Van Gogh The Life

Prairie Dock

I am presently finishing Van Gogh, The Life by Steven Naifen and Gregory White Smith.  It is not an easy book to read.  The family was probably what we would call today dysfunctional.  I chose to read it because I had heard of Vincent van Gogh.  I knew he had been a painter.  That is about all.  

The authors have included much quoted text from his letters.  In one passage I read the other night, Vincent is describing how he feels when he looks at sunflowers with the blue sky behind.  The image his discourse brought to my mind stuck.  I commented to myself that I feel similar feels when I look at the yellow flowers with the sky in the background.

The next morning I saw a prairie dock in bloom.  One of the blossoms faced the right way for me and I photographed it.  I got that feeling again.  As usual, I try to be there when I am set up on a subject.  While I was there, a honey bee flew into the scene and was included on one of the shots.  The other insects appeared to be ants that day.  Upon closer examination on the computer, I saw that they were tiny bees.  They also had pollen on their rear legs.  

Prairie Dock

I have been told that yellow is not a color with which people like to decorate their houses, BUT I like this.  I feel joy when I look at it.  According to the biography, some of the painters in the late 19th century, including Vincent, used complementary colors in their paintings.  It conjures feelings of summers, the beach, warm weather; not hot; soft breezes and youth.  How do you feel when you look at it?  

I almost forgot!  While "being there" with this flower, I shot video.  The Prairie Dock is at the bottom of the page.

http://www.larrysimages.com/

Follow Larry's Images on Facebook. 

Feed 

If you wish to unsubscribe, email to larry@larrysimages.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.