An Exhibition at Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris - Chaim Soutine

     I have to admit, with all of my journeys to Paris, I had yet to visit Musee de l'Orangerie.  And even more embarrassing, I didn't even know the museum existed.  It wasn't until I watched Midnight in Paris, that I realized I had not seen Monet's, Nympheas, the water lilies series. Where were those panels, why had I not seen them before?  It was certainly worth the 20 year wait.  (Musee de l'Orangerie is located to the right as you face the entrance to the Jardin des Tuileries). 

My favorite Soutine painting, La Jeune Anglaise - very sassy, very French!

Musee de l'Orangerie 

     Our last day in Paris was rainy and cold, blanketed in gray skies which accented the autumn hues of brilliant reds, piercing oranges, mellow browns and yes, even the deepest shades of black.  A perfect day for a visit to a just discovered museum.  Musee de l'Orangerie is filled with impressionist and post-impressionist paintings.  We were entranced.  As we slowly made our way from the Water Lilies panels, down the steps to other impressionist paintings, following a well trodden path, we were delightfully surprised to find an exhibition of Chaim Soutine, paintings .

Chaim Soutine

Chaim Soutine was a French painter of Russian Jewish origin.  He was born in 1893 and died in 1943.  I do not want to delve into the perplexity of Soutine's mind or life .... that is what Google is for :)  But, I did want to share with you some of his paintings I found lovely and charming.  He did sometimes paint on a more "darker" side; animal carcasses split wide open displayed on a butcher's table or hanging from a hook.  It was these paintings of women and children, buildings and countrysides that I found most endearing.  Although he painted the human face with a twisted, distorted appearance, he was still able to capture the innocence of children and the sometime sassiness yet elegant attitude of his women.  

Listen to the music and enjoy ....

Woman in Red

Woman Holding Dog 

Little Girl with Doll

Madeleine Castaing

Woman with Folded Arms

Portrait of Maria Lani

Girl in Green

Big Blue Tree

Chartres Cathedral

Self Portrait

All of these photos were collected from Pinterest with the exception of, La Jeune Anglaise.  Please do not use photos for monetary purposes.  

Do Not Be Afraid .....

Pause the Chopin Music
I hate to admit but I almost threw in the towel with Halloween this year.  My husband and I just got home from our trip to Spain and France late Saturday evening.  Twenty minutes after having planting our feet in "home sweet home", the telephone rang.  It was my husband's work.  Hawaii was under the threat of a tsunami and he had to leave immediately to help set up the 911 command station.  As he rushed to prepare what he needed for a long night, I started to get chills, a sore throat, burning eyes and runny nose (sorry for the description).  Fully aware I was on my own in this emergency, I mentally took comfort in a wee bit knowledge.  Our house stood a block above the evacuation line ..... does Mother Nature know boundry lines? In the past, I would gather up my dogs and go to higher ground.  Not this time.  With a jet lagged, exhausted and now, flu laced body, I took two night-time cold tablets and fell fast asleep on the couch.  I was awaken every hour to the sounds of the sirens loudly whining.  But just as quickly as I awoke, I feel asleep.

For several days, I laid in bed nursing my cold with medicine, hot peppermint tea and lots of rest.  But, as I laid in bed, I watched the news channels trying to keep abreast of Hurricane Sandy who was labeled Monster Storm, Storm of the Century and Franken-Storm.  Scary stuff!  In this aftermath and on this Halloween Day, it's hard to ... well... muster the "spirit" to celebrate Halloween.  If you have read my Halloween post from last year, I am not "huge" on Halloween.  But, the nostalgic part of me, wants to carve a pumpkin, light a candle inside of it and open my door to Trick-or- Treaters.

This morning I awoke at 4 a.m. and could not will myself back to sleep.  So, I grabbed my iPad to check on one of my favorite bloggers to see how she held up in the midst of Sandy.  If you need some inspiration today to get into the Halloween groove, go to www.susanbranch.com and read her latest posting.  It's sensitive, sweet, honest and inspiring.

So, Susan Branch and fellow readers, here is my small contribution to Halloween .....

You must pause the Chopin music and hit play on the YouTube video .....

YES!

"What you lookin' at"?

Ghost Dog ... scary!

Waiting .....

That ol' black magic....

That's me in the front.  I am sooo ready to go get some Halloween Candy!
(My sisters, Vicki and Danielle)

That's me in the pig tails ... I think I was suppose to be Heidi.  Danielle is the Spanish lady, Steve, my brother is the clown and that pumpkin head kid is my brother, Jeff.

Sassy!

Vintage Halloween Decorations

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'
 ~ The Raven
Edgar Allan Poe

Happy Halloween! OooOOOoooOOoooooo

only the family photos are my own...all others have been collected from Pinterest and Tumblr.  If you would like the original source, please contact me.  If one of these photos are yours and you would like me to remove it, please contact me.

Feeling Very French ....

I'm back from Paris and Gilded Palm is now open again for business.  New vintage merchandise will listed within the next few weeks.

Tumblr photo.  Please contact me for original source.

Off to Spain and France

Aloha to all of you lovely people who follow my blog.  I am off tonight for Spain (Barcelona) and France (Provence and Paris).  The Etsy shop is closed until the end of October.  Looking forward to being back into the groove of things when vacation time is over.  This is not a business trip but I hope to find some treasures to sell at the shop or maybe a special "something" for a give-a-way.  

xoxo, Rochelle

Goodbye Summer .....

  Although the seasonal change is mild on Maui, if you live here long enough, it can feel  monumental.  As summer slides into fall, the days grow shorter, the air slightly cools and at night, it is down right cold.  I long for it all summer and today it is here..... I celebrate the season called, Autumn!  
         

"SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

        Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless"...

"With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

    To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

        And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

            To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells"...

"With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

        And still more, later flowers for the bees,

        Until they think warm days will never cease" .... John Keats

The photos posted are not my own.  Please contact me or go to my Tumbr link above in tab bar to find original source

Winter Garden Program

I love the cover of this 1914 program with a nymph-like lady dancing in a Grecian dress under a scroll bearing the words, "Winter Garden".  The Comedy and Tragedy masks are a clue that this is a playbill, possibly from the Winter Garden Theatre in New York.  On the back of the frame is a handwritten date of 1914.  The Winter Garden Theatre, opened it's doors in 1911 and was remodeled in 1922.  This would mean, the program dates back when the original theatre was still in existence.  I purchased this framed cover at an antique store located in Clovis, California.  I try to imagine who once held this program, probably in gloved hands resting on an silk embroidered dress .....  maybe a well-off farmer's wife from the central valley of California, out on the town in New York City, a trip she had dreamed of for many years as she helped tend the orchard with her husband.  She is seeing a play in a grand theatre for the first time.  The playbill will become a life long treasure, a fond memory enclosed in glass.  Precious enough to frame, with colors so vividly intoxicating, it has become a piece of art.  

For sale at Gilded Palm on Etsy - $22

Whose handwriting is this?















The photos above are my own with the exception of the GIF clip.  Please contact me for the original source.