Monday, November 2, 2015

His Homeland..




















dVerse

Today's Monday haibun is about reflecting on Vincent Van Gogh's painting, "View of the Church of de Mausole". I found this a delightful exercise.



If I were to choose a calendar month for this painting, it would most likely be autumn. But because of the way light from the sun falls on the fields and spreads like butter throughout the sky, it could be Van Gogh's depiction of a spring or summer day..or even a colder, winter scene.

Autumn leaves streak across the sky, or could those be morning cirrus clouds sprayed gold by the rising sun? Perhaps it is a hot afternoon or almost twilight when the sunset melds everything into long shadows and afterglows of the day's mirages.  Would shadows be as prevalent or stretched long if it were painted during the earlier part of the day?  Van Gogh's blues and golds, heavily splashed on canvas, flow like a river, suggest evening-time. But, they seem to reflect the sky in the terrain below. There is no obvious snow and the trees have most of their leaves, so I am leaning toward a late September day.

I am struck by Van Gogh's ability to express such passion so boldly. I am impressed he doesn't appear to hide secrets or hold back his fears, joys and sorrows. I imagine him sitting on a stool not far away, wildly wielding his brushes up and down and across, driven, his clothes splattered in colors of paint and his face awash with red in the heat of his work.

Buoyant solace, mirth
Vincent's French countryside church
overlooking all








17 comments:

  1. You have so clearly 'painted' with your words the scene that van Gogh has drawn. Very well penned Haibun.

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  2. I think for Van Gogh.. as so many Artists
    without children.. expresSinG creativity
    is a way to self
    authentication..
    as we all have
    a basic
    instinct
    to create
    in some way..
    and no doubt Van Gogh's
    flow of art.. put him in a state
    of mind to escape the pains
    of life.. the art
    of mind and mind
    of creativity
    is more now
    than science
    and alive
    too
    as long
    as canvas
    lives.. a new
    creation exists..:)

    Painting
    children live
    long and prosper..;)

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  3. I envy his view and passion for the colors, capturing the season with bold colors ~ I really like this part:

    But because of the way light from the sun falls on the fields and spreads like butter throughout the sky

    Thanks for the second haibun share Kathy ~

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  4. I like how this has the feel of an essay, culminating with the lovely haiku.

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  5. Oh..sun spreading like butter - what an incredible image that is. I so like how you went into Van Gogh and let us sit watching him paint - the passion on the canvas equal to the passion in this haibun. Bouyant solace....wonderful!

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  6. Oh yes, your haibun is kinder to Vincent than some - an enjoyable.read

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  7. I love that expression 'the light spreading like butter across the sky'... The golden leaves on the trees made me think autumn too.

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  8. I love that you envisioned Fall. Beautiful!

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  9. I really love how you tied it together with the haiku at the end.. magnificent.

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  10. I actually wish I read this prior to writing my haibun. You read the painting well.

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  11. I love the way you interpreted the painting... Giving it a kaleidoscope of possibility. Somehow just as he would have wished, I think.

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  12. Thanks for being our docent in considering this masterpiece by Vincent...and adding your vibrant haiku at the end!

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  13. I feel as if I am listening to an art teacher helping students see through the artist's yes, senses...so much I love in this but what struck me was also how I first saw the field as the rapids of a river in your "heavily splashed on canvas, flow like a river, suggest evening-time". A lovely haiku tying the art teacher's last words of wisdom and connaissance.

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  14. I like how you muse and surmise about just what time of year was it that this was painted. I too could see him on a stool working diligently. Wonderful take on the prompt!

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  15. It's all been said above, so just let me add ... Bravo. Bastet

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All comments, constructive and otherwise, are welcome and appreciated here. Thank you to those who show an interest in my quirky style of writing, photography, painting, and presenting a feeling or thought and for stopping by A Dwelling by the Sea..