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jaeleslie at 01:20pm on 25/04/2004
jaeleslie at 01:20pm on 25/04/2004In a fit of family togetherness on a rainy Sunday, we have made the final push to finish the hellish Van Gogh puzzle. Number One Son wishes me to report that it is Impressionist Bullshit. Mr S thinks it is pretty realistic. It is hard to explain how wild this style of painting was considered a hundred years ago. I look at the irisses coming up across the street and see the range of color and form he was trying to get at. After close study I can see... it is post-impressionist.
One interesting phenomenon during the process of working it was how my powers of assembly were totally blocked by the flowerheads of the irises, which in the finished painting are the most easily recognized realistic element. So we got everything done right up to there and then big empty spaces in the middle for the masses of bloom. Then I had to struggle along trying to identify the necessary shapes of the puzzle pieces, not my strength. Fortunately the boys developed a method of categorizing the shapes although some of their categories don't make much sense to me. Closely matching the various colors and qualities of line was my strong point. Toward the end my latest superpower manifested: I can take one puzzle piece, and instantly match it to the corresponding tiny portion of the picture on the puzzle box. It should go... there! This is not much help until there is something to hook it onto.
Next we have a 1000-piece photograph of a bunch of umbrellas. They want realism, take that! Next week they will be begging for the Cezanne.
One interesting phenomenon during the process of working it was how my powers of assembly were totally blocked by the flowerheads of the irises, which in the finished painting are the most easily recognized realistic element. So we got everything done right up to there and then big empty spaces in the middle for the masses of bloom. Then I had to struggle along trying to identify the necessary shapes of the puzzle pieces, not my strength. Fortunately the boys developed a method of categorizing the shapes although some of their categories don't make much sense to me. Closely matching the various colors and qualities of line was my strong point. Toward the end my latest superpower manifested: I can take one puzzle piece, and instantly match it to the corresponding tiny portion of the picture on the puzzle box. It should go... there! This is not much help until there is something to hook it onto.
Next we have a 1000-piece photograph of a bunch of umbrellas. They want realism, take that! Next week they will be begging for the Cezanne.