A Scott And Zelda Fitzgerald Kind of Day

I recently visited the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum, located on 919 Felder Avenue, in Montgomery, Alabama.  Our Air Force family has been stationed over the past year and a half in Montgomery, and I have only recently found out about this museum.  It is in no doubt, a local gem!  One of Montgomery's little hints that led me to this discovery was that there is a Zelda Road in town.  This made me wonder whether there was an association of the name of the road to this place.

A street sign outside the museum - One side quotes a work of Scott and this side is of Zelda.

My folks came in from Seattle for a two week visit, and my father, being a Ph.D. in Literature, was only too delighted to learn of this spot.  Out we went on our little excursion on that Monday - or so we thought.  When we arrived at our destination, the museum was closed, and we turned back home in disappointment.   We tried coming back a second time, and a very polite little note on the door informed us of an early closing for the day.   At that point, I thought that we would just try again at another visit down the road.  My father, however, had his heart set on it, and mom and I were determined that the third time would be a charm.  And so it was - we were so glad that we didn't give up on the idea.

Letters of correspondence between Scott and Zelda

Letters of correspondence between Scott and Zelda

The director of the museum was cordial, personable and incredibly knowledgeable on the Fitzgerald's life.  He shared with us all sorts of tidbits of interesting morsels that he had picked up over the years of research as well as from conversations with Fitzgerald buffs that visit the museum, eager to share what they've acquired from their own studies of the family and their literary works.

Photos of Zelda

I was intrigued to learn more about Zelda.  Up until that point, I had only known that she was creative and that she dabbled in art.  I learned from that visit that she was multifaceted.  She pursued ballet dancing, wrote short stories, plays and novels; Scott supported her with her creative endeavors.  From early on in their relationship, she clearly became his muse.  Several weeks ago, I saw a painting of Zelda's which she donated to Montgomery Museum of Fine Art.  I then wanted to see more of her artwork. I looked forward to have the opportunity to do so at our following visit of the Fitzgerald Montgomery home.

Bellow is Zelda's painting of cotton, Hope

displayed at the Montgomery Museum of Fine art.

Two of Zelda's paintings are displayed at the Fitzgerald home. 

Zelda's family was from Montgomery.  Scott met Zelda Sayre when he was stationed as an army lieutenant, in Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, in 1918.  The couple met at a country club ball and were married in 1920.  Zelda was known to be very outgoing, and to speak her mind.  She was also credited for embodying the spirit of the flappers and the Jazz age.  She liked to say things just to get a reaction out of people.  In general, she really enjoyed that sort of playful interaction.  They lived and traveled all over the world and resided with their daughter, Scottie, in Montgomery from 1931-1932.  That house was turned into a museum in 1987.  It is the only place worldwide that commemorates the literary couple, right here, in Zelda's home town.  Much of the first floor of the house serves as the museum, while the other areas and floors have been turned into apartments.  During the year that the Fitzgeralds resided there however, they had the entire house to themselves.  The house is located in the historic district of Cloverdale, and it is the last home that the family lived in together.

If you plan to visit the museum, here is the schedule of the hours of business.  Also, plan to bring some cash with you (see on the sign) for suggested donations, which help with the upkeep of the museum. 

URL: http://fitzgeraldmuseum.net

Phone: 334.264.4222

info@fitzgeraldmuseum.net

I hope that you enjoy your visit as much as my family and I have.  You will learn something about the Fitzgerald family that you haven't yet known that will surely touch your heart.  That visit to the Fitzgerald home had left a lasting impression on my mind.  When our family moves to our new station sometime down the road, I will also take away with me the memory of that special day, where echos of Scott, Zelda and Scottie flow with the breeze and gently falling leaves in the front yard.  They bid me farewell, reminding me to keep creating and to follow my heart.

A Scott And Zelda Fitzgerald Kind of Day was shared 

on the F. Scott And Zelda Fitzgerald Museum's Facebook page on 30 January, 2013.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/F-Scott-and-Zelda-Fitzgerald-Museum/317404308615?fref=ts

Clefony

Music - inspired art

Clefony ~ charcoal pencils

  My drawings in charcoal pencils are my latest Creations.

  
 The two additional smaller drawings of Clefony, 
are a couple of the earlier stages of this piece.

 

Completed drawing

CLEFONY

The term Clefony is my made up word for a symphony of clefs.  It is an artistic-inspired word since bass and treble clefs intertwine in this abstract creation.  It is a word-play on the coupling of clef with symphony.  In Clefony, I fuse together non moving images such as the musical clefs, in contrast to moving elements, such as the small music notation.  The treble clef endings resemble bows of the string family, adding a more angular contrast to the roundness of the clefs, as if playing them like they were instruments.  The angled treble clef closest to the top spirals downward, glistening in imitation to the brass wiring of a french horn.  The hook of the top bass clef rounds-off into a pear's seed, hinting at the notion that music and art appeal to many of our senses, causing us to feel more alive.

Geisha Playing a Shamisen

Souvenir masks from Japan

A gate to a shrine in Japan shot from underneath 
to feature the ornamented decor.

The inspiration for this drawing came from my trip with my husband Alex to Japan, in the winter of 2011, where we saw several geisha in a busy street in Kyoto.  A tourist crowd formed around them as if they were celebrities, and cameras went clicking away.  Being affected by the book: Memoirs of a Geisha, I had so many images of Gion (the most exclusive and well known geisha district in Japan) already in my mind.  I couldn't wait to see the old city streets, buildings, and shrines.  Having just gone to the Tokyo museum, and learning so much about Japan's history and the relationship of the old capital of Kyoto to the new capital of Tokyo, I was eagerly awaiting the train trip to Kyoto.  I was taken back by the history and culture of Japan's old capital, and wished we could have stayed there longer then a weekend.  I bought a souvenir doll and drew it, to take something even more personal away from that unforgettable adventure.  Bellow, are some photographs from our trip, which inspired me to create this drawing, followed by the evolution of the stages of the drawing. 

Geisha Playing a Shamisen ~ charcoal pencils

The 4 photos bellow were taken in Kyoto, Japan.  

We did a walking tour of the city, and it was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

––
 

 

I took these 2 sculpture photos bellow 

at the lobby of a restaurant at the top of the Tokyo Museum, 

where we overlooked the city on a cloudy day.

 

Four wooden fortunes sold outside the Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo. Shinto: The indigenous religion of Japan, devoted to deities of natural forces and glorifying of the emperor as a descendant  of the sun goddess.

Evolution of Geisha Playing a Shamisen:

 Doll used as a model for my drawing.

Stage 1

Stage 2

 Completed drawing

At a recent visit to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, I revisited a kimono display made of cast glass, entitled Ojigi, by American artist, Karen LaMonte.  I revisit this display with each return to the museum.  Time after time, it captivates me, drawing me to its mystical presence.  The ethereal way in which the glass captures the light, causes me to sense both past and future.  Because the figure was made of glass, and not marble or brass, it possesses the ability to capture light, causing a timeless appeal.  Coming back to this display has given me a recapitulation, a return, with a new perspective, and a closure to my whole Japanese travel experience, and charcoal drawing of Geisha Playing a Shamisen.

The Rose

In The Rose, leaves blowing in the wind from diagonal directions intersect and merge to form the image of a rose, which is suspended at an angle.  The Rose is a fusion of the soft smudged leaves on the interior of the flower, which interlace with the more ornate sharper edged intersecting leaves.  It is a play on the two textures.  The flower head itself acts as a magnetic force that pulls the sharper edged ornate leaves into it's center, causing the panoramic view to seem multidimensional.  In this piece, I play with the idea of the still life image of the flower being juxtaposed with the crossing of the leaves and the illusion of motion contrasting it's windless leafy bulb.

The Rose ~ charcoal pencils

Evolution of The Rose:
 

The Rose ~ stage 1

The Rose ~ stage 2

The Rose ~ stage 3

The Rose ~ stage 4