Sketch 3, Washington Day 1!

Slightly different sketch today- I did this on a "Buddha Board" for sale at the Hirshhorn Museum. It's a sort of slate, or stone, that goes dark with water, and dries white again. This looked a lot cooler in the store- the ladies who worked there said it was the best they'd seen on the sample product so far. Sometime soon I will start posting sketches that look like I'm actually trying to improve my artwork...

Big day today! Started with the top of the Washington Monument- bird's eye view of the entire city.

This is a relief from the WWII memorial. It's actually very small, there are a lot of them along a wall.

After the Washington Monument, I headed down the mall to the Smithsonian. If you're not aware, the Smithsonian is actually a

whole crap-ton of museums, most of them centered around the National Mall. If you're not aware, the National Mall is a large strip of grass surrounded by monuments and important buildings; the Capitol at one end, Washington Monument in the middle, and the Lincoln memorial at the other end. No shopping involved. Except for all the museum shops.The other cool thing about the Smithsonian is that admission is always free.

So first I went to the Freer/Sackler Galleries. They have a lot of Asian and Middle Eastern Art, including a beautiful set of four ancient wooden Shitenno statues; guardians from a Buddhist temple in Japan. These are my favorite, and I was really happy to see them again, as well as so much other cool art that I don't have time to talk about. Oh, if any of you have run across Whistler's Peacock Room in your art history textbooks, that's there too.

Next, after stopping briefly at the Smithsonian Castle to pay my respects to the remains of James Smithson himself. Then, on to the Hirshhorn: Contemporary and Modern Art. There, I had a brief and dramatic encounter with Modern Art, which is how I like it. It's fun to look at, fun to experience, but not something I want to spend a lot of time thinking about and analyzing.

Then, Air and Space! I paid my money and played with their very realistic flight simulators th

at go upside down. Lots of fun... although I don't think I'm very good at flying! Also at the Air and Space (and once again costing money) I saw a show at the Einstein Planetarium- sort of like an omni-theater on the ceiling. Very cool. Next I went to the cafeteria at the Museum of the American Indian in search of baby octopus- sadly I had to settle for a chicken tomale and duck salad. Very tasty.

At this point I turned back towards the metro on the other side of the mall, heading towards the National Gallery of Art. I found the East Building first, which is a much more modern structure. Didn't spend much time there, took the underground concourse to the more traditional West Building, where I found myself in great need of a Café Mocha at the cafe.

Wended my way through the bookstore, picked up a small over-priced sketchbook (I needed something light to carry around) and got lost in the gallery until it was time to go home. I spent the most time in the sculpture collection, and saw lots of really interesting things. I'm totally a sucker for greek-style idealized heroic sculptures.

Small disaster- I was fairly tired at this point and managed to leave my camera bag on the steps of the National Gallery after I had finished adjusting my coat. I realized this about a block later and returned to find it gone- but some very nice tourists had given it to the guards inside the gallery, who returned it to me. After they called my mother, since I had written my home phone and address inside the bag. Embarrassing! At least I got the camera back safely.

Then back to the metro, and back home. This morning I went into the city in the height of rush hour and the metro was absolutely packed- in the afternoon I at least got a seat! The daughter of my hosts was visiting tonight, and we went to The Lost Dog for dinner, where I had an absolutely amazing sandwich. I am very tired, and will probably go to bed in an hour or so.

I have yet to decide what to explore tomorrow.

-Grace

P.S. If you're enjoying my blog at all, please leave comments. I find them very encouraging!