Valta's Blog | valta.nl

  Island sheep on a dyke You meet sheep everywhere on the island of Ameland, except the beaches. Some are grazing on the sea dykes, naturally maintaining the dykes, keeping them whole and solid. The special Texel breed is strong and can easily stand the North Sea climate. They are perfect suppliers of the knitting wool.  I pass multiple flocks while walking with my dog around our village. Recently I took many photographs of these little grazing beauties. So now it is time to paint them. I am thinking of a small series with sheep. Let's see where it brings us.   Again, I only used three primary oil colours plus titanium white and burnt umber. The canvas board is 24 x 30 cm, and it is painted alla prima (or wet on wet). View the finished painting in my  gallery .

Miniatures As I have some unused small, a kind of  kitschy  souvenir frames, I decided to make some tiny studies which  would pass into those frames. The first one was a detail of my previous painting with strawberries. The second was a tribute to  the master I admire , combining a master copy of his works with some details of my old still life which is now with a collector in the United States. The third one was based on my photograph (which I am going to use for larger paintings soon); this was my first attempt to paint a human hand in oil. I was quite excited while doing it, and I am quite satisfied with this result. More exercises with human hands will follow as I am not scared of trying anymore.  I painted them alla prima on acid-free cardboard only using the limited palette of primary oil colours plus burnt umber and titanium white. I learned as well what "a painting a day" is.  View the finished paintings in my  gallery .

A challenge Using the Rule of Thirds when choosing a composition can play a significant role in painting.  A fellow artist recently made a wonderful painting based on the photograph she took of her grandson. I asked permission to use her photograph and to try changing the composition by placing the figure out of the middle point.  I also tried out the tip of Dianne Mize whose  channel  I follow on Youtube, to prepare the surface with a little amount of the poppyseed oil and gamsol mix to get the paint laying smoothly. Very happy with this tip.      So I made this small and quick study in alla prima. I used the cardboard and my limited palette of primary oil colours plus burnt umber and titanium white. View the finished painting in my  gallery .     in progress

Some flowers for my mother While visiting the well preserved  estate and the house of Verwolde  in the Achterhoek, among all those beautifully decorated eclectic interiors I somehow was touched by the view of a tiny room in the souterrain, probably a scullery. The day light gave the space lovely soft shadows and the setting was very natural in its simplicity. The nostalgic scene was thoroughly set by someone's artistic hands. It felt like the moment when the gardener had just left and their flower arrangements were just ready to be brought upstairs. So I took then some photographs and now I tried to paint this feeling in alla prima. I used the Mus panel and my limited palette of primary oil colours plus burnt umber and titanium white. I once made a  painting of an lovely old scullery in Leeuwarden , called Downstairs. So, I will call this one the Downstairs 2. View the finished painting in my  gallery . in progress

The summer art show proved to be successful Making a project low risk is always fun. No great expectations, no regrets when it's a failure. Safe. Still, there is always a tiny (or immense) hope of success. And this time success it was. I am very proud to involve the top artists  Erwin Pattipeilohy  and  Peter Kiewied . I am happy with and grateful to all the visitors and the art collectors (10 art works were sold, and we've got some commissions as well). I am enormously thankful to everyone who helped promote our project! My very special appreciation goes to our patrons and friends of arts Eva and Riekus for providing that unique and beautiful space in their historic house. And above all, huge thanks and all my love to Paul, for believing, constant support and encouragement! Perhaps, we will repeat the show next year. You still can view some of the exhibitied works on our  page . And check this video to get an impression.

Fragole & Aceto Balsamico I like my strawberries with a drop of balsamic vinegar, like this 12 year old one by Giuseppe Giusti. Last spring I painted  this still life  with strawberries. Now I wanted to paint it again but in a different setting, in oil and alla prima using my limited palette. This is how it became the Strawberries, oil, canvas, 24x30 cm. View the finished painting in my  gallery . Have a nice summer everyone! in progress

Excited I am happy to work on this small but lovely project, organising a 3-day show with the art works of 3 artists living on our island. The location is a magnificent historic place, a perfectly preserved and restored former stable in the middle of the village of Hollum. My fellow artists  Erwin  and  Peter  will be showing their marvelous sculpture and superb design objects. We hope the visitors shall enjoy what they see. For those who can't be on Ameland these days, have a look at the art works on our  page . For the happy ones who are on the island on June 17-19, welcome and see you there! the show poster

Simplifying the light I am in love with our old house. I believe this is the fourth painting I am making of this very room (have a look at the  first , the  second  and the  third  one). The sunlight makes nice and strong contrasts when it falls through the west facing windows, making the historic interior and its colours quite vivid. So I wanted to paint that effect. It's a good exercise to simplify things, too, and I hope I haven't involved too much of unnecessary details. I painted this one alla prima on a Mus panel with oil colours. As usual I used the three primary colors plus burnt umber and titanium white. This is how it became the Amelander Interior, oil, panel, 24x30 cm. View the finished painting in my  gallery . in progress

Light, books, etc. For a long time I wanted to paint a still life with books again. A few weeks ago, I was reading a book one evening, having a nice cup of coffee. The old bouillotte lamp was on, and it gave a nice soft light-dark effect to the stuff on the table and the books on the shelves behind. I took a few pictures of that setting, and I knew I wanted to paint it. Again, I used the three primary colors plus burnt umber and titanium white. This is how it became The Cup of Coffee, oil, panel, 24x30,5 cm. View the finished painting in my  gallery . in progress

Still life again I love the spontaneous settings that are not set deliberately. While making breakfast on a sunny morning, I noticed the lovely shadow effect made by the sunlight falling through the window, covering a part of the table and creating a strong tonal light-dark contrast in the room. A kind of chiaroscuro effect. I immediately took some photographs and decided to paint this composition on canvas. I used my primary oil colours (cadmium red, cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue plus burned umber and titanium white) and the alla prima technique. You can find a very short video showing the painting progress in  my account  on Instagram. So this became "Breakfast", oil, canvas, 30 x 40 cm. View the finished painting in my  gallery . in progress