on the "Bloom of the Rose" or Fading Beauty and Richard Wright wins the Turner Award,

"Beauty is only ever truly valued when it is desired,

Not possessed, just admired,

When not attainable or when it has past.

The beautiful don't know they are until last.

The fragility of beauty is its certain death,

It rests upon a numbered breath." - Vicki Bower


Being 40, I have been entertaining my newly stimulated brain with some mortality-type internal convos lately.


I saw this wonderful artist, Richard Wright, with his gorgeous gold leaf wall painting after he was featured in guardian.uk for winning the £25,000 Turner Prize Dec. 6th. (Click here for that article.) The fact that his gorgeous, luminous gold leaf painting is so.... mortal, really struck a nerve in me (I have left many a mural in my wake and sometimes miss them like old friends).

Here also is a link to the telegraph.uk article with a title I really love, "Art Is Beautiful Again," where there is a video of the artist Richard Wright himself introducing his work.

Louvre on Strike!

This is appalling...
The LOUVRE! C'mon, now, this is ridiculous..

"There are things one cannot privatise. Art and culture are one."

"If you were planning a Parisian break in the next few days and weeks, check that your favourite museum hasn't angrily closed down...

The most visited museum in the world, with 8.5 million visitors in 2008, the Louvre offers clout to the strikers, alongside international media coverage. And it gives the French government, which thought it could force one more so-called reform on yet another set of French workers, cause for concern. This time, the government is facing a strike which could impact massively on the economy. With France being the No 1 tourist destination in the world, and Paris the most visited capital city with 16 million visitors in 2008, the closure of landmarks such as the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, the Arc of Triumph, Notre Dame and the Musée Rodin, in the run-up to the Christmas holiday could further harm the country's image. The Picasso Museum in Vallauris and the ramparts in Carcassonne and Aigues-Mortes, among many other attractions in provincial France, are also closed to the public."

For more of this article by The Guardian UK, click HERE .