Monet Water Lilies, Orangerie Museum

Claude Monet The Water Lilies

The Water Lilies was given to the French State by the painter Claude Monet after Armistice, November 11, 1918, as a symbol for peace.   Orangerie Museum in 1927 installed The Water Lilies a few months after Monet's death and, the set is one of the most significant monumental achievements of early twentieth-century painting. 

Palais Garnier Opera House

Palais Garnier Opera House

Palais Garnier Opera House is a Paris must-see, with all of the opulence of the 1900s and was the inspiration for the famous book, musical, and film Phantom of the Opera. It is one of the most known opera houses in the world. Napoleon III Commissioned Charles Garnier to create the building, in the grand Beaux-Arts style of the time with substantial glass chandeliers, 

marble staircases, and gilt decorations.

Now home to the Paris Ballet, it has a 2,000 seat theatre and is a fantastic Parisian treasure. 

Les Arceaux Fleuris, Giverny

In 1913 Claude Monet painted Flowering Arches, Giverny.  Currently on display at the Phoenix Art Musem.  When you see this painting in person and then have the opportunity to travel to Giverny and view Monet's inspiration, you magnify your appreciation.

You see, Monet planted these arches to hide the nearby rail line near his property in Giverny and created a peaceful place to cut off the distractions of the modern world. Monet dealt with depression, self-doubt, and despair after his wife died in 1911.  And yet, he took action, he created a space for pleasantry, a place for flowers to grow, and he painted.  Perhaps he understood that we create our reality, and if our outlook is not pleasing, we can obstruct that view by planting flowers.  We can plant what we want to grow both in pots and earth and metaphorically as well.

Monet once said, "Gardening was something I learned in my youth when I was unhappy. I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." We owe a lot to Monet for sharing his love of flowers - and his paintings.

Monet's Garden - Synaeda Blue Tulip

In spring, as you walk through the gardens of Giverny, the famous lily ponds of Claude Monet. You see the inspiration of Monet's impressionist paintings. The multitude of flowers beckons you to walk and sit and think. An artist inspired to sit and draw or paint. If you are not an artist, you want to sit and look and listen. Bee's buzzing, insects, chirping, and birds are flying by. It is a peaceful place. It is the pilgrimage of many, and many are here to enjoy the day.

Pictured here, the Synaea Blue Tulip, bloom in mid-late spring. They wave at you as the wind blows, bending the flower to and fro. You are far from the stress of modern-day life. Most people do know that this famous impressionist painter dealt with depression. Most of his life. There is irony, in fact, that his paintings are pleasant. They sold as a cure for stress, in the same way, the essential oils sold today. What will not surprise you is that his garden gave him comfort, and we are comfortable as we walk.

The Swing by Auguste Renoir

 Do you see the people in the background of this picture? A group of men and women enjoying a spring day in France.  I usually focus on the girl on the swing.  I like her pretty dress, and I am sure that I am not the only woman in the world who says to herself, "I wish I could go back in time to life in France in 1876 when people got dressed up and went to garden parties."  A visit to France confirmed this fact.  Did notice picture of the swing? Curators bought a spring and connected it to the bottom to absorb the weight of even the most substantial figure.  Thousands of women, my self included, stepped upon it to imagine what it would be like to have our picture painted by Renoir and perhaps had a photo taken instead.

Renoir is fabulous.  When you look at his paintings, everything is beautiful, everything is delightful, and he ignored the ugly stuff. Renoir once said, "To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life without creating still more of them." I could not agree more.

Ranunculus Flower by Rose Elaine

Suspend your disbelief for a moment. Consider the possibility that this painting began with the bulb of Ranunculus flower that was planted, and it grew but instead in a pot or a garden; it grew on canvas with thick acrylic paints and crisp lines rather than soft petals and sweet scents.  It's beautiful, nonetheless, and it captures the essence of love and attraction with its medley of emotions and the excitement you feel when something is new.  A mixture of hues pink and white swirls with an ever so slight dash of yellow that you pause and question that it exists.  Like your first love filled the uncertainty of reciprocity.

Rose Elaine masterfully creates a connection with nature and draws you in for more than just a moment.  You want to look at her work with questioning eyes and think and dream and remember.

Rose Elaine's work found on Fine Art America, Amazon.com, Facebook and her website roseelainepublishing.com. 

Purple Flowers by Rose Elaine

Your eyes dart from one side of the painting to the other, as you are compelled to search the art and look for clues. Your eyes move in the same motion Allium Flowers move in the wind on a summer day. The artwork evokes a feeling, expresses a mood, and we are enticed to look some more. You are captivated by the transparencies; You notice the violet hues ranging from dark to light, and the touch of detail that is present amid an impressionistic scene. The green of the plants leaves gound you, and you feel that even now in the middle of the abstraction, things will be ok. 

Rose Elaine's artwork is a vacation; it removes you from stress; her work becomes a necessity and will bring you back day after day if only for a moment to breath to sit and smile and feel refreshed. 

Rose Elaine's work is now on display at CarlatheCurator's facebook page, and her website roseelainepublishing.com. Purchase prints of her work at Fine Art America or a Journal with this image at Purple Flowers Gratitude Journal