A Beautiful Dream! Part Three – Following the Footsteps of Van Gogh in Arles and St. Remy.
Have you ever had a dream so beautiful that it felt real…I did…and it was. Welcome to Part Three of my dreamy journey to France, Italy, and Spain!
There is so much to see in Arles and St. Remy, and I only had one day here, so I’d love to go back and spend more time. For this trip, I focused on following the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh. I went on two tours while I was there, and the best one was actually through an Airbnb B&B Experience hosted by Veronica and Nicolas. I highly recommend them for their professionalism and knowledge of the area
Van Gogh is one of the artists I am greatly inspired by, both because of his bold use of color and brush strokes, but also because of his painful personal journey. I had one of those. In his story, one of his happiest periods of painting was in St. Remy, while he was in a mental hospital. When I visited there, I saw the olive trees he painted as well as the cafe at night in Arles, and felt more connected to him than ever. Starry Night was also inspired by the scene in Arles by the river.
The image above is from my Beautiful Star Painting and was inspired by Van Gogh, so I thought it was the perfect header for this post. I plan to paint some of these places myself soon, with my reference photos, but for now, here are a few pictures and a sketch from my visit.
While in St. Remy, I visited the hospital where Van Gogh voluntarily admitted himself in 1889. This was one of the highlights of my day in St. Remy. I got to stand and look at the same olive grove that actually inspired some of his work. He was fascinated by the continuously changing colors of the olive trees. The painting above is my own attempt to capture that dancing light and color, and was inspired by the same scene.
