Transferring (from newspaper to painting)

Somewhere in a book or article I read that certain newspapers are printed with fatty ink that you can transfer to paper. I don't remember which newspapers they were (but certainly not the Nice Matin - that doesn't transfer at all). Colleague Aquarellista Cathie van der Stel and me tried it out - put the newspaper on our work and rubbed it with a spoon - and it didn't give a spectacular result. But nevertheless it inspired us to create something out of it, that was different from what we normally do!

'Ride the wave' it says (mirrored) on this frozen still life by Cathie van der Stel

No idea what this actually is, it just happened after I transferred the header to my paper (It says someting with 'Tiger')(mirrored). The letters were hardly visible, so I traced them with some red paint - and the rest followed. Maybe you have better transferring results with other newspapers, don't hesitate to let me know via 'comments' because it is something I find interesting as a project - for pamphlets or more politically engaged work...

Nice Airport Vernissage

Last Saturday, the exhibition 'Les Abstraits' was officially opened! It was very well visited as you can see on the picture below!

The artists were introduced by the organisation and the attaché culturel de La Gaude. The nice looking guy on my left is Olivier Menu whose explosive art was printed  on the invitation:

The art was also visible on the monitors!

This exhibition is on until the 30st of July, in both business centers, of Terminal 1 and 2...

Girl Power?

This weekend I had the opening of a private exhibition. Forty of my aquarelles were on display for the residents of a very exclusive domaine.

Over there I met a lovely, mysterious and famous aquarellista. A wealthy man, made his fortune in Japan with his watercolours (yippee, it can be done!) who told me he gave lectures on academies all over the world - but that the English watercolour tradition didn't accept him. I'll be contacting soon to hear more of his stories, admire his work, and I'll let you know all about it.

I am very proud that he appreciated "my DNA". There was another well-known and talented artist present who holds the aquarelle brush from time to time and I'll feature him as well in later posts.
The other visitors were all interested in art - well - the women were! From the comments I received I could make up that they understood what I was doing (or trying to do) with my abstract free work: Use the behaviour of the paint to create something that comes out of ME, my brain, my imagination, my DNA. The result is a surprise to me too, it is never exactly planned and I only show what I like.
But I feel I'm on to something there, something original, that I must work with, and it has to do with the origin - of me, but also of life itself. Very modest, not?

Anyway - the men, with exception of the artists, were all looking for something they could recognise. "I like the protraits much better" was a much-heard remark. "A very free interpretation of DNA" or "doesn't look like DNA at all" were down-to-earth others. And last but not least "I can see you are a woman - you paint textile and fabrics, looks like needlework" .

Don't get me wrong -I appreciate the input and I do wonder if it might be true, as I have noticed before that in general my work is recognized by women, they seem to like it better than men and also somehow understand the "deeper" meaning ... More later! And I'd like to read your comments, so don't hesitate to react. On my website you can see more work...

a Logo for Aquarellista!

We are passionate about Aquarelle!

We'd like to promote painting with it. We found out that aquarelle is a fabulous medium to express yourself in. It is light, you can always carry it with you, it has no strong smell and is ready for use whenever you feel like it. Being good with aquarelle paint is regarded as difficult - and it does require a bit of technique - that you have to learn first. Not everybody can do it - but, it is not extremely difficult, just different!!

There have been great artists in the past that used aquarelle as a serious medium: Dürer, Turner, Kandinsky, Nolde... They were the first Aquarellista's!

Modern Art (I'm told) is only succesful when it is "shocking"... People watch tv all day, and are used to seeing shocking things, in general they go for the quick fix, the kick, and the sensation.

We would propose Aquarelle as a proud answer to that!
Aquarellista! is a movement that promotes the beautiful, fine and subtle art of painting with aquarelle. We' d like every artist that works with aquarelle to join this group - there must be a possibility to become a mature contrast to this decadent trend that art has to be scandalous to "work". Aquarelle can be the medium for serious abstract painting, expressing emotion - strong, maybe quiet, gripping but subtle, spontaneous and always striking.

Would you like to become a member? Send a mail, or write a comment below! Membership is free for the time being and the more we are, the bigger the chance that we will be accepted as serious artists!

We'll gradually build up the movement. A website is in the planning and, after careful consideration, we'd like to introduce 3 proposals for a logo:

Let us know which one you like best!! - That one will be worked out into a serious Aquarellista logo...We look forward to your comments...