Days 49-50 – Hoodoos: Funny Name, Serious Splendor!

So I’ve again had spotty internet, but the last two days we have spent traveling to and exploring Bryce Canyon National Park (http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm). Bryce is known for its hoodoos, which are pillars of rock eroded into odd-shapes. I haven’t had a chance to load pictures from our trip yet (they’re all on Marcel’s camera, and he’s off at a talk about astronomy right now- Bryce Canyon is an awesome spot for stargazing and their Astronomy festival is going on now), but here is an image I pulled off of Google Images so you can get an idea of what hoodoos and Bryce Canyon look like:

One of the best things about being at Bryce Canyon is that it’s significantly cooler than the other places we have been so far on this trip. It was somewhere around 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit most of today, and was even slightly overcast part of the day. This makes for much more comfortable hiking weather than blazing sun and 100 degrees, which has been what much of this trip has been so far. I used to live in Texas so I have experience with that kind of weather, but it’s a lot easier to hike with a baby when the weather is not so harsh. Today we hiked about 5 miles, and most of the time it was very pleasant. We did part of the rim trail, and we did the Mossy Cave trail, which leads to a waterfall! I love waterfalls!

The best part of the day was probably the rim trail. Bryce Canyon National Park has several viewpoints set up that you can drive to, and these are all pretty crowded during the day with lots of people snapping photos. Similar to the Grand Canyon, however, there are trails along the rim between the major viewpoints. The portion of the rim trail we hiked was pretty quiet. There were not a lot of people and the views were spectacular! I had never heard of a hoodoo before this trip, but looking down into the canyon at all of these funny shaped rocks and the pine trees surrounding them was quite extraordinary. The light dancing off the odd shapes really gives a lot of depth to the canyon when you’re viewing it from above. I’ve felt many times on this trip that you really have to see the natural beauty of these places in person to appreciate it, and today was no exception. I had seen pictures of the hoodoos on the park website, but that was no comparison to seeing them in person. Tomorrow we are going to hike some more trails and see more of Bryce Canyon. I’m not sure whether I’ll have working internet or not, but as soon as I do I’ll update and try to get a few pictures of our trip uploaded.

By the way, I am definitely still getting some good coffee even though I’m traveling around and camping. Mr. Coffeebeans brought a hand grinder with us and he has been grinding coffee beans fresh every morning, so I still get my coffee reflection time and my caffeine fix.

Ok, that’s all for now, I’ll have more updates as soon as working internet makes it possible!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 35 – Great Barrier Reef: Because How Could I Not?

Continuing on a bit with the water theme I seem to have started, I decided to mention the Great Barrier Reef today. Because, honestly, on a list of natural wonders/natural beauty, how could I not include it? It’s commonly called one of the seven wonders of the natural world. (By the way, so are the northern lights, which I didn’t even realize when I was writing about them the other day!) This makes me think that traveling to all of the seven wonders of the natural world would be a fun goal. I’m already aiming to travel to all seven continents. Yes- even Antarctica! So far I’ve been to four: North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Perhaps someday I can check Australia off of that list by making a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef!

The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea near Queensland Australia. It is impressive for a number of reasons: it’s the only natural wonder visible and recognizable from outer space, it’s the largest coral reef in the world, and the largest, individual formation created by living organisms in the world! It spans over 1600 miles and consists of over 2900 separate reefs. In other words, they don’t call it “Great” for nothing! Read more about the Great Barrier Reef here: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/great-barrier-reef/.

Scuba and snorkeling are the best ways to see the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve never been scuba diving, but I want to try it someday. (Although I have a little bit of an irrational fear of sharks. And jellyfish. Oh my god I’m terrified of jellyfish! You’d think since I skydive I could handle scuba diving, too!) I know literally nothing about scuba diving right now except that it allows you to go deeper than and stay underwater longer than snorkeling. Have you ever been scuba diving? If so, where? Dreaming about scuba diving at this beautiful natural wonder was definitely a good way to relax during my morning coffee today!

The Great Barrier Reef as viewed beneath the surface!

 

View of the Great Barrier Reef from Above!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 31 – Month Two: Nature’s Artistry

After spending a month looking at different types of art man created, I thought looking at some natural beauty would be a nice segue from there. After all, there are some spectacular places in nature that even the most talented painter could never truly portray. Even photographs cannot do true justice to some of nature’s best masterpieces. Some things just have to be experienced. Take, for example, Glacier National Park in Montana. I took a road trip there in Summer of 2012. Since there is a gap of a few months between taking the bar exam and getting results, it’s customary to take a “bar trip” during that time. Kind of a last hurrah for those who have finished up law school and are leaving the flexible schedule of being a student behind. Many of my classmates took amazing trips to popular cities in Asia or Europe, but I was short on cash and was feeling the need for some peace and quiet. I decided to drive to a few National Parks, one of which was Glacier. Below is one picture from my trip, taken at the end of a hike on one of Glacier’s many trails. I love this picture, and looking at it always takes me back to that peaceful hike. As beautiful as this picture is, you really have to see this scenery in person to truly take it in.

However, since it’s just not possible to visit every beautiful place I want to go, reading about these places and seeing photographs of them really is the next best thing. We are lucky to live in a time where a few searches on Google can give us information and images of so many places. Learning about the natural beauty on our planet always amazes me, and I feel as though it’s stress relieving to look at photographs of the world’s natural wonders. So, I’m going to spend the next 30 days of morning coffee reflections learning more about some of nature’s art: the beautiful places in nature that take your breath away. Who knows, perhaps I will someday have a chance to travel to some of the places that make it on to my blog. Having some places to dream about is never a bad thing!

Also, this is a great time for me to write about this particular subject, because we are going on vacation in a few weeks to see the Grand Canyon and a few other National Parks. I’ve wanted to see the Grand Canyon for a very long time, so I’m very excited! Once we are on the road, I’ll share some pictures from our trip.

In the meantime, are there any places you have either seen or would like to see that you think are great examples of Nature’s artistry? I’ve been lucky enough to visit some really spectacular places, and I’d love to find more spectacular places to dream about visiting someday!

Here I am on another favorite trip, at the end of a hike up to Norway's Preikestolen, or "Pulpit Rock." 

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 30 – Yes, I Do Like Art

Today is the last day of my Art Month of the Coffee Bean Dreams Project. In case you missed the beginning posts, my plan is to spend each month focusing on a different subject, and art was the first topic. In my initial post about art, I asked the question of whether I even like art. (Read it here: http://www.coffeebeandreams.blogspot.com/2014/05/day-1-do-i-even-like-art.html). I talked about how I’ve always listed “art” as one of my hobbies because I felt that you were supposed to do that, but I wasn’t sure if I really actually enjoyed art.

After spending a month researching just a tiny bit of art over morning coffee, I’ve learned three things. First of all, I do like art. I wouldn’t call myself an expert in any particular area or type of art, and I probably would not impress anyone with my knowledge of anything artistic. However, I have enjoyed spending this month learning new things about I never knew about paintings, different kinds of ancient art, and photography. Which brings me to my second revelation: learning about art is much more enjoyable when you’re learning because you want to and not because you have to for school or something like that. (cue snarky “thanks, Captain Obvious” comment). And third: it’s really fun to discuss art with friends who are also interested in it. I’ve had several people give me their thoughts and opinions on my blog posts over the last month, both commenting on what I wrote and also suggesting art that I might find interesting. This interactive learning has been what really sealed the deal for me. I found that art was so much more enjoyable when I was comparing my thoughts with friends on an honest level rather than trying to impress someone with my interest in or knowledge of art.

I tried to decided today what my favorite piece of art was out of the ones I’ve looked at this month. I don’t know if I can really pick one, but I will say I really enjoyed learning about the Impressionist paintings. I’ve always had a hard time trying to learn about painting, but reading about the Impressionists was interesting to me and I found a lot of paintings I really liked.

So that’s it for Art Month… stay tuned tomorrow for the next 30 day topic. As a final bonus, here’s a painting by Max Beckmann that I really like, Quappi in a Pink Sweater. I’ve had a print of this for years and I love it!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 22 – One Shape Does Not Fit All!

I’m actually writing my blog early in the day today! Our schedule has been all over the place (yup, thanks to the move), so I decided to take advantage of a free moment in the morning to write. Also, sadly, I was unable to have any coffee this morning since our coffee pot was packed away already and I couldn’t sneak out to buy some. So today’s blog is brought to you by some tea I managed to scrounge up and drink out of a Styrofoam cup.

Today will probably be my last day on the subject of Greek Pottery, but I did not want to move on until I discussed the shapes a little bit. Ancient Greek Vases were not “one shape fits all.” As the Metropolitan Museum’s Article yesterday noted, “Painted vases were often made in specific shapes for specific daily uses.” (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vase/hd_vase.htm). I also found some information on vase shapes from an online Reed College study guide. (http://cdm.reed.edu/cdm4/studyguides/vases/intro-types.html). (No Wikipedia today, either! Go me!)

Examples of some different vase shapes and their uses are amphora (transporting food and wine), kanthoros or kylix (drinking water), lekythos (pouring libations), loutrophoros (carrying water for a bridal bath), and albastron (a tiny vase that could be tied to the wrist for carrying perfumes and oils). As you can see, the vase shapes are a mix of shapes for everyday uses and shapes for special or ritual occasions. This is a picture I found on Reed’s website that shows some of the different shapes:

Again, the complexity of these ancient traditions fascinates me. I’m not sure I can think of something similar today. In our culture, are there really any groups of widely accepted shapes for different purposes? The only thing I could really come up with is that we have different shapes of wine glasses for red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, etc. That doesn’t even come close to the complexity of the Greek Vase shapes. Am I forgetting something? Can you think of an analogous example in our lives today?

Finally, just because, here’s another picture of a Greek vase. This is an amphora shaped jar:

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 19 – Ancient Greek Vases and Living Life on Purpose

So, this morning I read more about art as displayed on vases in Ancient Greece. First of all, let me say that I think vases are very cool, and I wish I could somehow have a vase from Ancient Greece to display in my home! A few years ago I spent two weeks in Antigua, Guatemala studying Spanish, and one of my favorite souvenirs from the trip is a vase I bought in one of the local stores. Vases can be so beautiful, and are a great way to brighten up a home’s interior.

In Ancient Greece, the Protogeometrical Period was the first expression of reviving civilization during the Greek Dark Ages. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protogeometric_art). Decorations on vases from this era were abstract and characterized by horizontal bands and concentric circles. See an example, below:

Following the Protogeometric Period was the Geometric Period. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_art). Instead of just the circles of the Protogeometric Period, Greek pottery from the Geometric Period boasted new designs such as triangles. During the Geometric Period, figures such as horses, stags, goats, and more started to appear. Eventually, human figures begin to appear as well. The most exciting thing to me is that, towards the end of the Geometric Period, representations of Greek mythology start to appear. I have always been fascinated by Greek mythology, and seeing it portrayed on Ancient Greek vases is really interesting. See below for an example of a vase from the Geometric Period.

I also wanted to take a moment today to discuss how my “coffee bean dreams” project is going, since I’m just about 2/3 of the way through the first month. This has been both a very rewarding and very challenging experience. I have had people who I never would have expected contact me and tell me that they are enjoying my blog and enjoying reading about my daily art discoveries. I have to admit, that’s pretty cool. When I started blogging I thought I might just be talking to myself for the next 365 days, so it’s pretty cool to know that there are some people enjoying my journey.

How I feel about the project is an evolving matter, however. Some days, I’m very excited to drink my coffee and learn more about the art I’m researching at the moment. Other days, I just want to curl up in a little ball and not think about anything. However, I was inspired recently when I went to brunch with my friends Lauren and Hilary. We talked a little bit about mindfulness, and how important it is to, for lack of a better way of putting it, live life on purpose. Sometimes it is easy to just start going through the motions and let everything get stale. This blog is a great way to keep myself accountable to my goal of not letting that happen. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful life- I have great friends, a great partner, a beautiful daughter, a great education, and great career opportunities. I don’t want to just settle into a routine. I want to take advantage of the life I have been blessed with and learn and grow. And this blog is my way of doing that. Some days I wake up super excited about everything. Other days I feel the drudgery of life’s daily routines weighing on me. But committing to spend my morning coffee time every morning on learning and growing gives me a feeling of accomplishment that is so gratifying, and  I’m very happy thus far with the project!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 15 – Egyptian Tombs

I didn’t have much more time to blog today. My family was still in town and then I had to take Baby Girl for her two month shots. She was not happy about that, and was obviously not feeling well afterwards. However, she finally took a nap and when she woke up seems to be feeling better. I’m just crossing my fingers that she doesn’t get a fever – I’m pretty much terrified of her getting a fever!

Even though this blog is going to be short again today, I just wanted to talk a little more about the Egyptian tombs I’ve been reading about during my coffee time. It’s really interesting to me that the Egyptians spent so much time and so many resources on burying people. The Metropolitan Museum’s website discusses three different tombs which were excavated in Egypt by an expedition of the Metropolitan’s Department of Egyptian Art. The tombs belonged to Wah, Hatnofer, and Khonsu. I’ll be writing more about these tombs and searching for others over the next few days. I have to say, I do love ancient art like this. It’s all got such a haunting, otherworldly feel. Perhaps it’s because the Egyptians were decorating for people who had died, or perhaps it’s because these pieces are just so very, very old! Either way, I’m looking forward to more learning over the weekend, and to reinvigorating my discovery of art. In the meantime, here’s a vignette from a coffin lid, from sometime around 1279-1213 B.C.

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone- and check in for blog updates if you have a chance!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 12 – Art or Laziness?

I woke up very excited today- my brother and his wife and toddler son are on their way to Chicago to visit us! I can’t wait for Baby Girl to meet her cousin! I was already bouncing around the house, but, I decided today would nevertheless be a good day to drink an entire pot of coffee. (But it’s only one of those little four cup pots. Don’t judge.)

I turned my jittery attention to Cubism. (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm) As I believe I mentioned in an earlier blog, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are credited with creating Cubism between 1907 and 1914. (And, as I believe I’ve also mentioned, I’m not so much a fan of cubism or abstract painting styles). Basically, Cubism rejected the idea that art should imitate nature and instead focused on fractured geometric forms. At first, the subject of Cubist paintings was usually discernible, but between 1910 and 1912 “high” Analytic Cubism was popular and works were so abstracted that it was difficult to really see what they were- although popular themes were still lifes of musical instruments, glasses, and the human face and figure. Still Life with a Bottle of Rum, pictured below, is an example of one of Picasso’s Analytic Cubist works. Synthetic Cubism came between 1912-1913, and began with the technique of  papiers collés – placing large pieces of printed or colored paper into a composition to allude to a particular object. Man with a Hat and Violin, pictured below is an example of a work created using  papiers collés.

So, I think it’s important to say that, although I am not particularly moved by the Cubist works, I understand that it is art on purpose and there is some method to the madness. These artists were not just being lazy and “throwing paint on a canvass and calling it art,” which I feel is a popular thing to say when you don’t like this style. They were experimenting with a particular technique. That technique grew and evolved, and many of these works are considered serious works of art today and enjoyed by many people. So, even though this style is not exactly my cup of tea, I think it’s quite fair to say that their experimentation was not for nothing.

Do you enjoy Cubist works? If not, can you at least appreciate that there was an artistic effort being made, or do you think I’m crazy for thinking that such works are indeed masterpieces of art?

Picasso - Still Life with a Bottle of Rum

Picasso - Man with a Hat and Violin

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 7 – Is “Crazy” (or being an Incan Savage) a Requirement for a Good Artist?

I got some coffee creamer yesterday, so I put the green tea away and switched back to coffee today. By the way, I love coffee but I don’t necessarily consider myself a coffee snob. Sometimes I buy really expensive coffee online, sometimes I pick up a bag of beans at Starbucks, and sometimes I grab stuff from the sale bin at Target. Today’s selection was one of those sale bin specialties – Target Brand White Chocolate Strawberry Coffee. If you’re wondering how the heck Target flavored their coffee like white chocolate strawberries, you would be justified in doing so. Let’s just say it smells delicious while brewing and tastes like chemicals when you actually drink it. Thank goodness I had a fresh supply of creamer to take the edge off a bit.

So today while drinking coffee creamer with a bit of coffee, I continued reading some about Post Impressionism. I browsed through some information on Paul Cézanne and Georges Seurat, but today’s real find came when I read a biography page on Paul Gaugin (find it here: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gaug/hd_gaug.htm).  I have to admit today’s blog strays a little bit away from a review of the actual art and into gossip tabloid-esque territory… but I really can’t help it when I read things like “Descended on his mother's side from Peruvian nobility, [Gaugin] spent his early childhood in Lima. He would later misrepresent his ancestry to portray himself as an Incan savage” and “Gauguin encouraged van Gogh to paint as he himself did, from memory and imagination… rather than from motifs in nature. Their collaboration ended abruptly when van Gogh had a mental breakdown and cut off part of his left ear.” Seriously, is it a requirement that you have to be a little crazy to be creative? I mean, we have here a fake Incan savage and someone who cut off his ear. There’s a lot more interesting information in the biography- I encourage you to give this one a read. I can only imagine the US Weekly covers if these artists were alive and famous today. Is it necessary to be a little crazy to create this level of art, and, if so, is it worth it for humanity? Sure, we have some awesome art thanks to these guys, but maybe they would have personally been better off in a bit more stable of a career? I’m not sure there is a good answer to that question. You have to take care of yourself, but you also have to follow your passion, I think.

Gaguin poured a lot into his art. He started out as an Impressionist, but eventually moved past this and set the stage for Fauvism and Expressionism (which I definitely need to study some as I continue my art journey). He spent time living in Tahiti, which  influenced his painting. His masterpiece was painted while he was there, and is entitled Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (pictured below). It’s an allegorical painting known as a culmination of his art. I’m not sure how I feel about, except to say that the title itself definitely shows Gaguin had a troubled, searching heart. The painting seems busy and tense to me. I like the colors, but that is about it. Something about it moves you, though. Perhaps it is knowing that Gaguin was troubled. Although I’m not sure I understand the technical merit of the painting, seeing the title and feeling the haunting emotion behind the painting makes it hard for me to just dismiss it outright. Is emotion the most important aspect to art?

I’m not quite sure how to answer that question.

Xoxo, Diana

Day 4 - Dalmatians and Impressionism

I decided to spend another day learning a little bit about Impressionism, since I’ve only really read about specific artists or works and not on the broader topic of Impressionism itself. I read through the National Gallery’s Guide to Impressionism (find it here: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/learn-about-art/guide-to-impressionism/guide-to-impressionism/*/viewPage/1), and realized that Claude Monet was an Impressionist. This is probably not news to most people, however, let’s review: I am pretty much completely illiterate when it comes to art.

Monet is a famous name in art - famous enough that I think most people would recognize the name even if they don’t know he was an Impressionist. The first time I remember hearing about Monet is when I was twelve years old and taking painting lessons at a Hobby Lobby. At this point in my life, I was obsessed with puppies, as I think most girls are at some point during their childhood. Specifically, I was obsessed with Dalmatians, since I was lucky enough that my parents had allowed us to get a Dalmatian puppy. The only thing I wanted to paint was Dalmatian puppies. I painted Dalmatians in gardens, at the beach, and even in a gift box. I wasn’t a particularly talented painter, but I had fun creating these tributes to Dalmatians. The teacher did her best to not only teach us some about painting, but also to introduce us to some well-known painters. I remember Monet because she showed us his work, Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies (pictured below), and I liked it so much I decided to break my streak of Dalmatian paintings and paint a water-lily pond. So, I guess, even back then I was a fan of the Impressionists. I just didn’t pay enough attention to remember the term Impressionism.

Now, I’m rediscovering Impressionism. One snippet from the National Gallery’s guide that I found interesting was that “…significant to the Impressionists was an interest in the way in which the human mind processes what it sees. When we look at a landscape, or a crowd of people, we do not instantly see every face, or leaf in detailed focus, but as a mass of colour and light. Impressionist painters tried to express this experience.” I like this aspect of these paintings. Sometimes it’s nice to not focus on details, but on an overall experience. Maybe art viewed in this light is more attractive in a certain sense. There’s no pressure to find specific details, but rather the freedom to enjoy an overall experience. Something to think about at least.

Xoxo, 

Diana

Day 3 - Moms in Art

This morning I decided to look a bit into mothers portrayed in art, since today is Mother’s Day. I’m very excited about Mother’s Day this year, since it’s my very first one. I was hoping my seven week old daughter would decide to scream and cry a little less today as a Mother’s Day present, but she seemed unimpressed by the holiday and continued on with business as usual. Oh well, c’est la vie.

I simply googled “motherhood in art” and came across this four and a half minute lecture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Find it here: http://www.metmuseum.org/connections/motherhood/). This is the perfect snippet of information to watch over morning coffee. The lecturer, Jean Sorabella, talked a bit about how she rarely sees an image where it appears that the mother has work to do- most of the mothers she comes across in works of art seem to have perfect angel children. These moms have it all together. Of course, this is not reality, and the idealizations of the moms in the works Sorabella presented did irk me a bit. It gave me the same kind of feeling of annoyance I get when someone asks me if my newborn is sleeping through the night yet. People have been asking me this since she was just days old, when of course she was not sleeping through the night. But, everyone seems very concerned that my daughter causes the least amount of disruption in my life. Obviously, anyone who has kids or has spent much time around people who do have kids knows that kids cause a lot of disruption. It’s just the way it is. But the art Sorabella presented seemed to follow the general trend I’ve seen of idealizing motherhood instead of portraying it as the hard work that it is. This kind of annoyed me, but I might be particularly sensitive to this right now since I'm a first time mom with a newborn and a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility.

The lecture did introduce me to Mary Cassatt, whose works mainly portray motherhood. I did a little bit of quick research on Cassatt and I enjoyed viewing some of her pieces. Coincedentally, she was an impressionist, so she fits right in with the works I’ve been looking into over the last few days. Below is one of her works I came across and liked, titled Summertime. With summer looming around the corner, it seemed appropriate and put a smile on my face.

Enjoy, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Xoxo, 

Diana

Day 2 - The Story Behind the Artist

I decided to spend my coffee time today looking a bit into the Impressionists, at the recommendation of my friend and former professor, “Doc Rose.” Doc Rose was one of my favorite professors in undergrad- I took a linguistics class from her. Linguistics was known as a very difficult, scary class at my university, but it was a required class to graduate if you were an English major. Since I was only an English minor (my major was psychology), I wasn’t actually required to take Linguistics to graduate. Spurred on by a love of all things language (ok, and perhaps a little bit of pride that “just because I was only an English minor and not major, that did NOT mean I was incapable of handling the highly dreaded Linguistics), I took the class anyways. I’m glad I did – the class was challenging but not impossible, and I enjoyed the content. (Yes, even the diagramming sentences part. Grammar nerd alert.) Doc Rose and I still keep in touch via Facebook, and when she read my blog yesterday she told me she likes the Impressionists, particularly Gustave Caillebotte. Since Doc Rose has never steered me wrong on literature recommendations, I decided to take her art recommendation and check out the Impressionists.

So, this morning, I found myself drinking a hot cup of Joe while reading the Wikipedia page for Mr. Caillebotte. By the way, I have a love/hate relationship with Wikipedia. I still (rightly!) refuse to use it for formal research, but I must admit it’s often a good starting place for learning about a new topic about which you know nothing. After reading the Wikipedia page, I was intrigued. I found out that Caillebotte went to law school and was licensed to practice law. I’m always interested when I see someone who was a lawyer pursuing a different career path, since I’m a lawyer but sometimes many times wonder what else is out there for me. Reading Caillebotte’s story made me interested in seeing some of his work. Lucky for me, one of his most famous paintings, Paris Street; Rainy Day (pictured below), is owned by the Chicago Art Institute. I’m going to try to get by there this month and see it. The real take away from this morning, however, is that I enjoyed hearing the story of the artist himself, and this is what made me interested to learn more about and see some of his art. It’s too soon to say, but perhaps it will never be the beauty of a painting itself that moves me, but rather the story behind the artist. Does this count as “liking art,” even if I don’t necessarily have an interest in the mechanics and technique of certain styles of art?

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 1 - Do I even LIKE art?

So, this morning, as I drank my cup of coffee, I took a few minutes to think about what topic I would like to learn more about for the first month of this project. I tossed around a few ideas in my head and decided that I'd like to take the next month to explore the world of art. I'm interested in exploring further the type of art I've found at museums, such as paintings, sculptures, etc. (I know, I know, this is an extremely broad category. Bear with me).

As I thought about this, I realized that I've often listed "Art" as an interest in "About Me" sections of social media sites. But do I really like art? Or do I only say I like it because that's what educated, worldly people are supposed to say? My formal experience with art started with an introductory art appreciation class in college, a requirement for my undergraduate degree. It was a broad survey of pretty much every type of art imaginable, and the only thing I remember is that we watched the movie Babette's Feast as an example of art in film. I thought the movie was okay, but also thought that it was strange that, out of all the movies in the world that we could have possibly watched to exemplify film as art, that movie was chosen. Ladies and gentlemen,  that is all I took away from my 3-credit-hour formal art education.

Apparently undeterred by my failure to actually learn anything about art from my university class, I have continued to say that "art" is one of my hobbies. When I visit a new city, I dutifully visit at least one of its art museums. (See below for one of my favorite pictures from one of these trips - my 2011 visit to the Seattle Art Museum. What's not to love about a giant rodent?!?). I stare at paintings and old pottery and even old beer cans strung across an old fence post (hello, modern art), and I nod as though it moves me and I understand what it all means. But I don't. Should I?

Should I spend time finding ways to actually learn about and explore art? Will this enrich my life and make me happy? This is actually a question that has been bothering me for a while, and my goal for this month is to answer it. I appreciate and respect art in a broad sense, but that's not really enough for me to list it as an interest or hobby. Do I truly enjoy "art" and, if so, which kinds? I might try to visit some of the museums here in Chicago and reflect on that experience, but since I've spent a lot of time in museums I would love other suggestions on how to discover more about art. Are there books I should read, websites I should visit, podcasts that discuss the topic? Is there a type of art that you love or that really speaks to you? How did you discover your love for it? It's time for me to finally decide whether I love art, or just love appearing to be someone who loves art.

Oh, and here's that giant rodent I promised you:

Xoxo,

Diana

My Own Version of a "Self-Improvement Year"

I’ve realized (although this probably does not come as an astonishing revelation to anyone) that it’s popular to take on year-long “self-improvement" projects. I’ve read many of the slightly older books outlining these endeavors, such as Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, in which Gilbert travels to three different countries over the course of a year to figure out what she wants; and The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, in which Rubin spends a year trying to improve her life and attempt to, well, figure out happiness. I haven’t read Julie and Julia, an account of an author stuck in a dead-end job who finds her escape by cooking 524 Julia Child recipes within the span of a year, but I did see (and enjoy) the movie. There are others, but those three are (perhaps?) the most popular.

I’ve wanted to attempt my own happiness/self-improvement project, but have been unsure of quite how to do so. Cooking hundreds of Julia Child’s recipes isn’t really my thing (although I do enjoy cooking and baking to a certain extent), and I lack the ability to travel overseas for a year for many reasons – time, money, a job, and a newborn baby being the most obvious. I found an article called Eat, Pray, Spend (linked here: http://bitchmagazine.org/article/eat-pray-spend) which categorizes these books about self-improvement projects as “priv-lit” since, let’s face it, these year-long improvement projects are expensive and, for most “ordinary” people, unrealistic. The Eat, Pray, Spend post states that: “If more women become willing to put aside their fears, open their eyes to cost-free or inexpensive paths to wellness, and position themselves as essentially worthy instead of deeply flawed, priv-lit could soon migrate to a well-deserved new home: the fiction section.” This sentence struck me. While I don’t necessarily begrudge those who are able to tackle expensive, time-consuming year-long self-improvement projects (let’s face it, if I had the resources to travel the world for a year, I’d be packing my suitcase right now - and so would you), I feel as though there must be a better way to find happiness, zen, self-improvement… whatever you want to call it. We shouldn’t have to spend a ton of money traveling, or live in a comfortable, cushy New York apartment to feel as though we can improve ourselves. Which brings me to my idea for my own “year of self-improvement.”

I tried to think of something I really enjoy that doesn’t cost a lot or take a lot of time. Topping the list was a morning coffee ritual. Even on days when I am in a rush to get to work, I love pausing for a moment before leaving the house and inhaling the aroma of a good cup of coffee (or tea!). I find closing your eyes and breathing in the scent of coffee while holding the warm mug between both of your palms to be a very calming experience. So, for the next year, I’m going to spend 5-10 minutes every morning drinking a cup of coffee or tea and reflecting on things that make my life better, ways to learn more about those things, and ways to incorporate them into my life. The end-goal is not to “fix myself”, but rather to have a better understanding of what kinds of things I enjoy, what kinds of issues matter to me, and how I can better structure my life around those things and issues. My plan right now is to choose one topic per month and spend my morning coffee-time reflecting on and learning more about that topic.

This project is a work in progress, and I would welcome any feedback on how ways to make my year of self-improvement worthwhile. Just remember, the idea here is to keep things cheap and not incredibly time consuming so that you don’t have to have a fat savings account to participate. (Also, although the priv-lit article focuses on women, this project isn’t intended to be gender specific at all – it’s something men and women can do!)

This blog title, Coffee Beans and Dreams, is recycled from when I was a very tired, very broke law student. I used to tell myself that I could make it as long as I had coffee (read: caffeine) and kept focused on my dreams. It seems an appropriate title for this project as well.

Here I go… a year of coffee beans and dreams. Let’s see where it takes me!

Xoxo,

Diana