she sends her flamingos (finishing not so old work 2)

(when i get depressed) she sends her flamingos (own work, 2008-2013, 21 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

i have a fair number of unfinished drawings awaiting their turn for another attempt by me to bring them to a suitable conclusion. they lie around my studio in various places, and i look at them from time to time. there is no rhyme or reason to which one will grab my eye, at a certain point in time. but perhaps there is one pattern: some themes need time to settle. this differs from theme to theme.

as i have been writing about this here on this blog: at least one big challenge left for me is to explore human relations, and la condition humaine. as i grow older i find i'm even more disenchanted with superficial esthetics. poignancy, relevancy to real life, i'm looking for those.

one serious question is whether to cater to the general public's taste... i do not wish to create images just for myself, but if one wishes for poignancy, relevancy and non-superficiality, then it is a fair guess that the general public's taste will need time to catch up. at least as much time as i do, when creating the works. or perhaps of course my art is all rubbish :-)

just so you know where i'm coming from...

finishing (not so old) work

grief and comfort (own work, 2012-2013, 34 x 50 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

sometimes, a work takes more stages before it is finished than i expected. this is mostly the case when i'm really experimenting with style. one inner debate which almost always takes place is simplicity vs. subtility/sophistication. and a very related question: how much imperfection is called for in this work?

so after starting this drawing in the beginning of 2012, i thought it finished at the end of last year. but i always study finished works for some time in my studio, before storing them, and its imperfections kept consistently nagging at me. i know that imperfection has its own quality and necessity, but when it keeps nagging me i usually feel that i have to improve on the work. i this case i chose to work more on detail, colour and expression. effectively this changed the entire drawing. the three pictures of details below should show you the expressivity of hands, faces and last but certainly not least: the expressivity of abstract elements.


hands in grief and comfort, detail i (click on the image for an enlargement)


faces in grief and comfort, detail ii (click on the image for an enlargement)


abstract elements in grief and comfort, detail iii (click on the image for an enlargement)

of human relations 4: drawings from my sketchbooks

[repeated: `as i said, i'm looking for new ways to visualize human relations, feelings, real-life struggle as well as uplifting moments. looking back on centuries of art, i find myself surprised that there is so little art which addresses this in a way that i find provoking, uplifting, inspiring.

this gives new motivation to continue my investigation. i feel sure enough of the emotive strength of the drawings which come up in this sense. and this translates into paintings as well. but enough words, the images themselves should be stronger.']


sleeping woman (own work, 2010, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


fighting in the street (own work, 2010, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


compassion (own work, 2010, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


grief and comfort iv (own work, 2012, 20 x 25 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

of human relations 3: drawings, drawings

[repeated: `as i said, i'm looking for new ways to visualize human relations, feelings, real-life struggle as well as uplifting moments. looking back on centuries of art, i find myself surprised that there is so little art which addresses this in a way that i find provoking, uplifting, inspiring.

this gives new motivation to continue my investigation. i feel sure enough of the emotive strength of the drawings which come up in this sense. and this translates into paintings as well. but enough words, the images themselves should be stronger.']


self-portrait as a mother worried about her children (own work, 2012, 30 x 36 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


rejection (own work, 2012, 21 x 20 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

for the next image, also see the post on notre dame des anges:


seigneur notre retraite (in brown-red) (own work, 2011, 30 x 40 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

another theme that crops up ever more frequently: the people who do not fit well into our `wonderful' society. sure, they are the misfits, so to say. but who is the more crazy, he who accepts this crazy world, or he who does not fit in? if you have read my previous posts, you will know that i for one cannot simply answer that question. and my concern and sympathy are often with the misfits, and my anger is often directed at all the `respected' institutions which together comprise the status quo in our society.


woman out of kilter (own work, 2011, 20 x 28 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

i think emotive expressive power comes from the eyes, the face, the body language...and the materials and techniques used. this is what i study on, laboriously, and much unappreciatedly...but the time of appreciation will come, i suppose, once enough people see the works and enough time has passed for them to compare this avenue of art to other avenues. anyway, if you see any art touching on the same themes, please let me know, since it would be inspiring to me to know other artists with a similar outlook.


detail of woman out of kilter (own work, 2011, 20 x 28 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)



taking care of the psychiatric patient iii (own work, 2011, 21 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)



grief and comfort iii (own work, 2011, 21 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)



self-portrait in orange unrest (own work, 2011, 21 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)



man, lost in thoughts and orange background (own work, 2011, 30 x 36 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


st. frances posing (own work, 2011, 30 x 35 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


woman in white bra (own work, 2012, 30 x 40 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

of human relations 2: in the family bed

as i said, i'm looking for new ways to visualize human relations, feelings, real-life struggle as well as uplifting moments. looking back on centuries of art, i find myself surprised that there is so little art which addresses this in a way that i find provoking, uplifting, inspiring.

this gives new motivation to continue my investigation. i feel sure enough of the emotive strength of the drawings which come up in this sense. and this translates into paintings as well. but enough words, the images themselves should be stronger. (also see the next post, for more drawings)



in the family bed (own work, 2011, 80 x 110 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

of human relations & dance of life 4

so, like i might or not have said in previous posts, i'm actually working my figurative butt off to develop some way to portray human relations, human emotions, human connections.

Kunst gibt nicht das Sichtbare wieder, sondern macht sichtbar.

('art doesn't show what is visible, rather it makes visible' - paul klee, 1920)

at times i have found it frustrating to have to explain the above to the lay person...but in later years i find myself explaining less and less. it is hard enough to come up with the images, the techniques, the perseverance in details... this reluctance to explain is not arrogance, it is a form of acceptance that some things cannot be explained.


of human relations (own work, 2009, 21 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

some more drawings on dance...where in the first you could notice that i'm working on some new painting techniques to paint people...


dance 3 figures (own work, 2011, 30 x 45 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


dance 4 figures (own work, 2009, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


dance 2 figures (own work, 2011, 15 x 16 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


dance 1 figure (own work, 2011, 20 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)