This is what I drew as I listened to a friend read this article. Read it. What do you think of?

THE ARTICLE

We Have an Artist's Life

Here are some thoughts on another movie. I don't remember seeing it before, but I have known of it for some time, being always interested in an old movie and a true story. Lust for Life, the 1956, Movie story of the life and passion of the painter Vincent Van Gogh, starring Kirk Douglas. Van Gogh is perhaps the most recognizable artist from his work. I remember being by a copy of his Starry Night, when a boy came up to me pointed, and asked, "That's Starry Night by Van Gogh, isn't it?". I gave him a glad yes, and he smiled back and walked on. At that moment I was very glad the schools were teaching art history enough for that boy to know at least one painter's name. Perhaps, what is not well known of Van Gogh, is that he was the son of a minister and wanted himself to be a evangelist of the Word. The movie depicts a man too full of his passions and longings to be woven into the more common patterns of society. In his work he sought to give something beautiful and significant to mankind. He had no success with his paintings during his lifetime which gave him assurance of his skill and vision, yet evidence of his spirit and perseverance is exhibited around the world and is enjoyed not simply by the world of art, but by the community's of the common man. I saw Starry night at my museum, a small thing compared to the large posters sold everywhere, yet it was as lively and vivid and alive as ever. I have also seen other landscapes of his and sketches,in real life and in reproduced in those big coffee table books. You can tell he had to work for that style which is so recognizable. From those big books I've read that it was many years before he developed his own style, in between were years of constant practice, and hundreds of sketches and paintings. As my art teacher as Glassel impressed upon us: we should draw a hundred drawings a day, by always observing, working to grasp the distance and bulk and consistency of the things we see. As in all great things, art is a habit to be mastered, the skill with a pencil or a pen, use of them and your eyes over and over again, till every form is ingrained in the motion of your hand. In psychology 101, we students learned that muscle memory is the last part of our memory to go, that is why a person with Alzheimer's can still tie their shoes and knit, even if everything else once familiar has slipped away from them. I believe there is also something medicinal in physical habits. Hobbies and pastimes as simple as knowing how to work and use a camera or picking out a becoming ensemble to wear each day can enrich and enliven ones life considerably even if that life is basic and repetitive or even uncertain and used to mishap. Van Gogh was a lonely man, he wanted companionship which is the highest form of friendly flattery and perhaps the most basic sign of love. The continual process of painting I believe was a comfort to him, and a pain,.. as lonely occupations can be. We might be in a work place, a home, a society full of people but if no one recognizes a person, a person with a soul and a voice, even if spoken in color stroke by stroke, then I think we are all alone. See the person next to you. In your next crowded and free moment take a breath and open your ears your heart, and your mind.

I am sitting here on the floor watching “A Little Romance”. I hardly recognized Sir. Laurence Oliver in the part of the old man, but he is as endearing and as charming as ever. The story is simple, boy meets girl, and the two runaway on a trip to Venice, Italy, with the help of a friend, an old man. Though familiar enough the plot doesn’t have to be any captivating; it is the characters, the boy and girl who keep me watching. Like any Fairytale like story it is not really the ending but the truth of the characters that win a place in our memory. She prefers philosophy books to watching her mother faun over the skills of a young director as he works on a scene. The boy is smart, he is a movie go-er, he also reads books that are not assigned in school. You know these are kindred spirits. At first meeting they trust each other, they talk of how improbable such a meeting is, how they thought there soul-mate could have been in another time or another part of the world, they know, as odd and intelligent as they are, they are lucky to have found one another. Of course, I can’t help but get a little teary-eyed, because this is my fairy tale. I have always felt myself to be the Mary Bennet, the Hermione Granger, the Diane Chambers, the girl who shoots for the stars and talks about everything, and knows she’s the one whose a little outside the loop. A lot of girls must relate to that, I think. The character appears in stories over and over again Anyway, A Little Romance is a movie to watch on a sentimental afternoon, or a rainy day off of work.

Another Year

For every Winter there's a Spring-

Oh, that's the beauty of the thing!

For ev'ry midnight there's a morn,

For ev'ry loss a hope is born,

For ev'ry sultry day the dew,

For ev'ry old year there's a new!


Yes, buds for all the leaves that fall-

That is the beauty of it all.

New dreams for all the dreams that die,

For ev'ry night a dawning sky-

For ev'ry heartache, failure, fear,

Another chance, another year!

-Douglas Malloch

spontaneous curiosity

Man is not all mind, is God?

Yay! Laptop fixed. I must confess it was nerve racking, at every step I thought I was going to fracture some piece of plastic or ruin some circuit. I think I was so agitated I could have bit someone if they bothered me, not very Christian like, but I have some issues to work out when it comes to costly electronics which this society requires you to use

A new day needs a new beginning. So here is a new look for the blog.

Yay! I finally have a laptop screen on order after breaking mine some months ago on my birthday. Who could foresee that I needed that extra insurance?..."for just in case you drop it". Thank goodness for friends who know how to look things up and find computer parts for reasonable prices online, and u-tube how-to videos.

Talking about u-tube learning I saw this girl perform a solo with an entire orchestra behind her. http://www.maddiemarlowmusic.com/about/ She taught herself guitar by watching u-tube videos. Once my laptop is fixed maybe I'll try that for the piano.