One of my favorite blog friends Ernie was in the vicinity for spring break and wanted to meet up. I had my assistant look into my schedule and see where I could fit in a little gab-fest; Friday afternoon it was! She and her family had spent the day at Fort Myers beach and it was only an hour for me; naturally we met at an ice cream shop because Vacation calls for Ice Cream. We had a great hour long conversation and could have sat and talked all day, but I had a meter running and I’m partial to NOT being towed. Her daughters are just as bright, sweet and funny as I’d imagined; basically mini versions of their mom.
Ernie is the sixth blog friend I’ve met over the years and so far I’m Zero for Six at meeting a Sociopath who wants to make a skin mask out of me.
WINNING!
Ernie doesn’t show her family faces on her blog, so I need to respect that too. I know I’ve professed before that I have zero artistic abilities, so now you can see I was clearly lying telling the truth.
They DID see a dolphin & they DID have ice cream (those aren’t shanks in their hands)Clearly, I am the shortest one there, per usual.
Van Gogh And My Little Artists
The girls and I had a ‘play date’ on Saturday that involved an hour and forty minute drive for me with two stops along the way to pick up my children on the side of the highway. Wait., that doesn’t sound safe. We met at a place near the highway, which is funny since I recall a few times I wanted to leave them somewhere along the highway. Or maybe just a small country road? I don’t sugarcoat that there were challenging times while raising teenagers.
The good news is we got through it and I love spending time with them. I purchased tickets to Van Gogh-The Immersive Experience for the three of us. We had reservations for a lovely lunch first and then we high-tailed it to the event since you have a timed entry and lunch margaritas took longer than expected.
(FYI, while looking for the link I saw that there are two different versions of this around the world, we didn’t have the virtual reality experience that they show on the other site and now I’m so mad I could cut off my ear)
I didn’t exactly know what to expect, but it was a really cool experience. The first 15 minutes you walk through an area where you read the timeline of Van Gogh’s life. He was a ‘complicated’ man who at first thought about being a preacher before going into the art world. He was SO very hard on himself. The girls and I agreed that if he realized in 130 years people would be seeing his work, he would have really lost his marbles. Although that happened anyway which is very sad.
Then you plop yourself into the huge room with canvases all around that morph from one painting to another.
I felt like I died and went to heaven when the entire room was sunflowers; I didn’t even take a pic of that part as I was mesmerized.
It was so cool to see the progression of all his work. Well, I’m not such a fan of all the paintings he did of himself with his ear/head bandaged; that made me sad. He really struggled with mental illness. Did you know he did some of his most renowned work while in an asylum? (there’s hope for me yet!)
Here are some unknown facts about Vincent if you are interested. (theories that he might NOT have cut off his own ear or even taken his own life)
I Have My Own Art Gallery
While we were enjoying the exhibit I was reminded that I also have artists; this is a gallery wall in our back hallway of paintings the girls did in elementary school. A little Vincent (Starry Night) and Georgia O’Keeffe, plus more pretties.
I’m gonna keep this artwork up until I have some NEW little budding artists one day.
Does anyone collect art? Does your art look as special as mine? I’m talking about my kids art, not MY special art.
XOXO
Busy Bee Suz 
I’m glad you and Ernie got to meet up. I have yet to meet a blogger in real life, so I’m not jealous of that. Nor am I jealous that you got to see the Van Gogh Immersive Experience. I’ve had my eye on seeing it [pun intended] when it gets here later this year. Your personal art gallery is delightful. Do you suppose you could turn it into an immersive experience?
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I suppose with the correct lighting, music, and possibly wine, anything can be an immersive experience. 😳
Please share your thoughts when you see it; the girls and I enjoyed it.
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The Van Gogh experience is here in Cleveland through September. We haven’t gone (yet), but both of the boys have and loved it. If only they’d do Vermeer…!
I like what you’ve done with the girls’ artwork. I have some samples of my sons’, but not the room you do to display them. When the boys were each babies and their nursery theme was circus, I did have a painting of a clown’s face that I did when I was a little kid. I framed it and hung it in the room.
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Vermeer would be interesting as well.
A circus theme sounds so fun and not something anyone would do at this date. Kids might not even know about circuses any longer. I hope you still have that clown painting.
After we painted that hallway I thought about NOT putting the art up but The Coach said: You have the space, you might as well showcase them.
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I’m dying to see the immersive Van Gogh but not sure it’s heading this way. Love your personal art gallery! My late father was an artist so my walls are filled with his work. They’re beautiful and filled with lovely memories.
Yay on the blogger meet up! I’ve met one friend in person and it was fabulous… not a knife in sight.
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I love that you have your Dad’s artwork; that is very special.
Yay for no knives on a meet-up! 😳
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Isn’t it fun to meet fellow bloggers? I’ve met 4 so far and plan to meet more whenever I can! The Van Gogh immersion experience looks interesting. I’m not one to appreciate art but I could sit through that! I have one very precious piece of art create for me by Maxwell and Levi. It’s more precious to me words can say!
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The artwork from your two sweet boys is very special indeed.
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So fun that you met Ernie & her girls. If we hadn’t sold our house in Cape Coral I’d be looking to meet you and enjoy your clever sense of humour in person. I went to the Van Gogh immersive exhibit near Toronto and loved it. I also saw the Monet Experience last year and it was amazing. Love your own art gallery- talented kids you have!
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Monet, you say?
Must look into that one!
Yes, Cape Coral isn’t that far from me.
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I’m feeling so loved. First so touched that you’d go out of your way to meet us, and then to be featured as a skinny stick figure on your blog. I might smile all day. I laughed so hard at ‘skin mask out of me’ that Lad inquired WHAT’S SO FUNNY.? Then he died too. I love your artistic impression of our visit. The girls understood after we met why I was SO EXCITED. 😉
I had not heard of that Van Gogh exhibit. It looks so very cool. It is sad that he struggled so much. Love that you and your girls were able to enjoy it together, and relieved that they aren’t having a dermatology emergency.
Their artwork is so sweet and pretty. You’ve done a great job of highlighting it. Our basement stairwell is full of the kids artwork and stories. Some of Lad’s stuff is framed in the bigger boy bedroom. Mini has some frame-worthy stuff that I haven’t framed yet. I might run out of wall space. She was recently commissioned to draw a house for someone through her high school art class and it turned out beautifully. *Note to self: add this to the lengthy list of posts to draft, plus the tidbit about finding the warm gummy bears at the airport. Reminds me of the bus scene from Ferris Bueller.
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I’m so glad we had the opportunity to meet; it made my day and added to the joy of my great weekend!
Please DO NOT SHOW Mini my artwork; she might faint in disgrace.
I actually took watercolor classes many years ago and that is ONE media where I don’t completely suck. Watercolor is more forgiving, therefore it is my favorite
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I’m so happy that you two got to meet! That drawing is a hundred times better than anything I could draw. I had no idea you had such an amazing talent, Suz.
I also have artwork from Anna and Ella on the walls heading down to the basement! I like how we both recognize good art when we see it. 😉
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I think I could have asked Lillie to draw it and it might have been a bit better.
BTW: The girls and I realized I should have renamed Lillie to Lillie Van Gogh.🥹 Please don’t block me.
I recognize good art. I just can’t create it.
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We give middle names to our dogs. Biscuits is Biscuits Gravy. There will be no blocking.
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Your dog is carb loaded and delicious.
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He is!!
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How great you were able to meet up with Ernie!
The Van Gogh immersion looks good. What a tragic life!
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Someone offered us their tickets to Van Gogh Immersion last year, but we passed on it due to Covid and we heard from multiple people that it just wasn’t worth the price of admission, so we opted out, even though it was free for us! . Glad you disagreed! Next up here is Banksy. Now that would be different!
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We really enjoyed it!
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I like your art gallery, especially the picture rails you use to display the framed works. That’s a very cool way to show them. And don’t despair about your own artwork! That’s a damn fine dolphin!
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Thanks, Deb. I had the Coach put those rails in this past year; much easier than hanging the individual pieces as they were always askew.
Hey, I know my Dolphins.
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Oh yay! I’m sure Ernie (and her family) was an absolute delight! One of these days, after the plague, it would so fun to plan a blogger get-together. I’ve not met any of my blogger buddies, but I’m fairly certain they are all not serial killers!
Yes, I have some fine art that Man-Child produced that used to hang in our old house. You’ve inspired me to dig my favorites out and display them. Honestly, there is very little on our walls in this house and I need to jazz things up around here. I love your girls’ art and the display.
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If any of us were serial killers, I feel like that might have squeaked into our blogs by now. Right?
Art is ART!!
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Oh I LOVE your art gallery! I have a few pieces like that as well.
How fun to meet Ernie, I have met a few blog friends and so far I’m still here to tell the tale, no one has murdered me.
That Van Gogh immersion looks so fun.
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Love your kids art gallery wall! I’ve just started one for my granddaughter. 🙂 I do collect art, some of it from family artists and some from art fairs and festivals. It’s always nice to have a conversation with the artist. The immersive Van Gogh experience sounds amazing! It was interesting reading about your visit with your blogging friend, I have yet to meet any of mine.
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I agree, knowing the artist sure does make the art even more special.
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I am so thankful you and your beautiful daughters/best friends got to enjoy that exhibit. My daughter is going to see that next month with a friend.
I agree with the art wall of your children’s work – – Love it!
And – – so wonderful you got to meet a blogger friend in person. There are some wonderful people in the internet world who really do represent themselves as they really are. Of course ice cream was part of the perfect venue.
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There’s a Van Gogh experience in New Orleans right now too. Several friends of mine went and said it was amazing. I’d love to go but we are steering clear of The City at the moment. It was also weird because you had to buy the tickets THEN they’d tell you the location of the event. I’d like to know where I’m going ahead of time! lol
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I had a chance to experience the Van Gogh Experience (I couldn’t help the pun…) a few years ago when my mom surprised us with tickets. While I don’t remember the exact imagery we saw, I clearly remember the impression it left on me, and I’m grateful to have had a chance to have shared the experience with loved ones. I’m glad you got to do the same, and I appreciate your post so much more because of that!
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I agree, it certainly left us with a nice impression and a better understanding of how special his art really is.
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As strong as of impression as it left on us, I’m glad you kept both your ears intact 😀
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🥴😜
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👂… just in case you ever need a spare 😁
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I’m jealous of all my friends who have gotten to see the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. We don’t have none of that fancy high-culture stuff here in South Dakota (though if you want to see presidents carved in stone, we’ve got ya covered).
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