Perserving the Good – 31 Days of Christmas Carols/Go Tell It on the Mountain

On December 12, 2020December 11, 2020 By TimelessladyIn Preserving the Good2 Comments

‘Go Tell It on the Mountain,’ doesn’t sound like a typical Christmas Carol, but the words are a reminder to celebrate Christ Jesus’ birth, and also tell it all over the world. The song was compiled by John Wesley Work Jr., and dates back to at least 1865.

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!” ~Isaiah 52:7

Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting almost seems to have a voice of its own. I can almost hear the sky singing when I look at the painting, and I love the small church at the center with the mountains in the distance.

GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN (Spiritual)

Refrain:
Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.

While shepherds kept their watching
o’er silent flocks by night,
behold, throughout the heavens
there shone a holy light. [Refrain]

The shepherds feared and trembled
when lo! above the earth
rang out the angel chorus
that hailed our Savior‘s birth. [Refrain]

Down in a lowly manger
the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation
that blessed Christmas morn. [Refrain]

Quote – Fortitude

On June 15, 2018 By TimelessladyIn Quirkiness4 Comments

I love this little Johnny Jump Up Viola. Every year a plant or two of this variety springs up within the confines of a crack in my front stoop. The foliage gets a little bruised and battered by foot traffic and concrete detritus, but the bloom is radiant and perfect. This type of garden quirkiness always becomes a favorite, compelling me to keep at all my dreams, “Onward!”

Quote & Perspective – Staying Focused

On February 19, 2016February 19, 2016 By TimelessladyIn Perspective, Quote9 Comments

Don’t let scattered dreams and goals be torn apart by circumstance…tape them back together again and persevere…persevere…persevere! A masterpiece is inside you, waiting to be born.

Phacts – Tuesday Trivia/Little Known Phacts in the life of Vincent Van Gogh

On September 9, 2014September 9, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Phacts3 Comments

Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh was a Christian Evangelist before he became an artist? Van Gogh had such empathy for the poor villagers he gave away his clothing.

“I knew him some forty-five years ago in the Borinage where he was an evangelist (not a pastor, as he had no theological degree). Faced with the destitution he encountered on his visits, his pity had induced him to give away nearly all his clothes; his money had found its way into the hands of the poor, and one might say that he had kept nothing for himself. His religious sentiments were very ardent, and he wanted to obey the words of Jesus Christ to the letter.” M. Bonte

This excerpt was taken from the article titled the Van Gogh’s Letters

Another controversial fact revealed in recent years is the theory that the suicide of Van Gogh was a fabrication to protect the person/persons who accidentally shot him.

The Death of Vincent Van Gogh is an excellent article on this subject.

The television show “Sixty Minutes” presented a very compelling episode on this same subject.

Although time has drawn the curtain on the true facts ever being known, Van Gogh’s paintings will forever be center stage as some of the world’s very best works of art.

Painting – Here’s Mud In Your Teeth/Longwood Anemones

On April 25, 2014April 22, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Painting4 Comments

About twenty years ago, my then teenaged son purchased a moped. The first time he took it out to ride was after a rainy day. When he walked in the house after the ride he was covered in mud, and when he smiled his teeth were covered in mud splatters too. What joy he must have felt as he rode. I still imagine him in my mind riding through those puddles while the mud flew in an arc of earthly joy all around him. The photograph is a favorite of mine, as is the memory.

I had the best time painting these anemones. Although there are quite a few flaws, the painting is full of life and I think captures a bit of the enthusiasm I felt while I painted it. You see…I love to paint. I have decided it does not need to be perfect, my joy will not be diminished by what others may think, or if I deem it perfect or flawed. What matters to me is the GRAND time I had painting it. I hope I smiled as big as my son as I splashed the paint onto the paper.

I wonder if that is why historians think Vincent Van Gogh ingested his paint. I have read more than once that many attribute some of his health problems, physical and mental, to paint being internalized. Perhaps he did not nibble his paint, but loved painting so much he smiled with joy when he painted, and the paint somehow got into his system. Oil paints at that point in time contained many dangerous chemicals and metals. Since I love Van Gogh’s paintings and his words in the numerous letters he wrote to family and friends, I hope this is the case. His joy in creating overrode his caution. By no means is this in any way a fact, just a theory I like to daydream about.

I wish I could paint like Van Gogh, but I will always be me in everything I do, and a Van Gogh I am not. But I do love to create and I do love to paint. If you are interested here is a short step by step video of the creation of my Longwood Anemones. I wish I could have videoed the wild background as I painted. It is wet into wet and was SO much fun to paint.

Longwood Anemones: 12 x 14, Winsor & Newton Watercolors, Arches Hot Press 140 lb Paper

You can find the thread to the April Plant Parade here: April 2014 Plant Parade

Take a look at the gorgeous paintings the other artists have created.

Painting – Red Poppies

On July 2, 2012February 26, 2016 By TimelessladyIn PaintingLeave a comment

Here is the finished painting. I opted to change the color of my reference photographs into a brilliant red and black flower with a green-blue center. They are lightly shaded with no shadows. The flowers are a rendition of the Bread Seed Poppies growing in my Square Foot Gardens. Three artists inspired this work. Georgia O’Keeffe for her pure, oversized flower paintings. Vincent Van Gogh was definitely in my thoughts as I created the swirling movement around the sun. Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh, and O’Keeffe are all in my lack of dark shadows. I wanted color, color, color…not distracting blotches.