Beyond Starry Night: My Inspiring Visit to the Van Gogh Museum

I’ve just come back from Amsterdam, and one of the highlights of my trip was visiting the Van Gogh Museum. As someone who lives and breathes creativity, it felt almost like a pilgrimage — a chance to step into the world of one of the most passionate and misunderstood artists of all time.

I have to confess, I went there expecting to finally see Starry Night in person. It’s one of those paintings I’ve loved since I was a child — the movement, the energy, the emotion swirling through the sky. But as it turns out, Starry Night isn’t in Amsterdam at all. It’s actually in New York! For a brief moment, I felt a little disappointed… until I realised that what I found instead was something even better.

Walking through the museum, surrounded by hundreds of his works, I began to see Van Gogh not as the tragic figure we often imagine, but as a man completely consumed by the need to express what he felt. Every brushstroke was honest. Every colour, raw. He painted the world not as it looked — but as it felt. And that’s what struck me the most.

His early works are dark, muted, heavy — “The Potato Eaters” for example, full of shadows and struggle. But as he moved through his life, the colours began to bloom. Yellows, blues, and greens flooded his canvases. You can almost feel his spirit opening up to the world. And maybe that’s why his art still speaks to us — it’s not polished, it’s real.

Standing there, I thought about how often we try to make things perfect, especially in creative work. We worry about getting the details right, making everything look just so. But Van Gogh reminded me that true art — true creativity — is about freedom. It’s about expression without fear of judgment.

Standing in front of his lesser-known works, I realised that going beyond Starry Night means discovering the man behind the masterpiece — raw, emotional, and endlessly human.

It made me think about my own work with Paint Party Social Club. So many times I’ve seen people walk into our events saying, “Oh, I can’t paint!” or “I’m not creative at all.” And then, two hours later, they’re beaming with pride, holding up a painting that’s full of their personality. The magic happens when people let go — when they stop trying to be perfect and simply enjoy the process.

That’s what Van Gogh did. He didn’t paint to please anyone. He painted because he had to — because it was how he made sense of the world.

As I wandered through the museum, one section completely captivated me - this was the section dedicated to Van Gogh’s use of colour. It wasn’t just about pigments or palettes — it felt like stepping inside his creative mind. On the wall, small coloured blocks showed how he used complementary shades to make his paintings come alive. Next to them were examples from his work — Sunflowers, The Zouave, Ploughed Fields — each radiating a completely different mood, yet all unmistakably his.

What fascinated me most was realising how deliberately he used contrast. He learned that colours could create emotion — not just harmony. The deep blue against a pop of orange, the warmth of yellow beside cool violet… he wasn’t chasing realism; he was chasing feeling.

I stood there thinking how much that applies to creativity in general. Sometimes it’s not about what matches perfectly, but about what makes something vibrate, what makes it memorable. Just like in our paint parties — the best results often come when people stop overthinking and simply trust their instincts with colour.

One of my favourite moments was seeing his series of paintings of the same subject done at different times of day. The light changes, the colours shift, and suddenly you see how perception transforms everything. It’s such a beautiful metaphor for life — how we can look at the same thing, but depending on our mood or season, it feels entirely different.

I left the museum deeply inspired. Not just by his talent, but by his bravery. Van Gogh created from his heart, even when the world didn’t understand him. He believed that beauty existed in the ordinary — a vase of sunflowers, a patch of wheat, the sky after sunset.

That’s the kind of creativity I want to celebrate in everything I do — in my life, my art, and in every paint party I host. Because creativity isn’t reserved for “artists.” It’s for everyone who’s brave enough to pick up a brush, mix some colour, and see what happens.

So, while I didn’t get to see Starry Night, I came home with something far more valuable: a reminder that art isn’t about the masterpiece — it’s about the freedom to create. And that’s something I’ll be carrying with me into all our upcoming events.

So while I didn’t see Starry Night in person, the museum reminded me that creativity begins when we dare to go beyond Starry Night — when we stop chasing perfection and start creating freely.

Maybe our next workshop should be a little tribute to Van Gogh himself — swirling skies, bold colour, and all the joy of painting without rules.

With a palette full of inspiration,

Mariella💜