Pots de Fleurs - Flowerpots

Still life scene in the courtyard of the Chateau de Messey guesthouse in Ozenay.

Acrylic
Canvas board
30 x 40 cm

Still life with Jugs - Jugs with Attitude

Painting holiday in the Morvan, day 3: Abstracted still life painting in combination with mixed media techniques (as heavy rain made outdoor painting impossible)

I did several composition studies of a jug standing on the table eventually leading to the sketch in the middle which appealed to me very much and which I used as a base for my painting. Mixed media, acrylic and pieces of wrinkled paper on canvas board (40 x 50 cm). Geabstraheerd stilleven met kannen, gemengde techniek met acryl en gekreukeld papier op doek.

Abstracted Flowers

Painting holiday in the Morvan, day 1: Abstracted flower sketching and painting using mixed media techniques, focused on the essence of form and avoiding the suggestion of depth

We started out with a series of ink and watercolour sketches in combination with wax resist technique and then switched to painting from memory with a palet knife and line stamping technique. Mixed media, ink and watercolour in combination with wax resist technique on grained paper/Acrylic on canvas board (30 x 30 cm). Geabstraheerd schetsen en schilderen van een bloem gericht op de essentie van de vorm en met vermijding van dieptewerking met gebruikmaking van gemengde technieken (wax resist, lijnstempeltechniek).

Interior with Purple Chair (in progress)

Last year, inspired by the many works of Bonnard I had just seen in an exhibition in Wuppertal, I did a quick ink pen and watercolour sketch A Toast to Bonnard with some aspects of his work in mind, particularly colour, perspective, an interior (table) scene and a cat making an appearance. Since then, I've been intending to do some paintings in his style, but never got around to it. Last week I finally took some time and started out with a rough sketch in acrylics. The interior (again based on my mother's dining room) has more or less taken it's final shape, but concerning the window/garden scene I'm still messing around with some ideas. First I added some rough garden features just to try out the basic effect of then adding white curtains. I rather liked the intimate effect they had on the room. Then I gave the garden a different set up, more or less with Max Liebermann's fantastic paintings of his garden in mind; I recently saw quite a few of them in an exhibition in Bonn and during a visit to the artist's former summer house on the Wannsee Lake near Berlin, now a museum (Liebermann-Villa am Wannsee). But to fit in with the rest I'll have to rework this again. So, still lots of work to do and decisions to make. I was rather pleased to read that Bonnard often took years to finish a painting, contemplating on choises and changes to make, even adding paint to images that had left his possession. With my holidays coming to an end and little spare time to spend on painting in the coming weeks, I think I'll just do the same for now.

Keys

Another quick scrap paper sketch. I'm planning on doing a small painting of a bunch of keys, inspired by Manet's extraordinary small still lifes, like the ones he made of asparagus. I did this sketch just as a reminder to pick up later, but also find that such everyday objects often turn out very rewarding to sketch.

Apples

I've been enjoying Lies Goemans' daily miniature paintings ever since she started her Happy-mini-mail project and have had the intention for quite a while to someday do some myself but never got around to it. Rather dissatisfied with not having painted lately and with no real inspiration to start on something big I finally did do a quick miniature painting (10 x 10 cm) of some apples that were conveniently lying around. Acrylic on canvas (10 x 10 cm). Miniatuur schilderij geïnspireerd door de dagelijkse miniaturen van Lies Goemans in het kader van haar Happy-mini-mail project.

Waiting for the Maestro

Another sketch inspired by aspects of Bonnards work as seen in a recent exhibition, particularly an interior scene, perspective, a faithful little (dachshund) dog and a cat demanding attention. It started out as a quick preliminary sketch of this idea I had for a watercolour, but I got a bit carried away drawing with my new fountain pen and eventually decided to just leave it as it is and do a separate watercolour version later on.

A Toast to Bonnard

After visiting the "Bonnard" exhibition in Wuppertal, I set out to do a playful sketch with some aspects of his work in mind, particularly colour, perspective, an interior (table) scene and a cat making an appearance. I used my mother's dining room as a base for a rough and distorted sketch of an interior and then added the rest from imagination. Ink pen and watercolour. Speelse schets gebaseerd op impressies van het werk van Pierre Bonnard in de "Bonnard" expositie in Wuppertal.

Sunflowers

Some sunflowers in the garden broke off during a storm and thus wound up in a rather small vase on the dining room table, looking very picturesque. I tried to catch this in a watercolour. Not particularly satisfied with the result, but still, here it is. Door de storm omgewaaide zonnebloemen uit de tuin zien er in een vaasje op de eetkamertafel nog zeer schilderachtig uit. Hier een poging om het in een aquarel te vangen.

Bottles

On a gloomy rainy afternoon the kitchen counter provides colourful subject matter for an indoor sketch. Ink pen and watercolour. Op een sombere regenachtige middag voorziet het aanrecht in een kleurrijk onderwerp voor een schets.

Shoes

Longing for winter to end so they can start enjoying a well-earned rest these guys prove to be patient models. Ink pen and watercolour. Hoge schoenen smachtend naar het einde van de winter ontpoppen zich als geduldige modellen.

Sleeping Cat - Nemuri Neko Figurine

The figure of a sleeping cat has a special meaning and status in Japan and in Japanese art. Nemuri neko [眠猫] is Japanese for sleeping or peaceful cat but it also is the name of a famous sculpture of such a cat in the Shinto Tosho-gu shrine in Nikko, Japan and has been an inspiration to Japanese artists. The first time I came across such a sleeping cat figurine was in the house of Claude Monet in Giverny (now a museum). He had a special interest in Japanese art and received a sleeping cat figurine as a present from a Japanese. It lay very peacefully and cozyly on a cushion in the dining room and I found it very striking. I kept it in mind and later on bought one myself and now used it as a model for a watercolour. De figuur van een slapende kat heeft een speciale betekenis en status in Japan en Japanse kunst. Nemuri neko is Japans voor slapende kat, maar het is ook de naam van een beroemd beeld van een dergelijke kat in het Shinto Tosho-gu heiligdom in Nikko, Japan en is een inspiratie voor Japanse kunstenaars geweest. Ik kwam voor het eerst zo'n beeldje van een slapende kat tegen in het huis (nu museum) van Claude Monet in Giverny en het sprak me zeer aan. Ik hield het in gedachten en kocht er later zelf een, hier gebruikt als model voor een aquarel.

Oranges and Kiwis

I like Cézannes still lifes with fruit (as well as all his other work!). Here's an attempt of catching fruit in watercolour myself. Geïnspireerd door Cézannes prachtige stillevens met fruit, hier een poging om zelf fruit in een aquarel te vangen.