While the realtors were showing our house, we attended a limited showing at the Art Museum. Limited, in that they issued tickets for only so many people at a time. The museum stated as follows:

“The Cincinnati Art Museum presents a major re-evaluation of the work of Frank Duveneck, the most influential painter in Cincinnati history, with the first comprehensive exhibition in more than thirty years.

“Through his brilliant and inspiring work as a painter and print-maker and as a charismatic teacher, Duveneck’s impact on the international art world of his time was substantial and enduring. “

We had fun seeing paintings we knew he had done and some we were not familiar with.

I was stunned by the following museum item.

That is Duveneck’s palette. There is dried paint on it. I love that! The brushes belonged to one of his students. The black and white in the background is a mural portrait of his students watching him paint. So, yes, that is a photo of his hand holding the paint brush.

The longer I stared at the palette and the more we tried to photograph it, the more it spoke to me about writing. It reminds me that an artist facing a blank canvas is similar to me facing a blank word document. Bob was able to crop the photo for my desk as a reminder to me all artists struggle to express themselves. The face reflected on the palette is Frank’s self-portrait.

I will never be as accomplished as Frank Duveneck, but I try my best to put my life experiences and my relationship with Christ into words. Hope you are putting your experiences with Christ into words or images, too ?!

Nice museum visit!