LEN AND VINCENT VAN GOGH COMBINED PAINTING

On the Edge

          I've been putting some of my original paintings up for sale on Etsy and I'm rather reluctant to sell my Vincent van Gogh, after all, his works are way beyond my reach monetarily and I'd never be able to afford one of his originals. Since I've always been a fan of his incredible talent, and I think I'm safe in saying, he only sold one painting during his lifetime, which would most likely have been bought for a pittance. Now Vinnie boy wasn't of his time and he had a troubled mind; he was pretty much rejected as an up and coming artist, not like now, when one of his paintings sell for over a hundred million bucks, the rich snapping them up as soon as they become available, most likely not so much for his artistry but as an investment.

           Before I painted the large 2'x3' acrylic of "On the Edge", I painted a much smaller version, 3"x5", which I sold on Ebay. I was living on a sailboat at the time, so most all of my art stuff was small in size, I mean a 4'x4' floating studio was seriously tiny. Still, it's amazing how much art I still produced while living on my sailboat. When I eventually had a larger studio, not a huge studio but certainly a decent sized one, I painted "On the Edge". Not sure how Vinnie boy would have liked my rendition of his self portrait but I'm hoping he would have enjoyed the concept. If you look closely at the painting, you will see that van Gogh is holding onto his self portrait and he is beginning to float away from the world. The painting I selected for my very own original van Gogh was a self portrait with his ear still intact. So immediately after Vinnie boy cut off his ear, he literally cut it out of the canvas, probably a whole lot less painful than when he sliced it off for real with a sharp knife.

             There are rumors about why Vinnie boy cut off his ear such as being spurned by a prostitute, but the most likely reason was that he and another great painter, Paul Gauguin, whom he'd be living with, got into an extremely heated argument. I imagine Gauguin fled down the streets and alleys with van Gogh in pursuit with a big knife. However, unable to catch Pauly boy, probably enraged and frustrated, good old van Gogh returned home and sliced off his ear - besides being very painful, I expect he bled like a stuck pig. Vincent must have been a very unhappy man because not only did his paintings not sell, he was ridiculed by many of the locals. Not everyone is positive whether Vinnie boy committed suicide or if he accidentally shot himself in the stomach. Not sure why, only he would know the reason why he got his pistol, went out in a field and shot himself. Sadly. although he wasn't that successful in shooting himself, meaning he missed his heart, he eventually died very painfully from the gunshot wound to his belly.

              Vinnie boy is certainly one of my favourite artists and like him, I've sometimes lived "on the edge" as well; sometimes events in life can become overwhelming and makes it difficult to cope. I hope this painting finds a good home, someone who will enjoy Vinnie boy's great talent and my not so great talent to produce "On the Edge". - Peace, eh! - Trip

My wife Sarah and I recently started up an Etsy Store a little while ago and if you'd like to check out my paintings and other artistic creations that we produce, just click on the link.