Latest / Abide Meditation App / Tranquil Bedtime Story _ Monet_s Garden _ Garden Sleepy Story
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Welcome to Get Sleepy, the podcast where we listen, we relax,
- 0:08Speaker 1: and we get sleepy. I'm your host, Thomas. Thanks so
- 0:16Speaker 1: much for tuning in. It's a pleasure to have your company.
- 0:23Speaker 1: Tonight's story is one we decided to create after several
- 0:27Speaker 1: of you wonderful listeners requested it. It's all about the
- 0:32Speaker 1: artist Claude Monet, whose work is known for its picturesque
- 0:38Speaker 1: nature scenes. But you may not have known that many
- 0:43Speaker 1: of his paintings were created in his own garden. For
- 0:49Speaker 1: this reason, Monet's garden may have brought more tranquility to
- 0:53Speaker 1: the world than any other place on earth. Tonight, Claude
- 1:00Speaker 1: will show us around his garden, and we'll watch as
- 1:04Speaker 1: he creates a masterpiece on canvas. We always love hearing
- 1:12Speaker 1: your ideas for the podcast, so please never hesitate to
- 1:17Speaker 1: get in touch if you want to send some feedback
- 1:20Speaker 1: or share a story idea. You can do so via
- 1:25Speaker 1: the contact page on our website, That's getsleepy.com. So now,
- 1:36Speaker 1: let's get ready for our story. Begin by taking a
- 1:43Speaker 1: deep breath in through the nose. And slowly release out
- 1:53Speaker 1: through the mouth. Allow yourself to sink gently into the
- 2:02Speaker 1: bed and feel the warmth spreading through your body. It
- 2:15Speaker 1: reaches each and every part of you, soothing your muscles,
- 2:23Speaker 1: softening the space around your bones. and nourishing your body, mind,
- 2:34Speaker 1: and soul. It feels like sunlight, like the warmth of
- 2:46Speaker 1: a perfect spring morning. And it was on a perfect
- 2:54Speaker 1: spring morning like this, that Claude Monet, one of the
- 3:00Speaker 1: great Impressionist painters, could be found in his garden, gently
- 3:07Speaker 1: swirling his brush and dabbling strokes of pigment across a
- 3:14Speaker 1: white canvas. So let's go and join him. The birds
- 3:52Speaker 1: sing sweetly in the cherry and apple trees as a
- 3:58Speaker 1: straw-hatted Claude Monet opens the door to his home. He
- 4:05Speaker 1: steps outside, stroking his long grey beard and scans the
- 4:13Speaker 1: Klo Norman, his grand garden. The petals of newly budded flowers, pink, violet, white,
- 4:26Speaker 1: and red, are glistening with dew. He smiles, satisfied with
- 4:35Speaker 1: the view, and reaches down to grab a small leather satchel,
- 4:41Speaker 1: and a wooden easel. Down the gravel path he walks,
- 4:50Speaker 1: stopping in front of an enthusiastic row of peonies. With
- 4:56Speaker 1: a squint of his eye, Monet scans the pink blooms,
- 5:01Speaker 1: noting their tightly packed petals. A honeybee drones softly nearby,
- 5:11Speaker 1: The air, though still cool, warms up with every moment. Yes,
- 5:21Speaker 1: Monet thinks, this will be today's painting site. Monet opens
- 5:32Speaker 1: his collapsible wooden easel, steadying its tripod legs atop the
- 5:37Speaker 1: grey gravel path. he bends down to his satchel and
- 5:44Speaker 1: opens it, uncovering short-haired paintbrushes, a wooden palette for mixing colors,
- 5:52Speaker 1: and several tubes of oil paint. Even now, 40 years
- 6:00Speaker 1: after its invention, Monet is still enamored with the portability
- 6:06Speaker 1: of paint tubes. The ease of use of these paints
- 6:12Speaker 1: means he can work outside quickly, squeezing ribbons of paint
- 6:19Speaker 1: across his canvas or combining them upon his palette. Painting outside,
- 6:29Speaker 1: what artists call en plein air, was one of Monet's
- 6:34Speaker 1: specialities since his early days. the young artist spent hours
- 6:41Speaker 1: staring across the beaches and docks of his hometown, Le Havre,
- 6:49Speaker 1: in the Normandy region of France. He noticed how the
- 6:56Speaker 1: colours of the ocean morphed as the day progressed, or
- 7:01Speaker 1: as the weather changed. Imagine the aquamarine or teal waves
- 7:08Speaker 1: of a bright summer's day, or the gunmetal grey signalling
- 7:15Speaker 1: an approaching storm. Think of the vast navy expanse of
- 7:22Speaker 1: the sea at dusk, or its utter blackness at midnight.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Monet studied these changes and attempted to capture these fleeting
- 7:36Speaker 1: variations and transformations in his paintings, with some even painted
- 7:43Speaker 1: right there on the beach. He sought to represent impressions,
- 7:51Speaker 1: even titling one of his most famous canvases, Impression, Sunrise,
- 7:58Speaker 1: in 1872. when a Parisian art critic later commented that
- 8:06Speaker 1: Monet and his fellow artists were impressionists, the name stuck.
- 8:14Speaker 1: And though it was originally meant to be a disparaging name,
- 8:18Speaker 1: Monet and his friends, like Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berta Morisot, and
- 8:26Speaker 1: Camille Pizarro, loved it. They painted their impressions, moment by moment,
- 8:36Speaker 1: day by day. Today, Monet smiles, taking in a deep,
- 8:46Speaker 1: calming breath. As he admires today's painting location, he recalls
- 8:54Speaker 1: his first glimpses of the land that was to become
- 8:59Speaker 1: his home. his personal paradise. In the early 1880s, Claude
- 9:08Speaker 1: Monet boarded a train that meandered slowly through the French
- 9:13Speaker 1: countryside west of Paris, through golden wheat fields ploughed by
- 9:19Speaker 1: horse cart, and past half-timbered houses with thatched roofs. About
- 9:31Speaker 1: fifty miles west of the French capital, Monet glanced out
- 9:36Speaker 1: his window and spotted the hamlet of Giverny, nestled at
- 9:41Speaker 1: the confluence of the Epta and Seine rivers. Monet, in
- 9:49Speaker 1: his obsession with light, watched the sun's rays shimmer across
- 9:54Speaker 1: the river in small ripples, and saw it reflect up
- 10:01Speaker 1: casting a delicate glow on the leaves of an apple
- 10:04Speaker 1: tree nearby and it was at that moment that he
- 10:10Speaker 1: realized he was home in 1883 Monet moved his family
- 10:20Speaker 1: to Giverny and rented a cottage and a parcel of land,
- 10:26Speaker 1: which he slowly transformed into a serene, botanical paradise. He
- 10:34Speaker 1: expanded the small cottage into a single long building to
- 10:39Speaker 1: provide more space for his family and art studio, and
- 10:44Speaker 1: painted it brightly to appeal to the eye. a pastel
- 10:50Speaker 1: pink for the home's exterior and a vivid green for
- 10:55Speaker 1: many of its shutters and windows. At the front of
- 11:00Speaker 1: the home, Monet planted climbing roses upon a pergola that
- 11:06Speaker 1: stretched the length of the facade and Virginia Creeper across
- 11:12Speaker 1: the pale walls. In the summertime, the house... Both then
- 11:20Speaker 1: and now blends with the landscape surrounding it. Pink and
- 11:25Speaker 1: green meet the eye in every direction. Though the house
- 11:33Speaker 1: was the centerpiece of Monet family life, it was its
- 11:38Speaker 1: accompanying gardens that filled the artist with true joy and peace.
- 11:45Speaker 1: The land surrounding the Giverny cottage was originally a farming plot,
- 11:51Speaker 1: spare and unstructured. But Monet wanted flowers in a swirl
- 11:58Speaker 1: of colour and texture that he could paint all year,
- 12:04Speaker 1: so he planted his gardens accordingly. Red poppies with their
- 12:10Speaker 1: paper-like petals rustling in a springtime gust Sunflowers arching their
- 12:19Speaker 1: yellow and black faces towards the summertime sun, and black-eyed
- 12:25Speaker 1: Susans vying for the last bright afternoons of autumn, before
- 12:31Speaker 1: the chill of winter falls upon Normandy. Monet often chose
- 12:39Speaker 1: to plant his gardens based on appearance and colour, as
- 12:44Speaker 1: you might expect of an artist. prioritizing beauty above all.
- 12:52Speaker 1: By the early 1890s, he had attained enough wealth to
- 12:57Speaker 1: purchase the Giverny homestead and its surrounding lands, and he
- 13:04Speaker 1: set out to transform his now permanent home into the
- 13:08Speaker 1: botanical paradise he imagined. In his mind's eye, Monet pictured
- 13:18Speaker 1: raised beds overgrown with flowers, savoring the wildness of nature
- 13:24Speaker 1: running its own course. It was a stark contrast from
- 13:30Speaker 1: traditional French ornamental gardens, which were established in strict lines
- 13:37Speaker 1: and spacing. Monet's garden, instead, would grow freely in an
- 13:45Speaker 1: abundance of contrasting tones and textures. He would plant humble flowers,
- 13:54Speaker 1: like sweet white and yellow daisies, next to ornamental Japanese
- 14:00Speaker 1: apricot trees. Green metal trellises arched across a gravel walkway,
- 14:10Speaker 1: providing a climbing path for much beloved roses. he could
- 14:16Speaker 1: already smell the heady scent of those roses, freshly in bloom.
- 14:22Speaker 1: His garden would become known as the Clos Normand, a
- 14:28Speaker 1: potent attraction for the artist then and the tourist now.
- 14:36Speaker 1: Monet would spend hours tending to his beloved plants, and
- 14:42Speaker 1: when he wasn't, he was painting them, Now, today, on
- 14:50Speaker 1: this crisp spring morning, Monet's plants are all happy and flourishing,
- 14:57Speaker 1: having enjoyed a light evening shower the night before. He
- 15:03Speaker 1: has no tending to do, so it's time for a painting.
- 15:11Speaker 1: Before he mixes the colours on his wooden palette, Monet
- 15:15Speaker 1: must prepare the canvas's ground, The ground is an even,
- 15:21Speaker 1: smooth layer of light paint, usually a lead white or
- 15:26Speaker 1: a very light grey, applied to the entirety of an
- 15:31Speaker 1: impressionist's canvas. Oil paint, by nature, is mildly transparent, and
- 15:40Speaker 1: when colours are applied atop this light ground, They appear
- 15:45Speaker 1: brighter than on a duller, unprimed canvas. This was a
- 15:52Speaker 1: hallmark of Impressionism, the brightness of paintings. They seemed to
- 15:58Speaker 1: glow from within. After applying the thin layer of lead white,
- 16:07Speaker 1: Claude turns his attention once again to the peonies. analyzing
- 16:13Speaker 1: the shape of every curling leaf, the way the flower's
- 16:17Speaker 1: interior is shaded or turned towards the sunlight, and the
- 16:24Speaker 1: woody texture of the stem. His observation is constant, and
- 16:31Speaker 1: unless he pauses to clean a brush, he will look
- 16:34Speaker 1: at these flowers every two or three seconds. Finally, he
- 16:43Speaker 1: is ready to begin, and he dips his first paintbrush
- 16:48Speaker 1: down across his palette. For an artist of such breadth
- 16:55Speaker 1: and experience, you might imagine Monet's palette overflowing with a
- 17:01Speaker 1: variety of paint colours. But this is not the case.
- 17:07Speaker 1: With only nine proven colours at his side, Monet could
- 17:12Speaker 1: mix them to produce any conceivable shade, a true sign
- 17:18Speaker 1: of his mastery. It's this deep understanding of chemistry, optics,
- 17:25Speaker 1: and colour theory that made his paintings indelible for viewers.
- 17:34Speaker 1: This morning, he glances again at the peonies in the
- 17:38Speaker 1: Clos Normand. They stand elegantly, pink, luscious and fragrant. Monet
- 17:50Speaker 1: smiles and swirls his paintbrush in madder red, his chosen
- 17:57Speaker 1: crimson tone, before adding in a dollop of lead white.
- 18:04Speaker 1: The colours meld into one another as Monet glances up
- 18:09Speaker 1: again at the flower, He sighs. The colour is not
- 18:15Speaker 1: quite right, but it's no bother. Another glance is all
- 18:21Speaker 1: it takes to verify that his real-life peonies have a
- 18:26Speaker 1: slight purple tinge to them. Down the palette he scans
- 18:32Speaker 1: until he finds a small pool of French ultramarine, a
- 18:37Speaker 1: vibrant blue. swirl, swirl, swirl, until his paintbrush resembles the
- 18:46Speaker 1: cacophony of blooms before him. And then, the magic begins.
- 18:56Speaker 1: On the primed white canvas, Monet drags his newly pigmented paintbrush,
- 19:03Speaker 1: its bristles making a pleasant scratching sound across the surface
- 19:07Speaker 1: of the canvas. Every brushstroke is small, every move precise.
- 19:17Speaker 1: Each repetitive dab slowly transforms into something identifiable, a single
- 19:25Speaker 1: petal of an abundant bloom. The process is leisurely, mindful even,
- 19:37Speaker 1: and Monet notices that his breath matches the gentle movements
- 19:42Speaker 1: of his brushes. Dab. Inhale. Swipe. Exhale. As the moments pass,
- 19:57Speaker 1: Monet changes the texture of his brush strokes, occasionally adding
- 20:02Speaker 1: larger dollops of paint, or thinning other areas out. The
- 20:09Speaker 1: surface is uneven and is thus more alive, causing the
- 20:15Speaker 1: eye to flutter across it. Soon there will be very
- 20:22Speaker 1: little space for an optical reprieve. Every nook with shine colour,
- 20:30Speaker 1: bright chrome yellow in a shower of sunlight, lush emerald
- 20:36Speaker 1: green in the vines of climbing roses, a delectable concoction
- 20:43Speaker 1: of vermilion, cobalt blue, and lead white to approximate the
- 20:50Speaker 1: large-petalled clematis. Small areas of contrast scattered throughout the work
- 21:00Speaker 1: make those colours pop even brighter. a hint of green
- 21:06Speaker 1: next to a red rose, a purple shadow opposite a
- 21:11Speaker 1: golden sunflower. The basis of this painting will be completed
- 21:19Speaker 1: this morning, here in the Clos Normand. Monet might add
- 21:28Speaker 1: to it in his studio this evening, or he may
- 21:32Speaker 1: deem it a finished product one of the many created hastily,
- 21:39Speaker 1: but confidently, throughout his adult life. In all, it is
- 21:46Speaker 1: believed that Claude Monet produced over 2,000 paintings, drawings, and pastels,
- 21:54Speaker 1: though the exact number may never be known. He occasionally
- 21:59Speaker 1: burned or destroyed works in which he found fault. Today's
- 22:06Speaker 1: painting is deemed a successful one, however, and Monet smiles,
- 22:13Speaker 1: stopping to admire his handiwork, while dabbing a cotton handkerchief
- 22:20Speaker 1: on his damp forehead. He reaches down to caress the
- 22:26Speaker 1: soft petals of a peony bloom before gently raising his
- 22:32Speaker 1: satchel to his shoulders. Right now, it's time for a
- 22:38Speaker 1: break and a relaxing stroll through his expansive gardens. His
- 22:46Speaker 1: wooden easel remains here, though. Monet will return to it
- 22:51Speaker 1: later this afternoon to reproduce those same pink peonies in
- 22:57Speaker 1: the fading light of dusk. Pulling one of those famous
- 23:06Speaker 1: Normandy apples from his satchel, Monet saunters down a path
- 23:12Speaker 1: that runs through the Clos Normand and perpendicular to a
- 23:16Speaker 1: small road. He takes a deep breath, slowing his heartbeat
- 23:24Speaker 1: for a moment, before biting into the crisp red fruit.
- 23:31Speaker 1: The taste fills him with joy and he savors the
- 23:35Speaker 1: sensation of tart and sweet juices while glancing across the
- 23:42Speaker 1: road to his next destination. The vision brings him back
- 23:50Speaker 1: several years prior to a moment when he transformed his
- 23:54Speaker 1: garden even further into something inventive, grand, and inspired. The
- 24:05Speaker 1: clone Norman, with its strategic planning for year-long blooms and
- 24:11Speaker 1: visual interest, originally provided Monet with years of artistic fodder.
- 24:19Speaker 1: It was his great joy, his personal treasure, and yet,
- 24:25Speaker 1: he still wanted more. More inspiration. More flowers. Maybe even
- 24:34Speaker 1: another garden, perhaps. Across the road from his home, there
- 24:41Speaker 1: was a marsh. A plot of land, unused except as
- 24:47Speaker 1: a watering hole by roaming cattle. Once again, Monet's fertile
- 24:54Speaker 1: imagination sprang to life. On the swampland, he envisioned a
- 25:01Speaker 1: floating garden, a pond filled with aquatic plants. The inspiration
- 25:11Speaker 1: for such a garden most likely came from Monet's love
- 25:15Speaker 1: of Japanese culture, a genuine fascination that was shared by
- 25:22Speaker 1: many in Western Europe during the last decades of the
- 25:26Speaker 1: 19th century. He had discovered Asian water gardens in Japanese prints,
- 25:35Speaker 1: which he collected with nearly as much fervor as he
- 25:38Speaker 1: did plants for the Clos Normand. Within a few years,
- 25:46Speaker 1: Monet had amassed over 200 Japanese woodblock prints. A floating
- 25:53Speaker 1: garden would be the perfect combination of all that he
- 25:58Speaker 1: loved most. botany, culture, and of course, art. By 1893,
- 26:10Speaker 1: Monet had purchased the much-coveted parcel of land and began
- 26:16Speaker 1: the arduous process of transforming it into a water garden.
- 26:24Speaker 1: By 1895, it already resembled the famous locale that he
- 26:30Speaker 1: is venturing to today, crossing the road and clambering down
- 26:36Speaker 1: to his Japanese water garden. Lush weeping willows cascade downward
- 26:45Speaker 1: over a serene pond. Woody green bamboo lines the water
- 26:55Speaker 1: Japanese maples and Asian varieties of peonies and wisteria provide
- 27:02Speaker 1: pops of colour. Here, Monet elegantly connected Asian culture and
- 27:11Speaker 1: design with that of Normandy. Most notable was Monet's commissioning
- 27:20Speaker 1: of two curved Japanese bridges. which gracefully crest above the
- 27:26Speaker 1: water in delicate arches. Unlike their traditional counterparts, which are
- 27:33Speaker 1: typically painted red, Monet painted his bridges a bright blue-green.
- 27:44Speaker 1: The Japanese bridge itself would later become a focal point
- 27:48Speaker 1: for a series of paintings representing its curves in all seasons,
- 27:54Speaker 1: and atmospheric conditions. The fiery foliage of fall and the
- 28:02Speaker 1: mists of a cool winter morning. Though the bridge was
- 28:08Speaker 1: truly a delight, a final element of the water garden
- 28:12Speaker 1: soon took precedence, not only in Monet's mind, but in
- 28:18Speaker 1: his art legacy, the water lilies. Standing at the water's edge,
- 28:28Speaker 1: Monet glances down to the surface of the pond, counting
- 28:32Speaker 1: the endless green lily pads that have made their home here. Ten, twenty, thirty,
- 28:43Speaker 1: there's no way to count them all. Some showcase delicate
- 28:48Speaker 1: purple lilies, and occasionally a small green frog. these water
- 28:58Speaker 1: lilies have become Monet's singular focus. He tends to them
- 29:05Speaker 1: with the help of a full-time gardener. To friends, he
- 29:11Speaker 1: frequently proclaims that his water garden and those water lilies
- 29:17Speaker 1: could send him into pure rapture. It is one of
- 29:22Speaker 1: the primary reasons that now, And for the last 30
- 29:27Speaker 1: years of his life, Monet rarely leaves Giverny. He much
- 29:35Speaker 1: prefers contemplating the water garden's changing colours on a spring
- 29:40Speaker 1: day or analysing the surface of the pond after a
- 29:44Speaker 1: dusting from a winter snowstorm. He became fascinated not only
- 29:53Speaker 1: with the change of light but how the slightest motion
- 29:58Speaker 1: sent ripples along the surface of the pond, transforming the
- 30:02Speaker 1: reflections of the water lilies into blurs of colour and
- 30:07Speaker 1: indistinct form. Monet, with his ever-open eyes, now watches as
- 30:15Speaker 1: a stiff breeze remakes the blue depths of the pond
- 30:19Speaker 1: into a light grey pool. He notes that a fallen
- 30:27Speaker 1: leaf briefly obstructs a view of the pond floor and
- 30:31Speaker 1: sends black shadows beneath it. Every season, every day, every
- 30:40Speaker 1: moment could bring a new artistic revelation. A new impression
- 30:49Speaker 1: to spontaneously capture. It's no surprise then that he would
- 30:56Speaker 1: eventually paint over 250 images alone of these water lilies
- 31:04Speaker 1: from his water garden. These canvases, collectively known as the Nymphias,
- 31:13Speaker 1: are among the most prized of all of Monet's works.
- 31:20Speaker 1: When we view his paintings today, It is sometimes easy
- 31:25Speaker 1: to forget their grandeur, their power, and their meaning. But
- 31:32Speaker 1: they left a significant legacy in an unsuspecting art world.
- 31:40Speaker 1: Impressionism inched art closer to abstraction than ever before. It
- 31:47Speaker 1: transformed notions of how light, colour, tone and texture could
- 31:54Speaker 1: be displayed and provided new ways to express emotions or
- 32:00Speaker 1: sensations within the physical confines of paint. In this way
- 32:09Speaker 1: Monet's paintings can certainly be viewed as masterpieces but we
- 32:16Speaker 1: can consider his garden as a great masterpiece too. These
- 32:22Speaker 1: gardens were, and are, works of art that inspired creations
- 32:29Speaker 1: of their own. And they continue to inspire artists in
- 32:35Speaker 1: the present day. Today, though, Monet's thoughts are far from
- 32:44Speaker 1: his artistic legacy. He's immersed in the moment. in the
- 32:51Speaker 1: gardens he has lovingly planted and will continue to lovingly paint.
- 32:59Speaker 1: Even now, the beauty of his surroundings still takes his
- 33:04Speaker 1: breath away. After a day of painting and admiring his home,
- 33:13Speaker 1: the sun sets behind the willows over the water garden.
- 33:19Speaker 1: Monet rests against the sturdy trunk of a tree he
- 33:24Speaker 1: grew from infancy. He listens to the crickets chirp and
- 33:31Speaker 1: the frogs croak. The moon, looming lightly, will quiet the
- 33:38Speaker 1: garden's usual riot of colour into permutations of blues, purples
- 33:46Speaker 1: and greys. Soon it will be dark, so he stands
- 33:57Speaker 1: and makes his way back across the Japanese bridge, up
- 34:02Speaker 1: the road to the Clos Normand in search of rest.
- 34:11Speaker 1: Monet takes a breath one more time so that he
- 34:16Speaker 1: can enjoy a final whiff of the flowers that surround him.
- 34:25Speaker 1: an owl hoots nearby as Moni pads up the gravel
- 34:30Speaker 1: path once more, heading into his house and closing the
- 34:38Speaker 1: green door behind him. He says goodnight to his beloved garden,
- 34:50Speaker 1: his deepest inspirations, knowing he'll return to it when morning comes.
- 36:15Speaker 1: you Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
- 41:18Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.