THURSDAY ART AND DINNER DATE CHALLENGE

                                             Vincent Van Gogh

            I was lucky enough to get to visit London, England several years ago and went to the Queen Victoria's Museum and Art Gallery. I was in a state of bliss as I went from wall after wall covered with so many magnificent works of art. I felt like I was in a dream... a trance!! I saw so many of my favorite paintings done by my favorite artists. I was awe struck to see them up close and amazed at every color, every subject brought to life. 

            I was going down another hall to see more art when something yellow caught my eye. I saw this painting of 14 Sunflowers by Van Gogh hanging on the wall. Now, I must be truthful here...I have always thought this painting of Van Gogh's to be the lesser of most of his great works of art. In fact, I might as well just say it...I thought it was just plain ugly...yes, I said it... ugly until...that day in the museum. I walked up to the painting and it captivated me as no other painting had so far.  I looked at the exquisite work before me. Van Gogh was a genius! This was no ordinary painting! 

           He had put so much texture into each flower petal. The consistency of the paint was so thick that the flowers looked almost 3-D and the strokes left behind by his brush made the flowers look real.  I thought of how he must have sat in front of this canvas and painstakingly built up each flower with so much precision, so much intensity...just to give them life. How he added layer after layer of paint to bring the flowers such beauty, such brilliance. He knew just to paint flowers on a flat canvas was not enough. He had to give them breath, life, joy!! 

           I felt tears forming in my eyes as I thought of how depressed Van Gogh for most of his turbulent life. How he struggled with his "dark days", raging within himself, never finding his own peace and happiness and yet, he felt compelled to paint something so bright in color with so much intensity of life.  He was not capable of bringing that much joy to his own life but he could paint it on canvas and bring so much life and joy to sunflowers!  

           I began to cry, the tears poured down my face. I did not care if anyone saw me crying. I could not move away from this painting. Never before had a work of art evoked such a rush of emotions inside me. I will never forget that experience. As I write about it now,  I still feel it vibrancy and life deep in my soul! And now I know that "real art" should evoke something deep within us. It should shake us up and touch something deep in our souls!  I did mine and I will always be so grateful. Thank You, Mr. Van Gogh!

                                       14 Sunflowers Vincent Van Gogh

Also check out this link:

A.I. Shows What Celebrities Would Look Like Painted by Van Gogh (msn.com)