"Be As A Bird"

     Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besancon, France. He was passionate in expressing himself through literary and visual arts. Victor was a poet, playwright, novelist, visual artist, statesman and a human rights campaigner. He is best known for his novels 'Les Miserables' and 'Notre-Dame de Paris' (known by English speaking men to be 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'). I found it facinating how long I've been inspired by his quote: 

"be as a bird
perched on a frail branch
that she feels bending
beneath her, still she sings
away all the same
knowing she has wings"

yet, I had never bothered to look up who actually wrote it. To my surprise, the author (Victor) is actually very well known, and now inspires me with his art as well as his poetry. Victor has over 4000 drawings that he kept mostly to himself. Van Gogh and Delacroix are two well known artists artists that had the pleasure of seeing Victor's work. He would share his art with close friends and family, but it is believed that if he shared it with the public eye, that he would have outshone artists in his century. Victor only drew as a hobby and didn't want to overshadow his literary pieces with his artwork. 

Le Rocher de l'Ermitage dans un paysage imaginaire ("Ermitage Rock in an imaginary landscape")

      To me, his quote on being a bird means that you have to believe in yourself. Sometimes you're placed in tough situations, but you have to perservere. I can relate this to my writing as well as my art because sometimes in the middle of working on a piece, I decide that it's not good and that I have to scrap it. I know that all artists get writers or creators block but when you were so inspired to start something and then in the middle of working on it, it becomes a chore or a disaster, it is very discouraging. In times like those, for me it is important to remain as a bird. I have to believe in myself and learn from all experiences, knowing that I can pick myself up and create something better. A bad piece of work is still better than one I did not even attempt to do. I know that Victor will continue to inspire me in the future; now with not only his poetry, but his art too.