Paper art in the museum

Once in the two years there is an exhibition on paper art in the CODA museum in Apeldoorn.

I've visited it this year, I love paper art!

Some impressions:

This is the start with a project from Anouk Vogel, folded white flowers, lovely!

Here you see a project from Peter Callesen, 

a Danish designer, he has made a human being out of silhouettes.

And this was an inspiring project of a Greek designer (I forgot to note the name),

 she cut endless rows of flowers from the financial pages of the paper.

To make something positive out of the endless negative news because of the economic crisis.

Last month

Last month:

was a very warm one, with lots of sunshine.

I've been enjoying these summer times, sitting in the garden, going biking, meeting with friends and working.

In my studio I've been working on several projects,

on a very large painting which has been on my wishlist for long, 

and now I took the time to study the model

and to paint her. 

Here you see a part of the painting. I'll probably be selling it through my website:

Also I've been working on a custom order 

of someone who wanted her wedding-gown to be in a painting.

I like doing custom orders, but they are a bit scary as well. 

How to translate their ideas into a painting and do it in my style?

But it worked out well and both the customer and myself are content.

This is a tiny part of the painting;

I've been drawing as well, just because you need to practise, because it is fun to see what you can draw and to find your own signature of drawing. I made this self-portrait with waterpaint.

 

I need to work on some mini-art for an art market as well, and I am working on a series of paintings, this may take a while but I am already learning a lot from it.

A bit of patience

I've waited a while for this one to open up...

 It is only there for a short while, already loosing its magnificent leaves.

Even they form a nice picture...

Flower structures

I found some other colours as well, and look at those structures of the flowers!

In september I will be present at the Art Fair in Ankeveen again and they like me to make some small art works. I have several ideas, but I am still not sure. I like so many styles and sort of get lost in what to do. So I just played around with waterbased paint, enjoying making little portraits of unknown persons, one turned out to be yellow as well:

More pink shades

Our garden seems to be filled with pink colours these days, take a look:

I saw these poppies once along the roadside and took with me some of their seeds, now they flower in our garden. You have to be quick though, they might be gone after one day!

 

 This one is called 'broken heart', because of its heart-shaped flowers which open up. They are very fragile.

Digitalis, love how the sun plays with the colours. They came by accident but they are a bonus in the garden .

Lots of wild bees buzzing around as well, there is enough for them to find!

Inspiration from nature: shape and colour combinations

I made these pictures in our garden, I like looking at the different shapes and sizes, at the different shades of pink. In september I will join a painting-course in which photography plays a central part and in preparation for that I am reading a book on how to use photography for your paintings (Painting Great Pictures from Photographs, a book by Hazel Harrison). The book shows several cases where painters have made a composition from several of their own photographs to make it into a painting.

Up until now I have been making pictures simply because I enjoy looking at things and registrating them, I've learned a lot from that and unconsciously they form a great reference.

The last weeks I have selected a couple of my pictures to make into paintings, and it is still a work in progress.

Sharing

  

I am looking forward to some workshops this week and the next week (for info on workshops see the calendar on this page, you can still join). These pictures are part of my preparation for the workshop Summer stillife. So many stillifes are made by painters, it is interesting to make your own version. And June is a good month to go for those Summer objects. Stillife can be quite difficult, but the struggle to get things right is part of a process. You don't know until you try!

Another workshop is Acrylic paint on paper, here you see a result, it is so much fun to play around with the paint and try different techniques with it. Discovering creativity in a workshop with a group can be so enriching and fun!