What's on Katie's Mind? Katie: The artist, teacher, and social commentator.

A Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh

Years ago I created a slide show similar to this one I found on Youtube.  I still have the slides in my desk at school.  Vincent Van Gogh is my all time favorite artist.  I love the Don McLean song.  The song fits Vincent’s work so well.  When I was in college back in the seventies I went down to the Toledo Art Museum.  I remember seeing a Vincent Van Gogh painting that I found just mesmerizing.  It was a wheat field with crows much like the one in this video.   I stood in front of the painting for probably a half an hour because I was sure that the wind was blowing the wheat.  It appeared to be moving.  How great an artist is that can capture the breath of the wind with the flick of a brush in dynamic brush strokes!  I have been a Van Gogh fan ever since.  There is something so painfully real in all of his work.  The people he painted were common.  Seemingly no one special but in every way full of humanity.