5/8/02  

Dear Vincent,

  My name is Ashley . I'm 9 and a half years old. I'm in Mrs. Rosa's third grade. She's a great teacher. My favorite sport is baseball. I'm on the Cincinnati Reds Little League. I also like skiing. I'm on the racing team! My favorite subject is art. Mrs. Blodgett's my art teacher. She's awesome. I love to read. I love animal stories. My favorite animals are Sea lions, cats, dogs ,horses and Dolphins. I love to go swimming, boating and tubing in the summer. I live in Ludlow, Vermont. I love to paint and draw. I basically like anything to do with arts and crafts. I live with my dad, Jeff, my mom, Cindy and my brother, Tyler. I also have pets, a puppy named Picaboo, a kitten named  Oliver and an older cat named Rumbles. I have a great family. I'm writing this letter to you for Van Gogh night. I'm writing about the self portrait I painted.  

  I wanted to make my self portrait look like yours in style. You used  a mirror to make your self-portraits, and I used a digital photo. To make the face on my self-portrait, I used the Rule of Halves. You draw  a cross on your face so you know where to put your nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. You put your eyes on the middle line and in between your eyes, imagine putting the nose. You line up the top of your ears with your eyes and your nose with the middle of your ear. You line up your mouth with the bottom of your ear. That's the Rule of Halves. In my self-portrait, I am wearing something like the clothes the women wore back in your time. I wore an old-fashioned hat, a shawl and a plain white shirt. I loved looking like I lived back in your time. In my self portrait I want you to see that I am special in my own way.  I don't mind being different. You weren't afraid to be different either. I am happy and excited, but I'm also thoughtful and a bit sad. That's because I'm thinking of you. Do you like my self portrait?   .  

  I would like to tell you you're such a great artist. I love your art work. I learned that you liked to write letters to your brother, Theo. I thought it would be nice to send you one to let you know how much I admire you.

                                                       Your artist friend, 

                                                               Ashley