Exposition PRIKKEL draad

The day before the opening there was an article in a big Dutch newspaper (De Volkskrant) An interview with the curator of the exposition. The proloque says:

On the exhibition Prikkeldraad we see the dark and uneasy side of sex. 'Glossynude' and 'SBS6-sex' have a drawback. (SBS 6 is a commercial TV station, they had softporn in the late hours of night, nowadays it's a rightminded commercial station but the slogan SBS6 sex is still be used) This is why curator and writer Claar Griffioen made this exhibition. This is her perspective.

The shady side of sex is also reality. No glossy dream sex, nothing manipulated, but the naked truth. Everybody know the drawback of sex, but most of the time we hide it away.

 

It was a great opening, the gallery looks great, a spatial gallery and as an old squatter i like the squat history of this gallery.  They do a lot for the neighborhood and also lots of activities for kids. The opening speech was held by professor  Henk Oosterling, philosopher. A speech with humour and eyeopeners. Great art, although there have to be more uneasyness for my personal flavour. Or maybe i don't feel uneasy easily about sex.  I am proud to be participant in this exhibition.  And who knows what new roads it will bring for me.  The world broadcasting services thought my drawings as one of their favourites. Yeay! And it was such fun to watch people looking at my drawings. I had to hold myself, feeling like a kiddie in a candystore. LOL A much much better experience than the artmarket i must say.  This feels good, tasting for more.

Oh yeah and not to forget: the music on this opening was awesome. Scherzo Mechanica: Peter Zegveld and Dolf Planteijdt.

Some impression photo's, not all good quality, but soon more..........

poster PRIKKELdraad

 

On the road, Rotterdam harbours.

  

Almost there, where all the people are.



Here they are, my babies.

Inbetween two masturbating men paintings.

What does he think of it?

Another spectator.

read:Prikkeldraad, about sexual sadness and uneasyness. Stories from differnet writers.
taste: salty peanuts 
hear: Suicide  with Dream baby dream and after that Bjork with Unravel, such a beautiful song.....

touch:the soft fur of my redhaired tomcat Willie 

think:about art and several themes/concepts for next drawings and paintings 

feel:happy and exhited for new possibilities.

I watch the sky

And i run and i run and i run........

Ready to go

This morning my work for the upcoming exhibition is collected, they were ready to go. I am really excited, trying not to be intimidated, because many of the participants are well known artists, selling their art all over the world. One of the pieces for this exposition has to be sold for 23.000 euros. Gosh, and then there is my work:  small, intimate and leaving an intense feeling i hope. The good thing about these welknown artists is the fact that there will be visitors who wouldn't come for an exhibition with only my name. Not well known (yet). ;-)
I noticed that art has to be BIG these days, BIG seizes, overwhelming techniques. I also see this on the internet: students from art schools with art that intimidate at first sight. Wow! i think, great art, overwhelming and so very clean and strict. I mean the look of it. Clean worlds, sometimes disturbing because of the perfection. That's what i think. It overwhelms me but then.... there it is, i take a closer look, still admiring the perfection of it all. There it is, in all its glory, intimidating perfection and it doesn't move me. It doesn't reach my heart and soul. Oh yeah. it keeps me thinking also. Should i make larger drawings? Flawless drawings? Drawing larger formats is tempting me, because of the challenge. Not because it looks better in a museum (?), trying to ahhhh and oooooh people. But i am also tempted to draw even smaller drawings, as a reaction. Wouldn't it be great: large paintings, installations, drawings everywhere and then a tiny tiny drawing of me. I would hang it a bit low, so people should go down, to take a better look. That's what i dream of right now......

And ofcourse of selling my drawings for enormous prices, so i can take a visit to my overseas artist friends all over the world. ;-)  I was very very busy, but will visit you all soon. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and i wish you a wonderful week full of dreams and challenges.

Warm feelings in winter and a bit of delicious, scary excitement.

Again such a lot to tell, where shall i begin? First of all, i already had spring in my thoughts and feelings but King Winter woke me up. Finally we have a winter and today it's snowing again. I am happy it's a good winter, not wet and blubbering, but clear, dry air, sometimes sunshine and because the waether is clear it's also very cold. When sitting behind my table, drawing, i can watch the snow falling and spotting all kind of birds in the garden and the old, big tree standing behind our house. Which reminds me to finally upload a photo of my working place.




 


Twelve o'clock, midday

  

Afternoon, after snowing all day long.








  

I am on RedBubble for quite awhile, but i didn't do anything with it. Until now. You can buy there cards and prints of my work. To support me and at the same time you will have a beautiful Momo Luna Signal. Ofcourse i ordered some cards myself, to check the quality of it and i must say the cards are beyond my expectations. They were larger than i thought, the image is bright and sharp, the cards are really very beautiful. Click on the Cards & prints diashow on the right and you enter my page.

 I also found Harry Kent on RedBubble that made me very happy because i love his art very much. I also ordered some cards of him. Again very great quality.  I think we should send each other cards more often. Not only with Christmas or a birthday, but to let someone know you care. A real card is much nicer than an email right? So take a look at RedBubble, there are lots of great artists with wonderful cards and prints.

For all the nice support and friendship i'm going to send my loyal blogfriends a little package. To thank you for that. I also received this week a package myself from my blogfriend Renilde. I love her art a lot. I love the fairytales she spins and the beautiful blues she uses on her palette. A special Renilde blue. :-) Thank you so much sweet Renilde for your beautiful gift, i am very happy with it!!!! Very much so.

Beautiful art by Renilde, i'm very happy with her lovely gift.




The wonderful cards of Haryy Kent, available on RedBubble.


And last but certainly not least: in March i will be participating in a group exhibition. The topic of this exhibition is:  Sex without joy, or unfulfilling sexual experiences. The curator asked me if i had something fitting this theme so I sended a mail with a suggestion of three drawings of mine. Unfortunately i was a bit late and there were already enough contributors. Typical me. But the curator likes my art, so she was going to check if i can have some space afterall. And she made it possible. I am so happy, excited and a bit scared haha. Because there are some well known artists on this exhibition. So i have to try not to get intimidated and to feel trust in myself. But this tiny bit of anxiety gives me butterflies, like the fear you have in a rollercoaster, you are scared and at the same time you have so much fun.  Soon more information about the exhibition.

The three drawings for this exhibition:   





Tenderness is weakness

 

Do you see who i am?



 
 
 

F*ck me doll - I dare you!

  




And to make this cold winterday even warmer and more perfect: i ordered an agenda with great photographs of Crissant. It arrived today and it's even more beautiful than i could imagine. If you wanna support this lovely lady check out her Blurb here.  I wish you all a perfect weekend!




Great agenda from Crissant.

 

Malleus maleficarum * Witch hammer

Yesterday i had the house for myself and i decided to start some new drawings. Which shouldn't been difficult in this quiet time. Nobody needing my attention, phone disconnected.... And we have a soft winter, almost like spring or autumn. It was raining outside, i love the rain, a warm cup of tea, my book and pencils.

I haven't draw or paint for awhile and if that takes too long i start feeling very restless. I wanted to draw on the drawing from the post  ´A new canvas´.  But looking at the drawing i didn´t like it. I felt my heart and soul isn´t in this drawing. Maybe i feel different about it in the future and finish this drawing, but for now i reject it. I took my book Dictionary of subjects and symbols in art by James Hall. Great book i think. I randomly opened it, to see what happens. The book opened at the pages about witches. About the book Malleus maleficarum. Written in 1486 by Jacob Sprengers. He wrote about the wicked influences of women. Weak of flesh, women tried to seduce good men to destroy them. Because of this book, because of this malicious Jacob Sprengers lots of strong, smart women were accused of being a witch and murdered. Ofcourse i had read about this book before, but reading this again gave me inpiration, new ideas and thoughts. Just the other day i also had read about women being ´slaughtered´ on the internet. On television we have a daily prominent talkshow in which guests (most men i must say) talk about the news, politics etc. Most women who were guests in this show are humiliated on the internet.  They were called names, threatened to be raped and even threatened to be killed. For sure men also experience this. But there is a difference. Women are not humiliated because of their opinions, but because of their sexe. All comments are about how they look like, about sexual humiliation (slut!) and sexual threads (rape). If women have strong opinions they have to be punished so it seems. Then there is this Italian woman, Lorella Zanardo, who started a protest against Italian television were women looks like bimbos with little clothes on and doing all kinds of humiliating acts. Check out her internet movie Il corpo delle donne. 
So strange how in former days women weren´t allowed to be sexual creatures, and nowadays it seems like women have to be sexual creatures in a vulgar way. But both it's about one common thing: women are not supposed to think and to talk about their opinions. I have nothing against sex or erotica, i have nothing against naked women. I even don´t have something against nastiness. But i do have something against short-sightedness, presenting women as brainless human beings and i do have something against violence against women.

Back to the beginning, feeling restless, wanting to draw. All this information bubbled in my head. I started to draw. I made 3 new drawings. This is a new series: Malleus maleficarum. For now i show you the first 2 drawings in this series. I hope you love them as much as i do. And more of it will come, because i have lots of ideas about it.

AN EMPTY SPACE

Mixed media on paper

STAINS ON MY SOUL

Mixed media on paper

Reinforcement * What the hell am i doing here?

Oh gosh, i wanna tell you so much but i don't know where to begin. Although i didn't post the last three months of 2011, there were some experiences relating to my art. I was a participant on the artmarket Arnhem. I had mixed feelings about it, but i wanted to do it, to see what will happen. It was my first time and other participants*artists were going to critize my art. To see if i am good enough for the market next year. I don't wanna be presumptuous, but to be honest, in my humble opinion there were only two good, original painters and one ceramist who was good. But still i was pretty nervous.

The day began early and my eldest son kept me company. Because of the huge retrenchement on art (although it doesn't hurt me personally, i don't have any allowance whatsoever) I thought it would be fun to stretch a clothesline with my little drawings hanging on it. Support your local artist, was a sign also hanging on the clothesline. I had some nice linen on the table with my larger drawings, some paintings and greetingcards, businesscards and free commercial greetingcards. Perhaps i was a bit too enthousiastic, because at the end i heard that my table was a bit too full and the clothesline wasn't appreciated for being disorganized. I agree with the table, a bit too much for sure LOL, but i chuckled about the clothesline. Hmmm some artists are taken themselves very, very serious without any humour. Don't get me wrong, i take myself also serious as an artist, very much so, but it's good to laugh about yourself also i think.  There are too many swollen headed people on this planet. People who also can laugh about themselves (like George Clooney in a coffee commercial) have my heart.

To continue the day on the art market: after two hours my son left me to go skateboarding. And now  i tell you a secret. People who know me wouldn't say it, but i am very shy around people i don't know. And there i was standing alone with a table full of my art feeling very vulnerable and lonely. It got worse every hour and i was singing a song in my head like a mantra: what the hell am i doing here? i don't belong here.... (Radiohead) And i was sure my so told pretty smile was now a scary looking grin. I became introvert, couldn't react properly. Also because of the crowd visiting the market. I am aware that my art isn't comfortable, you don't hang it above the couch (easily). The daytrippers who came to look art just to make fun of it, eating French fries with lots of mayonaise, were alienating me. It shouldn't bother me, but it did.

Then there were these two men (fellow artists criticizing?) hands in pocket, not looking at me at all, acting a bit indifferent, whispering and laughing together, not looking at me at all. But one of these men came back some times, studying my large drawing Requiem over and over again, sometimes looking at me and if i looked back he quickly looked away. He took in every detail of the drawing so it seems, mumbling some words i couldn't hear. And me, feeling strange, chanting what the hell i'm doing here in my head, hadn't the courage to ask him what he think of it. Fortunately i also had some good conversations with nice people who were interested in my work. That makes such a day worthwhile.

I didn't sell anything that day ha! But  the free cards did find their way into handbags & pockets. A view days later i heard that i was allowed to be a participant again this year. But only with my drawings not my paintings. (whats wrong with my paintings? Kids loved my fertility godess, it made them laugh and me too. But parents draw them quickly away from all those tits lol)  And without the clothesline. Another ha! Guess what? I'll do it! What can i say. I am a masochist. I am a stranger, a steppenwolf. I am vulnerable.   ~SMILE~

REINFORCEMENT

Mixed media on old paper on cardboard. A4

A new canvas

Hello there dear friends. It has been awhile but i am happy to be back. I have missed you all a lot. I'm happy too that 2011 is over. It was a tiring year with many worries and in the end i only could see blackness, not realizing how blessed i am with my two kids, my darling hubbie and beautiful home while i am a born optimistic. So i cannot show you new paintings or drawings because i even couldn't draw or paint. This new year, 2012,  lies ahead of me like a new canvas and i wanna paint it with rich colourful images, not worrying about the shades and the blacks. In fact black holds all colours and shadows belong to sunshine.

I wish you all a beautiful year and use your new canvas well.

I can show you a new beginning of a drawing and a new beginning of a painting, started awhile ago, but soon to be completed. Sharpen your pencils, clean your brushes, 2012 has begun, time for new horizons, new ideas, new dreams.

 

A fragment of a new painting  *  Three godesses settling your life

Just a glimpse of something new.

Open your eyes, i still beg......

Another edited drawing that turns into a new world. I'm thinking of painting these ones. I got very inspired by editing my drawings, creating new possibilities. For drawings ánd paintings. A world into a world into.... it seems endless. I wish you all a wonderful weekend that seems endless with full of inspiration!

Open your eyes

I still beg......

I swear i didn't mean it

It didn't fit entirely on my scanner, so a tiny bit larger on the bottom. If you click on the picture you get a larger look. Like Caio i complain about the colors, in real the colors are more intense and brighter.
Ink and watercolors on paper  *  29 x 40 cm

The things you don't see

The things you don't see, that's relevant in my life right now. My health isn't good at the moment, i'm mentally fine but frustrated because my body is letting me down. Big time! But you don't see a thing, i'm looking fine. So people don't understand and sometimes rejecting me. Because of the things they don't see, don't understand. Tired? I hear them think... everybody is tired once in awhile, but i wish i could be tired in a healthy way. Not the devouring tiredness i experience right now, not able to do anything at all. A prisoner in my own home. A nice home, but still.
I know i'll survive, that better times with lots of energy is coming again. I've accepted my disease and the physical consequences that comes with it. But i find it difficult to deal with the ignorance of others, feeling guilty all the time. I don't blame them, but it's very frustrating.

This is a reminder to all, including myself. Don't reject other people, because there are always things you don't see.

I also wanna let you know that there are blogs i can't leave a comment on. I don't know why and how i can change that. Know that i am reading and enjoying all blogs i follow.
Fill your days with joy and i wish you all lots of creative energy!

The things you don't see no. 1

The things you don't see no. 2