Regal, like dignitaries in a receiving line, they stand in their purple opulence. Magnificent tropical beauties, the awe-inspiring Jacaranda trees full of silky flowers which hang in countless full bunches grow twenty-five to forty feet with an equal spread. With arching branches and gracefully curved multiple trunks, they frame First Avenue, along with graceful queen palms, on both sides from Walnut to Laurel, the alphabetically named tree cross streets of my San Diego neighborhood, Bankers...

Oh, how I’d love to be a redhead in a Toulouse Lautrec painting. Flame-hair igniting the dance halls and brothels of Montmartre. A can-can dancer, a launderess, a prostitute. Working-class girls. Reclining, crouching, bathing. I imagine myself on stage, high-kicking the top hat off the gentleman in the front row. Or a sad chanteuse clad in long black gloves crooning a soft song. Perhaps adjusting my peek-a-boo fishnet stockings... or washing my copper tresses in la toilette. Toulouse...

One of the most widely-anticipated and dazzling exhibitions has opened at The San Diego Museum of Art— Cafés and Cabarets—The Spectacular Art of Toulouse-Lautrec. And spectacular it is! A brilliant review of the captivating portraits and posters of 19 th century Paris nightlife—the Belle Epoch era or “beautiful era” of peace, prosperity, and optimism. Lautrec’s art highlights the legendary Moulin Rouge and its’ extraordinary cast of characters. Lautrec was the master at making a moment in...