Amoureux

Believe it or not, I, Stephanie Ardell, have fallen in love in Paris.

We met briefly a few years ago but it was only today along the Seine River that sparks flew and he really captured my heart. He is clever and witty, and although he dropped out of school when he was just sixteen, he is truly one of the most remarkably talented men I know.

Unfortunately he died 85 years ago, but he left behind many incredible paintings for me to marvel at.

(Oscar)Claude Monet is one of the most accomplished artists to come out of the eighteen hundreds and is world renowned for mastering the art of impressionist painting. Often, he painted the same scene multiple times at varying hours of the day to capture the different effects of the lighting -as if painting it once wasn't phenomenal enough. Personally, I draw a mean stick figure, but the ability to comprehend and capture the same intricate details processed by our retinas and reproduce them using only paint and a brush is mind-boggling to me.

A few of Monet's works reside between the likes of Van Gogh, Pierre-August Renoir, and Edouarde Manet; to name a few, in the gorgeous Musée D'Orsay along the Seine River. It is a fabulous museum filled with paintings, sculptures, furniture, photography, and paintings dating back to the nineteenth century (1848-1915), and I had the pleasure of visiting it today. I adored all of it (okay, the furniture was boring) but my favourite piece was this painting by my darling Monet.

This is one of his "Houses of Parliament" series, and the picture does the real thing no justice.

Although our relationship is only budding, I cannot wait to be reacquainted with my dear Claude on our future rendez-vous around Paris: the Marmotton, the Grand Palais, and wherever else I can find him!

**He has a really interesting biography, and you may be suprised to find he's quite funny! Click here to read a bit more about Mr. Monet straight from the horses mouth!

Playlist of the day: Beautiful piano stylings from Maria Mena