Technically, I was unemployed again today. I finished one job yesterday and start another tomorrow. It was kind of surprising how much it brought back the emotions of being unexpectedly unemployed a little less than a year ago. I decided to spend my day the same way I did on the first day of unemployment last time. I went to Balboa Park and wandered the San Diego Museum of Art.
Tuesdays in San Diego have free admission to museums for residents. It just so happened that the same museum I visited last time was open today. I never really connected with art growing up. Considering the roles music, literature, acting, and crafting play in my life, it's kind of surprising. I think I had a sort of block toward drawing and painting. I did take an art class in junior high, and the teacher didn't like my art, so I got a bad grade. I thought I was terrible at art, so it's possible that had something to do with my block. I do tend to avoid things that I don't do well.
Regardless, in the past couple years I've been wanting to learn more about art. I especially like to find out what was happening to the artists at the time the pieces were made. This is something I especially love about literature, too. It's why I thought I wanted to be a history major. I love making connections between creation and causation.
While wandering the museum today, a woman randomly started talking to me about this piece. I was looking at the name plate to figure out if the artist was female or male (It's really not that hard, very little art in the museum is by females. Sigh.) My interest attracted the woman, I suppose. She explained to me that Morgan Russell painted this piece, Still Life Synchromy with Nude in Yellow. He was attempting to capture music through the paint. We kept chatting, and I found out Russell was a contemporary of Picasso, and spent time at Gertrude Stein's salon, which means he was also a contemporary of authors like Hemingway and Faulkner. Knowing all about them from studying the lost generation in college, I felt like I knew a lot more about where Russell was coming from when he painted. I'm really glad that woman noticed me. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to learn more about the art world.
Another piece in the museum really stood out to me today. It also featured music. I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but we were told not to take pictures of the art. Something about it being the free day. The above painting was gorgeous. It's called Robin, and it's by Kaley Powers. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's not just painted. It has a 3-D element as well. There are painted paper cut-outs on top of painted background. The birds are birds, but also music notes. It's just a beautiful piece. Oh, and the artist is a local high school student. Seriously. It's phenomenal considering it was done by a teenager.
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