The Art One Stop Place

When someone close to you has passed away, you may have difficulty composing just the right sympathy messages to express your sympathy and support. Additionally, the extreme sorrow you may be personally feeling can serve to make the task even harder. These factors, combined with the gravity of the situation, may make any words you write seem shallow, inadequate, or even empty. You will tend to be overcritical of the words you write. Resist this urge. Just write what you feel – write from your heart. Any efforts you make to support the grieving family will undoubtedly be remembered and appreciated by them for years to come.

Use Online and Written Resources if You Are Having Trouble with Your Sympathy Messages

Getting started writing sympathy messages is the hardest part. A good solution to this is to search online for examples of sympathy messages. Personally, I like to thumb through books to find novel ideas for sympathy messages. While I have not seen a book specifically filled with sympathy messages, there are books of greeting card phrases which do have sections or chapters dedicated to sympathy messages. Books like this are difficult to find but there are some good ones out there.

And even if the book is a book of ready-to-use phrases (like Words to the Rescue) I generally like to use the phrases I find as inspiration for the sentiments I really want to write.

Check out the resource box at the end of this article for specific information on this subject.

To Make Them More Genuine, Always Personalize Your Sympathy Messages

Keep in mind that you are sending sympathy messages to show your personal support for the family of the deceased. Your choice of words should reflect this purpose. If your words sound like “off-the-shelf” or “form letter” words, they will be less well-received. The key is to personalize your sympathy messages. Add personal stories, incidents and anecdotes about the deceased. Mention some of their personal traits, qualities or habits. Remember, at times like this, you are expressing feelings that you feel. You are showing support for the family. But, ultimately – it’s all about the deceased. Take care to honor them properly.

True Friends Continue Their Support as Long as it is Needed

If you are close to the family of the deceased, don’t let your words of condolence be a one-time event. Continue to communicate with them on a regular basis. Use all appropriate channels of communication. They might appreciate an occasional phone call, a visit – or possibly even the occasional email. You can be certain that their grief will linger on long after the funeral is over.

Sympathy Messages – Don’t Shy Away

Writing sympathy messages can be a difficult and distasteful task. We may feel like avoiding the task altogether but, if we consider ourselves to be a true friend, we will follow through and do the best job we can. As I mentioned earlier, when we are stuck for the proper words, the best thing we can do is to find help in the form of a website or a helpful reference book. A good resource such as this can make our lives so much easier.

One of my favorite handy resources for helping me write sympathy messages, birthday cards, floral cards

For an artist with a life as complex as interesting as Matisse, seven interesting facts is just scratching the surface. This is a great beginning though and should start off with the early childhood of Matisse which is very colorful and enlightening. By being born in the 19th century in the South of France, Henry Emile Benoit Matisse was well on his way to becoming a lawyer after growing up in a seed business for the family Matisse. The winds of change blew as they normally do and Matisse was caught up in the moment and a great artist was born.

Matisse Was Father of the Wild Beast Movement Otherwise Known as the Fauve Movement

Matisse was known as the father of the ‘Fauvian Movement’ which was otherwise known as the ‘beast movement’. It was here and during this time that animal symbolism was created and Matisse was seen as one of the founding artist of that genre. Before that, artists were relegated to painting still lives and tutorial landscapes creations devoid of all wild beast influences.

Best Known for Paintings and Cut Outs

Henry Matisse was best known for his cut-outs, which were actual pictures that were independent of any other constructed activities. Of course, this great artist was first and foremost known for his works of ornately-decorated portraits. ‘The Dance’ is just one of many great masterpieces created by Matisse during his lifetime.

Produced 50 Bronze Sculptures

Matisse was more than just a great artist he was a great sculpturer as well. He produced over 50 bronze sculptures that to this day are seen as some of the best works of bronze. Matisse was known to have said many times that his aspiration for bronze work came from the work of David in which he was able to see at a very young impressionable age while in Paris.

Parents Owned a Thriving Seed Business

The Matisse family owned a very successful seed company throughout the artist’s entire life. This formed a wood-solid foundation in both monetary and spirited support for the young artist in which he used as a springboard to success. Traveling was a big aspect of any young and impressionable artist, and Matisse was no different from all the other great artist of his day and age.

Matisse Earliest Career Goal Was to Be a Lawyer

Becoming a great painter was not the first and most primary career goal for Matisse. This role was said to be filled with dreams of becoming a great lawyer and the schooling for that endeavor was almost complete when Matisse found his artistic stroke. Thank goodness that Matisse turned to the brush instead of dulling legalities.

1905 Was the Most Influential Year for Matisse

To pinpoint one year as a defining moment in the artist life, 1905 would be such a year. It was during this year that Matisse went south to work with an artistic colleague and friend, in a little cultural town of Colour France. It was also at this point that his color stroke broke free and this is how some of the greatest works of Matisse were constructed such as the ‘Open Window’. A view through an open window became a recurring theme in most of Matisse’s work and would open the door for such great work as the ‘Open Window’ and ‘Flowerpot’s’.

Matisse Loved Patterns

Matisse found that patterns would be a staple in most of his artistic expression after the age of 25. Many of these patterns can be seen in his greatest works such as the ‘Red Studio’ in 1911. These are just a few of some of the very interesting facts of an artist we all have learned to love and cherish.

Donald Flemming is an expert on art for http://www.ownapainting.com. Ownapainting.com offers 100% hand painted reproductions of 10,000 different paintings. For more information on Henry Matisse Reproductions or specific painting such as A Vase With Oranges visit ownapainting.com.

One cannot go wrong with any interpretation of ‘The Dance’ by the masterful artist Matisse. This was the intention of the great artist, as Matisse put down, on canvas, his personal perceptions of both world and peoples. In this manner of artistic expression Matisse was able to open up a world of perception and realities all from one single painting. ‘The Dance’ is a large decorative panel that went along with a second companion piece, La Musique. The two large panels were painted on commission by the Russian businessman and art collector Sergei Shchukin. Matisse and Shchukin had a long association and friendship and this benefited both artiste and collector.

Female Forms are Subjects for Great Artist

In ‘The Dance’ by Matisse one can see the brilliantly-colored yet primitive dancing female forms, nude and gleefully almost possessing a mystical ability, holding hands on top of the earth. It is in the basic color scheme of Matisse that their brilliance can be found. This is akin to the earlier styles of Fauvist color-palette renderings. The imagination of Matisse can be easily seen in his choice of colors, three primary colors that are both soothing to the eye and easily recognizable as both art and man, in this case, woman. ‘The Dance’ is the point in which Matisse’s long career that he started to switch over to a more modernistic style painting. ‘The Dance’ now hangs properly in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg Russia and is a tribute to the fascination that the artist had with the mother country, although not his mother country.

Great Relationships in Artistic Community

This also goes to show that the associations and relationships that Europeans have with each other were a far different version of what we experience today. The animosity of different sects and religions and races was not apparent in the post-modernistic world of Matisse. This great artist saw all people just as that, forms of energy and mass that although beautiful could also be dark. An inspiration for Matisse, in his own words, was Stravinsky’s famous musical ‘The Right of Spring’. In this classic Russian composition, ‘The Dance of the Young Girls’ can be seen as a control display of both beauty and form in the world. Once more, perception is in the eye of the beholder and the perception that comes from Matisse is that of feminine beauty and worldly appeal. With ‘The Dance’, the artist Matisse could then further his career and life with other great works of art.

Money Opened Many Doors 19th Century

That seemed to be the commonality of great artists in the 18th, 19th, and even 20th century. The initial well-received and popular piece could then fund decades of introspective and 100% creative mindsets of the artist. All without having to worry about commission and how the starving artist was going to go about paying the living expenses let alone fund more work. Matisse was more than just a great artist he was a great friend and this can be demonstrated with his philanthropic attitude and creative goodwill upon the peoples of both Europe and the world.

Donald Flemming is an expert author for ownapainting.com. visit ownapainting.com for more information on Matisse paintings or Reproductions of The Dance.