once in a lifetime

ALMOND BLOSSOM Vincent van Gogh (1890)

Van Gogh painted for only ten years. Pursuing art at the late age of 27, he worked tirelessly, practicing by recreating masterpieces and honing his craft through study of space, color and texture. In the decade of his career, he created hundreds of paintings and drawings, transition Impressionism to early modernism. His career was so short because of his suicide at age 37.

However, six months before succumbing his mental illness, a nephew was born. Van Gogh so wanted to create a blue sky of hope for the baby boy, with decals of blossoms, both pink and white, for warmth and growth. And so, Almond Blossom was born as well. The baby boy (and namesake), Vincent Willem van Gogh, opened the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1973, where I took these picture today.

In 2005, a group of artists in Italy built a giant 200-foot-long plushie rabbit in the countryside, and just left it there. It’s been there ever since.