Our first visitor

I have officially lived in London, England for 15 days.  My first visitor came on day 12.  Not bad, huh?  My aunt Pat from Houston was in Brussels, Belgium with my uncle on business and came over for a quick 2 day visit.

Since my stuff from the States still has not arrived, we went shopping (Pat’s calling in life) for a third pair of pants as my other two pairs I’ve been wearing for the past 2.5 months are getting a little old.  We may have also purchased just a few other things (essentials I assure you).

The highlight of the trip for me was the Van Gogh exhibit at the Royal Academy for Art.  The exhibit focused on the artist’s letter writing and sketches.  I discovered my newest favorite Van Gogh painting, “Hospital at Saint-Remy.”

The painting is of the psychiatric hospital he checked himself into.  It’s interesting that his best work (in my humble opinion) was when he was seemingly most tortured in the last few years of his life.

While Van Gogh’s story is rather depressing, the exhibit was inspiring and has further encouraged me to keep my sketchbook out.  Getting out and about with Pat to new places reminded me that I doubt I will ever run out of things to draw and paint here.