A Touch of Culture... A French Girl Friday Post

Seeking out and enjoying the arts is an important part of
my life and along the way I also am able to channel my
inner French girl.

The arts have always been a part of my life. I feel my life would be so very empty if not filled with good music, movies, books, dance, theater and art in the form of paintings and drawings, even fashion is a form of the arts and you all know I love fashion.I think seeking out the arts and adding culture to ones life is so very important and starting from an early age I was drawn towards the above mentioned. I once could draw, even paint, but arthritis in my hands has made that harder and harder over the years, so that is why I love going to art museums and just getting lost in paintings, soaking in every detail; actually like museums of all types and find something rewarding in them, something so very fulfilling. I have never been ale to sing or act but have always enjoyed those that can, and when I have been able, have attended the theater and just been giddy to be there. Books, well getting lost in the pages of a good book has been a love of mine since as far back as I can remember, having been an only child, I was never lonely as long as I had a book in my hands. Music, what can I say, I always seem to have a soundtrack to my life. I adore music, all types, well nearly all types, everything from classical and some opera to current top ten tunes and everything in between. It can set a mood, lift a mood, change how my day is going and even on some level help with my pain levels.  In the book Lessons from Madame Chic, by Jennifer L. Scott, in the current chapter I am reading titled "Seek out the Arts", the author discusses her own connection to the arts, the arts being part of the reason she went to live as an exchange student in Paris... where better to immerse yourself in the arts than in Paris? While there, living with the Famille Chic they lead by example such as always having music playing and making it a very important part of their daily life, which upon returning in her life has done the same thing. 

The arts are a celebration of life.

Michael Douglas

When we lived in a small town, there was not a lot of cultural avenues to partake in such as museums or large theaters, but I managed to find it where I could. I would attend festivals to be able to listen to live bands, I would attend each and every play that my high school theater group put on, and attend melodramas at a place called The Great American Melodrama. I would visit missions to be able to see the art, visit small local galleries to do the same. I always had a book in my hand, and music playing in the background. I was a writer from quite early on and spent all my free time when I was not reading, drawing and painting. When I became an adult and had children I made sure that I encouraged them all to tryout for the school band, our middle daughter was quite talented with the bass clarinet, and she is also a very talented artist and gets more so each and every day and we encourage her every day in that area and she is a veracious reader when given the chance. Our youngest is talented in the culinary arts as well as in her own way the art of fashion. All three enjoy the theater, going to concerts and museums. I did not let living in a small town stop me from adding culture to my life, nor to theirs. 

Be drawn to the visual arts for it can expand your imagination.

                           Barbara Januszkiewicz

  

I am not able to always go attend the theater or visit museums and it has been years since I have been to a concert, but I still try very hard to bring the arts, to add culture to my daily life. One does not have to be French to seek out the arts and add a touch of culture to their daily lives as the French seem to do, "...The French highly promote culture and the arts, and photography is in their blood. Herb Ritts" It is not so hard to take their lead, you do not even have to live in a big city to do it.  Go to a library and pick up a few books if you do not have money to buy them..library's often have local artists on display so you even treat them as a mini museum. Seek out local art shows, cultural events. Look into small theater groups who preform, or maybe live theater at local collages or even high schools. Pick up a small canvas and some water colors and find a quite spot in your yard or a local part and paint what you see, it does not have to be good. Might inspire you to take an art course at a local jr. collage.  Joining a book club, maybe if you play an instrument you can find local lessons. One can go on websites like meetup.com and find others that enjoy the arts and take field trips to larger cities to see the museums so you do not have to go alone. Even if you do nothing more than watch movies at home , I like French films , or turn on the radio instead of the television , I love when writing these posts to listen to French music artists from the 20's through the 50's to get in the mood. Your life will be richer and enriched for the addition(s) and along the way, and in doing so you can also channel your own inner French girl as I do.

The arts are a major life nourishment.Kiran Ahluwalia