Looking back on 2013

In 2013, I worked on a new series, or rather two series: butter and milk.

The reason for this was the stress of choosing what to buy when shopping. ‘Butter’ was on my shopping list, just ‘butter’. Then I had to choose between all the different types, multiple varieties, from just as many brands. Cream butter, grass-fed butter, farm butter, salted and unsalted, but also lightly salted, organic or non-organic, margarine, baking butter, or perhaps liquid butter? Private label or premium brand? The idea arose to paint all the different types of butter, to illustrate how ridiculously large the selection in stores is, how hard all kinds of marketing departments are working.

Painting all varieties proved impossible, as the range was too large and the marketing departments were too innovative. The packaging changes so often that it is impossible to keep up with painting it all. I don't think a single piece of packaging in the entire series of paintings has remained the same. The C1000 no longer exists, so that private label has completely disappeared. Incidentally, the private labels often turned out to have the most beautiful packaging to paint. In general, they had a more limited number of colors, a sleeker design, and fewer frills.

After spending a few months painting butter packets, I also started painting milk cartons. For a change. Butter packets are all more or less the same shape; milk cartons are different and there is also some variety among them. And just like with butter, there are many more varieties than you might think.

1. Eko butter, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 cm, 2013

2. Butter Beurre, oil on canvas, 35 x 45 cm, 2013

3. Butter, oil on canvas, 60 x 90 cm, 2013

4. Private label butter, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 cm, 2013

5. C1000 butter, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 cm, 2013

6. Arla organic buttermilk, oil on canvas, 25 x 40 cm, 2013

7. C 100 organic milk, oil on panel, 17 x 11 cm, 2013

8. Organic semi-skimmed milk, oil on panel, 12 x 8 cm, 2013

9.    Landhof whole milk, oil on panel, 17 x 11 cm, 2013