For Vincent

 

with love from his friend
Sibyl Riversleigh

Teacher and Mentor

Long years ago when I first went back to painting my teacher, a fine artist herself, told us to listen to our paintingss as we worked, to hear what the painting was telling us, and, most particularly to listen when the work was finished. I know now that when my work fails it is because I have failed to listen. Fran

Vincent – not still life

Vincent
Painted starry nights,
Planets wheeling in time,
Cafes spilling light
Onto narrow cobbled streets,
Golden sunflowers and tall blue iris,
Peasants working in the fields,
Old men with beards
Lost in thought,
Cabbages and clogs…
“Daubs!” they cried.
‘Garish!” they muttered.
But from his brush
These places
And faces
Still vibrate
With life.
Not still.
Never still.

“And my aim in my life is to make pictures and drawings, as many and as well as I can; then, at the end of my life, I hope to pass away, looking back with love and tender regret, and thinking, ‘Oh, the pictures I might have made!’”
Vincent van Gogh