I'm not knocking Vegas...

We have a lot to offer and more than just strippers and brightly lit machines that take your money... we have canyons and rock formations. We have a community of people who organize and try to build that community..

We don't have a great Art Museum.. (I wont even mention our zoo)

But a great Art Museum.. oh how fantastic that'd be... I am in Dina's Masterful Art Journaling and while I never try to hide that I love Get It Scrapped or support and try to share on my blog all the cool classes that are going there. This isn't a post intended to do that.. it's a pitty party. My very own one man pitty party.

Dina posted the first class and it's on Van Gogh.. and she talks about his painting and how thick and textured it was and the brush strokes he used.. I just love Van Gogh, all of his work from the early to the late. There is something about the colors he chose and the manner in which he painted that speaks to me. I read the first class and was so inspired and full of ideas for art journaling. I am excited to just try something. Even knowing I'll never touch the talent of the Masters I'm ok with that.

I remember the first time I saw a Van Gogh in person. I always enjoyed Starry Night and it was a favorite from Art Appreciation in college and even Art History.. but if this is the only Van Gogh you know, you haven't scratched the surface. It's not meant to be mean, only that there is so much more.

In 1998, my mother died in Septemeber. That Halloween, I decided to head to Washington DC to the home of one of my closest friends. Neala had to work so I headed to the mall (weird name for a stretch of grass isn't it?) and explored on my own. I roamed around and decided to go to the National Gallery of Art. I also was lucky enough to have a kind worker pull me to the side and tell me there was only one ticket left for the Van Gogh's Van Gogh exhibit. Since I was with an infant who was free, she asked if I'd like to buy the last one. I did.. my time was later in the afternoon so I roamed the permanent collection first.. and I came to this piece.



I was amazed at what it looked like in person.. it was so thick and screamed "touch me" even if the guard nearby was screaming "Best Not" I could have sat and looked at that painting for days. I was so much more blown over when I went to the exhibit. I can't believe the colors that Van Gogh used.. even his darkest paintings were rich in color. I will stop before I ramble on for two days about it. I just think if you get the opportunity you should take it. See Van Gogh. I am now in Vegas and we do not have an Art Museum any longer. So that is my pitty party. I have very little chance of roaming a gallery to see the masters.

ps. I think this is fantastic.. click here and you can see the same exhibit I saw back in 1998. Just click on a square in the blueprint below the picture to the right to enter that "room" and then click on the painting in the picture to get a larger view of it.. how cool is that??

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/gogh/html/nonplug/room10-main.htm