Starry Night

As you will know I love doing my jigsaws. I find them very therapeutic.  By focusing my mind on something else, they distract me, allowing the pain in my knees or my psyche to ease. They also just give me something to do without having to stand & increase the level of pain in so doing.

Anyhow, the jigsaw I’m doing at the moment is another art one. I do love doing these as I find I learn something about the artist & the painting in the process. You have to concentrate on so much of the detail to complete the jigsaw, you discover things you would have overlooked just looking at the picture. Or maybe it’s just that you spend so much time looking at the picture to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw.

The jigsaw I’m doing at the moment is Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”

Above all I’m being struck by that swirl of light that divides the land from the sky. It’s the sheer energy of it. It feels as though it must have been painted by a man possessed. Possessed by what I’m not sure beyond the need to get the paint on the canvas. So far I find it disturbing but not as depressing as I’ve found some of his other artworks.

I’m also struck by the thought that one of these days we ought to visit around Arles. It’s not a part of France we’ve been to yet. Maybe next year, who knows.

I’m also reminded of a French restaurant in Kendal, Déjà Vu, we frequented a few times in the past. Last time we were in Kendal it had moved to larger premises. I hope it still maintains the same high standard of French cuisine. Its business card had an image of Van Gogh’s “Café Terrace at Night”. It seemed appropriate as the old restaurant was on a quiet corner site. It always seemed to be very dark when we visited it.