I was just browsing through some of Lautrec's works- because I miss art and art history and then i decided to look up his biogrophy- because artists tend to have some of the most interesting life stories and it turns out he was friends with Van Gogh- oh my soul. I didn't expect to find such a delightful fact- but I guess I've forgotten that starving artists or artists in general gravitate towards each other, especially in the 1880s in France where the Bohemian lifestyle flourished. Van Gogh holds a special piece of my heart due to his story and similar struggles but his pieces never hit me between the eyes- Lautrec's subject matter is much more fascinating to me- he painted prostitutes at a time when he was swimming in a sea full of artists who painted landscapes. And his story is another artist's life.
My mom just called and we had a 20 minute conversation about Lautrec and art and how your short comings can really be a path to your strengths- in the sense of Lautrec and most artists and their battles. This whole thing was so unexpected and welcomed.
i wouldn't say I'm close to either one of my parents.
but I would say that the most moving conversations (there have been 3) that I've had with my mother in all of my 21 years -have been focused on art.
creating something seems so natural.
so vital to life.
i don't know if that was instilled in me by my parents
or by my Heavenly Father.
but either way- it's nice to find one piece of common ground to stand on with her.
to stand on this piece with her and look up at our God.
to connect - even if just for a few moments - in sitting back and appreciating diversity and allowing ourselves to remain in wonder
of something rare and full of life for as long as it lasts.
it feels so good to hear her speak
about something she has obviously been in love with forever.
to hear her words bend and shape
into sentences holding information as if it were fresh water-
i long to see and hear my mother like that every day.
it feels like for the first time- she's teaching me something.
when she speaks like this i imagine that this is the real person
this is the woman, my mother, that i would've met
if I time traveled back to her college days.
i imagine this is the girl I would've become friends with.
this is the Anna I would've sat next to in Drawing 101 - and fallen in love with her loudness and long blond hair and short skirts and bright blue eyes
made to look for the beauty in almost everything.
this is the girl so passionate and unsure and alive- before the rest of her life happened.
my mother has been all over world- with out me of course.
and do you know what she does in each city?
she goes to art museums. And she always sends me a post card.
i haven't realized it ever- until this exact moment...
but this is how my God loves me-
He gives me a Mother who loves me and she loves me by loving art.
and sends me a postcard.
and I couldn't ask for more right now, I couldn't ask for more.