I'm Suddenly Obsessed with Art

I haven't written much lately on this blog because I've been concentrating on one of my other blogs--the one I call "Old Woman on a Bicycle."  That's because "Old Woman..." is where I write about art.  My life, after a dry period, has presently become devoted to making art and to viewing it in New York's great museums and when I view it I become more inspired to create it myself.  Whenever I go to a museum, I can't wait to get home to paint, and also to write a post about the exhibit I've just seen.  These posts are on my other blog as I already mentioned.  My life rotates between reading-and-writing and painting-and-writing.  My reading these days has been mostly about art and trying to learn some new painting techniques.

However, I'm still very interested in the current political scene.  I donated a few dollars to the Obama campaign.  I think both Romney and Santorum are probably nuts, and Gingrich and Paul are definitely nuts.  Santorum seems to be trying to appeal to the lowest common-denominator in our society by saying going to college is not important.  However, I don't think the lowest common-denominator people vote all that often.  I'm amazed how Gingrich, not only considers himself an intellectual, but considers it his primary asset amongst his peers--always using historical references--and yet he puts down intellectuality.  It's hard to find a person who isn't a hypocrite in some way, but Gingrich outdoes everyone else on that issue.   Considering the intellect as something of no importance seems to be a characteristic of Republicans.  From my experience, people who hate intellectuals are people who don't have any intellect themselves.  They deal with their lack of intellect by saying it's something of no importance anyway.  But, I digress.  I strayed off onto politics when I meant to only talk about art.

Harold Sohlberg (1869-1935)

Below is a painting I saw last week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that I really liked.  It's by a Norwegian artist Harold Sohlberg, whom I wasn't previously familiar with,  called "A Country Road."  Sohlberg managed to get one painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not a small task.  I love the blue mountains.  He seems to have a "thing" about that shade of blue, and I do too.  It's interesting how he combines the realistic with the unrealistic which is his charm.  Unless that's realistic for Norway, I wouldn't know.

A Country Road" (1905) (Oil on board). 

Finally, My New Year's Resolutions

Canadian Geese in Central Park--A photo I took in early spring 2010

1.  To become the best Christian I possible can.  (This has nothing to do with going to church and socializing and doing good deeds.  It has to do with obeying God instead of myself.)

2.  All the other things that everyone else wants for improving their lives, but not if it conflicts with what God wants.  He comes first.  The big problem is knowing what he wants.  In other words, separating out the chaff of one's life and leaving it behind.

Will I ever accomplish any of this?  I have been accomplishing it most of my life tiny step by tiny step, but I still have so far to go.

The value of making New Year's resolutions is that it makes one give a few minutes of thought to their inner life.  Even just wanting to exercise more and get one's body in shape is, in a way, thinking spiritually, because to improve one's body takes self-discipline.  So to improve the self physically one must attend to one's health, which means eating what one should and not what one might prefer.  Not that many people can do that.  That takes some degree of inner strength.  Doing what we should and not what we want is getting closer to God.  This has been the major conflict of my life.  I think it's the major conflict of anyone who has any degree of spirituality.

Although, I talk about the spiritual life and the physical part of life as two separate quantities, I don't think you can separate them.  The proof of this is how much our minds affect our bodies and our health.  People with sick minds usually have sick bodies.  While reading the Bible recently (something I don't do often enough), I came across a passage (it may be in St. Mark) that a whole person has no need for doctors.  To be a whole person is my ultimate resolution.