Kat Eye Studio

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Boyhood, A Still Life

I didn’t set up this still life, this is how I found the kitchen table yesterday morning.

You see, Brandon got a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys from my Mom for Christmas. And our house has been a-clutter with random items ever since as Brandon tries out the experiments and activities. On the table this morning was:
String
Aluminum foil
Snap Circuits experiment kit
Clothespin
Scissors
Nail with tape on it
2 Legos
A rock
Motorcycle
Other random pieces of tape

I think this was exactly what the authors intended with this book!

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Food, Glorious Food

Maybe I’ve been watching the Ice Age movies too much, because I have the song “Food, Glorious Food…” that the buzzards sing stuck in my head. But here in Europe, there is a lot of glorious food to sample, and to photograph. My waistline shows it too! This marvelous, carbohydrate-laden bakery window is from St. Goar, Germany, in the Rhine River Valley. Mmmmm…

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Bright

In the mood for some color and sun today, so I pulled out this window box photo. It’s one of my early ones here, from Pavia, and also one of my favorites. I love the unique flowers, that were matched perfectly to the building color. This was in a back street, not a normal thoroughfare, yet there was this attention to beauty and detail. I keep saying this, but this is something that I love about Italy.

Yesterday, I went to see an exhibition of paintings and drawings by American artist Edward Hopper at the Palazzo Reale in Milano. It was fabulous, he was an amazing painter of light and of unique American scenes. They compare his work to a “photographic view” so maybe that’s why I resonated with it so much. My favorite painting in the exhibition was Cape Cod Sunset, but this image doesn’t do it justice. The sky was the perfect rendering of the rainbow dusk sky that I’ve always loved. One thing I’ve learned about works of art, is that seeing them in a book or online is not the same as seeing them in person. The color, the texture, the feel is completely different.

It’s interesting that I discover this wonderful American artist in Italy, but I guess that’s just part of my rediscovery of art here. If you have a chance, take a look at some of his work. Or, maybe go see some art in person somewhere, to have your own artistic discovery. Happy Sunday!

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Create

This is one of my favorite photos from one of our many trips into the city of Milan, our “home” city if you will. Since we live in the small “suburban” town of Vedano al Lambro, we go into Milan to get the big city feel. I love the energy of the city! There is nothing like the feel of the Piazza del Duomo, packed with people on a Saturday, all just out for the sake of being out.

This is the vegetable carving guy that we saw in the same place everytime we went into the city this summer. He carves amazing works of art from carrots and turnips and beets, like this rose. It is amazing to watch. It’s more like he frees the object from inside the vegetable rather than carves it, he’s just removing the unnecessary parts.

We’re going into Milan today for the day, to see what we can see, explore the town a bit. I have a couple of art exhibits to choose from and I’ve looked up a couple of toy stores for Brandon to search for Lego train track. We won’t see our vegetable carver, it’s too cold this time of year, but I’m sure we’ll see something interesting!

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Celebrate

This photo is from early in our time in Italy, in the Duomo di Milano. Off all of my images from the many churches we’ve visited, this is the happiest. I loved the light of the many candles and the girls who were so thoroughly enjoying lighting theirs and the reflection off the halos in the image behind them. There is beauty and peace in the ritual of this religion.

I thought I would share this image today, even though it’s from a different time of year, to honor all of the different ways to celebrate the Christmas holiday. In a country very strongly influenced by the Catholic church, the church is a big part of the season here. We heard bells from our nearby campanile (bell tower) ringing quite a bit last night, and expect to hear them again today and tomorrow. A few weeks ago, the local priest came by to give us a schedule of events for the Christmas season at the church. Another difference to enjoy while we are here in Italy.

However you celebrate this season, I hope that you enjoy your time with family and friends!