At the Van Gogh Asylum, Pink Farmhouse

My pilgrimage to St. Remy, where Van Gogh created many great works.

Newberry, St Remy Pink Farmhouse, pastel, on the grounds of the Van Gogh Asylum — Newberry, St. Remy Pink Farmhouse, 2019, pastel, 18×18″. On the surrounding grounds of Van Gogh asylum.

What a queer thing touch is, the stroke of the brush. In the open air, exposed to wind, to sun, to the curiosity of the people, you work as you can, you feel your canvas anyhow.
Vincent Van Gogh

Drawing pastels on the grounds around the Van Gogh asylum was overwhelming. My senses were on fire; my mind was cut off from the past and present, but thoroughly entrenched in each second; and my emotions were fragile, raw, and floated outside of myself. An amazingly powerful vulnerable feeling. And a supreme quietness, a feeling I have when experiencing ecstasy or a life-threatening danger, like an earthquake. Wonderful.

Michael Newberry, Idyllwild, 9/21/2020