January 14th, 2014

When my home wasn’t my home yet and up for rent I immediately fell in love with the big,
broad windowsill. I could picture myself sitting there, reading and drawing on top of a huge
pile of pillows.

This is where I found the little moth I enjoyed drawing so much. Occasionally I find other
bugs there. Still alive they are set free, if not they end up being drawn by me. Buried beneath
my huge pile of pillows I recently found a beautiful bumblebee. Just like the moth very
dramatic, with two little legs stretched out into the air as if to bid a final farewell.

I have to confess my feelings towards insects are a bit ambiguous. They are useful, beautiful
and can even be cute but they creep me out at the same time. While drawing this bumblebee
time after time, I was captivated by its beauty, detail, soft hair and wings but sometimes I
would feel shivers go down my spine.

In the near future I want to do something with this ambiguity towards insects but I'm still
brooding on the how and what. To be continued :)

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January 9th, 2014

A little while ago I found this small moth in my windowsill. It was just sitting there, as if it was
still looking out of the window. Mournful about not being able to get outside and looking at the
setting sun one more time… At least, that was the story that popped into mind when I found
the poor little critter.

Not sure what I was going to do with it I saved it in a little box. I found more and bigger moths
and saved them too in somewhat bigger boxes.

As you can see I ended up drawing them. For some reason the step from drawing flowers
(blooming or dried up) to these insects was very logical. They have a resembling fragility that I
find intriguing and feel compelled to draw.

 

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January 8th, 2014

After doing lots of little drawings in and out of my sketchbook I thought I needed to grow a
little. This is a bigger drawing of a vase of tulips, or actually a tulip. There were more but I
took the liberty to cut them out of the drawing. I completely fell in love with this one tulip and
even more with the beautiful curves the leaves are making.
Dying they look more alive than ever!

The size is 38x55 cm, still not that big but I would like to make them huge. Very curious
where this is going to take me.

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January 7th, 2014

Yesterday I picked up the key to my new, shared studio at Retort Ateliers. I will be sharing
a space with my good friend Nanette Kraaikamp and I’m really looking forward to  this collaboration.

Nanette and I both studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Education in Amsterdam. Only after
raduating and bumping into each other years later we became friends. As we both are artists
we talk a lot about (our) art, ideas and art related troubles. When one of us gets a bit
disillusioned, talking about it makes us feel better and ready for the next hurdle in our studio.

Since 2013 we made these talks monthly, keeping each other in check and on the right track.

Together with 6 other artists I also share a studio called Grafisch Collectief Thoets, it’s
specialized in graphical techniques such as etching, lithography and silkscreen printing.
I won’t be leaving Thoets, I like printing and my colleagues too much to leave. I hope the
addition of Retort Ateliers and working in the same space with a good friend will generate
lots of inspiration and new art.

When Nanette and I stepped out of the studio to have a cup of coffee and hot chocolate a
beautiful rainbow appeared. It stood in front of us like an arch only fading when we were about
to go inside and enjoy our hot drinks. I think this new adventure can't go wrong :)

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