Thanksgiving

Looks like a cozy Thanksgiving  gathering with the ghost of time's past looming up in the background. I made this improvised rendering of Eduard Manet's "Dejeuner sur l'Herb"  35 years ago for a Dutch book jacket. I still love it for all it's subtle tones and then the implications Manet intended and I added to. He was kicked out of the prestigious Salon in Paris for his "naughty mind" and courage to express it. A political statement about "the Enlightenment". The really good artists who dare say something with their work seem to get into trouble for it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks, Ria en Ad

One of my first Paper- over-Painting- Painted Again works probably painted about 12 years ago.
I never knew it would turn out like this.
Snow outside here in The Hilltowns of New England. And these colors and memories give me warmth.

card players

If you have been following this Blog for some time, you would know that Herman and his three card-playing friends with whom he has been playing every week in the winter for around 35 years are still a favorite subject for me. I have 5 canvases going for a number of years now. the guys are constantly in movement, dealing, throwing and holding cards. yes, the hands in this still-sketch are not defined. When Herman, Jan, Rob and Leo are here at our house around the small round table, I begin by first scraping the excess paint and then attacking with the idea of following flowing forms of color, not placing lines. I want to get the intimacy, the secrecy, and mostly, the enjoyment of the card play. They go back in the rack until February when I will be back from America to plunge on with this continuing exciting project. Listening to Debussy puts me into the right mood of following themes and keeping the whole thing going in flows.
When is one finished? as you see, it takes years and years.

Bathroom Art II

yes, I change the paintings I want to look at in our bathroom. Still wallowing in summer. Weather is wonderful here, but lilies are gone to the bottom to sleep out the winter. In this painting there is a little "Alien" watching me paint. The ponds were full of these miniature frogs. such a delight to see them play and jump about. Because of this painting I can vividly remember the moment and bring it up whenever I feel cold.

Little Goat

Craig Johns' chain sculpture of Little Goat is very popular with the birds. A Dutch early misty morning with many birds visiting Craig's sculptures on this island. Thanks, Craig.

Flora Vase

It's been some years ago that I was totally obsessed with painting these Stephan Sluiters' ceramic vases. Stephan threw each one into a different free-form and glazed the insides in order to hold water. I kept buying them and giving workshops for people to paint their own as decoration and/or vase for flowers. Every Dutch house has flowers somewhere all the time. There is always a vase with flowers in our front window.
Rembrandt was an inspiration for me with the portrait of his wife Saskia as the mythological figure "Flora". an explosion of flowers rises out of her head so to speak.
I gave some layers acrylic paint, tissue paper and again paint and varnish until there was something I liked. I still pick one up once in awhile when I see an improvement. nothing is absolutely finished for me.
Behind my vase are urns and on the wall "The Sirens and Apollo" by French artist, Dominique Sapel.