Wow. It’s been awhile! Sorry for the unplanned hiatus.
It’s been a crazy few weeks here with everyone taking turns getting sick and I
have been working hard at a new project….But I'm back!
I want to share with you the amazing exhibit I got to
see. I know that I usually promote female artists, but thankfully there have
been A LOT of amazing men out there who inspire as well. In fact, the three
artists who have inspired my work more than any others are men. Mark Rothko and
his amazing color fields; Picasso with his genius and ability to constantly
change and re-invent himself artistically; and Chuck Close, who got me addicted to grids
and the ability to combine realism and abstract.
But, today is about a different artist- Van Gogh. I
don’t think I have truly appreciated him enough before seeing this exhibit. His
canvases do come to life. The colors and emotion in his paintings are amazing!
I have been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam
It is a new kind of exhibit - one that I am all for. Now, I LOVE museums! I mean, I really, really
LOVE them. I can spend days (and I have!) walking around museums. You can taste
all kinds of art in one place; be inspired not only by the artist’s work, but
thanks to amazing curators, sometimes I feel like I am getting a peek into the
artist’s head. I find it inspiring to see others’ creative thought processes.
It is fascinating to me.
But this is a completely different experience. If you
go into the link above and click on video, you will see what I mean. Walking
though this exhibit, you feel like you are inside Van Gogh’s paintings. Not
only are his paintings all around you, but inspiring words from letters he had
written are displayed across the ceiling and floor, along with beautiful
classical music.
One of these quotes -"I wish they
would just take me as I am"
was displayed with all of his self
would just take me as I am"
was displayed with all of his self
portraits.
So, if you get a chance to see this exhibit- go. I saw
it in Tel Aviv, but I don’t know where it is traveling to next but it is a
great way to see art in a new atmosphere. Even if you are not a huge art lover
like me, you would still enjoy the experience.
I will leave you with some more Van Gogh quotes to
inspire, and wishing you all a peaceful, loving and relaxing weekend.
“It is good to love many things, for therein
lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can
accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”
“If
you hear a voice within you say „you cannot paint“, then by all means
paint and that voice will be silenced.”
“What
am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant
person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short,
the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true,
then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a
nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on
love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on
passion. Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness,
pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest
cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things
with an irresistible momentum.”
“What
would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
“It is looking at things for a long time that
ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning.”
“...and then, I have nature and art and
poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”
“Close
friends are truly life's treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know
ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to
share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never
really alone.”
“Just
slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring you in the face like some
imbecile. You don't know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas
is, which says to the painter, ‘You can't do a thing’. The canvas has an
idiotic stare and mesmerizes some painters so much that they turn into idiots
themselves. Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the
blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has
broken the spell of `you can't' once and for all.”
“At
present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that
night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most
intense violets, blues and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see
that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and
forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it is
obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint
a starry sky.”
“Your profession is not what brings home your
weekly paycheck, your profession is what you're put here on earth to do, with
such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”
