The man on the bus.

I started my first painting of a new series. No more fruits and vegetables but back to the nudes. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun while painting the series "Fresh from the Fridge" but now I started "Balance".

My idea's for paintings come at unexpected times and places; never when I am in the shower.
A few weeks ago I went with the bus to downtown Miami when an older man entered the bus. He could not walk well but he was a true acrobat getting thru the bus to the back using the poles en those leather loops (that you can hang on to while standing). I was looking at him and how smoothly he went across the bus and then this painting popped up in my head, and then another and another. I opened my little notebook and started sketching.

I don't know how I get from an older man on the bus to nudes in a painting, it is just how my imagination works.

And sometimes...

In a previous blog I mentioned the fact that I was going to have a exposition in a restaurant in Coconut Grove in Florida. That was suppose to be in June. Luckily, and I mean that, I was given some more time to be able to create work that is up to par to what I want to show.

I am not the kind of artist that produces a painting per day like your average Plein-Air painter who is forced to paint this fast because of the limited time Mother Nature gives him/her to work on a painting.

Normally I set up a painting quite quickly and with set-up I mean the initial sketch on canvas and the underpainting in two or three colours. I use underpainting because in this way I can block the larger schapes on the canvas without "losing" myself into details at this stage. Also because the colours in the underpainting will deepen the final colours. Nothing is definite in this stage, as I start to observe it. Is the composition the way I want it to be, do I need to change or add anything to make it "work"? In this phase of my work it is very easy to change anything if I want to.

My next step is to work on the background and a little bit on the subject itself. Again I will not go into the fine details but I work on the colours and shapes. I work on the balance between the background and the subject . The background is very important to me because I want the background to enhance the subject - no matter if it is a nude or a pair of apples - not to overpower the subject neither to just let it be a colourfull filler of canvas. This is the part where I look at my painting for hours at a time without actual painting.
This frustrates my partner a lot as to him I am doing nothing and often he remarks: "I thought you were going to paint today..." "I am." is my reply and I see him thinking "Whatever, next time I will stare at the dishes and tell you that I am cleaning them."

In the third stage I am working on the little details and finalizing the painting.

So what are we talking about time wise? I normally work about 2 to 3 weeks on a painting (which includes drying time as I work with oils). Because I know that it takes me time, I usually work at two paintings at the time - not more because of limited space.

And sometimes ... I paint one in a day, from start to finish, like I did yesterday. In less then 8 hours from start to finish I painted Pullo, my red cat, out on the porch.

Just to contradict everything I said before. Oh well, that is life!

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.

Fresh from the Fridge

When I knew I would have a solo at the Focaccia Rustica in Coconut Grove, I also realised that this would not be the place to hang nudes. It is after all a family restaurant. And this implied that I had to come up with a new body of work. To be honest, I went blank at first. For days I stared at two empty canvases and all that came to mind were nudes.

One afternoon my partner asked me why I didn't start painting and I replied: " Paint what? I have no other subject on my mind than nudes."

He suggested to go out and look around the house, to see if anything would inspire me. But I am not a plein air artist - ok, I never tried it and the large amount of hungry, bloodsucking mosquitoes outside doesn't make it very inviting for me to try a landscape out there.


Then he said to me: "Why don't you look in the kitchen, maybe there is something in there that will give you ideas."

And so I did, not that I am normally so obedient, but I was blank and he tried to help me. I opened the fridge... nothing yet, no celestial flash of inspiration. Then I opened the vegetable drawer in the fridge and I saw a variety of fruits and vegetables, each with their own colours and shapes... and there it was... my source of inspiration: Fresh from the Fridge.


I know it will be a great show, ....if I can save my models from being eaten.

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!

No thief nor handbag...

As I said in my previous blog, I would make two new envelopes to replace the one that was stolen from the display at the gallery.

And so I did...

The one on the left I did in soft pastels and I was inspired by a work from Degas... but his work was a naked woman and because I wanted to send it by snail mail (with a post stamp by USPS) I changed the figure into a ballerina (and I love ballet).

Now I will keep my fingers crossed to see if it will arrive at the gallery and in what shape....

The one on the right, I made on Saturday. I was going to the gallery anyway, so I thought I could take it with me. It is finished, it is dry.. (acrylics dry fast).

I put it in my handbag close the zipper in one swift movement and I see a piece of the envelope sticking out between the teeth (do you call it teeth?) of the zipper...

They say that Dutch people are known to be calm under stressfull circumstances... well, there was nothing Dutch about me when that happened.

Picture this.. Me jumping around him while my partner is trying - very patiently - to release the envelope from the zipper without too much damage and he did. And of course this all happened minutes before we had to leave had go to the gallery.

I decided not to take it with me as it was somewhat wrinkled, but two days of rest did the envelope good and I am pleased to let you know that I will release it from my care this week.

So to make a long story short.... No thief nor handbag can stop me!

A thief with taste...

About a month ago an Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, FL made a call to artists to send in their Mail art. Mail art, for those who do not exactly know what this is, is art created on an envelope or a handmade postcard. It can be anything, drawing, painting, mixed techniques, stamps, prints... you name it.. all is possible. But it have to be send in by mail with a post stamp

I participated and send in this little jewel.

Today I went to the same gallery to hand in a painting for a new exposition that will start with a nice opening on Saturday April 4th. While I was there the owner came up to me and told me that my envelope was stolen from the display.

I went over to the display... checked every envelope - believe me there are a lot - and while I was searching the whole display I could not believe it....

Mail art may not look like much to some people, but an artist put time and effort into it and it is work on display! Somebody walked in and grabbed it... yeah, it is gone.

I will make a new one.... darn, I will make even two new ones! And although I am upset with the person who stole my mail art, I have to admit...

It is a thief with taste...