an afternoon at the seaside: new paintings

These are this week's creations inspired by our Sunday afternoon at the seaside. The spring sun is really warm this week, so after the cool morning mist had lifted it was a good day to enjoy the beach. By the afternoon many families were making the most of the warm sunshine. These are both oil on canvas 20 x 20cm.

waterproof: new exhibition

This Friday a new exhibition of my beach paintings can be seen at Zeeuwart in Renesse. The gallery is right by the sea, so many of my paintings have been influenced by the nearby beaches.  It was a gorgeous sunny spring day when we took the paintings, so we're already in the mood for more seaside days and more inspiration! The exhibition is open from 31st March until 2nd May click here for opening times and directions.

 

plant your mousse and eat it

These look like a lot of fun to make for spring. 100% edible chocolate mousse plants (apart from the glass and spoon that is!). It's chocolate mousse covered with biscuit crumbs and finished off with a sprigg of an edible plant, like mint or lavender. Here's the recipe in English, and here in Dutch. Pretty cute! (photos are from these two sites)

oat cookies and sun bathing

On Saturdays we have an etching workshop in the morning and the art centre is available for course participants in the afternoon. I normally bake a little homemade something. today it was fruit filled pop tarts and oat cookies. Moeki the cat made the most of the sun too in the shop window... 

caravan's packed and the sun is shining

This cute little caravan arrived this morning (only ordered it on Sunday from the US!)...I think it fits our beach theme paintings pretty well!! 

Sunday afternoon in Vlissingen: new painting

On Sunday we went to Vlissingen on the coast and I spotted this scene in a cafe, Luncherie Extra Lekker. I thought the orange plastic chairs reflected the light in an interesting way, so that has been this week's challenge to translate that onto canvas. It measures 18 x 24 cm and is oil on canvas.

terrace in the sun: new painting

Yesterday and today I've been working on this oil painting of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy. We were there on holiday a few years ago enjoying the warm September sunshine. Lucca was beautiful that day and this was one of the central spots with terraces where you could sit back, relax and soak up the atmosphere. (oil on canvas 13 x 18 cm)

passion and fruitfulness: new painting in commission

Today we presented the artwork that we have been working on for the restaurant Vroenhout in Roosendaal. The client's 300 year old restaurant and home burnt down and the new one (the silhouette in the painting) is very modern and clean, so it was a tricky combination to make something modern but homely, and abstract but recognisable. The restaurant had also been designed with olive green as the theme colour throughout.

Francesco gave a small presentation speech as the painting was unveiled. All the businesses that had worked on the rebuilding of the restaurant were offering this painting out of appreciation, so it was the first time most people in the room were seeing the artwork. Francesco explained the symbolism of the 2 bottles representing the energy and passion of the owner's behind their business and the 3 oranges standing for success and prosperity for the future, as art often did in the past since the orange tree produces fruit all year round. The abstract rectangle bottom left expresses the movement of visitors to the restaurant, and bottom right the curtain where the chef reveals his skill but not all his secrets. The roots at the base of the tree symbolise the source of all the food from mother earth, and the glasses, the offerings made to the guests. 

It was a very enjoyable lunch and the painting felt right at home its new environment. We wish them all the very best with their business and new home...

De onthulling....in het Nederlands:

Het schilderij waar u nu voor staat is een geschenk van verschillende bedrijven, die dit pand hebben gebouwd.

Het schilderij is opgebouwd uit verschillende geel-  en groentinten in acrylverf.

Herkenbaar is het dak van het restaurant. De twee flessen ervoor vertegenwoordigen de gastvrouw en gastheer, u herkent een mannelijke en vrouwelijke figuur.

Zij werken samen op de achtergrond om het u naar de zin te maken.

De schaal met sinasappels symboliseert voorspoed, succes en vruchtbaarheid. De sinasappelboom is tenslotte een van de weinige bomen, die het gehele jaar door vrucht draagt, zoals ook u hier het hele jaar door terecht kunt!

Ook in 17^de eeuwse schilderijen werd deze vrucht symbolisch gebruikt in stillevens. De schaal staat op een zuil, waarin u activiteiten aantreft  in gelen en groenen : dat is de activiteit in het restaurant, het geroezemoes, de gezelligheid.

Meer naar rechts ziet u eveneens zuilen, deze zijn echter versluierd. Er gebeurt daarachter iets, maar is aan ons oog onttrokken. Dit symboliseert het werk van de kok als creatief kunstenaar: het geheim van de kok, dat nooit wordt prijsgegeven.

Voorts zien we de wortels van de witte boom: alles dat het restaurant u aanbiedt, vindt zijn oorsprong vanuit moeder aarde. De drie royale glazen hebben een gevende, schenkende vorm. Zij vertegenwoordigen de drie natuurelementen: lucht, water en aarde.

Het schilderij heeft een moderne uitstraling. Het is bewust niet ‘gladjes gelikt’ geschilderd, maar met een vlotte persoonlijke toets. Het wil iets zijn dat duidelijk door mensenhanden is gemaakt en dat is ook weer de link met restaurant Vroenhout.

De makers van het schilderij wensen u een zeer prettig bezoek toe aan dit restaurant en hopen dat u na het lezen van dit kort relaas het schilderij met wellicht ‘andere’ ogen zult bekijken.

I got mail: letters in the post

Some vintage letter stencils that I ordered from Vintage Gatherings arrived this morning neatly packaged in its original box. How cute are these! In perfect condition...

I'm looking forward to using them on some collages...they're great...I have a cunning plan! Very happy :-)

Taj Mahal through the mist: new paintings

Still inspired by mother India, this is today's creation of the Taj Mahal, oil on canvas 18 x 13 cm. I chose to use a very limited palet of colours and began with a ground layer of Napels yellow, a light warm yellow, which creates a bit of warmth through the cool grey blues. What a fantastic work of architecture it is!

light on other worlds: new paintings

Sometimes it's refreshing to step outside our 'normal world' and experience something different. When I go to the swimming pool and plunge beneath the surface, it's a silent muffled world, where the body can drift and slow down...well that's what I wanted to explore in this painting (20 x 20 cm oil on canvas).  I love the way light dances in swimming pools. 

In January I visited India which also felt like another world, another pace. This was inspired by a photo my travelling companion made of the Taj Mahal. A door to another world...and again light plays a key part (18 x 24 cm oil on canvas)

are ewe ready for spring? a new etching and aquatint

It's the first day spring today, according to meteorology, and I'm sure it wont be long before all the fields are full of ewes and their bouncing lambs. I've just finished this etching and aquatint in honour of this wonder. Printed using warm sepia ink...and already listed in my etsy shop.