5.31.2010 It's Raining Art & Cows

Do you ever have one of those days that seems off before it ever begins? Dom and I definitely did last Saturday. We had planned a day of browsing through the Haitian art galleries. And I will admit I was very excited about it! This is something I have been waiting to do for months, bidding my time. Reading up on Haitian Art history. Day dreaming about the amazing Haitian pieces adorning my walls.

We got in the car, and headed of to Pettionville. We should of known from the beginning that something was just not right about the day when we pulled into traffic behind a taptap (which normally is public transit in Haiti) and this one had a cow in it. The poor cow looked pretty tortured, and all I can say is that I was glad that I was not in charge of clean up. Cow plus Tap Tap= Messy!

We hit gallery after gallery. Reflections, Nader, Marissa, Monin was sadly closed. I was like a kind in a candy store! I had some serious art lust after my visit. Dom and I fell in love with a George Desarmes that we saw at Nader. We have a date to meet with another Haitian artist tomorow (blog to follow I'm sure), so unless something major happens I expect the Desarmes to find a new home with us. It is definitely the largest purchase we have ever made in terms of art and I have butterflies.

Here's a similar piece to the one we were considering and a few more just for fun:

I love the stylistic quality of his work and all of the colors. Also I love the framing techniques he uses with the natural elements like the trees. Beautiful! I love it all over again just talking about it!

Tiga: I had never heard of Tiga prior to this trip but I love, love, love his art! It is very Picasso with a modern twist. I really enjoy the use of color.

Philipe Dodard was my favorite! His work is significantly about our price range but he uses virbrant colors and textures. You never get tired of looking at his work, there are so many different elements that can draw you in.

 Haitian art has a facinating range and I truly do wonder if we will ever again live in a country with such fascinating art culture.

Anyhow, our art trip was fab! Too bad it poured the whole time we were in the second gallery, and traffic on the way home was a beast! I took the opportunity to make some artsy shots through the glass which you can see at my photo blog if your interested. Sadly this is what it looked like. It took us two hours to get home.