Posted by Craig Keith mentioned art class with Mrs Brown (whom I never had to endure). However who in their right mind could ever forget Mrs Robel OMG. Talk about a certain way to make someone hate art. Detest art. Go out of your way to avoid art. It was her. She was forced upon us later in school ( distincly remember her in 7th grade). Her art class room was across the hall (to the east) by the study hall. I absolutely hated art. She was why. She facilitated my hatred of art and for the life of my right now I cannot remember why. She just made it a horrible experience. When I was an undergrad at the incomparable University of Wisconsin River Falls, all undergrads were required to take 9 credits in disciplines outside of their major field. In that case I had to take 9 quarter hours of things like sociology, art appreciation, and similar classes. In my third year I took Art Appreciation 100 as a way to get that requirement out of the way. I cant remember the prof's name but the classes were held in South Hall. We had a text book that was littered with pictures of the great pieces of art. The prof (his name was Terry something) didn't make us analyze the feelings that the artist possessed when he / she composed the art work. Instead he wanted us to express how we felt viewing the art work. Quite the cultural challenge for a boy from the Wisconsin northwoods who put himself through college entirely by trapping muskrats, mink, raccoon, beavers and foxes and selling their hides. I remember getting a B in Art 100 and thought I would put it behind me never to use it again. Then one day I entered the Louvre in Paris. Someone once said there are enough art works in the Louvre that if you spent 7 minutes with each piece it would take you 33 years to get through the museum. A former mistake in my life and I started with the hordes in viewing the Mona Lisa and then graduated to the Venus di Milo. We saw many of Rembrandt's most famous paintings and those of other Renaissance artists. Ok, fine. I've done the Louvre. Next? The following day we crossed the Riviere Seine and went to the Musee d' Orsay. Holy crow! First of all I was blown away by impressionist art which is in short supply in the Louvre. Here we had Gaugain, and Van Gogh, and Renoir, and Monet and all of the other greats. I was in heaven. I remember walking around a corner and seeing in front of me Whistlers Mother !!!! She was right there. I was so mesmerized that I reached up and touched the frame holding Whistler's Mom. Now suddenly all of those discussions in Art 100 made sense. A year later I returned to France. I went to Corsica and then flew to Marseilles (its mentioned in a Jimmy Buffett song so I had to go). While there I drove north to Arles where Vincent Van Gogh used to hang out. In a confectionary I asked about where Van Gogh had lived because my all time most favorite painting of his is "A Room in Arles." I was given directions to the Van Gogh Institute and when I arrived asked where that room was. The woman at the front desk said "Come with me, monsiour." I followed her to the exact room that Van Gogh had painted when he lived in Arles! I remember sitting there on a trans-atlantic high looking at this room that the painter of "starry starry nights" had painted and wondering why was it that Mrs Robel couldn't have turned me on to art. Was she too busy? Was she too uninterested? Did I show no promise for art? Did she just have a rotten year? Whatever the reason, as I sat there in Van Gogh's most favorite room, I thought back to that classroom across from the study hall and wished that she (or me) had paid better attention many years before.
on 8/15/2006, 5:27 pm, in reply to "Re: Holy Grail"
70.18.243.81
Yup, I'll agree wholeheartedly and on a stack of bibles (and Koran's) that there was everyone else and then there was Julie. She had it all...looks, intelligence,wit, and the cutest butt ever to come out of the north woods of Wisconsin (even via New Joyzee). To me, Julie, you were the epitome of what I wanted in a partner long after high school and college. I'm just glad I had the opportunity to know you as a part of my life.
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