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/

The Gorgeous Blogger Award

It makes perfectly sense that I would receive an award for being gorgeous but to receive one for being a gorgeous blogger... well not so much. I blog barely two years now and not even that often, however I have been gorgeous all my life and I will promise to keep that up for many years to come.

Nevertheless and to my surprise Ricardo unloaded and bestowed upon me the Gorgeous Blogger Award anyway.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As this award requires that I answer a few questions and then pass the award onto others, I will do so without further ado.

1. When did you start blogging?

I started in 2009, after much arm twisting by Ily. She was and - I believe - still is convinced that both my talents and my wacky sense of humor should not be limited to a few, but be shared with many.

2. What's your blog about?

My art, impressions and observations. Nothing specific and everything and all goes, as long as I find it interesting, creative, weird, funny or worth writing about. Rarely about politics but sometimes I cannot help myself. But mostly I try to blog with a healthy dose of humor about the things around me. Occasionally I will showcase a painting that is finished. So what I am trying to say is that I am all over the board with my blog and why not? I am having fun with it and in many ways still test riding it... it is like... uuuhhmm... me in a Ferrari, driving at full speed while trying to figure out the clutch....

3. What makes your blog special?

Well.... (this is almost the same as the typical job interview question: "What makes you special?" I once answered that question with a straight face : "I don't slurp when I eat Spaghetti." and despite that reply I got the job, which was not in a restaurant.

Anyway, what makes my blog special and I have to answer with that I am the one writing it. And the people that return regularly to my blog and leave their comments make it extra special.

4. What got you into blogging?

Ily got me into blogging and I am happy that I followed her advise. Although it took a while before my arm was completely recovered from her persistent twisting it.

5. What would you like to change in your blog?

I would like to blog more often. Not as a journal but more often than once or twice per month. I will aim for 3 blogs per month... starting... oh well... somewhere in 2011.

I present this award to the following bloggers: Riot Kitty, Granny Annie, Valentina Ramos because they are so often an inspiration to me. Of course I would love to pass this award also to Ily, but Ricardo beat me to it (darn you Ricardo, why don't you break a leg.... )

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.

Two expositions in February!!!

Once upon a time there were two "call for artists". I entered my work for both the events... Yes I was feeling gutsy and you never know, right? 

And then I was juried into both events...

Tonight is the opening of the first event. It is the Cheesecake Pinup exposition and I have two small male nudes showing there (yes, MALE nudes.... why should all pin ups be female?). 

The show is at Galerie Jenner in Fort Lauderdale and will continue until March 31.

The second event I was juried into is the "River of Art"; an annual event organized by Life is Art here in Miami. The event is only one evening and every year 7 or 8 artists are selected to show one painting at the event. And there is my painting on the poster.... the third one from the right bottom row.

Meanwhile I am working on a new painting ...

Life is just wonderful...

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....

Happy Thanksgiving to y'all!

My 10 of 10 journal and an extra surprise!

My journal is back and my curiosity is finally satisfied. Believe me, my curiosity was sometimes killing me...
I want to thank all the participants for their work and time to make my journal so great.

My 10 of 10 Journal started in March of 2010 - after I added the cover and the first page - when I send my journal out to Annie.

 

Annie send it then on to Valeria.....

 And then she send it to Paul.....

Who then send it to Ily....

Then it was Shay's turn to enter her work....

Who then send it to Doreen....

After she added two pages, she send it to Serena....

Who send it to Carmen.

Who send it back to me, after she also entered two beautiful pages, and the journey is completed... So I thought...

But then Annie surprised me with her personal take on a photo of me taken by Ily...

Annie, special thanks for this surprise and you know I love your work and the joy it gives me.

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)

A painting that I send to Holland

Last week I send a painting to Holland to a wonderful couple who just happen to be good friends of mine. They have this very special character at home and his name is Milan.

and this is his portrait of him.

 

Because I know they have received Milan's Portrait, I can now share it with you...

A good advice...

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 and a painting I am working on

Here is my little artwork for the book of Doreen. No the colors are actually different in the book but you know that I distort my pics so there will be an element of surprise when the owner of the book can see it him/her self.

Tomorrow I will dash off to the post office again but this time I will add something to the package. A wonderful initiative by Carmen. She has send me a book... to be honest she has send me a second book as well... I have read both of them but I will keep the first one... I just love the book and cannot part with it.
The second is a wonderful book as well. Now the deal is simple: read it and send it on... or don't read it and send it on... or (and here is a new "rule") read it and keep it... but find a nice book to pass on. That last part, I will submit myself to it and hopefully with the next shipment of the 10 of 10, I will pass on another book.

I love to read and I think it is a wonderful idea (thank you Carmen!!!)

During the last two weeks I was crazy busy and not always in the best way. But I did find time to keep painting and below is a painting I am currently working on... some of you saw the sketch on canvas in Ily's blog and here is the result so far....  it is not yet finished so it gives you another opportunity to guess what he is looking at...

MOCA Audience's Choice Recipient

Remember the presentation I did at the MOCA in Miami for the program "5 minutes of fame"?

My 5 minutes are being extended because I was chosen by the audience as the "Audience's Choice Recipient. And that results in one of my paintings being published on MOCA's website.

I am so freaking thrilled with that! Thank you everybody who voted for me in April and who supported me.

Fake new moralists

In the capital of Belgium, Brussels, is the Academy of Arts. As it happens in the same building as the Academy is an elementary School. The two schools each have their own entrance and students don't mix at all.

In April 2010 a Public Worker of the city of Brussels entered the Academy and "castrated" all the male nude statues there. These gypsum statues were used as models for the art students. The reason why he did this - according to "De Telegraaf" a Dutch newspaper - was that he didn't feel it was right that the children of the elementary school could be exposed to male nudes. 

(Note: the two schools had two separate entrances... exposure how?)

When I read this, I was furious. Here is an example of the fake moralists who think it is OK to destroy other's people property because it doesn't suit their "new" morale. What's next? We have to cover all the nudes in the Sistine Chapel? Maybe wrap a cloth around the David of Michelangelo?

Why do they feel it is their right to impose their fake new moral upon us?

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