Last Sunday was an exciting day for me. My fifth solo show at 'De Twee Pauwen' Art Gallery opened. De Twee Pauwen (The Two Peacocks) is a beautiful gallery in Den Haag center, close to the Royal Palace. The weather was great, lots of sunshine, hardly any wind. No gallery-weather at all. Gallery owners like a clouded sky and wind.
Anyway, despite the beautiful weather, the turnout wasn't bad at all, the music and the sales were great and I had a really good time. I've been working my boots off these last few months and this was my reward. Check the recent work section of my website for an overview of the exhibition.
In the last few months I kept you posted on the new video we were working on. We started back in January and now it's finished and available at www.paintingskies.com/video.. Can't help but to feel a little proud...
Step by step I take the viewer through the painting process, from a blank panel to the finished work. The subject this time is painting reflections. To quote myself: "Painting reflections isn't exactly easy but it's no rocket science either. You just have to observe a few ground rules."
Every now and then the video wanders off to images of the island that has been the inspiration for many of my paintings, the Wadden Sea island Vlieland. It has been of great importance to my life and my work, going back to the drawings I made there as a five year old.
Here's the YouTube trailer. Let me know what you're thinking!
My dear friend Theo van Egeraat shot the video, just like he did the previous one. Beautiful footage, with a sharp eye for the painting process.
The music was composed by Udo Pannekeet, one of the best contempory Dutch bass players. His music, with the warm sound of his fretless bass, takes the video to another level.
The finished painting will be part of my solo at De Twee Pauwen Art Gallery in The Hague (Netherlands) from May 24 - July 7, 2015.
Been working hard for my solo show next month in The Hague (Netherlands). Beautiful gallery in the old center, close to the Royal Palace. Projects like this are very inspiring. The final painting is almost ready and now it's time for the stuff that I don't like. Varnishing for example. I carefully read the weather forecast when planning 'Varnishing-day'. Temperatures have to be mild (and that can be a problem during Dutch spring), little wind, no rain. When the day arrives I open all the doors and windows, take a deep breath and go for it, hoping the draft will chase the fumes. In the past I sometimes wore a face mask, but I had trouble breathing, wearing it.
Beach with Tyre Tracks, oil on panel, 50 x 150 cm
There is an infinite number of varnishes on the market today, but basically, there are two kinds for oil paint: retouching varnish and finishing varnish. You got to wait at least a year before applying a finishing varnish (oil paint takes forever to dry), so most of my paintings leave the studio with just a layer of retouching varnish. No problem.
Retouching varnish comes as a glossy varnish only, and I don't want the surface of my paintings to shine like a mirror, so I add terpentine or white spirit, up to 30%. I use a broad hog hair varnishing brush and a small paint roller to add a fine texture to the the surface.
Windy Beach (excision), oil on panel, 90 x 120 cm
Once the job is done, I quickly forget the smell and the fumes. Colors are intensified and I like the satin gloss. But the best moment is yet to come, when I enter the gallery and see the work in the great setting of De Twee Pauwen Art Gallery. From May 24 - July 7.
