Art Appreciation

I've always loved Norman Rockwell paintings. Some might say he's not a real "artist's artist," like a Michelangelo, a da Vinci, or a Monet. But whenever I look at one of his works, I am filled with pure and utter happiness. He had a way of capturing everyday moments of life in America with such poignancy and sweetness! (And in his paintings, all of his adorable little boys have heads shaped just like my middle son's head was shaped when he was a sprat. My boy could have been one of his models, no kidding.)

Norman Rockwell has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. I have books and calendars filled with his artwork. I have framed Rockwell prints, porcelain figurines, and even dishes that display his paintings--many of them gifts I received from loved ones and therefore cherish that much more. I will forever be a Rockwell fan!

Why anyone would purchase a Picasso over a Rockwell is beyond me. I don't care if some critics believe that Picasso's work (or worse yet, Jackson Pollock's!) is more deep and meaningful than Norman Rockwell's, or that it displays a more unique brand of talent. I just don't enjoy looking at it; and shouldn't art, above all else, be enjoyable?

So I'm not into the modern stuff, but I do appreciate many kinds of art. And I love to paint. If I could just have as much talent as Norman Rockwell had in his pinkie finger--or in the fingernail of his pinkie finger, or in the half-moon-shaped white part of the fingernail of his pinkie finger--I'd be on cloud 9!

On a sidenote, yesterday I got an update from my daughter-in-law after her most recent appointment. Her doctor says that the twins' arrival will be any day now. Oh boy! I can't wait to meet them, to find out what they look like, to see what kind of personalities and interests they'll have. Will they someday be musically gifted like their mother, who can play the flute, piano, and accordion? Will they sit for hours drawing detailed pictures of animals and dinosaurs like their father used to do? Or will they have some new interest all their own, one that runs in neither family? All I know is this: to me, those babies are going to be more beautiful than any work of art.