First, I must confess to being an uncultured dummy as far as art is concerned. I walked into a Vincent van Gogh appreciation session to escape the subject-heavy load of an IT convention. The music was soothing, temperature cool, and as the lights dimmed, I expected to drop off to La-La Land.

Instead, I was drawn into the world of Vincent. Line by line, a masterful and passionate story teller weaved his tale. I stood with Vincent behind his canvas as he lived through his brightest and darkest moments. Don Mc Lean's "Vincent (Starry Starry Night)" played in the final minutes with Van Gogh's humble offerings to the world taking its turn on a gigantic screen. Mesmerised, the beautiful song was in my ears, when the lights came on. It was too late to look for a hanky!

I'm still a dummy at art. But a dummy with a soft spot for Vincent van Gogh. For always. Thank you, Vincent.

Source of image:

By Vincent van Gogh - bgEuwDxel93-Pg — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25498286


Postscript added on 10 Oct 2023: Note: Thank you to those who have written to let me know you enjoy reading my column but daren't take a lesson because there are parts you don't really understand. I assure you we'll always speak at a level which suits you so that we can enjoy a casual conversation. Also, we can go through words and sentences that are difficult so that we learn together. Perhaps, they will be easy then and we'll always have something to talk about. No stress!