Nov 13 2008
“Proverbidioms” ~ You’re gonna love them!
Proverbidioms are the creation of T.E. Breitenbach. A most amazing and wildly creative artist whose life mirrors a fairy tale.
Henry David Thoreau said, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be ~ now put foundations under them.” That is exactly what Thom Breitenbach has done, seriously! He lives in a castle, a castle he built himself! His life is a reassuring testament to everyone who has a dream.
This is Thoms first Proverbidiom painting, completed in 1975 at the age of 24.
You are probably wondering what is happening on that canvas above…
Watch this short clip and it will become clear as a bell,
no pun intended, well maybe just a little :)
HOW COOL IS THAT?
You can literally sit for hours scanning the painting, it’s almost like “Where’s Waldo” with an intelligent, cynical twist! How many proverbs can you find? That is the question that has made Proverbidioms a best seller. Our everyday sayings, when taken literally, stimulate humorous, eye-opening ah-hah moments. All of the proverbs are listed on the bottom, you can make it easy, or choose to cover up the answers and really test yourself. The painting has been seen all over the world, in television shows, movies and sold millions of copies. It became so popular, it was made into a poster.
Not only have I had tons of fun with Proverbidioms, my children LOVE them! They were introduced to them about ten years ago, I was working for a sign language interpreting business. We offered the line of posters to interpreters to help them better understand their deaf clients. Many deaf people and people from other countries have a difficult time understanding english idioms. The Proverbidiom posters are a great teaching tool, and fun to boot!
You want to see more right? Yeah, I know you do…
Ok, back to my story…
My children were young, six and four. I worked from home so they saw me packaging up posters for shipments etc. I had them spread out all over the kitchen table one day, the phone rang and when I returned, both boys were glued to the posters. Immediately they started asking questions, laughing and giggling! They were finding the idioms and loving it… They are now 16 and 14 and I catch them showing the posters to friends, challenging them to find “You are what you eat”, “Time Flies” or “Look before you leap”.
Check out this poster “Sporttease”,
hang this in the game room and see how much TV the guys watch…
All I can say is Bravo Mr. Breitenbach! Bravo.
Since the completion of the original Proverbidioms, Thom Breitenbach has gone on to create twelve more posters with themes like Eats, Things of the Garden, Computerese and A Picture of Health. Visit his website for the complete listing. While on his site, be sure to check out the collaboration painting he did with Jim Morrision and the many wonderful works of art that will truly amaze.
Wasn’t that fun? Now get busy finding some proverbs…
*All images and videos were used with permission from T.E. Breitenbach.
