Day Trip: Barcelona Pavilion

but, man, I wish I could draw like Kate Beaton...

I was leafing through a book on Ludwig Bemelmans when I noticed this little picture in the corner of a page.

I love how images can conjure up really specific associations. To me, this one's about the '50s, calisthenics, old school gyms with hardwood floors and benches, medicine balls. Maybe the Ballet Russe warming up. Or a demonstration of rythmic gymnastics. And something I heard on NPR the other day, a rarely performed Prokofiev piece called Music for Athletic Exercises.

I didn't know when I drew those that she's actually the famous Parisian stripteaseuse, Dodo D'Hambourg. Here's Bemelmans' take.

I can't get enough of Tauba Auerbach's work.

Can't.

And since I also can't afford to acquire a piece or two, I'll be completely indulgent here.

If I were slightly irresponsible, though, these would be in my pocket right now.

From Facehunter.

Rouli-Roulant.

I was in Montreal for a few days last week. Most of it was family time, but my one must-visit was the Canadian Centre for Architecture. While it felt a little like I'd caught the CCA between more substantial exhibitions, I was really excited by a few of the things I saw. Small, inspiring surprises remind me why I like the things I do, and why I'm studying what I'm studying. I spent an hour and a half jotting down names and titles, making little sketches and taking pictures with my brother's iPhone.

One of my favourite discoveries was a 1966 NFB film, 'Rouli-Roulant'. Filmmaker Claude Jutra explains the rouli-roulant (skateboard) and follows a gang of young skaters in Montreal's Westmount neighbourhood. Besides the graphic look of the film, the melodramatic narration and the music, I really like the film because the kids embody (for me) a perfect aesthetic mash-up of skate culture and French New Wave. Or Nouvelle France Nouvelle Vague, in this case. I love the aloofness of the kid skating with his hands shoved in his car coat, and the cool nonchalance of the girl in the striped shirt. The skinny pants, the desert boots and the haircuts. Take a look.

I've been at the Met a bunch lately (which is honestly a pretty crazy thing for me to say casually) researching Renaissance objects for school. Renaissance decorative objects aren't really my thing, so when I'm done I've been wandering around looking for things to draw.
There was a guy planted in front of this nymph sculpture, above, finishing a perfect, painstakingly-rendered charcoal drawing. He had a crowd of kids around him, peeking over his shoulder, and dads would chat him up every once in a while. Mine has a blushy bum, so that's alright.

Maria Luisa of Parma (later Queen of Spain) looking slightly happier than in the original.

After 'Diana' by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (a weathervane for Madison Square Garden).