Seeking the Sublime in the Everyday

Wayne Thibaud died on Christmas Day and Bishop Tutu died the day after. How sad are we really when a nonagenarian and a centenarian go to their reward? We rejoice in lives well lived, give thanks that they were with us, that they spoke to us and shared their gifts.  I wrote this last year about Wayne Thibaud.  "This is a good time to Celebrate Wayne Thiebaud, American painter, born in 1920; that makes him one hundred years old; at least he will be on November 15.  And he's still painting! This was my first Thiebaud; I found it in the postcard rack at the Whitney gift shop.  I couldn't believe it was a painting and I couldn't stop staring at it.  Those patterns, the lush paint, those creamy pies.  It was delicious. I loved that something so fun, so pretty, was thought of as SERIOUS ART.   Stephen Kinzer wrote in the NY Times,  "In other hands, these objects could easily become Pop Art or Kitsch.  Mr.Thiebaud, however, paints them respectfully,...