ATM: Art, Tiles, Mosaics... an adventure in creativity

Reading in the Rain
In the middle of emailing resumes and filling out online applications in order to find a job so I can pay my mortgage for the forseeable future, I decided to leave all of that behind and head for the Getty Center, my home away from home! My main purpose was to do some research related to the archaeology project I am currently working on and possibly the subject of my final paper. But somehow I got sidetracked in the periodicals room and never made it down to the stacks.
Perhaps a little-known fact is that the Getty Research Library has a ton of current art-related magazines available to the general public. As with all the material in the library, you can't check it out and take it home, but there are chairs and tables where you can make yourself comfy, spread out if need be, and read read read. The magazines come in all languages and it's fun to pick your way through an article written in Spanish, French or Italian... not so much in German! The rain was splashing against the windows... what a great day to sit and read.
Although financially it has been (and still is) extremely scary, my time away from corporate life has been very valuable to me in terms of figuring out who I am deep down inside. As I was sitting in the library gobbling up the articles on fine art, antiques, ceramics and crafts, the overwhelming thought came to me that I have been so busy all my life working to make enough money to support myself, I've never had the time to be me! This is where I am the happiest, in an environment where the sole purpose is art. This is what I am about! It would have been nice to have this certainty a few decades ago, but I am grateful that I at least can acknowledge it now...
I was getting a little hungry so I made my way over to the cafeteria. Even though it was a grey, wet day, the Getty was still packed with people and all of them seemed to be eating lunch at the same time. I found the one empty table and within a minute a gentleman came over and asked to sit with me. He told me he was a tour bus driver, here for the day with some students. Of course, this was deja vu from this same time last year when I got talking to a tour guide and I ended up in tour leader school (yes, I am now a certified Tour Director). My lunch companion asked me what I was doing there and I explained that I came to the Getty as often as possible as there is nowhere else I would rather be. He said I was fortunate to be able to do that and I certainly agree!!!!
In the afternoon I sauntered around some of the exhibits. I enjoyed being on my own and able to wander where I pleased. I especially enjoyed La Roldana's Saint Gines: The Making of a Polychrome Sculpture (ongoing). The Getty always does a splendid job with their informative interactive displays. If you go to the Saint Gines page there is a link to the video I saw, but of course, it doesn't replace seeing the statue in person.
My next stop was Tales in Sprinkled Gold: Japanese Lacquer for European Collectors. Again, nothing replaces seeing this magnificent piece in person... it is truly spectacular. I had a ticket for the lecture with Julia Hutt of the V&A in London. I learned about the scenes of the Omi Hakkei (Eight Views of Omi / Lake Biwa). You'll just have to look that up for yourself!
If I told you about all the other things I saw and did on my day at the Getty, it would take a whole day to write about and I'm sure you have better things to do! All I can say is that paying the price of parking your car is more than worth it for a magical day, and I'm already looking forward to my next visit.