The Lincoln Memorial

It wasn't the sunniest or the warmest day on our trip, but seeing the Lincoln Memorial was worth it. I took my family to Foggy Bottom station and we tried to catch a bus closer to The Mall area. But you could easily have walked the distance.

Approaching the memorial, you start to sense the significance and iconic power of it's structure.

You are even more taken away by the historical and marvel of this monument when you walk up the stone stairs and see Lincoln's body enlarged in marble.

People stand, stare and take in this great figure, and to the right and left of the statue you can read Lincoln's famous speech's and works.

I for one enjoyed watching folks, as I could tell many were from around the world. Even if not everyone knew the great historical significance to every detail, I could conjure that they understood the power behind it all.

Folks mostly had their picture taken, looked around and then admired the view from atop the steps.

Unfortunately the reflecting pool was under construction, so I guess I'll have to see it in its full glory some other time. The rain started to trickle down and soon it was chillier. I decided to have a restful day back at the hotel and catch up with everyone later. Otherwise, it was quite eventful to see the Lincoln Memorial, something I'm sure everyone does when they go to D.C.

The United States Botanical Garden

Although we had about an hour to see The United States Botanical Garden, I had a good time. They were having a special orchid exhibit, which were lovely to look at.

A little historical fact: "The institution actually traces its beginning to 1816, when the constitution of the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences in Washington, D.C., proposed the creation of a botanic garden to collect, grow, and distribute plants of this and other countries that might contribute to the welfare of the American people. "

The other areas of the gardens included different environments such as one for swamp flora and a desert. 

As you can tell I mostly enjoyed photographing the plant life and using my new pancake lens. I'm sure I would have gotten a lot more, had there been more time. But I have always enjoyed the plant life from the desert and their many shapes and forms.

Overall a must see on your trip to D.C. as it is all simple pleasure and not loaded with politics or grand artistic value. Just beautiful flowers and interesting plant life, to help sooth the traveled soul. 

Life Drawing at Jankura Art Space

On the way to Jankura Art Space, in Itaewon, you can enjoy walking past many antique shops. Some of which look like hold actual antiques while others just seem like old furniture stores.

Jankura Art Space is the shared studio space from the artist Mike Stewart. Before it was the "Big Green Studio", but now he has a cozy space down a street in Itaewon. This lovely space offers life drawing and other art courses that one can take for a small fee. Also there is studio space, which can be rented out. I think currently the spaces are full.

I came on a Saturday for two sessions, the first being a clothed model and the second nude. I had a lot of fun at both and it was good to exercise my artistic muscle. Here are some shots of the work I produced, sorry for them being so shadowy.

When the model did a standing pose I had some trouble fitting the whole figure on the page, so I ended up just focusing on the shoes.

The nude model was enjoyable to draw and we had a lot of quick poses at first and then several longer poses towards the end.

Since getting to Itaewon isn't much trouble for me, I can imagine going back when I feel the need to get some life drawing done. I hope Mike uses the location as an opportunity for outdoor drawing when the weather warms up. ;)

Otherwise, if your interested sessions are typically every other Saturday from 6 - 8pm, and there are sessions on Sunday as well. Check out the website...

The U.S. Capitol Building

During my recent time spent in Washington, D.C. I made it out to the Capitol Building with my family. It was a really amazing experience, mostly because I didn't know all the great history behind such a architectural icon.

For one, you are at awe by the sight of this glowing white building that sits on a sloping hill. Then once inside and taken around you are even more impressed at the design and historical artifacts laying about.

My cousins got us advanced tickets for a tour at 1:10 PM and so we rested a while and then joined the line. The tour took us into several rooms with a lot of history, and our tour guide was quite enthusiastic.

At first we watched a short movie highlighting the importance and history of the US Capitol building. I found this video quite moving, actually, as it showed the struggle the founders had with creating the American nation. Maybe it's because I had been abroad so much, but the video felt really significant to me.

Anyways, after this we were led into the Crypt of the Capitol, which was a bit spooky I guess.

The guide said that is one of the most praised sculptures of Lincoln and was highly praised when it was created, mostly for showing several expressions on his face.

Next we were taken into the Rotunda, which was vast and full of great murals on the walls.

 Here we were told about the various murals and their symbolism, but I simply enjoyed the architecture and amazing history of this space.

The symbolic and physical heart of the United States Capitol is the Rotunda, an imposing circular room 96 feet in diameter and 180 feet in height. It is the principal circulation space in the Capitol, connecting the House and Senate sides, and is visited by thousands of people each day. The Rotunda is used for important ceremonial events as authorized by concurrent resolution, such as the lying in stateof eminent citizens and the dedication of works of art.

As you can see I felt a great sense of awe standing in that important room. Next we were taken into the National Statuary Hall, which use to be one of the rooms for debate.

And then we were taken back into the Rotunda room...

On our way out of the tour we went through an old hall that was very low-lit. I inquired about this and it turns it was always this dark.

Our tour guide was kind to us and gave us all free tickets to see the inside of the House of Representatives. To get there we walked through several hallways and couldn't bring anything with us. The interior seemed smaller than it appears on TV, but I still felt inspired by what I saw and understood the history of such a room.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a meal in the cafeteria and carried on with our day.

More to come from my recent vacation...