Tim

man of The Hilltowns. the desire to paint portraits never stops.

exhibition in Nieuwkoop

I love painting Ranonkels. two of my recent paintings of these magical spring flowers are in my 80th year exhibition in the ReghtHuys in Nieuwkoop, Z. Holland, the Netherlands. The show begins on the 13th of August until Sunday, the 18th, 12 to 5 p.m. everyone is welcome. Paintings from our garden, water and portraits from the past. Herman has done his best with framing and hanging.

spring

 This is the kind of blustery spring day you can get late May and June in Noorden, Z. Holland. everything moving. Herman’s waterlelies are coming into bloom. 

archive

I went into the archive and found this oil over paper over oil on canvas from 10 years ago. I can’t buy these Luxor roses anymore here in Noorden.The series has ended and I am now painting Anemones.

the last sunflowers

It seems like a long time ago when I painted this, the 13th in a series of sunflower paintings painted in Noorden this past September. when I got back to Cummington, I rushed to get my 4th exhibit ready for The Heart of The Hilltowns, 52 portraits done in America in the past year. 

There will be an exhibit in Het ReghtHuys, Nieuwkoop,in August. phew. I can hardly believe I am so busy going into my 80th year.

sunflowers in Holland

my good friend G pointed out that I have not blogged since July! I have trouble keeping up with the social media world, but NOT with painting sunflowers! when I got back to Noorden on the 6th of August, I was overwhelmed when I walked into the garden. sunflowers of every sort from Sioux to the tender lemon -yellow-black center kind were waving in the wind from high, slender stalks. Herman had caringly supported them against the Dutch winds. and I took the bait! hè had also stretched a number of large canvases up to 1 m. square. with his help I set up the easel in the middle of this circus and promptly began on the right side of the palet with the rich warm range of yellows, oranges and reds. I painted with the tubes, too eager to reach for brushes! I even went to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to see how the master did it. oh yes, nearly every painting has an airplane in the sky as we are on the flight patterns from Schiphol. the last painting has the emerald cobalt green color of the Aer Lingus planes.
by my departure date, 26 September, I had painted 13 canvases!
 one of these, a mostly firey deep red with burnt orange broad strokes against the deep blue sky
was bought by my friend C in America. Herman made a sturdy ply wood box for the flights over. unfortunately when I got to the luggage belt at Bradley, the box was not there. it’s now over a week of constant calling the Aer Lingus tracing department. I strongly wonder if someone thought the box interesting, and snatched it up. there is no security at the Hartford baggage retrieval area. what bad luck! I can only hope that the someone, if this scenario is true, has hung it in a prominent place and loves it.
c’est la vie!
if you want to see the series ,scroll down my Facebook page.
thanks for reading this.

en review

This  summer morning I am thinking back to that place in Noorden, S. Holland, the Netherlands, where I have made my home  the last 30 years on a small island. The water lilies are growing profusely according to Herman, their grower.
What a Paradise, that island, cultivated with love and care.
I have chosen to spend long periods of time here in Cummington, Ma. Here I paint mostly portraits. In August I will return to painting waterlilies in Holland.
It is a good life.