missed matisse

Totally enhanced with flowers!

I popped into the local library today,  now known as the discovery centre which while I think is a fantastic name, I  cannot get out of the habit of calling it the library.  I was hoping for one last look around the Matisse exhibition in the gallery there, however I was too late and have missed it by a few days.  Middle boy visited it with school and took great  pleasure in telling me all the pictures he recognised from our house there.

I really love Matisse especially his later work using cut outs; his use of bright bold simple colour always makes me smile.  I so love the idea that while he was ill at the end of his life he still wanted to be creative and learnt to "paint with scissors"  using cut out paper as in the Blue Nude above.  I have used this idea in teaching art with children over the years, they are always really enthusiastic about this concept and are  amazingly creative with a pair of scissors and coloured paper.  

We have a pair of blue nudes in the hallway of our house,  it was only a few weeks after we moved here I realised they were created in the same year our house was built, 1952, it seemed fitting to hang them in the hallway. I think they are enhanced with the reflection of colourful Cath Kidston curtains  hanging at the front door, not very sure if Mr Matisse would agree!

We have a large copy of the Snail, another of his  colourful cut outs hanging in the kitchen.  In our previous house we had a teeny, tiny kitchen and it looked amazing dominating the white wall at one end , our kitchen is bigger now and the impact is not as great, I still love it though.  The children have all stood in front of it when they were learning to read and hunted for the word "the", it  seems a long time ago my gcse boy did that!  I bought it from the Tate years ago on a rare and fabulous mummy friend trip to London, such a fantastic reminder of a beautiful escape for a day.

 So as the Easter holidays are approaching I am attempting to be organised and plan some fun and inspiring Art gallery trips for the children, we may even brave it to London.  

Which artist inspires you at the moment?