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20-3-07 Atelier (4) Ik blijf met een aantal vragen zitten met betrekking tot de toewijzing van Prinseneiland 24 A 2. Het blijft een niet erg transparante toewijzingsprocedure. Er valt niet te controleren hoe het met de datum van volgorde zit (het tippen van een bevriende relatie lijkt mij ook niet uit te sluiten), er worden geen notulen gemaakt en kennelijk wordt er met verschillende maten gemeten als het gaat over al de beschikking hebben over een atelier. Terwijl het mij weinig moeite kost om de eerste de beste leek uit leggen dat een kunstschilder bij gekleurd licht niet kan werken, lijkt de toewijzingscommissie, waarvan men toch enige expertise mag verwachten, bij herhaling niet in staat of niet bereid dit in te zien. 20-3-07 Atelier (3) Uit de reactie die ik van de Stichting Woon- en Werkruimten voor Kunstenaars ontving blijkt helaas dat de toewijzingscommissie ook nu weer volledig is voorbijgegaan aan de urgentie van mijn situatie. 28-2-07 Atelier (2) Helaas is het atelier op Prinseneiland 24A 2, waarop ik mijn zinnen had gezet, aan een ander toegewezen. Het is voor mij een enorme teleurstelling dat het mij niet vergund is in het atelier van de door mij zo bewonderde schilder Breitner te werken. Ook betekent het waarschijnlijk dat de toewijzingscommissie de urgentie van mijn situatie kennelijk ook nu weer niet serieus heeft genomen. 20-1-07 Sacha Tanja Penning Wat is eigenlijk de Sacha Tanja Penning? Op de website van de jaarlijks terugkerende kunstbeurs REALISME 07 te Amsterdam wordt dat uitgelegd: Op de openingsavond, 17 januari, zal voor de derde keer de Sacha Tanja penning voor figuratieve kunst worden uitgereikt. De penning wordt door de jury toegekend aan een kunstenaar die met zijn oeuvre een eigen, unieke plek inneemt in de traditie van de hedendaagse Nederlandse figuratieve kunst. De leden van de jury zijn Ronald de Leeuw, directeur van het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Ileen Montijn, publiciste, Harry Tupan, conservator hedendaagse kunst van het Drents Museum en kunstenaar Barend Blankert (de winnaar van de penning in 2006). 5-1-07 Atelier Het wordt nu toch echt tijd dat er een oplossing komt voor de situatie in mijn atelier op het Bickerseiland. Sinds in 2002, aan de noordzijde van mijn werkruimte, een 5 verdiepingen hoog appartementencomplex (Bickerswerf) werd neergezet, is de daglichttoedreding ernstig verstoord. De met gekleurd hout afgewerkte gevelbekleding zet alles in een oranje gloed waarbij het onmogelijk is kleuren op hun waarde te beoordelen. Als de zon schijn komt daar nog de weerspiegeling van vele vierkante meters spiegelglas bij. 30-12-06 Weeklagende Beeldrijkheid Op 8 februari 2007 gaat de kunstbeurs Art Rotterdam voor de 7de keer van start. Waar Art Rotterdam voor staat lezen we op haar website: "Art Rotterdam is in Nederland inmiddels uitgegroeid tot dé beurs voor hedendaagse kunst. Kenmerkend voor Art Rotterdam is en blijft het kwalitatief hoge niveau, het jonge en dynamische karakter en een groeiend aantal internationale galeries. Art Rotterdam is dan ook de ontmoetingsplek voor kunstliefhebbers die de ontwikkelingen willen volgen op het gebied van de actuele kunst." Hedendaagse kunst, actuele kunst, daar wil ik wel meer van weten. Per slot van rekening ben ik zelf kunstschilder. Het is dan noodzakelijk een beetje bij te blijven, toch? Bij de lijst met deelnemende kunsthandels zie ik weinig voor mij bekende namen. Ik besluit te klikken op de Florence Lynch Gallery uit de USA. Ha, de galerie is gevestigd in New York en ze hebben een eigen website: www.florencelynchgallery.com. Daar ga ik eens kijken. Wednesday November 22 2006 Frame maker (2) It is one week before the private view of my solo
exhibition and I still had not heard anything from the frame maker,
so I made a phone call to ask about the progress of their job. I
could not believe my ears when I heard they were waiting for a delivery
of profiles from Italy expected to arrive on the 29th, the day the
private view is supposed to begin. I knew the invitations already
went out, so there was no way the event could be postponed. I decided
to go there right away to see if we could find some sort of solution.
For instance to see if a temporary fixation could be made so the
paintings could hang without any frames. Not a very nice prospect
but better than nothing. While we were discussing these kind of
things the boss came in to tell he had called Italy to have the
frames send by some sort of express service and if this worked there
was a chance to get everything ready on tuesday. This would leave
the gallery only one night to hang the paintings and make the pricelists
and everything. Knowing the people from the gallery are not going
to like this, I thought it be wise to go there to explain the situation.
So I did and I was glad they did not get completely mad. Of course
I offered my assistence with the preparations in the gallery. Friday November 3 2006 Frame maker After having photographed the whole bunch of recent paintings, a job that took two working days, I took them to frame maker Krützmann for choosing frames. I have worked with them for many years already and they know my fancy taste. Of course I could not resist the temptation of selecting several expensive hand colored frames. Often when I see exhibitions of colleague artists I envy them for having the courage to show their canvasses in cheap simple frames or even with no frames at all. I could never do so. Also my wooden panels simply need frames, otherwise they could not be hanged properly. All this leaves me with the problem paying the frame maker's bill from the exhibition revenues. And when I do not sell the painting then I get stuck with the problem of finding a place to store the painting safely with its expensive and vulnerable frame. These kind of worries often make me lay awake at night on the eve of a big solo exhibition. Sunday October 22 2006 Painting The Nude Yesterday Saskia and me returned from London where we attended the opening of the exhibition 'Painting the Nude' at The Chambers Gallery, a relatively small Gallery near Barbican station. As we arrived the Gallery was fairly crowded with people.
The curator, Mrs. Beatrice Howell, has managed to create an interesting show out of a large number of very divers art works that covered the walls up to the ceiling in the manner of the 19th century French Salons.
The next two days we spend sightseeing the city.
We visited the National Gallery as well as the National Portrait Gallery. Besides admiring many masterpieces I was happy to discover some unfinished paintings. I love studying those since they provide an interesting insight in the way the old masters used to work.
Thursday June 15 2006 The portraits of Laurens and Anne were a big success.
Their father, who was worried sometime ago about his children not
looking happy enough, admitted that he was happy because I depicted
them as I saw them. Monday May 29 2006 For several days now I am working on the skin part of Eric's portrait. With half-transparant layers, working from dark to light, the head is getting its shape in tones and colors. It is amazing how much the colorful shirt reflects on the skin. Next time I will insist the sitter wears something simple. I try to avoid applying the highlights and strong accents too early. These have to be the final touches. It is also very important to keep in mind that every detail is part of a whole. If you don't, all kinds of unwanted deformations can occur and making corrections can be very boring. Monday May 22 2006 I made a start with the portrait of Eric. The checkered
shirt he is wearing won't make things very easy. Mrs. C is getting
worried about her commissioned portrait and Mrs. vdB seems also
impatient. This is really a problem. For most people it seems hard
to understand that painting a portrait is a process that takes a
considerable amount of time. Tuesday April 25 2006 I finished the portraits of Laurens and Anne. Both were very elaborate projects. I hope their father will be happy with the result. Saturday April 15 2006l Last week I created a nice small painting of Rembrandtplein
square at night. The two portraits of the children vdH that
I have been working on for such a long time are almost finished.
I still don't understand why it took me so long. Thursday March 30 2006 Sometimes the proces of painting is full of fortunate
accidents. Like the painting is creating itself. But the "Woman
cycling along a canal" is a painting where I had to fight hard
to conquer each square centimeter. Maybe it is because there is
a lot of distraction caused by my involvement with the organisation
of the annual Open Studio manifestation. It is too much and I made
a decision to avoid this kind of distraction in the future. Monday March 20 2006 In Paris I had a very good time. Apart from the Bonnard exhibition, that was quite impressive, I was able to see an interesting exhibition about Ingres at the Louvre. The only disadvantage was that I got a cold which was no fun in the freezing temperature. I stayed at VP's and I took photographs of 4 paintings in her collection. Sunday March 12 2006 Except for some final touches "Woman
Cycling along a Canal" is finished. I feel insecure
about the result and I wonder if it was worth all the work. It took
me more than one month. Wednesday March 1 2006 The painting is near its final stage of applying
the neccesary details. I never expected the subject to be as complex
as it appears to be. Monday February 20 2006 Last few days I worked for a couple of hours on
"Woman Cycling along a Canal". The painting is about patches
of sunlight shattering a scene of everyday life in the city, about
the atmosphere of a canal on a hot summer day. I try to avoid painstakingly
precision as much as possible in favor of a lively treatment of
the subject.  Thursday February 16 2006 For many hours I worked on the new painting and it is beginning to look like something. The subject being very complex it is a hard job to get the balance right and keep enough freshness in the brushstrokes. Wednesday February 15 2006 I had to replace a halogen lamp for the studio lights.
I tried every possibility, but without success. The lamp has to
be ordered. Very annoying because the photo session on Sunday probably
has to be postponed. Tuesday February 14 2006 Last week I did not make much progress with the new painting. Much distraction of various kinds. Friday I made some good photos in an old cafe. I am not sure if I am going to use them for a painting. Saturday we drove to The Hague to attend the farewell exhibition of Adolfo Ramón at LvH's. Last night I sorted out recent photos and made some corrections in Photoshop. It took me many hours so I woke up late. Today I searched my archive to look for diapositives I could use for the exhibition in Luanda. I found three that I brought to the photografer to have them scanned and transformed into digital files. Tuesday February 7 2006 I have stretched a new medium size canvas intended for a painting of a woman on a bicycle and applied the first two layers of primer. In between I answered a couple of requests for prices. A certain Mr. H seems to be interested in "Café Brandon". Monday February 6 2006 I send LvH photos and information on the paintings that are available for the art fair. Saturday February 4 2006 Today I finished 'Eminönü Ferry Dock'. The painting is about the atmosphere of an Istanbul morning. It was not easy to get things right. I had to work till 2 at night and was tired but happy with the result: a charming "alla prima" painting. Friday February 3 2006 LvH called about the HAF art fair at easter. I agreed
on taking part with 3 paintings. I had to send him photos and information
about the works that are available. Thursday February 2 2006 Today I decided to pay my brother B a visit, because I received an alarming phone call. Fortunately he was in a good mood, but very disturbed though. He never stopped talking until I left. After a few hours of listening to his fantastic stories that were all weird mixtures of fantasy and reality, I was exhausted. I was not surprised to learn that his wife had left him. After she left he had grown a long beard and his hair reached his shoulders. The table was full of empty beer cans and he showed me his garden where had had made a primitive fire place to cook his food in the open air. In the hall and the bedroom were huge piles of dead wood he had gathered. Wednesday February 1 2006 In fact it was an ideal weather condition for making photos at Herengracht for F's portrait. Nevertheless I decided not to. There were too many photos waiting for working up. At Foto Nivo I bought a handy reflection screen. The trees were all covered with hoar-frost, beautiful! Tuesday January 31 2006 After a good breakfast I drove to Vierhavenstraat to say goodbye to J's old workshop. With one of his colleagues I went to the new working space at Elsertstraat. In the afternoon I delivered the two paintings at vdM in Berkel en Rodenrijs. He was very happy and content with the frame. He paid the amount in cash. I wonder why. The rest of the beautiful afternoon I spend with Paco in Kralingse Bos, where, although there was still ice on the water, I could feel the first glimpse of Spring in the air. J prepared Brussels sprouts with apple-sauce for diner. The drive back home was beautiful but tiring due to the fog. Monday January 30 2006 I went by the frame maker to collect vdM's painting. Back in the studio I took it out of the frame and photographed it together with 6 other paintings With these photos I updated the website. In the evening I took Paco and drove to Rotterdam to visit my cousin J and stayed the night there. Friday January 27 2006 I could make some progress with L's portrait. The eyes, nose and ear are all right. Hair and sweater still need some touches. I went by Foto Nivo for a new filter and a spare battery for the camera. Thursday January 26 2006 I sorted out the photos and placed them on the web. This is always a time consuming job. The rest of the day I did some administration and answered mail. Wednesday January 25 2006 Today I drove to Nijmegen to make photographs of
a boy. There was a glazed frost, so the road was long and tiring.
The session was pleasant. The boy N was cooperative but still somewhat
nervous. After the session I took Paco for a stroll along the river
Waal. I damaged the UV-filter of the lens, but the lens itself survived. |
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