the waves: new paintings

Francesco is in his sea period. These are his latest paintings (80 x 60cm acrylic on canvas)

The Buddha and the party: paintings from the art classes

So, this is the last week of art classes until September and I'd like to share these 2 paintings. The painting of Buddha above (80 x 30cm) was made by Ilse using a palet knife. She's just completed her first course with us and I really like the way she's articulated this piece. Below is a painting from Yvette (30 x 40 cm). I smile every time I see this one! Both are acrylic on canvas.

sea and skies: new oil paintings

My favourite subjects: the sea and skies. I've just finished these two oil paintings (above 40 x 50 cm below 24 x 30 cm). The challenge and beauty of sea paintings is to try and translate the light, movement and fluidity of the water onto the canvas...but I really enjoy working with these colours.

swimming in a swimming pool: new oil paintings

The summer is here and that means that the swimming season has arrived. I love swimming...in a pool or the sea...and take every opportunity to glide through the water. So my latest challenge was to translate the light and fluidity of water into an oil painting. (50 x 20 cm oil on canvas.)

the secret can now be revealed!

The last couple of months I've been working on a commission, which up until today was a secret... but I can at last reveal all! A restful painting made in commission of Terschelling (a Dutch Island). It was a present for my client's wife and was intended to encompass and symbolise family holidays spent on the beautiful island. The painting is actually only made up of 2 colours (one if you don't count white as a colour) brown and white. It measures 100 x 40 cm...and most important of all, she liked it!

Matrushka and Quan Yin: 2 new etchings

This was the week of the Matrushka etchings, an experiment with soft ground etchings. I made another 2 after the first one earlier on in the week. This first one is a nature lover, and the second is more the contemplative. They're are both in my etsy shop already...

beach huts made out of handmade paper

A few months ago I participated in a paper swap with fellow papermakers on Etsy. I already made some birdies from the recycled handmade paper, and now I've hand stitched these cute little beach huts. I love beach huts...as you've probably noticed!

the turbulent sea: new paintings

Capturing the movement of the sea is always a challenge in a painting, but it's also the fun part, working with the range of subtle colour differences in the waves. These are Francesco's newest paintings (above 60 x 80cm, below 70 x 90cm) painted with acrylic on canvas.

Quan Yin: an experiment with 'vernis mou' soft ground etchings

Today, after finishing off the etching of Zierikzee, I had a bit of an experiment with vernis mou, a wax used for soft ground etchings. It's more easy to make an impression on a soft ground so I tried a few different structures out and combined it with the normal way of making an etching, using an etching needle. This is the result: a Matrushka style Quan Yin (the bodhisattva of compassion - a female saint)

Middelburg and Zierikzee: New etchings

This coming July and August we hope to be standing on the weekly historical market in Veere demonstrating how etchings are made. Last year Francesco made an etching of Veere, and we wanted to make a few more of the surrounding towns and villages, so we started with Middelburg and Zierikzee. All measure 6 x 9 cm and were made on copper plates. The etching of Zierikzee was also treated with an aquatint for the water. I can't wait for the markets to begin!

the lioness: oil painting from the art classes

This magnificent lioness was painted by Martine over the last few classes with oils on canvas. It measures 60 x 80 cm. I just enjoy looking at it!

row boats, beach chairs and teddy bears: new etchings

The last few days I've been working on these 3 new etchings. These first 2 have been treated with an aquatint to give the water in both that special quality. I'm particularly pleased with the reflection of the boats in the water.

And 2 teddy bear friends. I wanted them to look fluffy and woolly, so I made sure the contours were built up of small lines and not too hard.