Workshop of Hope

I have always had this knack for Vincent Van Gogh ever since I was a kid until now I still do. I never knew what exactly about Vincent that appeals so much to me, and I had always thought that his paintings were the ugliest mutt I have ever seen. It's like I love and despise him at the same time. And I somehow found that the story of his life is so pathetic, yet romantic at the same time. A hopeless romantic, he was one of the most emotional artist I believe I have read about. I had a major crush over him as well his artwork ever since I was in primary school.

I felt that I shared certain similarities with this artist, we are emotional people who prefer to and ended up working individually and very attached to what we wanted to achieve. Largely self-taught. It's the I do what I like and I like what I do kinda attitude, but the sad state is that somehow the world is out there to pin you down. Tryin hard to pursue smthg to not only make a livin for, but to prove it to the world that this is being YOU is all about. Nobody to appreciate you and look down on what you do. Though I may not be influenced to cut my (ears) or shoot myself in the chest out of angst, I do feel the pain as such Vincent went through. He was my childhood hero, long-dead he may be, yet he still is and still am now. He made me feel less alone and I know that there is another one such person who suffers from the lack of self diligence. Just like me.

I had always admired the way Van Gogh applied paint on the canvas. He squeezed them directly from the tube onto the canvas and remodel it by using his brush to have this semi 3D effects. Recently, there were this new foundings by scientist that there were underlying images in one of Vincent's painting "Patch of Grass" (1885) where the seemingly insignificant wild strokes of brushes conceals a hidden face of a woman, whose features are much similar to his previous paintings of peasants e.g "The Potato Eaters". The image was concealed in a 7-inch square out of a larger piece of painting.

Vincent Van Gogh's life was virtually and largely unknown during his lifetime and he struggled financially to continue being the artist he wanted to be until he committed suicide in 1890. He reuses canvas to save money, either painting on top of or behind existing paintings. Scientists have found out that probably 1/3 of his works are still hiding behind a layer of another painting.

I wanted to visit The Hague someday, and the Yellow House. I wanna see his paintings! Especially the ones he made at Auvers. For me, Vincent is my model of the most astonishing artistic richness and I love the expressions which he conveyed through his paintings, which are more than mere paintings, they are my fundamental root in which I still am fighting for as well. I wanna be an artist, when the time comes I am released from this "invisible prison" it is on the top of my wishlist!

"I prefer to paint human eyes, rather than to paint cathedrals."

“They think I’m a madman because I wanted to be a true Christian.”

“I want to look at nature under a brighter sky.”

“I have a terrible need of — shall I say the word — religion. Then I go out and paint the stars.”

-VVG-