potraits – The Art Place

Ellie Wiesel

Ellie was sent to a concentration and a death camp in Hitler’s Germany during WWII because he was Jewish. He survived ; his father did not. He tells a most important historical event through the eyes of one who lived it, who starved through it, who died inside because of it. He tells it well.

Adolf Hitler determined that all Jewish people were corrupting his idea of perfect race. Hitler was a madman. He killed 6 million Jewish men, women, and children, old and young alike and many more of various races and reasons. Many of the German people during WWII went along with him either out of fear , ignorance or hunger for power; and some helped the people whom Hitler targeted. “War is like an x-ray” I cannot remember who said it, but it is painfully true. It reveals what is inside each of us. Is there good or evil? War will tell us.

We must remember the Holocaust. We must read and learn and not forget the terrible crimes committed against the Jewish people, especially now, as painful and difficult as it is to remember that humanity could be so cruel and inhumane to other humans. If we forget; God help us all. We cannot forget the evil that lies within us. and we cannot stop asking God to remove it. In his time in the concentration camps, Ellie lost his faith and abandoned the idea of an Almighty God, his question – Where was God? I get it, I do not judge him, or critisize him. When we suffer, we ask; when we suffer we lose faith and sometimes we reject God, we blame him. I think in some ways that is why God came to us, broken and bloody and then died. He came so we could blame him and we did. We all did.

We are so weak, we are so frail and fragile.

Brother Andrew

Ronald Reagan

July 29, 2021December 15, 2021Leave a comment

George Washington

April 30, 2021April 30, 2021Leave a comment

“The harder the conflict , the greater the triumph”
George Washington

This is one of my early drawings – soft pencil on watercolor paper. What strikes me about this man is his suffering and his humility. He was in constant pain, I read somewhere because of his ill fitting false teeth, And yet even in the pain he did incredible feats, crossing the Delaware, leading countless battles, suffering great loss of loved ones, becoming the first president of a new country, he had tremendous responsibility and courage, all with an equivalent of a sixth grade education and field training. His father died when he was young leaving most of what he had to Washington’s older half brothers. Though the cards were stacked against him he rose agains and again, not because of hand outs but because of freedom to do so because of desire and resolve. consistently he made decisions that were unlike the expectation of those around him, turning down the request to be king and freeing the slaves he owned was not the popular thing to do, He didn’t do what was popular but what was right, he pushed through pain, he led without degree and he survived without wealth. It is to this man and his unlikely character we owe so much as Americans. Anyone read a good biography I would love to find one on his life?

“ if freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we gmay be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
George Washington

Winston Churchill

April 28, 2021April 28, 2021Leave a comment

“Let men of science and learning expound their knowledge and prize and probe with their research every detail of the records which have been preserved to us from those dim ages. All they will do is fortify the grand simplicity and essential accuracy of the recorded truths which have lighted so far the pilgrimage of men.”
Winston Churchill

Temple Grandin

April 28, 2021Leave a comment

“I am different not less”
Temple Grandin

April 2 was autism awareness day. Temple Grandin is an autistic woman. She is one of my hero’s, because she used her differences to make a difference in the world,. She recognized the beauty and value in different kind of people, but many people haven’t even heard of temple Grandin. She wrote a fantastic book called ‘thinking in pictures”, there’s also a movie about her life called temple Grandin. Temple graduated high school and college and went on to re-design over half of the cattle processing plants in America so that they would be more humane. She is an amazing woman. Here’s more info from biography.com.

Who Is Temple Grandin? “

Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism as a child and went on to pursue work in psychology and animal science. She has become a leading advocate for autistic communities and has also written books and provided consultation on the humane treatment of animals. In 2010, HBO released an Emmy Award-winning film on Grandin’s life. “born August 29, 1947 is an American scientist and activist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson. “The world needs all types of minds. -Temple Grandin

Vincent Van Gogh

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Vincent Van Gogh. An unloved man in his life in every way. No one wanted his paintings , no one wanted his company and no one wanted his perspective on life. You might not know that he studied theology, but was kicked out of church for preaching the Bible too literally, he failed at everything he tried to do, and as far as he knew even his paintings were a failure. He only sold one small painting in his lifetime, because people didn’t like his original and unique style of brushwork, he painted because it was all he could do. He only knew rejection but still he painted, still he gave the world over 800 pieces of artwork, not because they made him rich or because they pleased others. Man was made to work for a purpose and if the only work you can do is paint then paint, if it’s to teach, teach if it’s to be a parent be the best parent you can, if it’s to lead then lead well, if it’s to speak speak truth. Whatever you can do, do it with all your strength regardless if others accept it – because you never know the impact your work will have on the world. We are made with eternity in our hearts and I think there’s something deep inside each of us that knows the work we do on earth will outlast us if we do it with all our heart.

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. ”
– Vincent Van Gogh