In het online magazine Art by Nature mag vind je verhalen van kunstenaars die zich, net als ik, laten inspireren door de natuur. Speciaal voor Art by Nature mag schreef ik een artikel (in het Engels) over mijn werkwijze en over hoe ik de natuur gebruik als inspiratiebron.
Voel de warmte van de zon op je huid, terwijl je met Lisette wandelt door bossen en zandduinen op zoek naar inspiratie.
As a kid my parents took me and my brother for walks in the forest and the dunes. They taught us the names of plants, trees and animals. And more important; they taught us to see and wonder. While walking through nature I am always fascinated by the texture and colors of the landscape. And, if I had not become an artist, I would have become a biologist.
Never a straight line
My route, as my wanderings in nature, wasn’t and is never a straight line. I started as a graphic designer, but missed working with and for people. So I studied social work with a degree in art education. As I am a good writer I rolled into the profession of webeditor and after that, added graphic design to become a content specialist. For 15 years my art was something I did in my spare time.
After a corporate reorganisation I lost my job, and at the beginning of this year I took the leap to become a full time artist, teacher and freelance (web) editor. In this, I followed my heart to make art and inspire others.
The red line
Beeing a child of a upholsterer and model builder, and a seamstress, knitter and quilter there was a lot of material available for me to practice with. I always say I could draw befote I could walk.
A great anecdotes about this is while my dad sat on the ground at the coffee table drawing a new model design. I crawled towards him, hoisted myself up to the table (I was in diapers and could barely stand on my own) and my father gave me one of the drawing pencils. I immediately started to draw ‘circles’ on a piece of paper my dad had place underneath to prevent me drawing on the table.
My path, as with my wanderings through nature, has never been a straight line
As a kid – and later as an adult – I tried about every craft there is. Until this day I like to experiment and mix many techniques. However drawing is the base line – everything I do starts with a drawing.
Main focus
Nature and our landscape is my main inspiration – I love wandering around with a sketchbook and camera, noting the things I see and collecting pretty feathers, stones, leaves, twigs and bones. I love textures and soft and subtle colors. Colour, texture and design of the surface of objects are my main focus.
Mysterious fables also inspire me. In these fairy tales people try to explain nature they cannot comprehend. As a kid I strongly believed in fairies, ghosts, and traumatized landscapes and I still enjoy a good ghost story or magical place. I love to read books with a little magical touch like the books of Kate Morton who shares my belief that a house can have a personality and a soul.
The dreamlike and vivid writing of Erin Morgenstern comes to life in ’the Night Circus’. It didn’t matter where the story was going of how the ending was goging to be – I just wanted tot stay in this magical realm forever.
It starts with a drawing
Everything I do starts with a drawing. Since 2012 I have been using sketchbooks instead of loose drawing paper. I tried to have sketchbooks for different purposes (journaling, painting process, knitting, weaving, etc) but I gave up. Ideas spark at the most inconvenient moments so I learned to just have one (or a few) sketchbooks around and grab the closest one.
Color, texture an design of the surface of objects are my main focus
These days my journals are mix of journal entries, sketches, colour explorations, photos, quotes, book notes, magazine images, paintings, herbaria and more. But I like it that way; creativity for me is non-linear and a bit of a messy process.
When I start a painting, I start with some studies in my sketchbook(s). A study includes colour combinations, composition and inspirational quotes, poems or texts from books.
After sketching and studying I start painting (or drawing) an underpainting or first layer. I like to start from the heart – a subconscious process using yoga, music and incense to get in a certain state of mind and flow.
Than follows a more conscious process where I clarify shapes, build upon layers and add details and symbols.
Most often my titles emerge in this stage – it is the stage where the story of the work takes shape. Titles are important for me; much of my work has a certain abstraction to it. A title gives a hint of my story but leaves room for the story of the spectator.
Lees hier de interactieve versie van het interview of lees het magazine via Issuu.
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