Hello there. It has been another full week. I have spent a lot of time looking at time actually. My time specifically. It’s been an interesting exercise in analysis, questions, and much prayer as I try to figure out what fits and what doesn’t in this stage of life. I’m guessing you relate on some level. Maybe it is the gloominess of winter in the first week of February, but this week has brought on much reflection and introspection. I think it is notable in my reads, music and articles I bookmarked. But I also hope the things I collected this week in music, words, and images brought joy and beauty to the front. Looking for beauty and bringing joy are the best goals for every day.

First up, a book review I don’t want to wait until the end of the month recap.

Van Gogh Has A Broken Heart

In 2022, I discovered my favorite book. I don’t use that description lightly as I have always been one to state that choosing a favorite book is like choosing a favorite star. The book is Rembrandt Is In The Wind by Russ Ramsey. You can read my 2022 gushing review over on my personal Instagram and I still highly recommend it and still consider it my favorite book. (It’s time for another reread actually.) Rembrandt Is In The Wind talked about art and faith and artist lives in ways that I have never heard another. It was an encouragement to my struggling artist heart and a challenge to press on.

Late last Autumn, Ramsey released this new book: Van Gogh Has A Broken Heart. You can guess how quick I was to request it for Christmas and then swiftly purchase it for myself when no one else did. I knew I wanted it to be one of the first reads of my year. It was beautiful. While it did not unseat Rembrandt from top book status, this book came at the right time for me just as Rembrandt did in 2022.

*Van Gogh Has A Broken Heart*
by Russ Ramsey

“As these stories remind you that wonderful and terrible things happen in this world, remember also that beauty is everywhere.”
p 13

“Much of the world’s great art comes from places of sadness, and I believe that’s often why we connect with it. We want what we say to matter. We want it to connect. We want it to help people.” - Ramsey

In Van Gogh Has A Broken Heart, Ramsey once again looks deeply into the lives and stories of several great artists throughout time showing how struggle, pain, heartbreak, and disappointment are often the catalyst for the art we admire. These were real people, with a myriad of flaws and problems that gave depth and purpose to the work they created. From theft to social movements, broken relationships and failing eyesight; Ramsey writes about these artists’ human experiences and how it is expressed in their art.

I love how passionate Russ Ramsey, a pastor in Nashville, is about art. I love his intentionality to engage with it, try to understand it, and be honest about it. His storytelling and how he shares others stories is fantastic. This book moved me to tears a few times as I wrestle with my own aging, schedule, and all the things that my human experience entails. I am so grateful for Ramsey showing me the real people behind great art. While Rembrandt Is In The Wind was a delight and inspiring read, Van Gogh Has A Broken Heart was an encouraging balm to the battles of “struggling to be alive” as the subtitle of the book states. I will leave this review with a hefty quote from the book that encapsulates the point so well.

“We can refuse to allow their pain to be the only thing, or even the main thing, we know them by. We can honor the truth that it is only the visibility of their suffering, not its presence, that sets them apart from anyone else. We can guard their reputations. We can remember, through the example of their tears, that we were created to hope in a joy unseen and seek to remind them of this even as they remind us of our need for hope. We can seek to know the beauty they’re contributing to the world, made even more beautiful by the way it kicks against the darkness in them. We can join them in this, thereby making beauty of our own.” p 133

FRIDAY LINKS

THINGS I BOOKMARKED

I spent most of my reading time this week with a time-management book and trying out its tips. I look forward to sharing that once I finish it. But there are a few things that caught my attention this week:

Carl Sagan quote on books and people making magic. - You can also watch this great clip of Sagan speaking this quote in a fantastic vintage video.

Rilke on the Lonely Patience of Creative Work - “The most regretful people on earth, are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” poet Mary Oliver

Everyone’s Lonely But No One Can Hang Out - An inspiring post by Amanda Litman about a crazy 2025 resolution that she and her husband are actually keeping about dinner with friends.

Don’t Believe Him - I rarely share anything political, but this was a great piece by Ezra Klein.

That piece reminds me of Lore Wilbert’s newsletter about the new administrations plan to “shock and awe” and how good it is to know that plan so we can ground ourselves and “cheerfully refuse to let anger be my food and outrage be my dessert.”

The Problem with Book Blurbs - a bit book nerdy, but an important post about if book blurbs can even be trusted anymore.

THINGS I LISTENED TO

Psalms by Sandra McCracken - not sure how I missed this album from 2015, but it was a sweet discovery this week. I’ve been listening to it during drives and even on my runs. I love the moodiness of it and the deep truths of the Psalms it brings out.

Every Kind of Uh-Oh by Charlie Peacock - Russ Ramsey mentioned the Charlie Peacock trio in the above Van Gogh book. I had never heard of Charlie Peacock, but remembered one of his new songs being on The Rabbit Room’s highlights of 2024 post. Finally gave it a listen and rather enjoyed the whole album while I painted this week. Not my usual style, but a fun try and interesting storytelling lyrics.

The Magic of Knowing What You Want with Tracey Gee - Really enjoyed this episode on The Next Right Thing podcast by Emily Freeman.

THINGS I FOUND

A bit of a wild mix this week, but these things made me smile.

*A Richard Scarry illustration from Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever,*
*1968*

*The snowdrops are cropping up everywhere here in Wales and everyone is talking about them. I adore this illustration 'A Friend in February’ by Emily Duffin.*

*Mark spotted this note in a book in a charity shop and it was so funny and familiar and accurate as an artist, I just had to capture it. Wish I could add this note to lots of my previous work!*

THINGS I MADE

Chocolate Pudding Pretzel Pie. I made it gluten free and dairy free and it was incredible.

At Print Club this week, I started my next letter in the Welsh alphabet. I drew and began to carve it out of lino, but ran out of time to print it during club. Looking forward to making prints of it in another week!

I also attempted to paint a sweet little February illustration which I used as the feature image at the top of this post. I’m not 100% thrilled with it, but I do like aspects of it. Show up and make something. And in the words of my Print Club leader - stop thinking so hard and start making!

Had a lovely, spontaneous walk with a dear friend last night and the sun was setting just behind the Bannau Brycheiniog mountains in the distance. It was majestic. That double peak to the right is the highest point and is called Pen y Fan. Sometime ask any of the four of my family about our hiking it for a fun, hilarious story, you might even get a few different versions of the hike.

Hope you have a lovely weekend. Thanks for following my adventures and ponderings. 💚

time, art, & beauty