DJ Geribo's Art Apart Newsletter
Jul/Aug 2020
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Welcome!

A Summer Like No Other


A pandemic, hurricanes, power outages, riots and marches for humanity,  heat and humidity to fuel it all  - truly a summer like no other. Staying strong and focused on what is most important to us is definitely a challenge. Paying bills? Not on the to-do list. Taking showers and coloring my hair? Who cares? Binge-watching? Now you're talking! 

We all need a break. It is easy to forget it all and just mingle like we've done in the past. But with lives at risk, and unless you were born without a heart and have no concern for others, wearing a mask and staying a safe distance from each other is the only sane thing to do. But if you are like most people, you want it when you want it and that is now. We have lost our ability to be patient. Read your history and learn about pandemics in the past (there were a few). They weren't solved overnight or even in three or six months. Sure we have more sophisticated equipment or whatever is needed to solve the medical problems of the world. But it all takes time. Learn to enjoy your home or if you don't enjoy it, fix it up so that you do. 

And take up a new hobby. Maybe painting or drawing. You might discover an inner artist you've never met before. And you might really like what you are painting and you might just discover a new career. Instead of behaving  like a child who wants everything right now, try patience, try painting, try discovering your inner abilities. You just might come out of this happier and more grateful than when it all started. 

                                            
 
Add your comments to my DJGeribofineart blogs!!!
***Important Note: You can now access my art website either at www.djgeribofineart.com or www.geriboart.com

This is a painting I did a couple of years ago of my husband Jim's dog, Jacquay, a little Miniature Pinscher. The painting was a birthday present that he has hanging on his office wall. We got her free of charge (she needed a home) when she was just 5 months old. She just passed away at the ripe old age of 16 1/2. This is my tribute to the little dog with a big personality. She has now joined our other dogs, all Pomeranians, in our pet cemetery. Two of the Poms knew her and will welcome her with open paws. And her collar has been added to the frame of her painting. 

Feb 12, 2004 - July 26, 2020
Rest in Peace, Jacquay

To see more of my art work, visit my fine art website.
 
Featuring  Some  of  My   Completed  Paintings  

Over the years I have decided to focus on a few subjects to paint because they are my favorite subjects. One of my favorites is animals, as many of you know, another is still life of fruits and veggies. And a third favorite subject is landscapes.
Since I live in rural New Hampshire it is easy to find a landscape that is worthy of a painting. Both of these featured paintings were from photos I took in my town. It is easy to see why fall is my favorite season. And the sunsets are often spectacular!

To see more of my landscapes, go to my fine art gallery.
Summer is one of my favorite times to find a variety of subjects to paint. And that is usually the time the baby animals arrive. These two were sitting on my railing outside my sunroom. They posed for several minutes before they ran off together so I was able to get a few photos of them. I'm not sure if they were curious about us or terrified of the giant people who were staring at them just inches away, even though we were separated by glass. But they were adorable and I thought they needed to be remembered in a painting. Still a work-in-progress.
The Masters
 Vincent Van Gogh

Having started his career at the age of 27 and dying at the age of 37, with the first four years dedicated to drawing, Van Gogh may have one of the briefest careers in art history. Despite the short time period, he was astonishingly prolific having close to 1700 works survive - almost 900 drawings and over 800 paintings. Among his paintings there are more than 40 self-portraits. 

The saddest part of Van Gogh's life was that he sold only one painting during his lifetime. And then 25 years after his death, together with Cezanne, Seurat, and Gauguin he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern art.

Born in Holland in 1853, he was the oldest of 6. He left school at 16 and went to work at the Goupil Co at Hague that specialized in reproductions of famous paintings. While working here Theo, his younger brother who was 15, visited Vincent who was 19. Soon after they began writing letters. A mere 36 of Theo's letters were preserved but 661 of Vincent's were safely kept by Theo. The letters span an 18-year period beginning in August 1872 and ending July 1890 with the last letter to Theo found in his pocket, unfinished, the day he shot himself.

A deeply religious man, Van Gogh tended toward fanaticism. He found several teaching jobs where he taught bible classes and was also allowed to preach. While preaching to coal miners he began making drawings of them while they worked. It was about this time when he was trying to find his true calling that he decided to be an artist. It was through art that he could communicate with humanity and pour out his feelings.

 















If not for the money Theo sent him, Van Gogh would have starved eating mostly dry bread and potatoes. Sharing studio space in the bedroom of a coal miner's children, Van Gogh often painted outside. Unable to relate to women he turned to prostitutes and lived with one for a short time, contracting gonorrhea from her. 

In Paris in 1886 Van Gogh met Pissaro, Gaughin, Toulouse-Lautrec and others. While living in Arles, in 1888 his friend Gauguin arrived. The two artists clashed, producing tensions that forced Gauguin to leave for Tahiti. It was during this time that Van Gogh, out of depression and on the verge of madness, cut off a piece of his ear. Soon after that he ended up in an asylum. Although he was there for a year he painted prolifically totaling about 300 paintings and several hundred drawings. Despite all the work he finished during this year, he still had many fits of illness and despair that drove Van Gogh to suicide in July, 1890. To date, the most expensive Van Gogh painting that was sold was the "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" for $82.5 million. 



(Biographical information from "The World of Van Gogh")


"You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.
                          — Joan Miro
                                         
Art Quiz
Which artist said the following about Vincent Van Gogh: "He will either go mad or leave all of us far behind. I didn't know then that he would do both."
         1. Pissaro
       2. Toulouse-Lautrec
           3. Gauguin

(The answer to the May/Jun Art Quiz - Throughout his life Leonardo was first intrigued by, then fascinated, and finally terrified of what force of nature?: 3. Energy of Lightning)

Authistpreneur

author/artist/entrepreneur

Someone who is an author, an artist, and an entrepreneur.  Any person who writes or has a published novel, who paints fine art/illustrations, and also has established businesses using the combination of artistic talents.
                                                                - DJ Geribo
 
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