Jan Heigh Abstract Art

Want to know more about Adam of Paris Patisseries?

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:53:00 +0000

A photo I took at Jacques Genin of his lemon tarts. I bought one of each of these lovlies.

OK, you probably didn't come here for Paris pastry reviews or to know more about Adam. But just on the off chance that you want to know more about him and his wonderful blog, please go here to read bit more about him.

Jacques Genin

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:06:00 +0000

It pleases me beyond measure to know that in some city far away (Paris) is a Master of his profession working away for 15 hours a day and inspecting and checking even the most mundane details in order to turn out the best pastries, chocolates and caramels I've ever tasted.

I booked a trip to France before I knew I would be having knee replacement and really hope I can go on my trip which is in mid-September. At least a have a solid incentive to get well.

So enjoy Adam's blog about Paris pastry and chocolate shops.

Paintings

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Here are three new paintings I've been working on recently. No titles yet. I have two more in the works and will post when they're done.

It's been a busy time around here lately. I'm scheduled for total knee replacement surgery on February 21st. There are a lot of things to do before hand too and I'm working on being prepared by exercising twice a day usually for a total of 45 minutes to an hour. I have the luxury of time to work on the muscles that will be needed to heal well. I'm also doing the same exercises that are done post-op. Everyone I talk to says moving and exercising are the main task after surgery. In fact, the doctor's office says 80% of the success is directly tied to the patient being motivated to doing the exercises.

24x36

24x24

18x18

Christmas. Helen Frankenthaler.

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:39:00 +0000

Here are a few images of my daughter's house on Christmas Day. I love the video of an "open hearth" playing on the flat screen. The Buche de Noel came from a bakery in Hillsdale. I recommend it.

Here is a recent post from the New York Times about Helen Frankenthaler.

And here is the google image page for Joan Mitchell. What a painter!

A quote from Hemingway

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:45:00 +0000

I'm not a big Hemingway fan but I'm reading a good book right about being a pedestrian in Paris and each chapter has a quote.

Here is one I really liked:

"Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

Recent work

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:08:00 +0000

I recently hung a new show with my critique group at the Lexus dealership in Beaverton for the month of November. The show looks great and I forgot to bring my camera! Again.

But here are some photos of the new pieces. The last one looks good either vertical or horizontal, your choice. The first two images are hung as two pieces vertically. The next image shows how it looks horizontally. I did wire it so it can be hung either way because I couldn't make up my mind.

I'm enjoying working in a new more restrictive format. The two smaller pieces are 6 by 36 inches. The larger piece is 16 by 48 inches because I joined two 8 by 48 pieces together.

Return to painting after a long absence

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:05:00 +0000

It has been a long time since I posted to my blog. After returning from and recovering from my trip we had a long bumpy road to travel with my husband's medical problems.

This week I returned to painting for a few hours. The top picture is before starting and the other two show the mess that quickly develops when I'm painting. The pieces are not finished but I'll post some photos when they're done.

Good to be back!

Paris sign

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:28:00 +0000

I just had to take a picture of this lovely old building in the 6th or 7th district. It says a lot about Paris, globalization or fill in the blank yourself.

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:22:00 +0000

Here are some reviews of the movie "Buck" which I saw on Sunday and heartily recommend. And if I were a good writer I would have written what Joe Williams and Roger Ebert have already written.

And here are the previews and trailers.

Don't miss it. It won awards at Sundance and is showing at Cinema 21 right now.

The neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:18:00 +0000

A wonderful pastry and chocolate shop about three minutes from my door!

One of their pastries---wonderful!

Here's a photo of a street cleaner (on a Sunday) cleaning with his strange looking broom. I could hear the sound of the broom from my apartment. They drive around in green little carts and can turn on a spigot that sends a small river of water down the gutters and into the sewers. I had zero desire to tour the Paris sewers! Why would anyone do that?

This is the stair case in the apartment building. On the far left is the elevator which I used when I had a lot of groceries or suitcases.
The front entry with two doors with buttons to unlock them and the outer one had a number pad for putting in the pass code.
My apartment was on the second floor without the balcony.
Longer view of the apartment building.

Neighborhood shopping streets.

I shopped at this bakery a couple of times and the first time a French customer helped me with my questions. The second time I knew what to ask for in French. Easy to say "I would like two croissants, please". I also understood why the customer had helped me earlier. Not only did the clerk not speak English she had a speech impediment. The croissants were good but the pastry was not.

Apartment pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:03:00 +0000

My friend Mary requested photos of the apartment I rented and here they are. I didn't have a photo of the second bedroom. The view from the second photo was of a 1970s apartment building. The photo below was from another window and required leaning out a little. I was on the second floor and the building had an elevator. About the size of a small broom closet.

From the kitchen into the living area
Tw0 small photos of the living area from the apartment site.

Kitchen cupboard.

Laundry and storage room.
Bathroom. Really enjoyed the rain shower head. Guess where the electric plug in is. It's behind the medicine cabinet door on the left!

Parking in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:33:00 +0000

The the first picture is an example of creative parking in Paris. The second photo is the car just in front of the more creative example in the first photo. Even the smallest cars have problems parking.

This park below is by the nearest Metro to where I stayed. This photo shows a family having a child's birthday party on the left and on the bench on the right some homeless people sleeping. The time was about mid-afternoon. And this area is considered a very upscale area so go figure.

Joan Mitchell DVD

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:37:00 +0000

I recently watched a DVD about Joan Mitchell which I checked out from my local library. It's a film called "Portrait of an Abstract Painter" by Marion Cajori. It was by Arthouse Films, 53 minutes long or so. I highly recommend it and there were some good photos of her work too.

Copper

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:22:00 +0000

I ordered this 5x5 set of patina sheet samples recently and can't wait to try them in some paintings on board!

Luxembourg garden

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:36:00 +0000

Here are some random pictures of the Luxembourg gardens. The buildings overlook the park.

There are cafes, tennis courts, fountains, pools for children's boats, bee hives, an orchard, pony rides, live music and chairs to sit in. But you are not allowed on the grass. Notice how great the grass looks. There is a dim photo of the park police striding off after blowing a whistle at some people who had wandered onto the grass.

I had to get a photo of a woman strolling along all dressed up and in four inch heels. Did she come to the park for exercise? I'm so slow sometimes.

And the French do jog and wear colors other than black especially on a Sunday morning in the park. There were tons of joggers that day.

First day in Paris and Paris birds

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:20:00 +0000

The first day in Paris I did a lot of walking because I wanted to see everything and still didn't feel brave enough to take on the Metro system. I stopped to rest and look around on the Pont Royale and various photos are of this area. The very large Musee d'Orsay in front of me and the Louvre behind and abundant traffic and the traffic cop's whistle all around. Tourist central. The other photos are in the courtyard of the Louvre. Note the group following the bright colored umbrella. They were American teens and very, very noisy.

While I looked around I saw this crow or raven--I don't know the difference--looking as if to see if anyone was paying attention to him. The garbage "cans" are all over the city but still the citizens don't seem to understand how they work. But the crows know how they work! Tear and peck a hole in the bottom and have a meal.

The day I went to the Rodin I had lunch in an outdoor area in their garden. I watched a mother with two small children eat their meal and leave the table. Within two seconds their table was covered in what my brother calls flying rats. Very large healthy pigeons descended and tore the table apart. The sparrows hung back and waited. Almost immediately someone came out and cleared the table. Wish I had reacted quick enough to take some photos.

My apartment was very near the Luxembourg gardens and early in the morning I could hear the owls and mourning doves. Lots of bird talk.

The Rodin Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:10:00 +0000

I highly recommend visiting the Rodin Museum in Paris. It was a warm, sunny day and the gardens were perfectly cared for and the roses scented the air. Such a nice change from our weather here because our roses hadn't even begun to bloom. It's a large garden and sculptures are placed all over. The building was built about 1760. The insides show a lot of wear and tear. Discolored walls and ceilings and patched wooden floors. The ceilings on the first floor are about 30 feet high and very grand with many windows. The carved paneling in one room was gray and cracked and the plaster was very cracked with holes in many rooms.

But the pieces in the rooms were wonderful. I especially enjoyed seeing the work by Camille Claudel. Too bad she didn't live longer.

I did not go to the Louvre. I was in the building because I had lunch there and did a little shopping. All very busy and jammed with people every place I looked. Many large groups with the leader carrying a brightly colored umbrella or a large plastic flower. One group all wore ugly bright yellow baseball caps. Lots of people were just shuffling along and looked to be in a daze. The place is so overwhelming.

Jacques Genin & Context Travel tour

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:30:00 +0000

I took a tour with Context Travel for a foodie tour of the Maris. The last stop was the pastry and chocolate shop of Jacques Genin, a self taught chef. When we arrived someone was taking professional photos of him in the middle of his shop and later interviewed him at a table in the tea room section. The shop is in an old building which has been modernized. It is on three levels with wooden floors, display cases and many tall vases of flowers. The vases were about four feet high filled with green and white flowers. I took some quick photos because I wasn't sure what their policy was about taking photos. Many shops of various kinds are very firm about not letting you take photos.

The photos just below are of a Saint Honore pastry which tied for my favorite with the Fraisier I posted about earlier. He also has the best caramels I've tasted in my life. They are 110 Euros per kilo. I also bought a box of chocolates to bring home which were beautifully contained in a slim metal box. I had such a good time picking them. I had a brief conversation with Jacques through his employee since he only speaks French and I barely speak any. What a fun time!

The photos below are from the tour. The first one is of the leader on the left and the others were participants. We went to the new Popelini shop where they make small cream puffs which are filled and topped with fondant. I didn't care for them but thought the decor of the shop was great since they used their own packaging. Small single boxes were indented into one wall. Very clean and simple decorations. Too bad the sweets aren't better.

We stopped at a bakery where Barbara Austin showed us the difference between the usual baguette and the traditional one. We had goat cheese from a fromagerie. We also stopped at a 200 year old spice store. At each stop we could buy whatever we wanted.

It was nice to be on a tour with English speaking people and to not keep track of where I was on the map and just follow and listen to an informed guide.

Just yesterday my favorite foodie blog posted about Jacques Genin at Paris Patisseries. Go take a look because he has wonderful photos of the chocolates. This didn't want to load so you may have to copy and paste.

Two pastries from Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 23:43:00 +0000

This is a Fraisier from La Patisserie des reves,

on the left.

The best pastry I had while in Paris and purchased on my first full day there. The picture on the right shows how they prepare the box. The pink picks are pushed into a layer of foam core and they do not move. The Saint Honore was one of the worst pastries. Too bad, because it looks wonderful and is from the same shop. The glassy looking sugar coating was too thick and used to anchor the three cream puffs as well and was just inedible.

Paris trip

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:36:00 +0000

Angelina's Paris May 2011

I recently returned from a much anticipated and researched trip to Paris. I spent 12 nights in an apartment in the 6th district which is a residential rather than touristed area near the southwest corner of the Luxembourg Gardens. The area had a very neighborhood feel with all kinds of shops nearby. It took me a while to find a grocery store and other services but I really liked being in an apartment rather than a hotel.

I learned to use the Metro, found the nearest taxi stand and never figured out the bus system. I did a good deal of walking with 5.5 miles the first day and varied between 2.75 to 4.17 miles for the other days. Not bad for all the terrain which was dirt, gravel, concrete, cobbles and miles and miles of stairs of various kinds. I also had a large blister on the left big toe and banged my right big toe and just lost that toenail last Sunday! I walked a lot and saw so much of Paris. Not enough, of course, but it was all new territory for me anyway. I learned a lot about the French, Paris and myself. What more could you ask of a much studied and personal trip?

The weather was very warm and sunny. The flights were on time and no problems at all.

I took lots of pictures and am working on learning a new iPhoto application now in order to edit and sort them out.

While I didn't eat out too much I made sure to sample lots of pastries and chocolates which I read about on the internet before leaving. There are a lot of very good blogs about Paris and food.

A few of the food related blogs to read:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

http://megzimbeck.com/

http://parisbymouth.com/

http://www.parispatisseries.com/category/pastry-reviews/?src=tab

http://doriegreenspan.com/index.html

Planning a trip

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:24:00 +0000

I haven't spent much time painting for some time and do plan on getting back in gear after I return from my trip to Paris in May.

Most of my time has been spent on researching my trip and planning what I'll do while I am there. I've turned into a drudge with a single focus and probably am boring everyone I come in contact with lately. OK, probably for several months since I use airline miles and that has to be done about 11 months in advance.

I promise to return with lots of photos and stories. I am traveling with my small sketching kit and plan on taking some time to just sit and sketch. Hope I can stick with this plan! In the meantime here is a photo of the Hotel de Ville in the 3rd district.

Drawing practice

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Not much painting going in my studio recently or for several months really. Lots going on and much of it just daily responsibilities and duties. I've also had a fair amount of company which is always good and I always put people before painting. Not that I don't miss the painting but it's hard to pick up the thread of previous work and so after each long absence from painting requires a new start. Which leads to some introspection and much thought as to which direction to take.

I have a new book by Steven Aimone called "Expressive Drawing" which is full of exercises and photos of art work created in classes he teaches. Since he teaches mainly in Maine and Florida I probably won't be taking a class any time soon but the book is very clear so maybe the class isn't necessary in this case. The reason I like the book is because it's something I don't usually do and is helping me bust out of a rut and gives me some refreshing new ideas.

I had a recent email from a friend who said I was a fine painter and really didn't need any more instruction and why did I want to attend more workshops? Good question. I learn something new even from a bad art class but mainly I go for the time away from home to concentrate on my art and my thought processes without any distractions. I also enjoy being with people who want to talk about art all the time! What a luxury.

Right now I'm thinking about two classes in New Mexico in September. The first one is in Taos and taught by Gwen Fox. And the following week is a class near Santa Fe taught by Virginia Cobb. And I could spend the week end between classes looking at the art in Santa Fe. Well, I wouldn't want to waste any time since I would already be there. Sort of my duty to look at lots of amazing abstract art in one small place. Right?

Below is painting #1 from Aimone's book which is automatic drawing. Hold the brush on the end, step away so you have to lean into the painting and take a fencing stance. Add an adjective.

Number 2 is use your non-dominate hand and attach your brush to a long stick. I used a yard stick.

Number 3 below is working flux non-objectively and is done quickly with instructions to draw, veil with white paint, obliterate, draw and back and forth until you're satisfied. I used some old papers and some house paint.

Number 4 below is doing the same instructions as above but use narrative and symbols.

Number 5 is a conversation between orientations-horizontal, vertical and diagonal. I enjoyed this one very much because you start all three at the same time with mainly straight lines in all three orientations. Then step back and decide which ones will be which orientation.

Why we like abstract art

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:35:00 +0000

Why do we like abstract art? Well, not everyone, but enough to make us wonder why.

Here's a description (thanks Leslie) of a class in Florence that says something important about understanding an art work. If it were easy to solve we could just walk away and look at the next painting. I want to know why a painting draws me and keeps me interested. The best example is the work of Joan Mitchell. Each encounter leads to revealing more.

Here is a recent Robert Genn newsletter that says something about how we're hard wired to solve puzzles.

I want to paint the painting that draws us back time and time again. Not a simple chore but a good goal to work toward.

Orange

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:58:00 +0000

One of my favorite tasks is doing color sample boards of all the colors I have. I've been keeping the orange with the red in storage. It's a search and scramble every time I want a specific color. So today I created an orange sample board and feel much more organized for now!

Take a look.

Using our own voices

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Heigh) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 16:51:00 +0000

Here's an interview from EmptyEasel about a mixed media artist. Lots of good ideas to think about but the thing that stood out for me was about being influenced by other artists. We have a new idea or see a work we really like and then study the techniques and the new media. Then the real work starts with making it our own and being focused on what we want to say. We see inspiration everywhere we look and who can say what will spark a new direction. But always it must be our own voice and vision as well as the all important focus and concentration.

I admire artists who can focus on their work every day and not be sidetracked by duties, responsibilities and the ever present needs of others. How do they do it?