How to Look at Art

This essay over at Scriptorium has given me something to think about.

....the moment when you encounter a painting that grips you. For some reason it stands out from the crowd of images you’ve already seen and makes a powerful connection. You like it. It moves you. You’ve seen something new and interesting here. But after about 90 seconds, you have to admit that you don’t really know what to do next.

Yup, that's usually me! Here is the list of things to do -

1. Squint at it
2. Flip it over
3. Find the negative space
4. Define the moment
5. Re-Construct it
6. Let the artist guide your eyes
7. Say what you see
8. Use background knowledge
9. Read the label on the wall

Now I am hot to get to a museum and try a few out!

On Jane Austen

I read this post over at Tim Challies's site and I really laughed.

First - about Dave Harvey. I have heard him preach a few times and I am looking forward to reading his book!

Now - about Jane. I think that she is brilliant!

Persuasion is just about my best-loved book. I love how Captain Wentworth and Anne fall in love with each other all over again. Anne's sisters are delicious and I laugh every time I think of Louisa Musgrove and Captain Benwick falling in love over poetry! It has a great balance of romance, comedy and social commentary and I just love her use of language.

I am, of course, quite fond of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Wonderful characters, especially the *villains*! I love to hate Fanny Dashwood and Lucy Steele, especially when they get together!! Mansfield Park is fine but just not as great as Jane's others, I think. Fanny is just too good! And I do not really care for Emma - not the book so much as Emma herself - ridiculous busybody! I have not yet read Northanger Abbey, as I would rather look forward to it than read it right now!

And - the filmed versions.

There is a very good version of Persuasion with Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth. Emma Thompson's S&S was a lot of fun, especially with Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon!!

The BBC P&P with Colin Firth is just wonderful. It is quite true to the book and I love watching it unfold slowly. The new movie with Keira Knightley is not bad. I appreciate the different look and feel, but it is just too short!

Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow was all right - I actually like it better than the book! The new Mansfield Park is nasty, not to mention totally wrong. Fanny is just NOT Fanny in that movie!

The Biggest Loser - end of Week 1

SO - I lost SEVEN pounds this week! Considering I put them all on very recently, it is not that surprising. But, I did stick to my plan this week and I feel way better than I have for several weeks. Calm and back on track - a good way to feel!

For my team, I kept track of all that I did this week. Here are a few stats -

• Average water over 7 days - 129 oz. per day
• Timed mile - 14m, 9s. I even ran in 4 short bursts and walked the rest as fast as I could, while listening to Squeeze on my new, cool phone/mp3 player. The idea is to do it again after 8 weeks and see if I can improve my time!
  
• Waist measurement - 41.5". Again, the idea is to measure again in 8 weeks and see...I do hope it is smaller then!

This weeks plan? More of the same! I may end up having pizza one night if we hit the beach this week, but I am not worried. I know that I am headed in the right direction again!

Weird

I got the Fine Art Friday post ready last night and saved it. Then I posted it this morning - but it is showing up having been posted last night. Bummer - I wanted it to be on Friday, not Thursday!

Techno-spaz, that's me!

What Paul Did

Acts 13-14

• 13:3 Paul and Barnabas sent by the church at Antioch
• 13:5 They proclaimed the Word of God
• 13:10 Paul rebuked a magician
• 13:16 Paul preached
• 14:1 They spoke
• 14:7 They continued to preach the Gospel
• 14:10 Paul (well, God!) healed a crippled man
• 14:21 More preaching

Acts 17

• 17:2 Paul preached
• 17:10 Went into the synagogue
• 17:17 Reasoned in the synagogue and marketplace
• 18:3 Paul worked as a tentmaker
• 18:4 Paul preached regularly

Basically, Paul preached, preached, preached! But then there is this -

Acts 19:11-12
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

So it seems.....that healing and preaching just go hand in hand. Next, I will look for more sharing and sending of money in the NT.

Fine Art Friday

This painting, of the Comtesse d'Haussonville, is just....breathtaking. The artist is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and I had never heard of him before I saw this painting at the Frick Collection. I just stood there for a while, captivated.

Here is another one by Ingres, which is in the Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -


I remember being so excited when I first saw this - I just knew that it was an Ingres, and I am not an art person who knows things like that!

About me

I have been thinking about this a lot - how to introduce myself and my life without giving my husband a heart attack! So, here is a random list of stuff about me and mine.

I have been married to J for 20 years. He is a wonderful husband and a great dad to our five children.

• JF and MW are our teens - beautiful girls who are actually fun to have around!

• Our son Jjr was born with a cancerous tumor on his spine; after years of surgeries and treatments, he died 7 years ago at the age of 5. It is a constant pain but God is merciful, as we are still sane and even happy with our lives.

• FH (a girl) and FB (a boy) are our littler ones. Not twins, but pretty close (8 and 7 right now) and a great joy to our lives!

We live in one of the five boroughs of NYC - vague enough?

I am a SAHM and I homeschool my children.

I was raised in a Christian home, for which I am always grateful.

We attend a small church which we found after a year of searching. We used to attend a larger non-denominational church.

I guess that is it!