We’ve Come a Long Way Baby

Once a month, I take the trek to Nuenen. This little village is about 20 minutes from my home. I drive out of Eindhoven and then along a little winding road to my friend Carrie’s. Nuenen was also home to Vincent Van Gogh. There’s a little museum in town that tells about Vincent’s life and what led him to fame as a wonderful impressionist artist. The funniest thing I learned there was that his mother sent him a letter begging him to move back home and give up his prostitute girlfriend. He eventually does but always likes to do things his own way. I find his work absolutely wonderful.

Carrie is teaching an art appreciation class called For Art’s Sake. She has many years of teaching experience and she really has a gift for sharing her passion. We talk and learn about different time periods, mediums, styles and artists. This past month we focused solely on women artists. I learned that many times women didn’t sign their art work because it was not accepted for a woman to be an artist. A lot of the women learned how to paint in the studio from their fathers. But after a female artist would finish an unsigned painting, men would find it and sign their names. It’s just recently that their works of art are being recognized as their own.

Recently, Carrie and I have decided to paint. She of course is wonderful and I was an art major in college for 1 year. This was only because it sounded easy. Boy was I wrong. But anyway, we have ventured into painting. It’s a wonderful way to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Enjoying art while living in Europe, absolutely!