Press review Salon Parkstad

My mum send me a copy of the regional newspaper Limburgs Dagblad... my name and work is mentioned - unfortunately in Dutch, but you may recognise my name and the picture of one of my paintings. My mum said she gets a lot of comments about it from people she knows... unfortunately many of them don't seem to like my "depressing" theme. Poor mum... nevertheless she defends my artistic direction and she is very proud of me (and so is my dad)!

My own loop hole

Do you ever get locked up in your own loop hole, knowing you are the only one that can get you out of it? I was - the past couple of weeks. I wanted to restart a set of paintings I started (but not finished) earlier this year. The thought of it was already very uninspiring but I forced myself to do it anyway. Not suprising - it didn't work. I realised I wasn't enjoying painting these paintings at all. Don't know why exactly but I didn't like the topic anymore and I didn't like what I had painted so far.

I read an article about giving yourself permission to think or do things out of the box. The article itself didn't tell me anything new but it was the last push I needed. So I thought again about the topics and images I like to paint and very quickly I was able to set up a draft for a new painting. And I am enthousiastic again, can't wait to start today!

Will probably kill those uninspiring paintings one of these days....

Opened yesterday: Salon Parkstad Heerlen

Three of my paintings are on display at this group art show... see also http://www.glaspaleis.nl/1056/pers/salon-parkstad-beeldende-kunst-uit-parkstad/_news/358 (in Dutch).

Coming up: art show at Galerie Charlotte Lugt, Amsterdam

My first painting

Last week I read an article in De Witte Raaf, a Belgian art newspaper about the "first painting" of a (any) famous artist, and what criteria to use to determine it. I found the paper in a cafe and I already had a few beers when I started reading it so I might have missed the clue. But as far as I remember (or I am making it up now, for the sake of this blog), the most important criteria is that the first painting should mark the start of an own, individual style and expression. I was struck by a painting displayed from Andy Warhol dating back to 1949 (date might be incorrect), so he must have been about 21 and just having finished art school. It's a painting of a living room. Nowhere near the style of the silk screen prints he did in the 70's but painted with so much drive and compassion. I tried to find the painting on the Internet but couldn't find it.

I started thinking about my childhood drawings and paintings. I have a photo of me working with concentration in a colouring book. I have few drawings and yes, even a few paintings, one of a windmill and one of a horse. But of course they were just childhood drawings and paintings, but these were really my first paintings. I guess these paintings didn't fit into the criteria and didn't mark the start of my own, individual style and expression. But I have always been me so the roots to the individual expression and style I developed must have already been there.

I think I really developed my own style in the last 2 years of art school... I started to paint quite realistic and the topics were always a bit provoking and/or alienating. My first painting according to the criteria mentioned earlier must have been painted in this period. I just scrolled through the photos of my paintings of this period and identified the one I feel is my first painting... it's a teenage girl sitting naked on her bed, with posters of horses hanging on the wall behind her. I was intrigued by the topic because I wanted to paint something that would embarrass the viewer, but most of all embarrass myself. It's a painting of showing all my vulnerability to the world...

I think that's the key feature of every artist - showing all of your vulnerable self , your sensible emotions, all those things you'd rather keep to yourself. But you can't help wanting to share it with anyone, because not alone do you want to say something about yourself but most of all hold a mirror up to the world and let them look at themselves....

An evening walk with my dog

Yesterday evening, after I came home from my temporary job (yep... my art does not sell well enough - yet!) I took my dog Flopa for a walk. I bumped into a demonstration organised at a square nearby. It was a protest against a new law of the Amsterdam council which states that you can only drink alcohol outside when you sit down. Yes - it sounds quite ridiculous. Maybe the next law introduced will be that you can only drink while doing a handstand?

Anyway, Flopa had a lot of fun begging for beers, and she barked at the empty bin bags hanging on the light poles because usually they are not there. And I got a free beer from the organisers. So I sticked around for a while, but the music was quite awful... it was famous Dutch DJ Van Bellen who did a surprise-show, but I guess I am getting too old for this type of music ?! Or maybe I've heard too much of this already, because the neighbour of my art studio always plays this type of music really loud (I used to have two similar neighbours but thank god one moved in with his girlfriend)?

It's weird though, thinking about it. Can you ever be too old for a type of music really? Can you ever be too old for a type of art? I don't think so... I think it's a matter of taste. But when you get older, you tend to hang around with people of a different age group. And therefore you come in contact with different types of music (or art, or anything) than when you hang around with say 16 year-olds. I think your taste is influenced by what you come in contact with. Everything, your entire being is influenced by that really. Teenagers speak almost a different language, they use words, phrases and sayings I never heard of. And Eskimos have 20 different words for snow. That's why artists travel for example, to broaden their view and to explore new sources for inspiration. My current temp job also provides me a different view to the world. It's good to be outside my art studio for a short while. It helps me relativate things and put life temporary into a different context. But I can't wait to go back.

My art studio

I always get inspired by photos of art studios (see for example Artnewsblog) ... so here's mine, in case it might inspire you!

The large painting I am working on is almost finished now. Funny enough, I bumped into the respective lady yesterday while I was having a beer on a terrace! We talked about the weather and of course then the ice cream shop is a nice next topic to deepen the conversation. She assured me that she hardly ever eats ice creams(yeah right, I've got eternalised evidence!) and it takes her 4 days to finish a chocolate bar... she's a bit like me!