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.

going on

The days are cold and windy. when there is sun,everyone shouts in joy. the clouds are always very inspiring to paint.

la Femme

I am interested in painting iconic women. Women who are ageless, who hold the secrets of eternal femininity. This is a 30 x30 cm. portrait with the use of paper, painted some years ago in Holland. my most recent in this series is on my Facebook page: an oil portrait of a  woman of 21 who epitomizes all women of hope and spirit. It is quite different from my little 13 x 13 inch conversation portraits which are painted on panel,  each during  a two hour conversation.
Merry Christmas to all. and a new year of hope.

fall storms in Holland

I have neglected this Blog far too long. I was so busy painting portraits and listing them on Facebook.  
we are having these incredible skies here as fall storms begin in Holland. first day that we haven't biked. the light seems very defined and colors deep.this is an old study but hangs in the kitchen as we both like it.

home in Noorden, The Netherlands

why not post this painting I painted maybe 20 years ago on Nymphaea Eiland where Herman and I have spent 28 years together.
I have neglected this Blog for many months. not that I am not painting, because it is about painting, but because life is rather complicated at the moment.
I am in Cummington,Ma., USA, preparing for my 3rd exhibit:The Heart of the HilktownsIII. hopefully I will reach the 50 portrait paintings before the opening 6 October. first returning to Voorweg 22 for 5 weeks to fulfill a number of  paintings  there.

The best way to spend part of a day is to paint a dear friend. Does it look like him? I doubt it, but it has something "of" him for sure. And I thought of the Fayum paintings.

Incredible singer

I want to honor this singer-garden architect. That's what my Heart of the Hilltown's project is about=honoring as many people as I can paint who have contributed to the culture here in these communities. It turns out to be pretty much everyone. This is the third year of painting these two hour conversations I require to do these painting. I say that the painting is what happened during the conversation. It is not an attempt to make a photographic representation. It's about the paint, the strokes, movement, colors next to each other. That's what excites me.

Samson and Delila, mixed media

May this New Year bring raging passion directed into the calm energy of peace. We can have hope.

Christmas Maria

A relatively old painting, but still a good one, I think.
Ponder the holidays.

Brothers

Today my portraits of two brothers were accepted and taken home by their parents. These young men made me very happy by their presence in my studio. They talked openly and willingly about their lives, asperations and occupations. Then the work began. I continued the start by interpreting from photos, not my favorite way of painting. Because of their strong characters I could easily conjure up their presences. I kept going until I got what I wanted: moving paint in tones and forms corresponding with personality. Thank you Thijs and Sjoerd.
Sorry. I will have to get help to get the photos up.

Exhibition in Alphen a/d Rijn

First stage of a painting for Women From the Bible, 2013.  The canvas which was not a success was covered with tissue paper. Voilá. I am putting this up because of the BBC 3 program , music honoring those killed in wars. Don't know the connection really, just intuitive.
The exhibition in Alphen a/d Rijn is  called "Liefde". Simply = Love. Everything is about love. If I don't have it, how could I paint?
Please go see the show. Until 9 January.

Exhibition in Alphen a/d Rijn

First stage of a painting for Women From the Bible, 2013.  The canvas which was not a success was covered with tissue paper. Voilá. I am putting this up because of the BBC 3 program , music honoring those killed in wars. Don't know the connection really, just intuitive.
The exhibition in Alphen a/d Rijn is  called "Liefde". Simply = Love. Everything is about love. If I don't have it, how could I paint?
Please go see the show. Until 9 January.

Exhibit

An exhibit of a series of oil paintings titled "Love" will begin at Park Theater Gallery, Alphen/Rijn, November 7, and last until January 9, 2017. It is full of reds in passionate tones and then Eros and Psyche, a small image in nearly every painting inspired by a copy of a Roman statue from 2 A.D. found in Tongeren,Belgium.
Come see this show please!

Just two days left=Heart of the Hilltowns show