Artists and traveling

So the talk by Arno Minkkinen was woooonderful. I've been attending more artist talks for the past year, and have become...well, not a connoisseur of the genre, but I've seen a few now, and it's interesting in the ways that they vary wildly. I've been in the audience for some very successful ones and also some that were...not so very much. Minkkinen managed to let us into himself and his art in a much more personal way. Since his photos largely feature his nude body (or at least parts of it) extensively, I suppose it's not surprising that he was comfortable allowing the audience a fairly deep level of intimacy. None of this was intimate in a voyuristic way, I should say - although some of the images of him and his wife are beautifully erotic - but more in a sharing of himself and how his worldview forms how he makes his photographs, as well as his obvious deep love of his family and his heritage and the joy he takes in his art.

I'm glad I got to attend, and to speak with him briefly later. What a lovely man.

In other news, I figure people might want to know that I'm heading back to Paris in a little while. My boss didn't want to take the trip (I know! She had first crack at it since I already went!) so I'm going. It'll be a much faster turnaround since I'm not taking any personal time there. And although what I really want to do is buy more vintage photos there, like the two I found at the flea market, I won't be there over the weekend when it looks like all of the fairs are held. (And some of them happen on Mondays also, but I don't think that day will work for me either.) So unless the booksellers along the Seine sell old photos along with their books and posters and old postcards, I'll have to hope that I find a shop. I plan to spend my one free day there just strolling, with no real sightseeing "duties" to pressure me. I also plan to eat my own body weight in Nutella crepes.

And then, first week of March, I have my surgery. Uh, woot?