Finally summer. And some more knowledge

Something different

It seems that my annual winter depression this year, due to the lockdown and the unusually sunless, cold and wet spring, lasted for half a year instead of a few weeks. I was of course happy to be able to paint and read, but I was also thrilled to discover many interesting courses at Coursera, which I loved to audit. And that was not few. Proud of this list so far. But I don't intend to stop. I like to learn. So there's still a lot planned, maybe after the summer break.

Hoping that this long depression is finally over, I am now fully enjoying the nature around us and our garden again. And I'm also working now on a new small but nice art project for our island. I hope to report on that very soon.

So, see you soon, and take good care of your mental health, and of the others.

Comments

Peaceful Fields, project completed

A very special commission indeed When I posted this story in March I still did not quite believe this project could ever be realised. Today I am proud to tell and to show that the project was successfully completed and that I was honoured to play a small part in it. But first things first. The most northern historical windmill in the Netherlands, called De Phenix, has been thoroughly restored and repurposed as a unique working both flour and oil mill with a large underground visiting area. Dozens of professionals and volunteers have been working hard for four years to make this happen. It became one of eight Amelander Musea . Being a volunteer, I was invited in February by the museum working group to collaborate in the design of the underground space of the mill. Besides the whole construction, I was particularly impressed by the very long concrete wall which I thought should stay just clear and unfurnished bearing only some decoration on it, possibly depicting a scenery traditi

Utrecht Revisited

A new show in the Gallery Rob Rademaker I love being in the old historic downtown of Utrecht. It's always nice to return to the place where I used to live for 13 happy years, until 7 years ago we moved to another beautiful but totally different place. Luckily the old city centre is not changing much or rapidly so I still recognise and enjoy the historic streets, grachten, hofjes, churches and houses I used to walk along. Right in the middle of this beautiful downtown, behind the city hall, you can find the Gallery Rob Rademaker , located on the ground floor of a very old house with a rich history. This autumn, the gallery is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Now you can imagine how excited, happy and honoured I am to be exhibiting my paintings here. From 9 September to the end of October, the works of three artists, Rob Jacobs, Henri Poppelaars and myself are on show in this gallery. Well, if you happen to (re)visit Utrecht during these months, take a leisurely stroll d

You'll Get Over It

What could possibly happen? Something tragic, I assume. I am sure you can imagine dozens of situations where this setting could be possible. Regret, revelation, anger, shock, despair, compassion, support, consolation, reassurance, forgiveness, unbelief, doubt, fear... All of these might apply to the people in this painting. And all these are actually expressed with hands. And there will be nothing of these when you think those hands away, I'm afraid. This is another small one in my series Hands' Private Life. I painted it all prima with my limited palette of Burnt sienna, Ultramarine blue, Yellow ochre, Cadmium red and Titanium white. As reference, I used the photographs Paul and myself took of me and my hands, in four different settings. While thinking about how to name this piece, with my music on, the Legacy by PSB suddenly started to playback. The lyrics were so true, my mood was quite down, and the title was chosen. (And first I was thinking of calling it Cavalleria

Valta's Blog | valta.nl

Search This Blog