I am not sure quite how to begin. Speechless, would be a good start! Two parts to the day, but so much to talk about with each. Brunch with the Tim and Kelly Black family, then all afternoon at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

First, in the late morning, we met up with Tim, Kelly, Micah, Liam, Vivi, and Titus at a venue called INCaffeinated. We had a long, conversational, fun meal together and then said our goodbyes.

It is always good to catch up with people we love, but especially great when it is The Blacks. Their children are also great company and – cliché I know – we cannot believe how grown up they are now (Not Tim and Kelly, they’re exactly the same age they were when we left Brandon in 2013!).

We did the perfunctory “family photo” outside, but it turned out to be one of the best portraits I have taken in a very long time.

The Carnegie:

This is where I am having a hard time knowing what to write. Our experience at the Carnegie Art Museum was both beautiful and overwhelming.

We went to see the Impressionists, but I could – and I am tempted to – do an entire post just on Joan Brown, the first artist we viewed.

Brown (1938-1990) does not exactly represent the style of painting I tend to enjoy. But the gallery had four rooms dedicated to an exhibition of her work, along with some interesting history from her life.

So I read some of the interpretive material, then really started to appreciate her perspective and most especially her use of color.

By the time I reached the end of the display I was hooked! I’m going to insert a slide show here featuring some of my favorite selections, and you can draw your own conclusions.

This is a good time to talk about how I tend to interact with art in a gallery setting:

While Rebekah reads just about everything, stopping at every picture and absorbing the pertinent details, I usually walk through a room – moving fairly slowly – taking note of what grabs my attention. I then circle back, returning to those paintings to rest with them a while, reading and learning and peering deeply into every crevice of the work.

This particular gallery affected me more than usual. Not just the work of Joan Brown, but a lot of phenomenal pieces – especially the Impressionists.

Here in this next slide show you will find paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Klint, Cézanne, Renoir, Pollock and more. And these are just a few of the artworks that stopped me dead in my tracks and grabbed my attention.

My experience has left me feeling not only inspired but in a sense compelled to move forward with more creative work of my own. Photography, yes, but writing too. I want to honor the intention of The Creator when I was entrusted with the particular gifts that I enjoy.

Not just for me, but to share. To share something of the glory and the beauty I see around me.

Being joyfully creative is one of the most profound ways we can honor and celebrate the deeper beauty and joy and light and truth that God offers every day.

In love, and because love requires this of me – DEREK

a few extras and the slide show items too: