Valta's Blog | valta.nl

"Sunset" Inspired by the Jacob Collins' painting, I am now daring to try an 'abstract' landscape. A very quick study, using paper and learning the alla prima technique. 'Sunset Study', acrylic, paper, 24 x 15 cm.

"Aan tafel!" Another try to combine still life and interior in one painting. I love the light falling into our kitchen through the small windows. Just like last year , I used the place to make a new setting. I think I have caught the shadows on the china rather nicely. Table clothes and cutlery are what I'd like to practice more in future. 'Aan tafel!', acrylic, canvas board, 30 x 24 cm. See the final version in My gallery .

New experience Making a study of a view from my attic window. Never tried this before. Maybe later I will make a larger version of it. Finding the right colours and structure for painting the roof tiles is a challenge indeed. Roofs of Hollum, acrylic, paperboard, approximately 20 x 9 cm.

Another miniature This turned out to be fun. Tried landscape again. This time it is the view of the village where I live. The photograph I took a while ago, has been of much help. Hollum, acrylic, paperboard, approximately 5 x 12 cm.

The first miniature Inspired by the tropical weather last weekend, I have tried now to paint a sea landscape. Something I wouldn't normally want to paint. Well, here it is. Remembering our Normandy holidays, let's call it A Channel Beach. A Channel Beach, acrylic, paperboard, approximately 12 x 5 cm.

Cheesy light Browsing the web lately I got inspired by some beautiful photographs I ran into on a Tumblr of a Scotsman with great taste. I loved the composition of a photograph with a cheese and wine setting. So I decided to make my own version of it. Here is the result. Let's call it Sunday Lunch. Sunday Lunch, acrylic, canvas, 25 x 30 cm. See a larger image in My gallery . UPDATE: Sold by Saatchi Art

A new still life Dark winter days seem to be over, and it feels like I want to paint again. This time I would like to catch the visual effect of some liquid in a crystal glass in bright light. Glass of Whiskey, 24 x 30 cm. See a larger image in My gallery .

The very first show turned out to be a success The Ameland Month of Art made me proud. Unexpectedly, four of five paintings are sold, including the self-made frames. Astonished. Grateful to Mireille for encouraging me to start painting, to @Maria for inspiration, to other friends and family for their support and especially to Paul for always being there for me! Visit my gallery to see these and other paintings of mine.

One month to go till my first exhibition Ameland Month of Art is coming. I am accepted to participate this year with some of my paintings. Proud and quite excited. More to come.

Just got another Google certificate! My interest in analytics has been rewarded. After following two courses at Google Analytics Academy , I am now in possession of an Advanced Google Analytics Certificate. Proud and full of expectations to use the knowledge and to go further.

Let's paint a still life again! Got inspired by my very creative niece Maria who took a beautiful photograph . Masha's summer, 24 x 30 cm. See a larger image in My gallery .

A new study; a new experience. It's the first time I am trying to paint a human figure on canvas. Once I took a photograph of mireillevankempen.nl while visiting a small castle near Utrecht. I found it a great setting, worth trying. In the room of Belle van Zuylen, 24 x 30 cm. See a larger image in My gallery .

After a long break, trying to paint again. I took a photograph of these nasturtiums last October. I loved the play of light on and around the setting. I thought then, it would be nice to paint it once. Well, it was quite a challenge, especially a struggle with the flowers again, but now here it is. My October Symphony, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 cm. See it in My gallery .

Proud to work on the website for a magnificent holiday villa lying on the bank of Lake Como in North Italy. The website of villalouisa.nl is live from now on. It's a light bootstrap-based one-pager with some Google Docs (sheets and forms) embedded so that the site owner is able to edit and control the vital information at any time or place. the new website of Villa Louisa in Nesso, Italy

My best friend and an apple hero Chester could not just wait forever for his old page to be renewed. So I've made a new page for him. A totally up-to-date one. Feel free to visit: Chester's Page

Happy to introduce a totally new design for my website. I used the Bootstrap framework, the (new to me) text editor Atom and the stuff I have lately learned from Google and Udacity. My previous design was dated from 2007; its HTML code was obsolete and it was not responsive. Though I still love it, it was my first creature. new vs old design of valta.nl

November is the month of arts on our island, we celebrate then the Kunstmaand Ameland . This year more than 100 artists from the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia and Iceland show their works at more than 40 locations across the whole island. The people of Ameland are very talented. The artists living on the island exhibit their works in the galleries of Amelander Amateurkunstenaars. Will I join them next year?

Proud again. I have been accepted into the Google Developer Challenge Scholarship. In the coming three months I am going to learn a lot about HTML, CSS and JavaScript at Udacity . Exciting and challenging. "Dear Val, ... We received applications from many talented and motivated candidates, and yours truly stood out..." the Udacity and Google Scholarship Team

Proud. Just received my Google certificate in Online Marketing. It's been interesting to learn at the  Google Digital Garage . Lots of useful information I can use from now on building websites or advising on digital marketing strategy.

Setting up a composition for still life has turned out to be fun. Trying to find the best lighting I have made almost a hundred photographs. Finally, I chose the one to make my newest painting -   Orange still life . Update:  SOLD