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Monday, October 31, 2016

Motivation Monday - Van Gogh Is Pretty Motivational

WHY Do I Think Van Gogh 
is Motivational?

 He painted for less than 15 years.
He was in and out of mental hospitals
He only sold one painting
He had a hard time with relationships
He cut off his ear
He shot himself and died two days later at the age of 37.

Wow!
Doesn't sound motivational to me.

 And yet my friend, Nancy and I drove to the 
Cincinnati Art Museum
to view the VanGogh exhibit.

We did learn all the above at the exhibit,
but we also saw his work,
and the work of many of his contemporaries.

In viewing the work,
you saw a man who had true vision.
At a time when it was not acceptable to paint outside the lines,
Van Gogh created new lines.
He painted in a completely different way.
He used color in a completely different way.

And yet, he was full of self doubts,
(just like us mere mortals)
He loved other artists work
(just like us)
He wanted to be accepted and have friends
(just like us)
He wanted people to see and like his work
(just like us)
He painted for the joy of painting
(hopefully, just like us)

A Van Gogh original is totally out of reach for most of us,
yet he was not "successful" during his lifetime.

Up those stairs to the Van Gogh exhibit.
(OK, so I took the elevator)

Just outside the exhibit.
They don't make buildings like this anymore.

This was me leaving the exhibit -
completely refreshed,
inspired,
and yes, motivated.
Motivated to keep painting,
keep experimenting,
keep playing in the paint.
The exhibit runs through January 8,
and is a mere $10,
($5 if you're an AARP member).
There are many artists out there to study,
to appreciate their work, and I had a great time doing that.
I took a notepad with me, and jotted down artists names I wasn't familiar with, to look up and research.
The architecture of the building itself was inspiring.
If you can't get to this museum,
go to some museum somewhere,
and look and appreciate art,
even art you might not be crazy about.
There was some art I didn't understand or like,
but there were many more pieces I loved
and could have stayed in front of just looking,
for much longer.
I know I'll be going back.   


2 comments:

  1. Oh, wow, thanks for sharing your experiences. I would LOVE to see a Van Gogh exhibit. What a fabulous thing to do!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was fabulous and we also saw Gauguin, Renoir and many others. It was a great day. Thanks for the comment.

    ReplyDelete

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Ghent, Kentucky, United States
I'm a nature artist and I love to paint old barns, rivers and lakes, trees and fence rows and flowers. I work almost daily. You can purchase paintings by contacting me at slgraves6@gmail.com and there is also a tab across the top of my blog for available paintings and one for small paintings with buy now buttons. You can also purchase through my Etsy shop using the name of Fine Nature Art. . Thank you so much for stopping by.