We now return to our regularly scheduled program...

Just when you thought I was back, I disappear again.  No, I haven't fallen back into an artist's malaise - far from it.  For the last week or so I have had house guests visiting from Alabama and Ontario.  As a good host and emissary for my state and country, I felt it my duty to act as docent to the many fine museums the Maryland/DC area has to offer.  I must admit, although I am a member of both the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art, that it has been awhile since I have really strolled the length and breadth of these fine galleries.  When I go to a familiar museum alone I tend to visit old friends - those paintings that never fail to delight and inspire - seldom venturing into, or merely passing through without a glance, entire wings of work that just aren't compelling to me.  Byzantine, Gothic art, African and Eastern art just don't speak to me.  That said, while introducing the museum to out of town guests, one is obliged to take in the whole megillah.  It was enlightening to see some paintings with a fresh eye.  I have new found respect for artists from the early Italian Renaissance, for instance.  We had a whirlwind tour of the American Visionary Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art.  That is a lot to take in and digest in a week. The Walters and the BMA are small enough that you can see just about everything in one visit but in a really grand museum like the National Gallery you just can't see it all in one visit.  You must pick and choose carefully lest you succumb to visual overload.  I tried to see the entire Louvre in a single day and smoke was coming out of my ears and my eyes hurt.  Anyway, I am back in the studio, my house guests are gone and my creative batteries are fully charged.