Art in Bloom at MN Institute of Art

Nothing announces Spring here in Minnesota better than the Art in Bloom festival at Minnesota Institute of Arts. Although this year, Mother Nature is playing games as snowflakes is continually descending (see the instagram picture in the sidebar) despite the Calendar proclaiming it to be the month of ‘May’.

Well, contrary to the weather outside right now, it was spring this weekend; we even ran the air conditioner in the car and went out for a family bike ride.

 The Art in Bloom show was themed around Native American culture so we saw a lot of dream catchers and head-gears made out of things in nature and it was very inspiring to be influenced by the ideas that can be incorporated in your home and life in general.

As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words, so here we go…

Flower bouquet at the entrance

Rembrandt in America

If about a month ago I was asked to list 10 of my most favorite artists of all time, I can't for sure say that Rembrandt would be on that list.  Rembrandt was a very common name thanks to the aisles full of art supplies in craft stores with the same brand name but my familiarity with his work was vague to say the least. 

I had not been introduced to his work like I was to more modern artists like Monet and Manet and others of the impressionist era. That is until I saw the exhibition 'Rembrandt in America' at Minneapolis Institute of Arts. We took a docent led tour, another first for me, I am usually skeptical about strangers guiding me through art work and its nuances which I think are a matter of personal taste and choice. 

But needless to say, I was very impressed with the exhibition and really liked the introduction that the docent provided. Initially she talked about his style of work and light sources and the controversies about the authenticity of the originality of some his work and it set the direction right for the rest of the tour and even though later we diverged from the group as the discussion was led to the choices of his models and painting themes; I was enthralled by the detail in his work and the emotions captured in the brush strokes. 

It is one of the largest collect of Rembrandt in America and several of his works displayed here are from private collections. 

Rembrandt was also a famous printmaker and there is a large room in the exhibition dedicated to his prints and etchings. It is a must see exhibition and even if you are not a big fan of his work, I can say this from personal experience that, you will not be disappointed. 

Part of a self-portrait by Rembrandt 

Visiting the Art Institute of Minneapolis

The Minneapolis institute of Arts is a wonderful place to spend time together as a family. We visit there frequently specially during winter except that this past winter was warm and excluded the need for constant indoor weekend activities.

We love going there on Target Family days since they have many art related activities going on throughout the day and keep kids involved. Remember our recycled material dragon fly?

On our last visit to the Target family day at MIA, the featured artist was Pablo Picasso and since my older daughter Somu studied about him in his art class, we were all excited about visiting on this particular day. We made portraits using strips of paper, some hand torn other precisely cut depending on what was available to use. 

Mamma walking dog on a sunny day

Somu enjoying an Ice cream

We made portraits of our dancing girls

The featured exhibit these days is the restoration and rediscovery of the statue, Saint Paul, the hermit. 

It is a beautifully carved piece and worth a visit, its only there till the 15th April so if its on your list, you must visit there soon. 

After the visit to the special exhibit, we visited the gallery on third floor to see modern pieces from mid century.

We also spotted a Georgia O 'Keeffe 

The other very interesting feature there these days is the pop-up park. Had it been a regular winter, it would have been a killer display but since the weather outside is already very spring like the greenery of the plastic grass failed to make an impact but still the joy of watching two little girls kick off their boots and run around in the grass, even if its plastic, is priceless. 

And the real treat was this dragon car situated outside in the street side parking. 

Even though its not a regular feature of the museum but it shows to tell about the interesting people that make this place charming... 

Recycle and Reuse at MIA

I think Facebook spoiled me, its so easy to share things with your friends, you post a picture tell them your emotions or your activity and you can tell the rest of the story later. But just like tomorrow, later also has a tendency to almost never show up.

So in an effort to improve my document of life here are the pictures from this Sunday, 11th July. We made a trip to the Minneapolis institute of Arts and since we go there pretty often, we just focused on the specials for the day. Art made from Recycled and Reused.

But first DH, experiencing an African wooden pillow.





These are the toys that we re-wamped using play-dough and some sparklies, dora characters are now two girls on a flying carpet, the fireman is a girl with flower, Mr. Potatohead is the snow lady, and a coin and jewel turned into a meddalian.


DH made me a necklace out of play-dough and wire


This was an out-doors project where we turned two coke bottles and a hanger into a dragonfly and then decorated it with gift wrap decoupage.

That's a big wolf made out of recycled paper and cardborads.