Van Gogh Quote #2

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Today we have a quick quote by Van Gogh, some amazing paintings, and even a link to a conspiring 60 minutes episode where they research Van Gogh’s life and try to get to the bottom of his death. Very interesting stuff!

“As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed” ~ Vincent Van Gogh

I’m sure we’ve all experienced an event that made us want to jump off the side of a cliff…no safety net, no body of water…just solid earth waiting below. Of course, if you did this, 10 feet from the bottom you’d realize that there is something worth living for. That unfinished painting, your mother’s smile, the new CD by Ludovico Einaudi.

Vincent is right, it seems life gets more and more difficult…at least compared to when we were carefree children playing kickball in the streets. You just gotta fight the difficulties like he says. Count the positive things happening to you, not the negative. If you are stressed, you can’t think straight. If you can’t think straight, you can’t be creative. As artists we need to continually create and find our happy place. What’s your happy place? I have a few…either nature walks, taking photos, or eating a big stack of banana pancakes with maple syrup. This happy place or a combination of them will hit the reset button of your difficulties. The stress subdues and restarts from zero. Find your happy place if you haven’t already, it’s vital to your happiness and creativity.

The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh

If you have time, I would recommend stopping by 60 minutes and viewing their documentary script on Van Gogh (or finding the video version online somewhere). They talk about his life, and how they hired an army of researchers to find out every detail about Van Gogh. Turns out he was a genius of sorts, who was fluent in several different languages, read Shakespeare, and wrote poetry. Not that you have to be a genius to do all of that, but keep in mind, he was considered insane and did some time in a looney bin. He suffered from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy which caused his madness. He was an artists for about 9 years, and for the last two years he produced the bulk of his work. They conspire about Vincent not shooting himself, but accidentally being shot by two farm boys and protecting them by covering up his own murder.

Find your happy place, create art, and enjoy life!