photo by Jessica Hegland,
Hair by Jon Richards. Make up by Leilani Baker, Make up Artist Goddess.
Wardrobe from Melly's Closet of Phases: Dress-BADGLEY MISCHKA-purchased at the DAYTON'S 2day warehouse sale during my lunch break at KSTP TV. Price for me to know and you not! Shoes: don't have a clue because someone stole them from me when I took them off to dance at some random club downtown.
I am so sick and tired of people making fun of people they assume do not have an appreciation or sophistication for the FINER THINGS IN LIFE. I have had the great PRIVILEGE of traveling to places most people only dream of, eating food that makes my mouth feel like it's having a big old party in there, and best of all, seeing beautiful ARTWORK every day. So what is my problem?
I am sorting through a lot of "things" right now that are valuable and deciding what I should do with them. I am in no hurry to sell anything, but I am in a hurry to make sure the right people are given some of the great privilege that I have been given all of my life so I can put the same smile on their faces that they have put on mine.
So when I recently met with "X" and expressed my frustration and confusion over starting this process, I was given that "look" of disgust when I was talking to her about ART. Apparently, being the unsophisticated person that I am, I was not using proper "Art Speak" while I was talking.
Who made this random person the "Chief of Art Speak"? I will tell you who did. SHE did. And since I am now "Chief of the things that I have been blessed with," that gives me the right to say that she can go take a flying leap, and I hope that her perfect hair looks the same wet as when it's dry. I am guessing it probably looks more along the lines of something a bunch of rats would enjoy calling home.
Insult after insult, I sat there and took it like a trooper, and then I got in my car (paid for with my own money) and went home and looked around my house, appreciating even more the beautiful ART that my husband and I have.
As to the kind of ART that we enjoy looking at every day, it consists mostly of My Mother's artistic genius.
The so-called valuable pieces that Mrs. "Snotty Butt" would love to impress her Clients with will be given to people in my life who DESERVE the choice as to whether or not they want to hang the work on their walls or sell it on E-Bay.
I found it beyond comprehension that I was being frowned on because I was not B.S.ing my way with small talk and essentially saying what comes natural to me. In other words, I was being Melinda Jacobs, the person who wakes up the same way every day with hair that is starting to gray from wasting MY VALUABLE time on phony baloneys.
So, where the heck am I going with this?
Remember, blogging — thank god — is still one of the few ways that we can ALL express the person who we really are without a certain code of conduct. That is why I love it. In fact, I am passionate about it! It's ART to ME.
What is beautiful to you, what wakes you up in the morning and gets your heart pumping, your energy going... that feeling of Passion is truly your choice. And if someone tries to diminish that or hurt you, just because they think they know more than you or are better than you, here is my suggestion:
Next time you get "the look" for being authentic and being yourself, look that person straight in the eye and say "Boobies." It has done a lot for me in being able to weed out the phonies and reel in some treasures of pure gold.
Enjoy the picture of this statue that I have sitting in my office. That is a piece of ART that may have dollar signs on it, but to me it's not only a metaphor of my life but a priceless one in so many ways.
By the way, it's for sale.
(I am kidding.)
—Melinda Jacobs
I am a fashion consultant from St. Paul.
Stress does cause gray hair so stop stressing out Melinda.
You are brave to do what most people would not do.
The dress you are wearing is nice but the shoes are rockin!
Don't let the rodents get you down.
You are my new fashion icon.
Gary from
St. Paul, MN
And here, ladies and gentlemen, in a very graphic depiction, is the downside of our culture as well as the internet. Our very own little Paris Hilton gets a blog! From an egalitarian, free-the-information, liberate-the-means-of-communication standpoint, I have to agree that even clueless, one-dimensional, self-obsessed bozos should be allowed to voice an opinion on the big ol' web. I do, however, believe that there is one very valid question that Ms. Jacobs' blog verily screams to have asked: What in the Heavenly thunderous, apocalyptic blue streak of Jesus Christ Himself is the Rake thinking to allow this brain-damage derivative, self-congratulatory nitwit-speak to be published under their masthead? I bought my car with my own money? At what? Age 50? Nice! Quite an accomplishment and all before you hit social security....Jesus....if I ever end up in a head trauma unit, I wanna be just like you Melly Mel. If your knowledge of art is anything comparable to your ability to forge cogent thoughts....consider yourself fortunate that the woman didn't slap you silly....Please don't procreate if you haven't already......
Flip side: Boobies are fun.......Carry on......
Hold me back from being so impressed with your lengthy and
what a surprise BORING comment.
If you had ANY GUTS you would not post under a fake name
and you WOULD put your REAL name on the line..
My age by the way is 40----
My kids are off limits until they are 21 but when
they are it will bring me even more joy to watch them
sit back and learn through experience that being miserable
and unhappy is a sad way to live.
Look out your window it's black clouds out there.
Seek some sunshine and a Dr. that can give YOU
some much needed confidence.
enjoy your day.
I certainly am.
Good for you Melinda! Screw people who are negative and enjoy putting people down. Get a life....your own! Good for you Mel for standing up for yourself and not letting those kind of people get you down.
What got me started collecting art was a silent auction for a benefit in 1992 where I won the bid on an Italian marble sculpture (can't remember the artist). It too has boobies! But I collect art mostly from local artists like Aldo Moroni, Scott Seekins, Stuart Neilson, Mark Larson, George Heinrich, Heinz Brummel, Dick Brewer, Al Wadzinski and the late Ramon Muxter, just to name a few. I sooo hate art snobs. Especially those that show up at gallery crawls in NE, speak their views, drink the free wine, eat the free food and DON'T BUY ANY ART!
It gives me great pride purchasing art and supporting the artist and the gallery because I LOVE ART! Down with art snobs!
This is definitely a hot-button topic for me too. Read Tom Wolfe's "The Painted Word" for a devastatingly accurate and scathing commentary on this whole scene. I was an art history major, and this was a constant source of irritation to me. Art speaks to everyone differently. That's the POINT of it. I concede there is a convenience to having collections, standards and common points of reference, but when this is done at the cost of personal expression, then it has crossed the line.
Your mom's art is wonderful (viewable online, for anyone interested)-- very Chagall-esque. He is one of my all-time faves. I also treasure a blown glass piece I purchased at a local show done by a teenager. I think if more people would take a stand on this, the arts would flourish naturally, without needing to be propped up by a select group. But now I must say one of the things I like best about Minnesota is how much the arts DO flourish here, despite this undercurrent of snobbery. The best example I know of this is the Art Show at the MN State Fair each year. Absolutely the best art show each year, hands down.
ok, last thought on this: society as a whole is moving towards this kind of democratization, personified by the whole social media scene. Blogs, tweets, flickr and wikis are revolutionizing common knowledge. This really helps de-mythologize icons and encourages dialogue.
I must comment on your shoes: if I recall correctly, I saw you wearing those at a benefit and I adored them. I am sorry to hear they are no longer yours. they are fabulous.
I collect a lot of art, but my taste is all over the place and I have no clue how to talk about it in a snooty way. I find stuff I think looks cool and I buy it. We have glass from Dale Chihuly and a painting from a kid who is going to art school. Plus a mobile I bought from an eighth grader. Whatever.
The art snobs are like the wine snobs. Sapping the enjoyment out of something that was created to give pleasure.
Boobies.
I am in full agreement that art is supposed to make you feel good and be a pleasure to your eyes. Who cares what the art/wine snobs!!!??! :P