.People, old and young, have said to me over the years: what was the name of that artist that cut off his ear? They are then treated to my lecture about how poor old Van Gough would probably not want to be remembered over time for this particular depressed act, but rather for a life time of hard work developing a new way to paint. This is part of my never ending effort to change popular perception of what being an artist, an what art, is all about. One person at a time, and hopefully at key teachable moments like when they ask questions.
This led me also to think about how I would like to be remembered when I finally give up the ghost a couple of decades or so hence, I think I want someone to say something like this at my funeral.
"She had a good start in life, then hit a lot of adverse circumstances in adult life. It took her a while but she finally began to learn from her challenges and gradually become an introspective person that learned humility from rejection, courage from setbacks, and patience with fate. She never gave up trying to convert people to her vision of how art figured into human experience, with some success."
Some people will label me an artist, a creative person or an effective teacher. But I just hope I will end up looking back on my life and thinking: I sometimes turned lemons into lemonade and occasionally spun gold from straw. Paintings and also life events.
This led me also to think about how I would like to be remembered when I finally give up the ghost a couple of decades or so hence, I think I want someone to say something like this at my funeral.
"She had a good start in life, then hit a lot of adverse circumstances in adult life. It took her a while but she finally began to learn from her challenges and gradually become an introspective person that learned humility from rejection, courage from setbacks, and patience with fate. She never gave up trying to convert people to her vision of how art figured into human experience, with some success."
Some people will label me an artist, a creative person or an effective teacher. But I just hope I will end up looking back on my life and thinking: I sometimes turned lemons into lemonade and occasionally spun gold from straw. Paintings and also life events.