Our hotel in London was in the Kensington area with a short walk to the Underground Station. We met out guide and several other members of our Trinity group in the lobby after breakfast and made our way to the station. It was recommended that we buy an Oyster Card which is a weekly pass for using transit in London. We got a tutorial on what trains go where and how to use the underground and headed for St. Paul’s Cathedral which is in the main London area, near the Thames.

We then went off in separate directions. Mr C and I had decided to head over the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern. The Millenium Bridge is a modern pedestrian bridge across the Thames. It is directly across from St. Paul’s, where the choir was to be artists in residence for the next week. Here is a collage of views of and from the bridge. (Click to see larger images.)

While walking across, we discovered a guy making a tiny painting on the bridge. Then we found several of these paintings scattered on the bridge surface. Apparently, he makes a background from gum and then paints it.

At the Tate, we bought tickets for a  special exhibit of Giacometti sculptures. No photos were allowed. The exhibit was extensive and we really enjoyed it.

We went to the top floor to have lunch. There were big windows with a view across the river. The dome is St. Pauls.

I also took this panoramic shot from the outside deck. I really love the mixture of very avant garde modern architecture, mixed with the traditional and more ancient architecture. Be sure to click on this link for the impact of this photo.

After lunch we visited the free galleries to see more art.

I photographed these images because they look like interesting layouts for some quilts.

We hung around the area and did some people watching before going back across the bridge to St. Paul’s for the first Evensong sung by the choir. Then back on the underground to the hotel for some dinner.

As I may have mentioned in an earlier blog post, I have been plagued with backaches since my knee replacement surgery. I was very concerned about my ability to keep up with everyone on this trip. I did quite well. I often had to stop and rest. My pain always subsides when I sit for a bit. We had pretty great weather for most of the trip.

I was amazed when I checked my activity level for the day:

Monday was our 52nd wedding anniversary. We headed for central Oregon to the high desert area. We stayed in a lovely B & B in Bend. It was close to the Deschutes river where we could take morning walks and there were really good restaurants within walking distance.

On our way, I had to stop at Camp Sherman and take a short hike to the head waters of the Metolius River. Here we are, enjoying the beauty of that place.

On Tuesday morning, we decided to check out the High Desert Museum which is a lovely place set back in the Ponderosa pines. There were a couple of art exhibits that I wanted to check out. We found much more than that. One art exhibit was art that was for sale to benefit the museum. Here is a piece that I really liked.

The other exhibit was about art that was created as part of the WPA program. It was very interesting. Here is a painting that we liked.

I liked seeing this special exhibit by Marie Watt that was commissioned by the museum. Marie lives and works here in Portland. There was an informative video about her work, as well.

In addition to the indoor exhibits, there were special exhibits of animals and birds of the area. I saw a few Aspens, too.

I really enjoyed the chance to get away and just enjoy the natural world. Now, I am trying to buckle down and get some creative work accomplished.

I  took a break to attend a 3 day workshop and I did well, but I was exhausted every night. I have always been a people person, but I spent so much of my recovery holed up with Mr C here in the condo, that I am finding spending a lot of time stimulated by the presence of other people is exhausting for me! Who knew that would every happen to me! I will share some stuff from the workshop later, but I wanted to finish my SFMOMA posting.

Our next stop was at the Calder exhibit which was inside and out. I love his mobiles.

In the outdoor area, there was a beautiful garden wall of ferns and other plants.

Then we were off to Open Ended: Painting and Sculpture since 1900.  A couple of Matisse portraits caught my eye. The first is The Girl with the Green Eyes.

This one is Woman With a Hat. This one was done a little earlier than the one above. I thought it was interesting that it had a more impressionistic quality to it. I really like it better, I think.

I love color and the beauty of juxtaposing colors as Josef Albers does in these 4 pieces.

Mr C and I both have an affection for Robert Motherwell’s works. His work is so bold and graphic. We own a signed print of his work.

See how exciting this place is. You walk into a room and on every wall is a piece by one of your favorite artists. This being work by Mark Rothko.

And what is not to love about this Diebenkorn, Berkeley #7?

There were several pieces by Clyfford Still. His color use is extraordinary.

This  is one of Robert Rauschenberg’s gritty pieces.

I was happy to see this collage by Romare Bearden, one of my favorite artists. I was introduced to his work when I lived in North Carolina and was a docent at an art museum that owned a few of his pieces.

By now, I was beginning to feel as if a truck had run over me but I was determined to find the small works by Klee, another favorite artist.

I was happy to find this in the gift shop: Art Inc. by my daughter, Lisa.

There was so much more. I hope to go back again, soon.

One thing I really wanted to do while we were in California was to visit the renovated SFMOMA. It was closed for a long time as they expanded their exhibition space. Mr C used to say the SFMOMA was great architecture and bad art. The main problem was the lack of exhibition space. Well, that has been remedied. It is 5 floors of wondrous art. I had to stop and sit quite often as my stamina was minimal, but I kept going, feeling enriched by the creativity around me. By evening, I could barely get to my hotel room to crash!

We started on the fifth floor with an exhibition of outdoor sculpture. The wire man up there was quite delightful. This work was by an Englishman who created sculptures from natural materials on his solo treks around the world.

Next was this wall covering created by Jongstra, a Dutch fiber artist. She used raw and crafted felt, hand-spun silk, and dried flora. It was huge and in a hallway and difficult to photograph.

In another gallery, we saw these pieces by Andy Warhol and Chuck Close.

This was a different version of his Marilyn work – Reverse Marilyns.

Chuck Close created this portrait using circles in various shades of gray to black. Mesmerizing to look at.

I loved this piece by Frank Stella, so different from his other work, below.

So, I could not wait to get into this gallery! These pieces were in one room.

This very abstracted work always looks so simple, but believe me, it is not easy to do. Wish I had the ability.

These are two pieces by Ellsworth Kelly that could be art quilts – actually, I think I have seen them made into quilts – don’t you agree.

I will continue this on another day. I need to get my beauty sleep. I am taking a Radical Embroidery workshop at Oregon College of Art and Craft for the next 3 days. This has been my week to enter back into my Portland life. It has been great, but very tiring. I seem to be better each day. In San Francisco, we stayed at the Sofitel in Redwood City. It was really lovely. This was the view from our room. I enjoyed living in the lap of luxury for a few days.