High Museum of Art-Atlanta

I was going through some images of our recent trip to Atlanta, and had to post some shots of a very fun display of cars from around the world that was being exhibited at the High Museum. 

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Just last week, I found an article in the the April/May issue of the International Artist Magazine, on Judith Burton's drawings of cars and motorcycles using Prismacolor colored pencils.  It's not a subject that would normally interest me, but her drawings were so eye-catching showing the light on metal and chrome, that I decided that I want to try and paint some of the vehicles from the exibit.

The museum building was so interesting., it was fun to try to capture the different angles of the interior.

We stayed in Buckhead, about five miles from downtown, and easily accessible with Atlanta's great train system, MARTA.  Buckhead is  a product of the 2000 decade building boom with lots of tall skyscrapers like the one pictured below.  It reminded me of Vancouver, B.C. with all the glass buildings.

The Princess Diana Exhibit

When I found out that DH had a business trip in Atlanta, I knew that I had to see the Princess Diana Exhibit while we were there. The exhibit was only going to a handful of cities in North America. My Mom had seen an announcement in the paper of this touring exhibit, and called to tell me about it. When would I ever have the chance to see Diana's wedding dress, tiara, and glamorous gowns close up?

Her wedding gown was prominately featured.  The designers, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, opted for a Victorian Fairy Tale look.  The gown shimmered in the light with thousands of seed pearls and sequins.  To me, this gown seemed very un-Diana, and it certainly seems like as she grew more confident in her life, her style changed to a sleeker style.  She initially favored English designers, but later went to Italian designers like Versace.  I was struck at how very thin she was.  The dresses featured classic fabrics, with beautiful details.

These images were taken off the tour website, since attendees can't take photos during the exhibit itself. When you first walk in, the first thing you see a magnificant tiara from the Spencer family collection.  It was really breathtaking!  There were several photos, movies, memorabilia, and jewels from Diana's family.  There is also a portrait of Diana's grandmother, and it's amazing how much they looked alike.  Diana's father was a amateur photographer, so there are lots of still images and movies of her as a child.   

I left feeling renewed sadness that her life was cut so short.  She was such a great humanitarian and connected with people from all walks of life.  As a testiment to how admired she was, there was a whole wall of bound condolence books from around the world.  You can't help but wonder what her life would have been like had she lived longer and found a more compatible mate.