Down Home American Art

I have to tell you about the absolutely wonderful day we had today. We spent the day in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It was a beautiful spring day. Perhaps the nicest day we've had in a long time here in New England. The air was thick with the scent of magnolias, plum blossoms and azaleas. The sun quickly warmed the cool morning air as we drove along, happily chatting about nothing in particular. Our destination for this lovely jaunt? The Norman Rockwell Museum. As much as I appreciate art, I mean, I love Monet's "Water Lilies" and Michelangelo's "Sistine Chapel" work. But this is Norman Rockwell! One of the most, if not THE most, influential American Artists of our time! Over a period of 47 years, he painted 321 covers for the Saturday Evening Post, not to mention all of the canvas work and advertisements, and photography.

The museum is nestled on 40 acres of land, along with Rockwell's studio which was brought piecemeal from the village to the Museum estate. Unfortunately, I was unable to take pictures inside the museum or studio, but copyright laws must be respected. As I walked through the museum, I began to see pieces that were familiar to me and other I was seeing for the first time. I tried to single out the one piece that I would love to purchase a print of to display in our home. Each painting I stopped at seemed to be the one. How could I decide? Then I had an epiphany. It would be unjust to decide on one print; each represented a picturesque portrait of American life. Not French, Spanish, or English. AMERICAN. The very essence of our existence as a country lies within each brushstroke on those canvases. We ended up purchasing just one print: "Stockbridge at Christmas" even though there were many I would have picked as well.

This is the view from the front of the studio. It's hard to see, but there is a small river meandering through the trees. We have already decided to come back in the fall to see the leaves change in this beautiful vista.

This is the studio. Scott asked if we could build something like this in our back yard. Since we have a small backyard, the answer is no, but it would be nice to not have to mow the lawn!

After the museum, we traveled down the road apiece to the town of Stockbridge and went to Michael's Restaurant for lunch. We had really good burgers that were HUGE! Then we walked around and found the Peace, Love, and Chocolate Chocolate Shoppe where Scott found his Boston's mint tea that he uses for iced tea. Whodathunk? Tea in a Chocolate Shoppe! Oh, and some toffee that was truly divine!

It was a beautiful day. As I write this at almost 11 pm it is still balmy and the smell of roasted marshmallows wafts in on the lilting breeze through the open window. My brain is playing a montage of the places I dream to take my kids to. Places from my childhood. Places I've never been to, but always wanted to see. I think this is the start of a great summer.