Moco Museum, Barcelona, Part 2

The Moco Museum in Barcelona displays its philosophy.

Call it Inspiration For All Creatives.

The Moco Museum in Barcelona exhibits a lot of KAWS.

Did you know…

Born in 1974 in New Jersey, USA, Brian Donnelly aka KAWS chose his creative nickname based on the visual interaction between letters.

Moco Museum

KAWS’ background…

KAWS is an American artist known for his toys, figurines and clothing brand solely based on a fictional character.

Donnelly started the concept of KAWS as a teenager, when he created KAWS tags and marked them on buildings and phone booths in New Jersey and Manhattan. 

Starting his career in New York as a graffiti artist, he often posted the KAWS logo on billboards, bus stops and phone booths in his neighbourhood.

He later graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and started working as a freelance artist for Disney, where he created 2D/3D backgrounds for Disney movies.

Lifestyle Asia

Quote from the artist…

I liked the fact that [KAWS] didn’t exist. It wasn’t a thing, just sort of lettering that worked. I liked the sound, like a short, strong mark.

KAWS

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Moco Museum, Barcelona, Part 1

Metamorphosis 2021 by Nick Thomm, 2-panel acrylic pigment ink, resin on canvas.

A year ago, my family traveled to Madrid and Barcelona to visit our daughter who was studying abroad. I’ve been thinking a lot about that trip and how much we enjoyed touring the cities and countryside. I found the Moco Museum in Barcelona interesting, interactive, and inspiring. Quotes seemed to speak directly to me–even for a creative whose mediums are words, clay and yarn rather than paint, resin, and fiberglass.

Accompanying the over 9 feet wide paintings above, the didactic wall panel says, “Metamorphosis is inspired by art lovers and the conversations we have. Oftentimes, when we encounter hypnotic fields of color, we want to jump inside or we feel the artwork pulling us in. Nick Thomm welcomes that natural urge and frames us in euphoric color. His vibrant tones have soul vibrations and make us wonder, what’s our aura color?”

Soul vibrations? Love. Aura color? What’s mine? What’s yours?

Untitled (Horse) 2012 by OsGemeos, Mixed Media, OsGemeos are identical twin brothers Otavio Pandolfo and Gustavo Pandolfo who work together.

We always think that a wall like this is a big canvas where we can share what we believe. Once you put it there, information, you share this information with everybody. You can change ideas. You can change people. You can give some hope. It’s very important. Every single line we do, it’s important.

OsGemeos

Diamond Matrix 2020 by Studio Irma, immersive exhibit with mirrored walls, ceiling and floor where diamonds seem to stretch to infinity.

As humans, we undergo great pressure. Yet, socially, failure is not accepted. Diamonds, made of carbon, go through incredible stress, to emerge as shining jewels and one of the strongest materials on earth. So can you. “

“This installation of hundreds of light-up diamonds expresses that we participate in a bigger picture, sharing more similarities than differences. Life is messy and hard, but it makes us stronger. Celebrate your indestructible shine. Who are the diamonds in your life?

Studio Irma

The Moco Museum, an independent museum located in Amsterdam has announced the opening of a new venue in Barcelona. The Netherlands-based Moco Museum said that the new satellite facility would open its doors for the first time by the middle of October 2021. The location of the new Moco Museum will be a 16th-century palace, Palacio Cervelló, situated in the heart of the bustling city of Barcelona, known for its art, architecture and distinctive culture. Founded in 2016 with a mission for attracting broader and younger audiences to art, the Moca Museum has always sought to make fine art more accessible to the public. As such, opening a new branch in another country is very much a part of its mode of operation.

Manuel Charr for Museum Next

Sorbet for the Soul, Energy

Energy is my buzz-word.

It’s the word people say to me (“You must have a lot of energy” referring to my four children) (“Where do you get all of that energy?” referring to my passions and interests) (“You’re high-energy, aren’t you?” referring to my aura, but not meant in a nice way).

It’s the word I use to describe how I raised those four children along with many other children–on snow days, half-days, and random days off. I filled my car and we drove to the beach, headed to a mountain to ski, rode the train to the city, invited kids to spend a vacation with us, and was “the house.”

And all along the way, I put my mental and physical energy towards writing Kidlit.

Over the last year, I’ve given a lot of thought to the word, concept and reality–where do we put it, how are we using it, is it going to our pursuits and passions, or are we squandering it on unimportant things? We must focus on health, family, and work, but where do we fit in, carve out time, and make a priority our pursuits and passions? Until they become a reality?

Hon, I’m working on it.

Sorbet for the Soul, Resilience

She was right.

A group of moms was catching up, and I said how proud I am of my children. One of my daughters recently moved into her own pre-war, one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan and I am so impressed by her ambition, hard work and determination.

Me: “She’s a rock star!”

Other Mom: “We should not be telling our kids that they’re rock stars!”

Me: speechless

Other Mom: “We have to teach our kids how to be resilient! Things will not always work out for them. There will be times they didn’t get that job or were passed up for a promotion because it went to the boss’s relative! Or they’ll have to live at home while they’re saving money! Or they’ll have health issues. Lots of things in life won’t go their way! We have to teach them how to deal with them!”

Me: thinking—This mom has gone through a horrible tragedy in her immediate family so, although I was taken aback, I listened and said only…

Me: “You’re right.”

After the gathering, I felt angry and indignant about Other Mom’s words. But they stuck with me.

The more I think about Other Mom, the more I realize she was right.

I know many things won’t go the way my kids had hoped for. As in the times they already haven’t, when they’re faced with disappointments, hard situations, heartbreak, health issues, and death, we’ll discuss how to deal with them, how to process feelings, where to get help, and the ways in which we can support each other emotionally and practically.

But, hon, I want to tell Other Mom that when things do go they way we hoped, dreamed, wished for and worked hard for, in that moment, it is okay to feel like a rock star!

Sorbet for the Soul, Memorable Moments

I always wear headphones when I run or walk, but often decide not to listen to anything. Same goes for music in the car. As, I’m sure, many of us do, my mind has to process, think, count blessings, and pray.

Outside, I listen to the wind whisper to the treetops until its message reaches the leaves at eye level and they turn to answer.

I’m trying to find out if I’m on the right path in my Kidlit writing journey. And when quiet and concentrating, I whisper my wishes to the leaves at eye-level and send them through the treetops so that the wind will gather them up and then let them go into the ocean-like skies and out into the universe.

I hear blue jays squawk, robins chirp, and woodpeckers drill. Rustling reveals chipmunks and squirrels scurrying and watching, and gobbling spotlights the harem of wild turkeys that lives on our road or the single tom turkey who digs by himself. In the quiet, field mice, groundhogs, raccoons, opposums, deer, foxes, coyotes, a black bear, bighorn sheep, and elk have crossed my path.

One of most memorable moments of quiet was the time Lucy and I were walking in the South Mountain Reservation and we sat down to watch a young male deer. Lucy didn’t bark, I didn’t speak, and the deer sized us up and kept on grazing. After awhile, Lucy and I continued on our walk, and when we came to the field where I let Lucy off-leash to run, guess who joined us? The young, male deer wanted to play! He ran and so did Lucy and I, playing a game of catch-me-if-you-can. Pure joy.

Hon, keep listening. I am.

Sorbet for the Soul, Inner Voices

Succulents in Big Sur, California

Easy to say, but hard to do is to concentrate on our thoughts. Really concentrate. I was recently asked how negative inner voices are serving me? Working on changing that, hon. I hope you are, too.

Sorbet for the Soul, Giant Wishes!

There we were, hiking down a trail in Meyer Ranch, Colorado this summer, when we came upon a meadow with the largest dandelions I’d ever seen. It’s like the universe was saying, “Hon, writing and publishing Kidlit is such a herculean ask, you need wishes big enough, loud enough, and strong enough to be carried all the way from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast. Take a deep breath and blow!”

Turns out the palm-sized puffballs aren’t dandelions, but Western Salsify whose flowers looks like a yellow daisies. Soon after, we met the infamous llamas, Stardust and OnFire, and that chance meeting was even more spectacular than hiking in the Rockies, discovering golfball-sized dandelion lookalikes, listening to the click-click-click of a flying grasshopper, passing an elderly man hiking uphill with a cannula and portable oxygen, and saying hi to many happy dogs with their people.

Then, a week ago I was on a run and stopped mid-stride to take a pic. I asked the homeowner if he’d put “Don’t Give Up” out just for me and he said, “If that’s what you need…”

It is. It’s what I need.

So, in an effort to take a deep breath and blow my wishes and energy and thoughts and words and characters and layers and stories all the way from my imagination to the page to childrens’ imaginations, I’m posting a series called Sorbet for the Soul–photos and sentiments along with literal and figurative signs which beg for my attention.

Maybe if I take a moment to blow giant wishes and absorb messages and do the thing that informs my life–finding the extraordinary in the ordinary–my herculean ask will one day soon come to fruition.

Western Salsify flower, image source: Wildflowers of the United States.

Llamas Hum–Who knew?!

On our recent hike in Meyer Ranch Park, Colorado, my aunt, daughter and I snapped pics of the pretty wildflowers, breathed in the piney fresh mountain air, listened to a grasshopper click-click-click as it flew around us, pet many dogs, and witnessed an elderly man with a cannula and portable oxygen hike uphill (to which my daughter said, “Good for him! We have nothing to complain about!”).

Heading to the parking lot, we spotted…

…two llamas in the meadow! A man and a woman each led a llama and a chihuahua.

The tiny dogs’ names? Ruth and Charlie. Guess the llamas’ names?! Just guess.

Stardust and OnFire!

Aren’t those the best names?!

Stardust likes people so much that if she doesn’t encounter any, she hums. I didn’t know llamas hum! When I stopped scratching Stardust’s neck she said Hmmmm. Hmmmm.

When I commented that OnFire needs a haircut, her “dad” told me she won’t let him trim her bangs. Too funny!

OnFire needs a haircut.

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Kayaking on Lake Dillon, Colorado

Me and Rosanne kayaking on Lake Dillon.

Looks Photoshopped But It Isn’t!

The highlight of this summer? A short trip to Denver, Colorado! (shout out to my aunt, Rosanne and cousin, Alex!) One of my daughters traveled with me, and we took advantage of the beautiful summer weather and gorgeous scenery. We kayaked on Lake Dillon, paddling in ripply, cool water and in a picture-perfect postcard setting. I could not get over how fluffy the clouds were and how blue the sky. Afterwards, we visited the Farmer’s Market and picked up yummy, small-batch chocolates. No wonder we all loved the day!

Hannah and Alex.

Tandem kayaking.

Horseback Riding in Montserrat, Spain

Trail ride at Three Rivers Ranch, Spain

On our excursion to Montserrat, my family hiked half a day and rode horses the other half. We descended the mountain and arrived at Three Rivers Ranch where we met Juan, a Spanish cowboy. His primary focus is his cattle which explains the variety of cows lazing in the sun adjacent to the stables. We learned that he leads trail rides as a way to exercise the horses. We enjoyed getting to know our horses’ personalities and learning best riding practices.

The beautiful countryside that is part of Montserrat National Park reminded me of Tuscany– rolling hills, vineyards, and gorgeous landscapes in every direction. Hon, I felt grateful that the day worked out so well, and that Hubby and I had an opportunity to share a full, active day with three of our four kids. We all love adventure, exploring, and being outdoors.

Writing this post reminds me of other trail rides, one of which was local and a great activity with tweens and teens. (info on that coming soon…)

Hon, do you like to horseback ride?