Seventeen in Art Basel

Xavier Cortada created 17 drawings on carbon paper, as a metaphor for the impact (or "carbon footprint”) that humans have had on these species, even across the boundaries of protected nature preserves. Cortada's original drawings of the seventeen species -- including the Wood Stork, the Key Largo Rat, and the Smalltooth Sawfish-- will be on display at his studio.  

For Art Basel seventeen local artists were invited to reinterpret Xavier Cortada's "80.15 W" carbon paper drawings.

The seventeen invitees are: Vince Herrera, Ernesto Kunde, Alex Yanes, Sean Ritchwood, Diana Contreras, Eleazar Delgado, BMD, Anthony Burks, TMNK, Kid, Courtney Rutter, Clay Frye, Yoko Sigiura, Sri Prabha, Alexandra Seda, and me. 

I was lucky enough to get the Piping Plover as my subject, the little bird at the beach that seems to have a love-hate relationship with the tides. Below is my interpretation and it will be for sale at the exposition.

 

The Openings Reception was tonight on December 1 at  the Gallery at Cortada Studio

104 SW 9th Street, Ground level | Eastside, Suite B, Miami, FL

Darkness in Pompano Beach

Last night I received the confirmation that my 3 entries are juried into the group show "Darkness" at the Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach. 

Pretty Pretty Flower

Artists were encouraged to enter works with dark themes and imagery. In other words for the artists to tap into their darker side. I chose to stay with one of my favorite subjects - children - and painted 3 fictional portraits (12" x 12"), using ink, charcoal and 4 colours of Acrylics (White, Red, Grey and Payne's Grey). I did not feel that full colour would do justice to the subjects and chose to stick with a limited palette.

I was aiming for a slightly subtle level of darkness and I was surprised that it was actually hard to restrain myself from going into a"SAW" kind of blood filled darkness, while setting up the portraits.

I am really pleased with the result and of course that I am juried in. The exposition will be open for public October 24th and the opening reception will take place on Thursday 27th from 8 pm - 10 pm at Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach.

Zebra I Presume

Currently I am working on a new set of paintings which will be different from what I have been painting lately. I wanted to step away from the pouts and nudes, and explore different subjects in my paintings. 

The first painting, which I finished today, is about perception. Again the photo I took does not do justice to the colors at all, but it gives you some impression.

This painting - I named it "Zebra I Presume" - is in acrylics, ink and graphite, and is 36 x 36".

Mona, Mona, Mona.....

Several weeks ago I received an invitation from MANO Fine Art to create my interpretation of one of the world's most famous paintings: The Mona Lisa.

Talk about a creative challenge and a very inspiring one indeed for me. Leonardo da Vinci was the artist that wanted me to paint as a little child. My father came home with a book about Da Vinci's work and I was in awe with every picture in that book. By the time my father sat down to look in the book himself, my little fingerprints were all over every page.

I made a triptych (3 canvasses of 12x12") like a little story board and put Mona Lisa in a different background and not as the pretty little model with the mysterious smile, but an active young woman . I named the triptych "Mona Lisa Rules".

And here is my little teaser for this exposition: a small strip of one of the canvasses.

 

If you want to see the rest of this painting and all the other interpretations, you should come to

MANO Fine Art Project Space

4225 SW 75 Avenue

Miami, FL

Opening Reception will be on Saturday,  September 17 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm.

Visit the facebook page for more information. 

Out of Context

Galerie Jenner in Fort Lauderdale came up with another creative idea for a show: Buy a paint-by-numbers-kit and get inspired. Anything goes as long as it is OUT OF CONTEXT! 

So a couple of weeks ago I went to the art supply store and stood in front of all the "paint-by-numbers-kits" section, trying to figure out which one to choose and what to do with it.

Anyway, I choose the kit numbered "PJS49" and that is also the title of the painting.

I worked with the subject and let myself be inspired by this kit. 

It was for me a complete out of context experience and I had a lot of fun with it and I think that it shows in this work. For now I only show you a little piece of the whole painting (30 x 40").

If you want to see the whole painting and all the other creations based on painting-by-numbers-kits, come to Galerie Jenner on Saturday October 15th.

The Art of T-shirt

 

All last week I worked on 2 T-shirts for the "Art of t-shirt" exposition at the Sol Gallery in Miami Beach. Last Sunday I was finally able to deliver the t-shirts at the gallery and yesterday I received the email that my work was accepted. Even better.... so short notice and they even added my name on the flyer/poster.

The opening reception will be Friday July 1 and it includes life music by Uprooted Reggae Fusion Band and a screen printing demonstration and will be in honor of two charities in humanitarian causes:

So-Me, which is a clothing line aimed at intellectualizing fashion and taking a stand against all intolerance through fashion. 

No More Tears, a not-for-profit organization that rescues victims of domestic violence.

The exposition will be until July 31st.

And below a glimpse of one of the t-shirts I made for this show. I made a painting on canvas with acrylics, which was stitched (Thank you Katja!) to the t-shirt. I painted lines from the canvas on the shirt to connect the art with the t-shirt. The title is "Just Because".

So join me on July 1, 2011 at Sol Gallery at the CANDO Arts Co–op: 309 23rd St. Miami Beach, Fl 33139 (one block west of Collins Ave.)at 7.00 pm.

Life is Art

Life Is Art is a south-Florida based non-profit corporation founded in January of 2009. Their goal is to help elevate the south Florida arts scene to a level comparable with other international artistic cities, such as New York and Paris. They do this primarily through the production of arts events: Art Shows, Fairs, Parties, Showcases, Networkers, Seminars, Workshops and more targeted at supporting south Florida artists and arts professionals. They provide opportunities for artists to grow and share their work, as well as learn about the business of being an artist and how to better make a living at what they love.

On June 18, 2011 the organization "Life is Art" will hold their fundraising party and it will be a night filled with art, music, fashion, performances and even free drinks. Also there will be a raffle for which I made a small painting (6 x 18 inch).

I made it in Acrylics and gold leaf and I called it "Life is Art".

And I apologize as this is not a great picture of the painting.... 

So if you are in Miami (or in the neighborhood) on June the 18th and want to support the arts come to the Surfcomber in South Beach, have a great time and don't forget to buy raffle tickets. You might end up with a real Monique Lassooij painting...

For more information go to: http://www.lifeisartfest.org/2011/05/28/the-big-fundraising-party-june-18-2011/

What is on my easel...

Last Saturday I finished this painting and I named it "Secrets of a childhood".Again I painted on an unstretched canvas with acrylics. The painting itself measures 33" x 35". with a band painted in blue of 4" all around it.

The subject relates to me when I was a little girl and I would hide little secrets inside certain dolls. It could be a pebble, a little note, anything that I felt to be my own little treasure and some things I did not want anybody to know about. But even though I was always a little afraid that somebody would find it, I never thought all these little things inside a doll's body would make a noise. I now know my mother would take the arm of the doll to look inside, curious what made that noise when she moved the dolls to clean, but she never said anything to me about what she would find.

What is on my easel...

I know I have not been on the blog so much lately... ok, ok, not at all for weeks. But I was a little busy with several paintings and this weekend I finished the below painting in acrylics. 

I haven't given the painting a title yet, but on the wall behind her the text of the first article of the Bill of Rights is written. The writing is fading a little and there are pieces missing. The little girl is staring at me... the artist, and at all of us, wondering....

10 of 10 : Tandy for Annie

Tandy Kid is Annie's baby goat. He was born on July 24 this year and now I made this small portrait of him for Annie's 10 of 10 book.

As usual..... I covered some of the painting so the owner of the book will have to wait to see it all until he / she received it... But for now I will reveal that it is painted in Acrylics... 

Sorry Annie, you have to wait a few days more... (wink, wink)

10 of 10 : The art for Shay

Aaah... the challenges in life, such as what to create for a woman that is creative herself. And not only that ... shows in her blogs the many facets of her existence. 

Well here it is... and yes, as usual I leave the good stuff out, so the owner of the book will not see the whole picture. But I will reveal that I made it in acrylics and ink on paper... One could take pleasure in mysteries...

And that will be all..... for now...

What a day!

Yesterday was an important day for me. I took two paintings to the gallery for a new show called "Word and Symbols". I really liked the subject and I know that it will be a good show because every artist will interprete it in a different way.

One painting called "Change your words and you will change your world" where the text starts on the side of the paiting and finishes on the front.

The other is "Listen to the colorful words of my silence".

The second painting (and I apologize for the poor quality of the photo's... but hey I am not a photographer) is inspired by a converstation I had with a close friend of mine about lack of communication... which I translated into silence.

Now the real challenge for me is how to take two paintings of 24" x 24" to the gallery with the bus-bus-metro-bus in the rain. I looked around the house if we had any plastic bags big enough which we did not have of course. But I found those plastic coverings from the dry cleaners and guess what... it works to protect the paintings and at the same time if could carry it like it was plastic bags.

On my way to Coconut Grove, I met a man carrying a sign saying "Be a role model" around his neck. After working so intensly on my paintings referring to words, it made complete sense to me. I asked him why he had this sign around his neck and he replied: "Each morning I make a new sign to carry around, because each day I learn something new and I want to share this with other people." That is a very positive idea and I really like it. Does it mean I will do the same? I don't know... It takes guts to do this and a very great smile to pull it off.

Of course I was excited about the upcoming soccer match between Holland and Brazil. My toe nails are orange (yes, I root for Holland, suprise!!! lol) because "We kick ass!". In the bus, when he noticed my orange toe nails, a Brazilian fan told me that his team would beat the Dutch team with 2-1. I replied with a bg smile: "Bite me and good luck!".  Everywhere the yellow/green from Brazil was dominating here in Miami. When I finally got to work - where they showed the match on tv - it was 0-1 for Brazil. My heart dropped onto my orange toes, but at the same time I knew the match was not lost yet. I saw the Dutch team hunting for the ball.

And boy did they hunt... Holland won... 2-1 from BRAZIL!

I wonder if the Brazillian fan will remember what he said to me...

10 of 10: The Continuing Story

This time I had the book of Coby (sounds almost biblical if you say it like this and please imagine the MGM-like voice over saying ... "And Holland was working on the Book of Coby, and she knew it was good...")

Yes it was good... I was on a roll and actually filled 1 page on both sides. Sorry folks, I am not showing the whole picture here... have to leave some for your imagination.

I having fun with this project, going outside my box... although I have to admit... the abstract part is much like I used to paint back in The Netherlands, and it was great to do that again... It was actually so much fun, that I will do it on a large canvas.

Until next time...

(MGM-like voice over: "She closed the book and put it in the envelope, which was already labeled with the proper addresses... Now she had to wait until the post office was open.... -dramatic music-)

10 of 10 - second artwork

Here is my artwork for the 10 of 10 book of Carmen. I cut out some pieces so Carmen will still have some surprise left when she gets her journal back in October. For now she will have to fill in the blanks.

Looking at her beautiful work in this journal I wanted to add in a certain way and I went for an Art Deco theme. I live in Miami and I see the Art Deco Architecture practically every day. How can one not be inspired? 

Talking about inspiration, maybe I will surprise one of the 8 journals / bloggers with an artwork about Holland... you know windmills, cows, tulips...the works..lol

Summer Salon 2009

Last night was the festive opening of the Summer Salon Exhibition at the Windisch-Hunt Gallery in Coconut Grove, Florida. It was a very special evening full of different forms of art... not just paintings but also poetry from Jerry Wade and Jonathan Rose, life music by Zip Robertson and a fashion show with Handbags from Debra Cortese and Ceramic Jewelry by Jennifer Trujillo.

A portion of ALL sales from this show will be donated to NEAT STUFF (http://www.neatstuffhelpskids.org/). This is a non-profit organization that provides free brand new clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts to meet some of the basic needs of abused, neglected and other children in distress, allowing them to dress with pride and dignity, inspiring their self worth.

It is a wonderful show and more so because the body of work within the Summer Salon is so diverse and covers a wide range of styles and subjects. Yet our curator, Cucui Beguiristain, managed together with Annamaria Windisch-Hunt to make it all coherent.

The Summer Salon is showing untill the end of June and worth a visit.

I submitted three paintings for this show :

"After Ten", Oils and Acrylics on canvas, 10" x 14"

Some people were wondering who my model was for this painting....

"Getting Ready", Oils on Canvas, 12" x 12"

"A Last Look", Oils on Canvas, 10" x 14"

But now a more personal note...

I always get nervous before an opening and this evening was no exception. I guess this is my version of stage fright, not that I am afraid to forget which painting is mine - like actors are afraid to forget their lines, but the knot in my stomach feels just as real.

But I had wonderful support from my partner (he is truly the wind beneath my wings), my friends and everybody else. And with such support the knot shrinks quickly enough for me to enjoy every bit of the evening.

And for this: Thank You.

A new painting: Summer

Last week I finished this oil painting. Actually the female nude is done in oils and the background is mostly done in acrylics.

It is not a massive painting, not by the subject and certainly not by size (10" x 10" - 25 cm x 25 cm).

Alas this photo does not show how beautifully the golden background and all the other colours highlight the female nude.

So here it is... a confession! I am not good at taking great shots of my own paintings and it frustrates me. Ok, my little digital camera - which is older than 5 years - might be partly to blame, but I know somebody who takes wonderful shots no matter what camera is in his hands.

I am able to take some wonderful shots of other subjects, just not of my paintings.

And that is one of the reasons why I keep my "focus" on painting!