Snow on the beach

Strand en Duinen met sneeuw
oil on canvas
13 x 18 cm (thus small format)
painted on location - Saturday 29 Jan 2010

SOLD

On my mailing list, and not yet have an original painting by il pittore? Well I can't make it easier for you than this...... A small painting, yet giving you the viewer a vast space to enjoy. Breath in the air, you might even feel the chill in the air. And yes it was bitterly cold. But thanks to the sunshine and hardly no wind, it was managable. I was painting together with my good artist friend, another dedicated plein - air painter, Silvester Peperkamp.

The North Sea, in its obstinate clamour

Halsstarrig clamor van de Noord Zee, Strandaanslag # 10, DH.
oil on canvas
30 x 80 cm - (12 x 76 inches)
painted on location - Tues 25 Jan 2011   -    SOLD

Looks like a decent series is starting to develop here! Usually I include much more sky in my seascapes, but am finding that in this compositional style, the eye has a comfortable focus on what's happening in the foreground. And that is were all the action is taking place. Wild, savage waves breaking in thundering sound on a desolate stretch of beach. The play of light, causing cast shadows, and creating earthly colors, bouncing off the natural grasses of the dunes, all contribute for an esentially intriguing moment, here at the # 10 beach entrance, Westduinpark, The Hague.

La pace sia con Voi

Peace be with You/Verde zij met U
oil on canvas
30 x 80 cm
painted on location - Fri 21 Jan 2011  -  SOLD

Why this title you may ask? Well let me explain...it came to me while I was on location, working on this painting. Something about the gentleness of this scene, had me repeating these words, like a mantra, strange! ....The municipality has taken away all the poles, the barbed wired fence, and the cement pavement leading to this beach. Actually they were removing the poles while I was painting. Thus apart from the small blue square on the right, which is the backside of a sign, you have before you only Nature. Mother Nature in It's purity. A slight glimpse of the sky, the vastness of a gentle sea, reflecting the soft, shadowy light, on a sometimes sunny morning(as the sunlight was sharp for only seconds/minutes at a time). The forground covered mostly with wild dry grasses, serving an important function of keeping the sand dunes in tact. Unfortunately this is only a temporary situation, as everything, will be replaced. I have to think of the Joni Mitchell song, "You take Paradise, and put up a parking lot' Oh well, for me there is something about this scene that lefts my spirit, thus whether you agree with me or not, the title remains!

Invitation to fun and adventure, Beach entrance # 10, The Hague

Strandaanslag # 10, Zuiderstrand, Den Haag
oil on canvas
60 x 70 cm - (24 x 28 inches)
painted on location - Wed. 19 Jan 2011  -  SOLD




Yes folks, in landscape painting, "the sky governs everything". That's what the English master landscape painter Constable, said many years ago. As you can clearly see in this work, that couldn't be more true. After almost 2 weeks of constant overcast sky, and much rain, despite the cold, it was great to be out working on this scene. I finished it just on time, as it started to rain the minute I was loading my car with the painting gear. It was unbeleivable just how much the scenery changed, whilst I was setting up and working. As soon as I got on location, there happened to be a fantastic rainbow, coming from the zeinth of the sky, extending all the way to the middle of the horizon line! Of course my intention was to get that on canvas, but it had already dissappeared by the time I got my colors and brushes out!

Fishing Harbor, Makkum, Friesland

Vissers Haven, Makkum, Friesland
oil on canvas
40 x 30 cm
painted on location - Wed. 12 Jan 2011

SOLD

Well, when the Sun is not shining, and rain drops are falling on my head, and I'm on a painting excursion with 3 colleagues, being hosted in a luxurious Bed and Breakfast, near this village, what do I do?..... I look for a subject to paint, then of course in this case I need shelter from the rain, so after more than one hour of searching I finally sighted this location. Affording me to stay dry, but not warm, as I was out in the open, at the entrance to someones residence. Parts of the water are frozen, thus this glass like refelection, and the slight movements of the vessels, (for let us not forget they are afloat!), give the water its character.

Rolling Wave with seagulls

Winters zeegezicht #1, 2011
oil on canvas
20 x 40 cm
painted on location - Tues 4 Jan 2011

SOLD


Thought I'd start off with a painting of my favorite subject these days. Thus I dared the brisk cold and windy conditions. The shinning Sun is what gave me the inspiration to make this work. As I had to work very quickly, a simple composition of a rolling wave, and seagulls feeding on, I'm not really sure what. As you can see the seagulls are merely hinted at. What I mean is, they are not painted in, feather for feather. They are painted in a way that fits to the painting, because that is what matters. A painting has a language of its own, and the only way to understand the painting is to decode the language. Now my paintings are quite figurative and thus easily readable, but some paintings from abstract artists can really challenge the viewer.