the first one – the Arms and Armor Museum.  I totally didn’t expect to be interested much in this one, but something about all those knights in shining armor caught my fancy. Seriously though (although yes, I’m a hopeless romantic), the craftsmanship, details and designs were amazing! Leaving aside the fact that these very heavy uncomfortable metal suits were designed to protect men in times of war while killing the enemy, they were really cool.  I also enjoyed seeing all the fake horses wearing their own protective gear (check out the one with the tail coming out of a dragon’s mouth).

Perhaps I enjoyed this museum so much because it plunged me back into the Hollywood epic historic fiction movies I like, or perhaps I had a gratifying past life in the 15th or 16th century military (perhaps with or as a knight in shining armor?). Who knows?!  I certainly didn’t have this kind of a reaction to the modern military displays being set up in the plaza in front of the palace (including 6 helicopters – something the men in my family would enjoy) in preparation for Austria’s National Day on Saturday.  The tanks reminded me of my childhood on Canadian Armed Forces bases in Germany, when we had to stop classes because of the noise each time a long line of tanks went by on their way to an exercise.  But generally speaking, I’ve been avoiding walking through this plaza this week because looking at all that  – especially from within the palace, peering at it from the window behind the balcony where Hitler made his famous speech – felt quite eery.  Peace be to all!

With only 2 more days of long lunch hours, though, I’m debating whether I’ll be trekking to the pay-what-you-can Pakistani buffet tomorrow or going back to these museums to explore some more.  Now that says a lot!! Next time though, I hope to have my real camera, not just my iPhone.

Combining / Layering Elements of our Personal Mythologies

After lunch, our class headed out to the small park in front of the Votive Chuch,  where I had spotted a big stone table and chairs the day before.  The weather was great and yes, the idea of sitting around this table reinforced the whole Hogwarts or Knights of the Round Table (although this one wasn’t round) themes.  We spent a couple of hours drawing sketches that combined or layered various concepts from the personal mythologies we story-boarded yesterday.  I had fun doing this.  This sketch is but a first draft that combines my ideas of

  • God (one of many names I use) as a radiant, accepting, open, nurturing, gracious, loving source of energy and life
  • our being within God and God within us
  • soul families setting intentions and making agreements before incarnation
  • the ever-present spiral as symbol of evolution, holistic growth, release, awareness of the one within the context of the whole, connectivity and union with God and cosmic energies, direction, expansion, journeying, and development … amongst other things
  • chakra system
  • ripple effects of our beingness on this planet
  • the mirrors of life
  • the map/path and fruit of unconditional love – part of our journey into and out of our Selves and back to God

IMG_3273This is only the second drawing concept I work on since starting classes  – I got a great sense of how our personal mythologies can be an infinite source of imagery for paintings and  I’m definitely motivated again to improve my drawing skills.  This was gratifyingly deep work that I’d like to see evolve.

We then returned to class to work on various projects.

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What a Party!

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I surprised myself last night (or should I say this morning) by coming home at 6:30am from a great night at a sacred dance gathering by Avaloka. I don’t even think I snoozed during any of the meditation sessions, but I did get a wonderful vision of a multicoloured square spiral all lit up and floating in space feeding the roots of an equally tubular/lit up tree  – all that with a rolling ocean floating far underneath in space  (can you believe I’ve never even tried drugs?!).  It’s hard to describe, and I guess that’s one reason why visionary artists paint what they see (I’d have to learn more about perspective and 3D shaping before I could manage this one, but at least there would be no human figures to draw).  I was still energized when I got home, but fell asleep relatively quickly and got a short 5 hours in before waking up to noise in the apartment. What a role reversal – I’m usually the one making noise in the kitchen after my young university student roommates come home at 4-5am as I’m waking up for my day.  Now I know how it feels.

Recap:

IMG_3105Renate, a wonderful Austrian student in our special 2-week intensive, and her friend Bernhard came to pick me up and we headed to their friend Walter’s apartment for a few minutes before finding our way to the 23rd district on the outskirts of the city where the Avaloka event was being held.  The event started at 9pm and there were already a lot of people there when we arrived at 9:30pm- some enjoying a campfire outside, others sitting in the indoor stairwell with a gorgeous projected drawing in the style I’d like to make (that was also the smokers’ hangout), others having a drink in the room with a bar, others sitting quietly in the small meditation room, and others standing around chatting in the main room where the vegan food bar, DJ station and band stage were located.  I couldn’t believe that this was a temporary set up.  Every wall and floor were covered in felt and the whole decorated in a combination of Tibetan buddhist style and techno with projections on walls and ceilings.  These are the folks who put on our school’s opening party, but that didn’t prepare me for this night.  As an ex-events-planner, I could fully appreciate the organizational skill and talent that it took to put this together.

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We just had time to say hi to all our classmates before the opening meditation started, and I’m amazed I understood a lot of it, mostly because the leader used a lot of body language and talked about stuff I was familiar with. I had also used Google Translate to read the schedule ahead of time and knew he would be addressing inter-religious perspective and a Tibetan meditation that opens the brain and body to cosmic rays. This was followed by a solo dance performance that led to great dancing to an ethnic and tribal DJ music mix. It felt so good to just close my eyes and move to the music, focused on my own internal experience, just as everyone else was.  Being a barefoot event, however, my knees could only take so much, so I had to take frequent breaks.

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I liked the fact that there was a quiet meditation room I could go to when the noise and crowds were too much.  We could still hear and feel the vibrations of the music through the walls and floors, but it was still a very serene room.  I returned there at midnight for some Tibetan and Sanskrit chanting and when we came out, I could see that the crowd in the main room had doubled and that there was an awesome band, Airrapide (drummer and didgeridoo player) that really got the crowd going.  I’ve never seen a didgeridoo player go for so long – amazing!  At 2:30, I and most of my classmates returned to the meditation room for a session led by one of our Academy friends and models, Alexandra.  It was beautiful, accompanied by hoop drumming and chanting.  This was definitely my kind of party.

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More dancing, a plateful of roasted vegetables with couscous & hummus, more chatting, and just hanging around and then it was time to leave.  Renate & Bernhard were going to drop me off at the U6 end stop, which is in direct line to my place, but they accurately sensed that I was nervous about riding it alone at that late hour (although the world was waking up for Sunday in Vienna), so they kindly insisted on driving me all the way home.  They reassured me that Vienna is an extremely safe place, as I had heard before, but I’m just not used to being out at night anymore so I truly appreciated it – comfort zones stretch and shrink and stretch and shrink – such is life.

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I took it easy today and tomorrow starts the last week of our Intensive “In Quest of the Inner Image” workshop. I’m looking forward to it.

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So Much to Share

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I’m not sure if you’re keeping up with my blog … there’s so much I want to share that I hardly have the time to do so.  Yesterday was another fantastic day for at least 4 reasons.

1- Walk to School
Do you walk to work/school?  Do you take a different route each time?  I recommend it! I usually arrange to live 30-60 minutes from where I need to go on a daily basis as I love walking  – I avoid the crowds, nausea, and expense of public transport, plus there’s always so much to see. Plus varying my route awakens the senses!  Since yesterday was surprisingly sunny and warm, I extended my walk past the Parliament and into the Volksgarten, and with my iPhone, I don’t need to lug my big/real camera when I’m not on a dedicated photo trip.  Nice!

2- Mana Prima

OK, this was totally cool and fun!  One of our teachers, David Heskin, has developed this technique of using powdered pigment and water to create abstract designs. It has since been taught to thousands. It’s a lot like what I was doing with airbrush colours, liquid acrylics and water, but with much more control and playing time. So I guess what I’m saying  is that it’s totally different, but similar in its intuitive creative play qualities and hand application as well as in its freeing spirit – anyone can do this.

Here are some pictures from today – we started with white pigment on black with a drop of blue/magenta (collaborative boards, and then individual black gesso-covered papers) and then colour on white. Then we went outside in the courtyard to spray them with acrylic varnish as there are no binders in this technique, so water re-activates the pigment. I’m so enjoying this intensive – I feel like Me again.  David then taught the class how to mirror images in Photoshop to create cool worlds – something I enjoy doing with my photography, but I’ve never done with my paintings.  The two mirrored images are of 2 of my pieces (not the best quality as shot on iPhone) – if you can see them close up, you’ll find lots of faces and creatures.

3- Pay What You Can Restaurant – Really?!

I love to eat – you probably already know that.  I enjoy delicious food about as much as I don’t enjoy cooking.  So an all-you-can-eat Pakistani buffet at whatever price you feel like paying sounded too good to be true.  But it was absolutely awesome!  Since our lunches this week are half an hour longer than usual, I initiated a group trek to Deewan to partake in an experience that some of the students had told me about.  Wow!  First, the food was absolutely delicious.  I had two plate-fulls and desert – healthy ingredients and lots of flavour and variety.  Second, the atmosphere was unique.  Yes, the place was absolutely packed – all three levels – mostly with young people.  All the tables were full, so we sat on a raised platform with cushions and low tables at the back of the 3rd level down. There was a definitely a higher consciousness feel to the place, yet I could see or sense no religious affiliation or agenda.  It simply seemed to be what it was – I’m definitely curious in learning more about it all as, after 7 years, they must be making a profit to survive while providing such a wonderful service.  Third, the price is right.  Drinks and take-out have set prices, but the buffet is truly a pay-what-you-can/want.  I even had to figure out where to pay on my way out, handing my money to a man on the phone who just dropped it in his cash without really looking/counting.  Interestingly, I chose to pay 4 Euros ( about $5.50 Cdn – more than some and less than I’ve ever paid for a meal out here).  I chose to do so because I could – a mix of both abundance and scarcity motives it seems…. very interesting.  I chose to do so, however, knowing that next time I will pay more, also simply because I can.  This payment system very much reminded me of how I run garage sales – I ask people to pay me whatever they want / can over $1 – some pay $1 and some ask me how much I originally paid for something and pay me that.  Very interesting indeed!  Again, I’ll have to go back and chat with them when they’re less busy or read up more online – I’m very curious –

4- German Conversation Meeting

This week, I returned to the Tunnel Club for the Couchsurfing German Conversation Meeting.  If you’ll remember, I went 2 weeks ago, but no one showed up for the first half hour, so I left.  This time, I went with Lizzy, one of my classmates, and we were soon joined by a man from Poland, 2 Austrians, another from Poland, one from Turkey, and so on.  By the time we left at 8:30pm, there were about 20 people around the table and I’m sure more showed up later as it goes until 11pm.  It was great!  We got to practice and to learn even if we were the most beginner students there. It was a very welcoming atmosphere. We’re going back next week.  Couchsurfing events in town (there are lots) are free, so that’s even better!  They’re everywhere around the world, so you might want to check it out for yourself.  A truly wonderful organization.

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The Fuchs Villa

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On Thursday, my class went to the Fuchs Villa, a private museum which is also still the home of Ernst Fuchs, my teachers’ teacher and one of the founders of Fantastic Realism and Visionary Art.

01_DLH_3412I knew nothing about Professor Fuchs before I came here, but I get the sense that his life would make an amazing movie (of Jewish background during the Nazi occupation; baptism into the Roman Catholic church; acceptance into an Art Academy at 15; years of poverty followed by international recognition; fortune gained, lost, and regained; life in Paris, Israel, US, etc; devotion to Jewish-Christian understanding and many commissions by the church; 16 children from 7 women, and so much more) .  Recognized by Salvador Dali as his Austrian counterpart, Fuchs has created a plethora of work in his 83 years – drawings, paintings, sculpture, music, architecture, etc.  I certainly didn’t have a sense of it all before our visit. All I really knew is that he had developed a unique style of painting mixing egg tempura with oil paints over white (that I will be learning in the next 2 months), and had passed down his knowledge to several students who will be our teachers. I’ve occasionally seen him as he drops into our classroom, but his memory/ health have been affected by age and he hasn’t really interacted with us much.  Still, knowing a bit more about his work and his life after this visit has increased my understanding and desire to learn.  Although I don’t resonate with much of his subject matter or paintings in general (I resonate much more to the work of his students / my teachers), I can’t ignore the mastery of colour and technique and am in awe of the scope of his work. I know that when I start painting, I can be pretty prolific, but none of my work is as detailed and obviously time-consuming as this… I simply can’t imagine how he accomplished so much in one lifetime- and he’s got work all over the world, some of massive scale.  Simply amazing!

These are two examples of his drawing from his time at in art academy, where he was accepted at the age of 15.

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The villa itself was designed by famous Austrian architect Otto Wagner in 1888. When Fuchs was a young child, he told his mother he would buy it for her one day … and he did.  She spent the last decades of her life there after Fuchs saved the building from disrepair in 1973 .  The house itself is amazing to see – I’m not sure how many of the details are Wagner’s and how many are Fuchs’ as he pretty well designed everything in and around it, so I’ve simply created one large gallery of my visit there. As you’ll see, the artwork is certainly not limited to framed pieces on the walls.  Enjoy your virtual visit of the Fuchs Villa. Click on the first image to see it large and to proceed through the whole gallery at that size if you prefer.

I like this one -a bit like how I imagine integrating human figures in my abstract work.

To find out more about Professor Ernst Fuchs, his foundation, or the museum, go to his website.

 

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And My Soul Went Ah……

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My class had a field trip to the Fuchs Villa yesterday (I’ll blog about that in my next post), and when I looked up where it was, I saw that there was a big green space next to it, so I left a couple of hours early and went to explore.  I took one of the metro lines to the very last stop at Huttledorf and followed my iPhone’s map app (so grateful for that!) for about 15 minutes to Huttelbergstrasse where both the museum and the park are located.  Wow!  The minute I opened the gate, my heart and soul breathed a breath of fresh air. Already, my walk there on the tree-lined streets was refreshing (my downtown district doesn’t have any trees, it seems), and once on the steep forest path, every cell in my body was singing.  At the top of the path was a park where I brought my class back at lunch time for our picnic (a very long picnic table and benches carved out of big trees) and paths that circled up, around, and back down a hill with wildflowers still blooming. Bliss!

After the museum, Daniel (a local classmate/model/volunteer) invited us to his place 15 minutes away by bus. What a magical place – organic garden and bee hives, music room with djembe drums and other instruments, crystal haven, creek, forest, and an artistic natural oasis indoors where we relaxed for a couple of hours – it felt very familiar to me – part of the world/community I’ve called home around the world.  Nice!

I love nature!!!

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Museum Week Continues

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I know I said I wasn’t much into museums and so you’d think that going to 10 on Saturday during the Long Night of the Museums would have been enough, but surprisingly…. no.  I went to one on Monday and today our class spent the day in another (which I’ll write about another day when I go through my 300 photos).

Do you remember that in my last post I said that there was 1 museum I couldn’t get into on Saturday because they’d given away their 800 spots for the night by 7pm?  Well, I decided to go on Monday with Donnalynne, one of my classmates.  The museum is called Time Travel, and it’s basically a trip through Vienna’s history, from the days of the dinosaurs, Romans, wars, etc. through until today – all presented in a very entertaining fashion in an old monastery around the corner from our school.  I have some pictures here (Note: these are iPhone photos – I say that apologetically 🙂 ), but they don’t include the best part, which was the 5D movie in a theater where the seats move and things brush against your legs while rats take over the streets during the plague part of the movie, and blasts of hot air hit the back of your head as bombs explode during the war.  Pretty cool!  The whole tour took about 50 minutes and also included inanimatronic-figures, various multimedia shows and sound and light effects.  I was entertained – a great way to learn about history.  One definite advantage of going on Monday was that we were only 4 visitors instead of the 42 max per group, which would have been the case during Museum Night.  I can’t imagine being in the bunker or many of the other stations with 41 other people blocking my view.  Instead, we really got to enjoy both the entertainment and the setting.

these moved and talked like in Harry Potter
The Royal Family took us through their history – this is Sisi
yup, that’s me
Mozart greeted us into the music chamber
these turning seats were part of the music chamber
After the war, where I lived was part of the US zone, but my school was in the international zone
in this movie, the flying horse carriage gave us great aerial views
down into what used to be the monastery wine cellar

After the Museum, we went for dinner in a non-smoking restaurant (I didn’t know those existed!!!) with Austrian cuisine and then walked the cobblestone streets exploring the passages (many of those who owned houses/ villas/ palaces downtown created throughways for pedestrians as it was too dangerous to walk in the streets with all the horse carts). Today, many of those remain. I’m not sure if the one we found was part of that, but today it is filled with boutiques, cafes and cool spots.  See for yourself.  I got home at 11pm, much past my regular bedtime, so I had to wake up with an alarm on Tuesday …. not fun.  I obviously did no homework that day.  Oh well…. it was worth it.

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