Day Tripping at the Museum

 A day trip to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

 The museum is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, housing some 17,000 works of art.

 Me, I go for the details. My eyes are always drawn to one specific thing in each piece I see...

 like the unusually ornate gargoyle carving at the foot of this bed and the tiny drawer beneath it, what does it hold?

 I like to try and imagine things from the original artist's perspective...

 do you suppose those halos were really there? Paintings of grace and uncommon beauty.

 A little boy with little wings, pleads his case...

 Pretty face and

 pretty feet that walk in the past.

 Their faces are our faces...

 he reminds me of Frodo.

 Same emotions,

 but different circumstances.

 How long do you think she had to sit for this portrait?

 What was she thinking? What did they talk about for hours on end?

 Stunning hand carved gilt frames built especially to honor the artwork it will hold.

 I feel very close to them... almost in touch.

 Delicate fingers on soft pink hands.

 Sweet blonde curls resting on feathery wings of similar color... they have the power to manipulate your emotions.

 Unexplained happenings....  an illusion....

 Served up on a platter......

 Intense facial expressions,

 behind steely blue eyes.

 Powdered hair,

 Pigments mixing together...

 I like looking at the patterns on the clothes,

 and the way the layers of paint lay upon each other creating a tender image.

 Daily life

 of exotic scenes....

 and scenes

 within scenes.

 Extraordinary milk white skin.

 Brilliant, deep, rich lasting colors.

 I notice where the highlights are placed.

 The curve of a finger and how her hands are held and folded.

 Other worldly images....

created by master artists.... on display for our pleasure.  Thanks for joining me on our little tour, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!