A Thing of Beauty is a Joy For Ever

This post is going to be different than my other posts, it’s going to be serious-y :O

Have you ever seen something and been completely awed by it? Completely mesmerized? Felt like when you laid eyes upon it entire being was fixated for a moment then and there?
No no I am not talking about love at first sight (silly concept that is anyway :-/ )

Click on the pic to enlarge

This happens to me when I come across a thing of beauty specially some paintings have this effect on me. The first time it happened was when I was surfing the internet and I came across a paintings collection. I have always wanted to own a beautiful painting , so sometimes I like looking at them on the internet.  I am no art connoisseur mind you, nor do I know much about the various art forms, though a Facebook picture I found the other day very nicely sums it up. :P (Refer to pic attached). My interest in paintings is that of a dilettante.  

Effect Of Butterfly

So anyway, while surfing a gallery, a Ukrainian artist
Anastasyia Markovich caught my eye. Her paintings can be best classified as surreal. I was going through her work when I came across her painting called Effect of Butterfly. This painting left me completely awestruck. The painting has such a liberating effect , as if it is calling out to you to spread your wings, to set yourself free. The girl in the painting taking a slight leap in the air, with her arms outstretched, her windswept hair, her skirt flowing seems to beckon one to break away from metaphorical shackles. The Butterfly with its wings flapping, to me, it seems to signify , a charmed life waiting out there to be discovered once the shackles have been broken. Juxtaposing the girl and the butterfly seems to suggest a metamorphosis of the girl into a carefree butterfly. When I saw this painting for the first time all I wanted to do is reach out and gently touch the real painting, to feel the play of colors in the butterfly’s wings .

Artist Unknown :(

Then recently I came across another painting. I saw it in an album of a friend on Facebook. I do not know who made it. The artist seems to be a student from her college. Unfortunately the painting isn’t signed (All upcoming artist, learn this golden rule, always sign your work! ). I think I am drawn to paintings with bluish tinge.  Markovich’s  painting had it too and so does this one. This painting depicts a woman with her back exposed, having a sharp nose with her hair neatly in   a bun.Tthe way she has elegantly and delicately held her cigarette seems to exude confidence. This one to me seems to portray a self assured woman. A women used to living life on her own terms. This image is stuck in my mind. It happens to be my mobile wallpaper now as well, the previous wallpaper was the Effect of the Butterfly. 

One of the entries in my bucket list is to visit the Louvre in France., National Gallery , London and St Peter’s Basilica Rome. But I hope I don’t get too overwhelmed like many Japanese tourists do when they visit places steeped in art and culture :P That brings me to the Stendhal syndrome. I had read it somewhere in connection to a lot of art in one place.

Stendhal syndrome, or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world. (Lifted from Wiki :D)


I have a cousin who is a super talented artist. I have asked her to gift me a painting on my birthday. Yes I  shamelessly ask for birthday gifts :D My mother was a fabulous artist too. Her paintings are hung in my grandparent’s house, my house and almost in all her relatives house. However she has lost touch now, she can’t even draw cat or flower properly now  :-/ And her talent seemed to have skipped my generation. I can’t paint at all :-/  I can sketch cartoons to some extent though :P

Can’t think of a conclusion for this post so Ok thanks bye :D