Saturday Art Saves: Art from the Chateau Chenonceau

J-lightfoot-chateau-de-chenonceau-touraine-loire-valley-centre-france_i-G-21-2162-UICCD00Z
photo via J Lightfoot Art.com

Each Saturday I focus on a different artist that I admire. From potters to painters, chefs to collectors, seamstress to songwriters, lifestyle to lovers… anyone who set the paintbrush, pastry brush, hands and heart on fire to create.

Those who inspire art to flow where it may.

 

 

 

 

 

As we are traveling I thought I would show you a collection of photos I took years ago in the Chateau Chenonceau.

 

The ribbon without a bow,

Held her own,

Without fanfare,

Elegant in simplicity, and comfortable with matters of the heart.

Photo: Portrait of one of the six women of Chateau de Chenonceau.

 

Porcelain skin tinted by the glow of a pink rose.

An arm strung with pearls, bejewels a dimpled young hand.

A wisp of a cloud shields her breast…but not her heart.

A love ache.

Painting from the Chateau de Chenonceau.

Do you have a secret about your first love?

Cliquez ici pour trouver le meilleur…..

 

                      

 

 

An 18th century painting in Chateau de Chenonceau. A young maiden sends a thought to heaven and receives a welcoming message from an angel.

Thoughts flowered.

 

                      

We each have a unique way of seeing that which surrounds us. Depending where we focus, at what angle can lead to varied perspectives. We can each look at the same image and see it differently.

 

                       

Some of us focus on details, others take in the larger picture. We can look beyond which is in front of us, often without knowing as if to gather or feel something which is unseen, and yet not notice the most obvious.

 

                      

I remind myself to take a different view, stand back, and look. Listen to what I see. Taste what is in front of me. Embrace that which might be hard to hold, by allowing myelf to see something another way. Challenge myself not to turn a blind eye.

photo: Interior images of Chateau de Chenonceau. Flowers bloom red in front a painting of a woman wearing a pearl pin in her hair.

My Amazon: A different way to see the world around you.

 

                        

Have you ever been transported by emotion, where an overflowing sense takes you beyond the skin wrapped around your bones? Where the present moment expands, leading you to a place where there isn't a map and your mind cannot label it. Like a lucid dream, where the air is no longer what you breath to survive. Where surrendering you find yourself trusting the interior altar of sanctity.

It doesn't take much for this "feeling" in me to arise, though it isn't something I can control. This expanse of wonder and awe, this hard to label feeling, arises when I least expect it, and when it does everything makes sense. I am caught in the happiness to be alive, grounded in something beyond me.

Have you ever felt like that?

Photo: A small detail of a painting of three nude women, from the Chateau de Chenonceau. The painting is larger than life, and her ecstasy evident.

 

 



Comments

9 responses to “Saturday Art Saves: Art from the Chateau Chenonceau”

  1. Kathie B

    Perhaps mine will be the minority view here, but for me joy comes through attaining understanding — from logically deducing WHY something works, HOW it was accomplished, WHAT was used in achieving it, etc., in order to create beauty and pleasure.
    This is equally true whether figuring out the simplest puzzle or the most complex trick by an illusionist; the techniques and materials a person uses in creating a work of art; words carefully chosen by a writer or speaker; notes written down by a composer and later interpreted by a musical performer; structures of all sorts designed and built by humans; and scenery that has naturally evolved over the millennia through changes in geology, biology and other scientific phenomena (including, of course, those underlying a reflected image, above).
    True, we haven’t figured out everything yet, but though the pursuit of explanations comes beautiful, satisfying order. For me, NOT knowing is a form of chaos, which causes distress.

  2. Yes, but isn’t it the beauty that captures your attention–that makes you wonder–then causes you to analyze?
    In art school critiques we had to defend our work. We had to, in essence, explain why we liked or did not “like” another student’s work also. I think “liking” is a simpler, lazier way of saying the elements work without saying why. The best answer now, for some, might be simply, “I don’t know, but it works for me.” 🙂
    The blue ribbon instantly brought to mind this shocker: Her husband led her around by a ribbon ’round her neck. Then I thought of the women who were led ’round by nose rings. Oh, my. I must back up. I enjoy comments that make me . . .

  3. yes corey I have experienced this-but not nearly to the frequency which you have–it is like you are in this world bur for a moment(time not being measured by second/minute stsandard unit) you are not of this world-there is a certain elation of the spirit-a joy- a inter connectedness-and coming to is almost like a disappointment-yes I can relate to what it is that you have described-although I find it hard to put words to define it unlike yourself who has done so …

  4. ‘Have you ever felt like that?” Oh yes absolutely and I love when it happens… And comes when I least expect it. The Mahler symphony that I experienced as so beautiful I began to cry. The beauty of my peonies in full bloom and the way my roses cover the picket fence. The joy of discovering a new food. The joy in living.

  5. Have you ever felt like that? – Yes, at the chateau of Versailles, and generally speaking, in the Loire Valley as well. Love Chenonceau – gorgeous castle!

  6. Yes, I have felt like this the challenge is taking the time to realize and savor it so I can recall the feeling when I get stressed. Beautiful post – I will bookmark this one. Your photos are full of peace and beauty.

  7. Kathie B

    Understanding is essential. It’s a matter of being able to explain WHY something’s beautiful. My training was in classical music, where we learned to analyze HOW a composer made a work beautiful — a point popularized in the play and film “Amadeus,” which illustrated why Salieri’s music was banal, but Mozart’s inspired — as well as how a performer interpreted a piece in order to make it more beautiful.

  8. Marie-Noëlle

    I adore this castle !!! and that of Azay-Le-Rideau !!!

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