Looking back on 2018

2018 was not a good year. Privately, there was a lot of turmoil due to family issues during those years, and that began to creep into my work at the end of 2017. I can see it reflected in 2018: I didn't produce much work, and there was certainly no room for new developments. Somehow, I find the work “Autumn Sun” comforting, because of the light, the atmosphere and Helmantel's beautiful painting. I had had the postcard for years. When I first started painting, around the age of twenty, I copied works of art from postcards. One of the first was this painting of chestnuts by Henk Helmantel. Now, for the second time, I have copied this postcard, but literally as a postcard.

I made the paintings with the postcard by Jan Voerman Jr. specifically for a group exhibition at the With Tsjalling gallery, in which artists were asked to create work based on the classic bowl of cherries.

I also made work with caravans, which I have always found to be a nice series to fall back on. What also works well for me when I'm not in a good flow is doing something completely different, such as screen printing. By focusing on a technique that I have not yet mastered, I am still able to work very well. After making a screen print of caravans in a forest last year, this year I made a screen print of a smurf with five print runs. I once painted this image and have now converted it into a graphic work.

1. Autumn Sun, oil on panel, 47 x 54 cm, 2018. The postcard features a painting by Henk Helmantel, the title is taken from a song by Emiliana Torrini.

2. Four ways to pit a cherry, oil on panel, 32.5 x 53 cm, 2018. The postcard features a painting by Jan Voerman Jr.

3. Rhyme for the summertime, oil on panel, 47 x 54 cm, 2018. The postcard features a painting by Jan Voerman Jr., the title is taken from a song by G-love.

4. Caravans in the forest, oil on canvas, 50 x 100 cm, 2018

5. Uitgesmurft, silkscreen print, 36 x 36 cm, 2018