Hello Friends!

Yesterday, I decided to do two more pages in my Van Gogh journal. I made the portrait of Vincent into him looking like a priest. Why? He grew up in the Protestant Dutch Reformed Church in Groot-Zundert, in the North Brabant region of the Netherlands where his father was a pastor. He went to the University of Amsterdam to study theology and planned on becoming a priest. He studied hard but failed his seminary entrance exam. This was hard for him, because he wanted to help people. He loved God, and he loved people. He believed God had called him to be a pastor like his father. But thank God it didn’t work out; otherwise we wouldn’t have his incredible work today!

He did love people, though. When he went out to draw and paint, he often drew laborers, field workers, weavers, and many other people. He cared deeply about how they struggled to make a living especially after he decided to pursue art for his own life’s work. He knew he couldn’t buy art supplies without the financial support of his brother, Theo. This was difficult for him, but he and Theo loved each other very much. Vincent appreciated everything his big brother did for him. I think this is why he tried so hard to become a success and hoped to sell his work.

Obviously, I have depicted him as a Catholic priest, but that was because I just watched a movie called “Puzzle” the other night. The woman in the story is a struggling Catholic and is shown with ashes on her forehead for Ash Wednesday in a scene. That’s where that idea came from. The black and white photo in the corner is of a painting Vincent painted of his father.

And the girl on the left-hand page is a copy of a girl I drew in charcoal on cardboard last year. The quote below her says:

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.”   –Ralph Waldo Emerson–

Some of the other random pieces of collage are from copies of some of Vincent’s art as well as my own. I prepared the pages with some black and white gessos and also put some gold and green acrylic inks in places. The “spiral” in the middle is from a copy of some of my art with the sketchbook wire. I liked adding that in! This was fun as usual.

Have a wonderful day! 😀

CLOSE-UPS

Hello Friends!

I created these pages last night and thought about what I wanted to write on them this morning. So when I posted these on instagram, this is the message I shared:

These pages are dedicated to Vincent and all of us who have been called “crazy” or have been looked down on because we are “different.” Personally, I am not in the very large group of people who are LGBTQ, but I have relatives and friends who are. I love them for being courageous enough to be who they were born to be in spite of narrow-minded people who abuse and even shun them. Yet I am different in other ways and was made to feel “crazy” most of my life. But CREATIVE and ARTISTIC PEOPLE are not “crazy” or so “different” that those who think of themselves as “normal” should shun us for who we are and what we believe. I think everyone just desires to be loved and accepted for who we are. Love one another. 😀❤

Many think that Vincent van Gogh may have been bipolar. This is a possibility, but we will never know for sure. So why guess? I think he was born with an amazing creative mind and developed a very compassionate heart throughout his life. But so much of society and the more “elite” artists of his day shunned him and didn’t want his art to be shown alongside theirs in galleries, that he was left feeling isolated, depressed, and in despair. How differently his life may have turned out if he had been and felt accepted by those who knew him and saw him sketching and painting every day. But at least he had the support of his brother, Theo.

And how different our world would be if humankind could just accept and love one another for who we are meant to be. So my encouragement to you today is: You don’t have to change your personal beliefs. But be open-minded to those who live and believe differently than you do. Help make our world a better and safer place for us all. Thanks for reading.

Have a wonderful day! 🙂