WOMAN ROCKiNG A CRADLE and MADAME ROULIN AND BABY MARCELLE

Another week winding down.  Gotta share yesterday's angst while doing our bedroom #1 spring tidy-up.  Awhile back I ordered a bedspread large enough so we wouldn't need a bed ruffle.  Those things drive me nuts when changing sheets, always getting in the way of tucking the sheets under the mattress.  SO, we take the spread out of the plastic zip bag, and the frickin' thing is too big and the color is ever so drab.  SO, now I have to look for another spread.  My go-to place is WM online.  

We're toying with the thought of changing the accent color in our unit, which is a burgundy that was here when we moved in.  I just loved it, but after seven years it's outlived its newness.  Possibly might go with a shade of green that would match our pantry cupboard.  It's that business of when a person starts one thing, there's a domino effect and other stuff suddenly needs attention.  Guess that's a good thing.   

When cleaning under the bed, we found 12 ceramic Christmas trees that are adorable, and I'd forgotten that a gal gave them to me out here at Venny.  They were the only treasures found besides the Christmas village.  

Last night about 10:30 I was tired and went to bed.  Well, my mind started racing like it was on the Indy 500 track.  Got up, went to the kitchen, had me some cheese and crackers and stayed up until 3 in the morning.  Maybe fell sleep around 4 and am now up at 9.  It matters not, cuz there's not an 8-hour job waiting for me. 

La Berceuse (Woman Rocking a Cradle)
~1889

Remember Van Gogh's painting of postmaster Roulin of Arles?  This is a portrait of his wife, Augustine Roulin.  He called the painting 'La Berceuse' meaning 'lullaby, or woman who rocks the cradle.'  The rope she holds in her hands is attached to the unseen Cradle.  Pulling The rope would gently rock a baby to sleep.  Mrs. Roulin had just given birth to a baby girl, and the title refers to both the woman who is rocking the cradle and the lullaby she sings. 

The green skirt that pours generously out of the painting is balanced by the bright red floor.  Note the decorative scheme of the wallpaper, with its red and green pattern and bursts of white and pink flowers.  Japanese influence, for sure.  In all of Vincent's portraits, the way he paints the eyes amazes me most.  Makes me think that he was able to see into the eyes of souls.

Van Gogh hoped La Berceuse would be seen and felt by the poor and the broken-hearted.  Vincent said it was a picture that might console fishermen far out at sea in a storm.  Instead of being thrown about by the ocean waves, they would feel they were being rocked in a Cradle and hear a lullaby being sung to them.  

Madame Roulin and Her Baby Marcelle - 1888

Vincent painted several portraits of baby Marcelle, three by herself and two more on her mother's lap. 

Van Gogh sent one little portrait of Marcelle to Theo's wife Jo, who was pregnant at the time.  He wrote, "I like to imagine that ours will be as strong, as healthy and as beautiful as that one--and that his uncle will consent to do his portrait one day!" 

What is critical to my understanding is the fact that if one doesn't study the artist and his works, merely looking at one of the artist's paintings is pointless.  The paintings are the artist.  The artist paints his passions in his/her paintings.  It's no different than writing.  Writers write about what they know, feel and understand.  Every expression of artistic creation is a reflection of the person holding the brush or the pen or the camera lens.  🖌