Tag: landscape

Hannah Wilson

The Landscapes of Emily Jeffords

1 Comment Art, Art Lesson, Artist Feature

As I’ve aged, I’ve become more and more interested in handmade things. For one, they’re usually way more beautiful than mass-produced objects, and secondly, they have meaning – a meaning that is present from the moment they are conceived as ideas in the artist’s mind, until the day you finally place it lovingly in your home, where it will remain for years to come. Not only is that object unique and special, but purchasing it means that you’re supporting small businesses, keeping our economy more community-centered rather than homogenized and corporate.

I think the best way to start incorporating handmade goods into your home is though pottery and art prints. I don’t have the budget to buy large handmade furniture pieces or original canvas paintings (which is my dream!), but I DO have the resources to purchase an earthy hand-thrown mug to drink coffee from in the morning, or a small print that I can incorporate into a gallery wall. In fact, I only own three mugs at the moment because I’m holding out to find handmade ones that fit – I want to assemble a meaningful collection, not just a pack of identical objects filling my shelves.

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Celebrating Midsummer in Sweden
Hannah Wilson

Celebrating Midsummer in Sweden

Comments Travel

 

Before we left France to celebrate Midsummer in Sweden, I had watched this video that demonstrated exactly what celebrating the holiday would be like. The video included things like flower crowns, strawberry cake, schnapps, maypoles and frog dances, and I gotta say, I was not disappointed. There could have been more frog dancing, in my opinion, but the rest of the week was filled with old fashioned summertime fun.

From the glass-like lakes to the fields of wildflowers, Sweden during the summer was so beautiful. Each night the sun would dip just past the horizon, but never fully set, so you could still see the entire landscape 24 hours per day. It also meant that sunsets were extra long – hours long in fact – and everybody knows that sunsets provide the most beautiful light of the day.

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Marie Antoinette's Garden in Spring - French Californian
Hannah Wilson

Marie Antoinette’s Garden During Spring

7 Comments Versailles

Every time spring rolls around, there’s always that first perfectly temperate, blue-skied, wonderful day of the year. Whenever it arrives, without fail, I find myself proclaiming it the BEST DAY EVER. It can’t be the best day ever if it happens every single year! Aside from my excitability when it comes to weather (yes, I can and will discuss weather in casual conversation), last Sunday really was perfect. Apparently, the rest of Versailles thought so too, because droves of people were outdoors.

None of my 3 friends could come with me, so I explored on my own. But it’s all the same to me – I explore alone most of the time. It’s actually therapeutic for me, to wander around and observe beauty (and take pictures of it).

I made my way through town and towards the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s domain, comfortably removed from the main palace and all the strict rules and regulations that came with it. From here, she created a universe filled with romantic gardens and farm animals. When I explore this area of the grounds, I like to think that I can still feel her presence lingering.

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Hannah Wilson

Travel Diary – Sweden

1 Comment Travel

Our week-long trip to Sweden is winding down; tomorrow we head back to France via car, train, plane, and then another train.

This trip was essentially one big, continuous circle of fika, or coffee, sweet cakes, and light conversation. Of course, most of the time I didn’t have any idea what was being said, since I don’t speak Swedish! Knowing about five words – speedbump, frog, sausage, and beach – doesn’t get you very far in a real conversation.

I am in love with Swedish cakes, however. Nothing like texture of French pastries, the Swedes like softer things, much like their temperament. Sugar cake with a layer of butter in the middle, vanilla-cinnamon muffins with custard on the top, and cardamum rolls. They take their coffee strong, but not too strong. Not quite espresso, but way darker than the American cup o’ joe.

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Hannah Wilson

Art History Lesson: Impressionists you’ve never heard of, Part 1

Comments Art, Art Lesson

If you’ve taken any kind of art class, whether it be studio art when you were 12 years old or “Art Appreciation 101” in university, you’ve definitely, without a doubt, heard of the French Impressionists.   I don’t even want to know how many times I’ve sat through lessons about how urbanisation, industrialisation, photography, leisure time, democratization of society, Orientalism, and of course, a desire to break the traditional rules of Fine Art all came together to create probably the most widely-known art movement of all time.  Don’t get me wrong, I adore this kind of art;  In fact, these are my favorite types of paintings to see in museums and galleries; Musée D’orsay will always be my favorite.  However, sometimes it’s nice to learn something new, to see a fresh side of an otherwise over-exhausted subject.

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