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Vincent Van Gogh

Doctor Who Meets Vincent Van Gogh

April 8, 2012 · 12 comments

Cartoon © Jean Burman 2008

Artists struggle.

History shows that.

But few people really understand it.

Why?

Well…

Artists struggle firstly with themselves…

to produce work that will not only meet but exceed their own exacting standards.

They struggle with each other…

enduring censure and an unremitting conspiracy of silence  from their own kind 

They struggle with the world…

where people really still don’t understand them [or what they are trying to achieve] until someone in the know says it’s good… and then… but only then… can people see it.

They struggle for acceptance in their own time… for recognition of the sacrifices made [in their character and their life]… to bring to the world sometimes extraordinary feats of creative genius… only to be met with… absolutely nothing.

The world still doesn’t get it.

And perhaps it never will.

[Not before... nor since... that starry starry night so long ago]

But it’s wonderful when people do… even if only in a work of fiction like this one LOL

Doctor Who – Vincent van Gogh from pinkrobot on Vimeo.

Coincidentally… I was in the Musee d’Orsay just a couple of months ago. I searched high and low in the Van Gogh section for Vincent’s Starry Night only to be told it was on tour in Singapore… [back on the other side of the planet where I'd come from]  Ahhh… what sweet irony LOL

Vincent would have been chuffed I’m sure that I’d travelled so far to see it [grin] He would have also loved how the artwork [people thought was so kooky way back then]… is now so loved [beyond imagining] by so many.

10 things to avoid saying when talking to an artist about their work:

1. What is it?
2. Do you paint like this because you don’t know how to paint real things?
3. Why paint in watercolour when you can paint with real paint?
4. My great aunt is a painter too… she paints really nice stuff.
5. It looks great… so did you trace it?
6. Have you ever considered photography?
7. Can you paint me something to match my couch?
8. Can you do me one like this… but in pink?
9. Show it to me again when it’s finished.
10. Nothing at all. Dead air [my personal favourite LOL]

[Terribly destructive... and the toughest and harshest critique of them all]

Say something.

Anything.

It’s not a crime to be nice.

[Get creative] LOL

You never know when you’ll meet another Vincent Van Gogh. Most geniuses have nothing to recommend themselves. As people ahead of their time… they won’t necessarily look like you or me… and they won’t necessarily paint or write or dance or perform… like anyone else either.

Their stuff will be just that… ahead of its time… and no-one will understand it. But if the work is good… it will withstand the test of time… probably far better than the person who created it.

The world needs to learn how to love its artists.

How to hold them gently in their collective arms and allow them the freedom and latitude and encouragement to learn and grow in their own time.

No man is an island… and artists sometimes are a whole damned continent [grin]

Acceptance is the key… and open-mindedness… and love.

Love makes the world go round… and keeps it spinning like the Tardis (((chuckles)))

LEAVE A NOTE – let me know what YOU think.

 

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Living On Purpose

February 18, 2011 · 16 comments

“Blue Day” watercolor & charcoal © 2011 Jean Burman

I give up.

Three little words we’ve all said at one time or another. Even if we didn’t say it out loud… I bet we’ve all thought it [if we're honest]

People don’t usually talk about stuff like this. It’s not cool to self indulge.

“Pull up your socks” they tell us… whoever THEY are.

“Just get on with it”… without ever saying what IT is!

“Get a grip”… but of WHAT?

“Chin up”… and all you’ll get is a crick in the neck [grin]

No-one tells you that.

And so today I GIVE UP… from the bottom of my heart.

That’s just how I feel.

And I want to be perfectly honest here.

Im-perfectly open.

It’s a risk… to make ourselves vulnerable. But life is full of risk. And today I simply don’t care.

That’s not to say that tomorrow won’t be better. Or that I might wake up to a bright new day with renewed energy and more of the tireless enthusiasm that has sustained me and underpinned my days for the past couple of years.

But for now I am tired. I am sick of trying. And overwhelmed by the immensity of life and the challenges that lie stretched out ahead.

Life is neither fair… nor just.

People let you down.

Dreams take too long.

And I am feeling the resistance.

Maybe I’ll go and squeeze out some paint and see what comes out of this emotion. It might just be the best thing I ever did. You never know.

Raw emotion can sometimes do that to you. It exposes itself. Makes real the experience brought to life on the paper. The feeling… dashed off in daubs of paint. The pain… creeps slowly across the wet sheet of paper and bleeds one color into the other.

Vincent did it. And Modigliani too. They painted [how] they felt not [what] they saw. They painted raw emotion. The sightless face. The bleak and tragic landscape. The lonely room. Bright but empty. The twisted and confused. The human landscape.

It’s there in history’s pages… the pain of life and loss. The journey started long ago stumbles ever onward toward an uncertain future.

The future.  Where the meeting of the sadness and the truth of our life purpose… can [at last] make sense of what’s been lost.

I give up [for now]… and rest my case.

I’m exhausted.

Tomorrow I shall pick up the pieces and put them all back together again *sigh*

Living on Purpose is hard.

How about you?

Do you ever feel like giving up?

What discourages you?

And how do you pull yourself back together again?

Leave me a message here … :-)

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My Interview with Vincent Van Gogh

September 28, 2010 · 5 comments

Cartoon © 2008 Jean Burman

Yesterday morning over coffee at the Queensland Art Gallery I was fortunate enough to have a few words with the late great Vincent Van Gogh.  What a nice man he turned out to be! [grin]  Here is the interview!

Me:

Hi Mr Van Gogh… you don’t know me at all… but I was wondering if I could take a moment of your time here today to talk about your art… and how it goes with you in general?

Vincent:

Yeah thanks Jean. I really do appreciate you taking the time to listen. So many people simply just don’t.

Me:

Well Mr Van Gogh… you might be interested to know that not much has changed over all the years.

Vincent:

Geez Jean… I’m really sorry to hear that. As you know… I almost gave up a number of times. If it wasn’t for Theo I think I would have given up way sooner than I eventually did. I mean… a man’s gotta eat… get around… and sleep warm and dry.

Me:

Yeah I know. Can really relate. Hey… I’ve been meaning to ask Vincent… what made you do it?  I mean… cutting your ear off ‘n all and ending it all so tragically. That’s kind of left of centre you know!

Besides… don’t you know how famous you are now?

Vincent:

Famous? You’re kidding me right? Says who?

Me:

Says me. Says everyone! The Establishment loves you! People love you!  Academia hails your work as epiphanous with the gleam of a thousand revolving stars in their eyes… and totally *way out of this world*. Heck… your Irises sold for a cool $101 million!

Vincent:

Holy smoke Jean! How did that happen? Back in the day… my only collector was Theo… and he made the difference between life and death for me. Put a roof over. Kept the wolf from the door… that sort of thing.

Me:

Well Mr Van Gogh… I’m sad to say… there’s still plenty of wolves out there today… [most of them in sheep's clothing - but I digress]… but let me assure you they wouldn’t be hanging by your door nowadays… [if you were still here I mean... and if you still had one that is!]

Vincent:

[*long wistful almost inaudible sigh*] Ahhh… how it’s all changed. If only I knew then what I know now.

Me:

Yep… everything looks easy in 20/20 hindsight eh?

Vincent:

Yep. Sure does.

Me:

You set a precedent way back then you know.  Nowadays you’ve got to do something really spectacular to get noticed! [Like die] *wink*

The more things change the more they stay the same eh… [grin]

Artists are still struggling.  Overworked… underpaid… undervalued… under loved… under appreciated.  And all the other “unders” until the undertaker comes along and puts ‘em 6 foot under!

And that’s when things really spin out and get scarey.

Because when people realise that there’s no more coming from where those came from… [as a consequence of being... um... dead] then suddenly you’re IN. Flavour of the month in fact. 

Vincent:

Yeah? [incredulous... Vincent shakes his head]

Me:

Yep… and it’s a hellava price to pay.  And you know what I mean.

But hey… look at YOU!

All famous n’all.

What more could you want?

At least you made it EVENTUALLY! [grin]

That’s more than most artists can expect in the 21st century. There’s so many of us now. It’s not like the private club you guys had!

You know… all that sitting around sipping absynthe into the wee small hours.  The gun fights and the camaraderie… the fisticuffs at dawn out in the street?  You guys had it made!

Nowadays artists battle it out behind the front line on easels and keyboards across the nation. Across the whole wide world in fact. It’s a tough gig. But someone’s gotta do it. And it’s not like you’re around anymore to take up the slack!

Vincent:

Gee… I reckon.  You guys have really got it tough.  You look like you could use a hug.

Me: [blushing]

Yeah well… that would be nice if you’ve got one to spare.

Vincent:

Sure thing… get over here!  (((hugs all round)))

Jean:

Well Vincent… I can call you Vincent right?  It’s been really nice talking to you. And I’m so pleased you took the time to talk back. That’s so cool… and something that doesn’t happen all that often these days when people are so pushed for time.

So thanks a bunch for taking the time to talk to me here today.

It was lovely to meet you after all this time…

and to know that you’re still absolutely just fine!

We’re grateful you know for your time here on earth…

and all that you had to say

and we’re following faithfully each day in your steps…

keeping the art world at bay.

The Creative Dilemma – related Post from the Archive.

Leave a comment – [messages will be passed on to Mr Van Gogh as they come to hand]

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The Creative Dilemma

November 30, 2009 · 26 comments

JB for the blog 2Join me on You Tube (see below for the link) but read this first!

Well it’s been a crazy week of revolving doors for me as new doors swing open and old doors slam shut . Generally speaking though that’s great news… and a sign that things in my Universe are starting to shake out!

You know… it’s kind of fun to stand back and watch from a distance all the action happening in your own life. Letting go of outcomes and allowing things to just be can be a bit scary at times… but it’s fun nonetheless. And I could get used to it. [Grin]

The global economic climate (not to be confused with climate change per se- grin) has given everyone quite a bit to think about. But for creative artists of all persuasions (be they painters potters or musicians) the struggle to do well at what we do well… has always been pretty difficult. And historically nothing has changed.

VincentCartoon Pen & Watercolour

Copyright © 2007-09 Jean Burman

Vincent Van Gogh was creatively and financially supported throughout his entire career by his brother Theo.  He never sold a painting. We may well laugh now at how wealthy he might have been in his own lifetime. But he wasn’t. He was a man ahead of his time. But no-one really got that. Not even his fellow artists. Especially not his fellow artists. Consequently without the creative endorsement he craved… he was condemned to continually question his own worth as an artist.

Sound familiar?

The upshot of course was that Vincent finally sliced off an ear and died in a garret with two bullet holes in his stomach partly because he couldn’t handle it anymore. He gave up. And it’s easy to give up on a world that doesn’t know that stars are blobs of swirling bright light circling the evening sky… [grin]

Vincent 2Cartoon Pen & Watercolour

Copyright © 2007-09 Jean Burman

Creative spirits live in a world of their own. There is no clear direction forward for us… not to mention… very little endorsement or feedback for what we’ve already done.

Yes… we know what we want. But what the rest of the world wants is an entirely different matter. Complicate that further by saying that much of the rest of the world doesn’t actually know what they want… or what they like [without being told]… and we have one very perplexing problem!

In the end… fame and fortune pretty much comes down to the “hype” around the product… and not necessarily the product itself. The people who eventually gain recognition… are not necessarily those with the most talent… but those who are best able to bring their product to the marketplace via the best most expedient method.

But this is all terribly left brain stuff. And most artists (well the creative ones anyway) are incredibly right brain orientated. That’s what makes them… surprise surprise… so darned creative!

For my part… well… I don’t want to be famous but I do want to get my stuff out there. So that means I have to spend at least some of my time in the left brained world. It’s a funny nuts and bolts place to be… but it can be a whole lot of fun as well.

Check out my new You Tube clip here.

It was a challenge to put this together and the best fun you can ever have all by yourself in iPhoto and on YouTube. Would also like to thank Paul Simon [the voice and lyrics of my childhood] for the use of Punkey’s Dilemma… the cornflake song… what a great little song it still is!

For my part… I just want to paint and write… live… laugh and love. Whatever comes after [in/around and between] all that… who knows and who even cares? It’s my life. And I’m only going to get one chance at it. I make mistakes like everyone else. And have suffered probably more than my fair share of sadness. But I am also blessed in so many ways.

And the great thing is I am finally beginning to realise that absolutely nothing is ever set in stone. Doors open and close all the time with intermittent regularity. And all that’s required of us is a willingness to step through the next open door to see what’s on the other side. It’s as easy as that! *wink*

The real prizes in life go to whoever opens the most doors… and investigates as fully as possible their own individual potential. There are no guarantees we will survive this life… in fact… it’s a pretty sure thing that we’re not going to make it out alive!

So heck… while we’re here we may as well give it our best shot. With or without any thanks… or claps… and regardless of the heckles… [or the people who would persist in placing obstacles in our way]

Doing our creative thing… whatever that may be… is our gift to the world as much as ourselves. And you never know… maybe someday… someone… somewhere…. might just get it and go WOW!

If not… well… we had a whole heck of a lot of fun doing whatever it was we got to do!

Didn’t we?

Would love to hear your comments about YOUR creative life and experience.  Drop me a line here!

Oh… and before I forget… the 2010 Universal Artist Calendar is now available for immediate shipping over at RED BUBBLE [in case you didn't get that already LOL]  Okay… that’s enough shameless self promotion for me… back to painting… writing… more dreaming *sigh*  :-)

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Friends… Lend Me Your Ear

May 8, 2009 Read the full article →