The entire cathedral is fairly laden with history and story. The ancient gargoyles, the stone are all eroding and blackening. I wonder at all the things those statues have witnessed over their years.
Seeing such ancient history brings back many of the emotions I had when I was an art student studying in Rome, Italy. It was there when I saw such a rich history of the country around me that I felt a kind of envy. I wanted to have the layers of culture that the Europeans had, the pride and care of their roots. It was very slow realization on my part to see that I did have those layers of culture in my Asian-American heritage--it was only that I had never bothered to see it or appreciate it. Being amongst Italians had made me realize and value how Asian-American I was and was really the turning point in my vision as an illustrator/author.
But being France has brought back my artistic dreams. In the past few years I've really begun to identify myself as an author; these days it's been novel writing that has been all-consuming. But at the very beginning I was solely an illustrator, drawing the world around me.
Which is probably why it's here that I've begun to observational sketch again. I feel like it's been a long time and I'm quite rusty. But it feels good...almost like I'm a real artist!
