May 3, 2002

Dear Vincent Van Gogh,

          My name is Dillon. I am in the third grade. I am nine years old. I have a brother , Cody, a fabulous mom and a hard working dad. I enjoy skiing in the winter and rock climbing in the summer. One of  my hobbies is wood carving. I also like to have fun in my pool.

           I was trying to do my painting in  my own style and in yours ,Van Gogh. Instead of putting lines in my painting I put  spirals. I love your paintings, especially the one called The Bridge in the Rain. In school my class is studying you. We painted self portraits just like you did.

           In my self portrait I wore some of my medals because I'm proud of myself for winning them. Two of them were for skiing , two of them were for soccer and one of them was for bobsledding. I decided not to wear any hats or beards. I chose not to because I wanted to be myself. When I painted my self portrait I put my favorite place, Okemo, in the background. I would like to know what you think of my self portrait. In any of your self portraits did you ever feel like you wanted to smile?

           I am proud of you because you kept on painting even when some pretty nasty people badly criticized you and  your  paintings. That was the right thing to do, Van Gogh. It is sad that the people back then couldn't find the "artisticness" in your work. If you were still alive I would treat you like you were  Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. They are people I respect. I would also buy you paints so you could spend your money on food so you wouldn't starve to death. I felt sad to learn you spent your food money on paints. I hope in your next life you are happier.

                       Your Admirer,

                         Dillon