The Goldfinch

Another HOT day - this is the Pacific Northwest?? Niklas and I had several really good rows - I just love it that he is so enthused and doing so well!—the kids gathered up their artwork, including their new swords they made…. and then this afternoon we took the family over to catch the ferry back home, —and, same trip, picked up 2 friends who have arrived to spend the next 2 weeks staying here - while we are away (starting sunday - more about that later.…) Never a dull moment it seems…:-)

But the blip today has to be this goldfinch with the punk hairdo. 1) because I needed a “yellow” blip for my weekly blip challenge and 2) because I’ve just finished Donna Tartt’s book, The Goldfinch, a pulitzer prize winner, I know there is controversy over it’s merits and purposely didn’t read any reviews first. I do have to admit it was a really “good read’ (like you can hardly wait to get under the covers at night to read…) and of course anything set in the art world is fascinating to me. Kid’s story? I don’t know. the characters were charming. The story seemed seemed a little far fetched to me and I certainly don’t think writing about the power of an artwork on one’s soul is anything new or revolutionary. I predict it won’t stand the test of time for a really great piece of literature — but I did enjoy it!

The goldfinch in the book is a small painting by Carel Fabritius from 1654. It was recently exhibited at the Frick collection in NYC, just a few months before I was there (darn!). The european goldfinch is different from our american one — it has a bit of red on the head and is less yellow …..and turns up in Renaissance Art symbolizing the soul, resurrection, sacrifice and death, the passion of Christ —Leonardo and Rafael are 2 of many painters that have painted them — If I wasn’t so tired I’d link a few..as I think that's pretty interesting…

will try to add a few more pix to the flickr set of the kids…but it's been giving me trouble.. so ? Thank you for the nice attention to yesterday SERENE view.