I don’t know if you’ve heard but southeastern Massachusetts got pummelled by the storm that tore up the East Coast this past weekend. The nor’easter whipped through on Friday night and left a wake of flooded basements, toppled trees and downed power lines. 100% of my little coastal town was without electricity until today. Our house was dark and cold and wet and miserable. But you know what? I feel pretty lucky. Because this is the second major storm to knock out our power since Puerto Rico was devasted by Hurricane Maria back in September and though much of their island is still reeling from the disaster, we’re already back on our feet. And we had relief even in the worst of it- friends with generators, neighboring towns with power (and hot coffee!) and crews working round the clock to clear the streets and get the lights back on.
Anyway, we are very fortunate AND we’re none the worse for wear. Plus, thanks to some pretty fabulous friends, the weekend (and my birthday!) actually turned out pretty great despite it all. Sat night was a girls night in that left me feeling really grateful for the people who are always there to pick me up when I need it and Sunday was spent at the MFA with two of my fave lovely ladies and the fabulous (and cheerful) Takashi Murakami. The MFA is beautiful and classic and full of surprises. It’s a perfect place to spend a rainy Sunday. I really love it and I think you will too.
I was so excited to see this exhibit because I’ve been thinking about it for months. I think Japanese art is really cool and Murakami is extra great.My daughter thought it was weird that I took a pic of this, but I love typography. It’s part of the experience for me. Maybe that makes me weird? Probably.Can you spot the one sad flower? That was me on Friday when I turned a number that sounds really old. Really, really old.All of Murakami’s works are whimsical but also powerful.Ok, maybe not ALL of them are powerful, but they are all whimsical. And cute. And just a tiny bit perplexing.This is what the inside of my brain looks like after a long week of work that also includes coordinating kids activities, managing household responsibilities, juggling a bajillion other peripheral things and generally trying to keep my shit together while remaining happy and healthy. Takashi gets it. He really gets it.Meet Mr. Dob. He’s kind of like Mickey but more menacing and possibly under the influence of some psychedelic drug. But he still manages to be cute.We decided that Murakami must have painted this one on his birthday when he turned my age.What we wanted to know was how big is this guy’s studio? This is one continuous canvas and it has to be like a half a mile long. Also, it’s pretty fabulous.Moving on to the American Artists floor: furniture is art, even (especially?) mid-century furniture.I think I’ve mentioned how much I enjoy Chihuly. This one is pretty great, isn’t it? Also, this is a good spot in the museum to stop for coffee. Or wine. Wine is always a good idea, no matter where you are (Chihuly or no).This was part of the”Japan in the Psychedelic Seventies” exhibit. I can’t show much of this because most of the images were really bizarre and bordered on the pornographic. But this one was just kind of Pink Floyd-ish and I think that’s pretty safe.Another great exhibit on now is the (Un)expected Families photo collection. I don’t know why I didn’t take more pics in this hall because so many of the images were really beautiful.You can’t skip Escher’s Passion for Patterns. We walked right by these at first, but I’m glad we doubled back to see them because they’re super cool. There are 50 that you can study and ponder and try to wrap your brain around. Til your eyes cross. Then you’ve got to move on.There are so many good things happening all at once here in this hallway. It kind of looks like a happy accident. That’s the way life should be.This Mark Rothko piece is the most interesting and complex one in the entire museum. These people spent so long looking at it that I started to think they might actually have been part of the installation. Maybe they know something I don’t? Or possibly (probably) they are just more sophisticated art viewers than I am.I’m calling this “self-portrait featuring daughter and friend”Everything is an illusion, or is it? We spent some time pondering this…Then we got to the halls that housed what my daughter called the “boring art” …But art is never boring.You just need to be one with the art.But really and truly, if masterpieces just aren’t your thing it’s ok. You might like the Making Modern galleries better. There you’ll find O’Keefe, Kahlo, Pollock, and Piccaso. Inspiration at every turn!And yes, please do all of this. And don’t do the other stuff. Except eat. Why is eat crossed off? We all need to eat.
When my son was small he used to call any experience that didn’t last all day a “tiny day”. And by that, I think he meant it was so good that we should have spent more time doing what we were doing but since we didn’t it was tiny when it could have been huge. Well, that was our tiny day at the MFA. I hope you enjoyed tagging along.
Before I go I’m going to give a shout out the other ladies that made this a really great weekend, despite the crazy weather and the scary birthday number. And, I’ll leave you with a little advice. When you’re feeling down, put on a little red lipstick. You’ll look ridiculous but feel fabulous and sometimes that’s all you need to remember that life is pretty great.
I don’t know if you’ve heard but southeastern Massachusetts got pummelled by the storm that tore up the East Coast this past weekend. The nor’easter whipped through on Friday night and left a wake of flooded basements, toppled trees and downed power lines. 100% of my little coastal town was without electricity until today. Our house was dark and cold and wet and miserable. But you know what? I feel pretty lucky. Because this is the second major storm to knock out our power since Puerto Rico was devasted by Hurricane Maria back in September and though much of their island is still reeling from the disaster, we’re already back on our feet. And we had relief even in the worst of it- friends with generators, neighboring towns with power (and hot coffee!) and crews working round the clock to clear the streets and get the lights back on.
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