Life and art
This is my art site. But lately it has been lacking in new art. What can I say other than that my life, being so blessedly full, wins over art. Painting and then drawing are the two most satisfying, exhilarating, challenging and in the end best things I can do for my mind and spirit. But then there is life and the cornucopia of non-art-related experiences that come my way.
At 17 I embarked on grown-up life and started by tackling the fundamentals of housing and food: to get both I worked in restaurants in various capacities and in my remaining hours I found that what I did was sketching and painting. People are the lifeblood of life and I got to know and become friends with many wonderful, varied and inspiring people, which meant I didn't get around to painting much. As I became more settled I finally settled into making more of my art. I studied life drawing and painted my stories and exhibited at various cafes, sometimes selling my art, too. But new opportunities would arise, and while in pursuing my art I had made my way into the AKI Art Academy at the age of 27, I was also chosen to play in the Dutch women's cricket team at two World Cup tournaments (1997 and 2000). I couldn't pass up such a fantastic opportunity and off I went to India and New Zealand. I still graduated from the art academy in 1998.
Once I moved on from cricket -- not without recording some favorite sporting moments on canvas -- my translation work, which had supplanted restaurant work as my main means of support, had also successfully taken flight and once again eclipsed my urge to paint. This work did, however, result in a tidy nest egg for my next and most important creation, this time in collaboration with my partner Etienne Posthumus: I gave birth to two little darlings in 2003 and 2005: Meta Louisa and Roald Theunis.
Quietly, part of me, now submerged in language work and mothering, is awaiting the opportunity to devote time to drawing and painting, even if the time will be piecemeal and the painting limited in size and choice of medium. I want to paint a picture of what it's like to walk circles holding your baby in darkest night, and baby still keeps crying. And a painting of sheer happiness as two children parade around the living room imitating each other's gestures. Somehow give image to the battle as a mom to not become only negative space. A picture of a head of hair that is the most precious thing in the world. As the children grow I can take more time for this (surely?). And soon, then, I will have a new series of paintings - solid enough to be important for me and, if sufficiently appealing to others, they may even turn themselves into a paying proposition. That is if I will want to part with them.