When I went to Paris last December I made the mistake of staying in a 2 Star Hotel; it wasn’t a disaster and could have been much worse, but it was depressing all the more, when I first confronted where I was to stay for the next 4 or 5 days (even as I was out most of the time).

On my first evening in Paris, December 9th, I made this sketch in my hotel room, trying to be optimistic.

It was only later that I realized why the French were able to stand it, but I won’t go into that here. Below is the movie I made when I first arrived in my room after an average Trans Atlantic flight from New York. I also added some footage of me leaving the Louvre and then dropping my camera later that day or the next. Fortunately, the camera was repaired and the movie, you see, below.

Just wanted to share this.

I am Invited to cover LeWeb3 07 in Paris next month and now working on the logistics of how to pay for getting and staying there (I’m covering the conference as a blogger - while I’m sure I could speak there as well - I didn’t ask for that).

As I mentioned in my Webmetricsguru.com post - I find myself dreaming up all kinds of things - and they often come to pass - though I can’t usually control the the timing and circumstances.

Wish me good fortune in my dreaming.

Did a painting today - I have not recovered fully from a long, intense week in San Francisco - but I did not want to leave my painting behind.  Having said that - I also did not feel up to doing two studies today and settled for this nude painting - below:

 

I’m hoping the Paris Trip I’ll be taking in a few weeks will help me recharge my energies and give me some perspective on the work I’ve done over the last year.  For one thing - I’d like to see what other artists do with the same motifs. 

Not even certain I’ll paint much on this trip - not enough time.   I am not going as much, this time, to paint, as to fulfill a dream to visit Paul Cezanne’s studio and hang out in Paris with other artists. 

I went to Paris in 1987, myself; it was kinda tough to take in Paris as I did not speak French and few people wanted to talk to me - mostly Americans.  I think, this time, it will be different.    Also, on my first trip, I never made it further out of the city than Versailles.

Getting back to my nude study today, I was able to stay with oil pastels and not stray off to chalk or wax pastels - I am happy I did not mix it all up - because I’m getting tired of losing control as add chalk pastels over Oil Pastels.