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Van Gogh’s Bedroom, 1889

In a letter to his brother, van Gogh described this painting in great detail:

My dear Theo —

At last I’m sending you a little croquis to give you at least an idea of the direction the work is taking. Because today I’ve gone back to it.

My eyes are still tired, but anyway I had a new idea in mind, and here’s the croquis of it. No. 30 canvas once again.

This time it’s simply my bedroom, but the colour has to do the job here, and through its being simplified by giving a grander style to things, to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep in general. In short, looking at the painting should rest the mind, or rather, the imagination.

The walls are of a pale violet. The floor — is of red tiles.

The bedstead and the chairs are fresh butter yellow.

The sheet and the pillows very bright lemon green.

The bedspread scarlet red.

The window green.

The dressing table orange, the basin blue.

The doors lilac.

And that’s all — nothing in this bedroom, with its shutters closed.

The solidity of the furniture should also now express unshakeable repose.

Portraits on the wall, and a mirror and a hand-towel and some clothes.

The frame — as there’s no white in the painting — will be white.

This to take my revenge for the enforced rest that I was obliged to take.

I’ll work on it again all day tomorrow, but you can see how simple the idea is. The shadows and cast shadows are removed; it’s coloured in flat, plain tints like Japanese prints.

It will contrast, for example, with the Tarascon diligence and the night café. I won’t write to you at length, because I’m going to start very early tomorrow with the fresh morning light, to finish my canvas.

How are your pains? Don’t forget to give me news about them.

I hope you’ll write in the next few days.

One day I’ll do you some croquis of the other rooms as well.

I shake your hand firmly.

Ever yours,
Vincent

What follows is the artist’s original sketch for the painting which he drew as part of the letter to his brother.

A Crate and an Unfinished Book

Nothing confounds writers more than the challenge of organizing drafts, notes, miscellaneous scribblings, odd jottings, etc. so that we can find the stuff and use it later. The book I’m writing now — A Thousand Words: Graphic Organizers in the English Classroom — grew organically over the course of four years, and finding the right system of organization has given me a feeling of pleasure and control and has even had an impact on how I organize materials for my teaching.

My Crate — and four years’ of work

I started working on this book during the 2006-07 school year in response to a need I felt English teachers have for reproducible graphic organizers — plus, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a teacher’s explanation of how they’re actually used in a real classroom with real students. The ready-made audience for the book also had a lot to do with my pursing it, of course. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that all of my writing and student examples are currently filed in this big plastic crate on my desk. I enjoy telling my students that there are many ways to think about “drafts,” for drafts can be a on piece of paper, stored on an electronic device, or even shoved into a huge crate.

The Simpsons Lord of the Flies – Das Bus

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