Happy Easter! Hot cross bun anyone?

Homemade hot cross buns for Easter, a traditional English fruit bun eaten on Good Friday. I used this recipe, but I glazed them in syrup instead of sugar...and I used Zeeuws flour (from Zeeland) of course, and even a few cranberries! Happy Easter everyone...

Getting ready for the art trail: 'Kunstroute Tholen' 29 + 30 April

This time next week will be the art trail here in Tholen and I've spent most of the week looking for solutions for displaying the art work...we've got quite a collection now!  My newest works are these oil paintings of ladies and girls from Zeeland in their traditional outfits....oh and a few cats...don't forget the cats! The woodern panels were made by a local carpenter, Sjaak Lindhout, and they allow me to hang the paintings in groups without making loads of holes in the wall! 

We'll be displaying work from the art classes too...and I'm hoping to demonstrate how etchings are made. Tholen really looks her best on the Queen's birthday (30th April), with bunting in the streets and ateliers in the 17th and 18th century buildings. Throughout the day there will be concerts in the churches and 14th century former Town Hall. Come along and say 'hello'!

new paintings

These are a couple of small paintings (20 x 20 cm) that Francesco's been working on. The one above he called 'at last' and below 'a beer'... I think the stories speak for themselves!

tulips from Amsterdam - new paintings

Well, they're not really from Amsterdam - but made in Tholen! These are Francesco's latest paintings: both measure 40 x 40 cm and are acrylic on canvas. Inspired by the season of tulips... 

more new paintings from the art classes

This week the block of art classes finished until May and I thought it would be nice to share a series of pieces from the classes that have been built up over several weeks. It began with the painting below left.  Jaap started out with a paint brush but soon worked with a palet knife to create a rich texture on the canvas. The three in this series are 30 x 40cm but his ambition was to work the theme onto a larger canvas (above: 1m x 1.2m). Working with a palet knife allows you to layer the colours on top of and mix them through each other.