Mona Lena - disappointment helping the artist

This weekend spent some time working on this new art work.
Initially I made the first layer in a park in Paris, together with two other paintings.
I loved the basic shapes and was looking forward to work more on it.
Now, the park closed around 10 and we had to leave before it was actually all dry.
When getting home I was disappointed; the surface of this painting got stuck to the other painting, and when trying to make it wet and detach it from the other paper, it turned out to be damaged; removing the upper layer of the paper from some parts.

Fragment showing
damaged part after
adding decoration

Last weeks I had worked on the other 2 paintings, and left this one aside. It gave me time to heal from the hurt caused by the damaging of the painting. Also I have had multiple experiences now where some destructive element in the work actually becomes an inspirational part and forces me to explore now things. So, basically I waited for that to happen.

This weekend I had some time, in between enjoying our newborn child, and I put the painting in front of me for some time. Then indeed at some point I thought of what to do with it; I thought the white part could work as part of a more strong white structure. So I started off and got quite excited, while working in a flow detailing the art work and adding the white layer.

In the end I am quite happy with the result. And I am quite sure I would have never found this great composition hadn't the art work been damaged in the first place.

Conclusion, although not supported by a scientific analysis:
disappointments can help the artist, especially in pushing boundaries and finding new ways to express himself.

So, guess I will go looking now for the next disappointment :)

The way images revive memories

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Onweerstaanbaar naar zijn doel

Some two years ago after quite some things happened in my own life I went for a visit at my friend Arjan, who lives in a nice village not too far from Clermont-Ferrand.

There I had the opportunity to watch Arjan and his original deep black Frisian horse while making a start with two paintings.

2 weeks ago I found those initial paintings and all of a sudden memories started to come back. Not only memories, but also the feeling I had at that time and our personal stories that were shared during these few days that I stayed with Arjan and his wife Gerrie.

It touched me and this last week and especially this weekend I could 'dive' into those feelings and finish the painting, working passionately on all the details, like ritually re-living these moments and the impressive memory of this giant horse. And the impressions of Arjan determined to gain confidence of the horse, making it walk and run circles in the sand controlled by his voice.

I find it amazing how paintings and expressions can bring back memories like nothing else, even in some cases transferring the emotions and deeper feelings to a new audience, that now for the first time can take notice of the connection between a man, a horse and the observer.

I hope Arjan likes it too by the way as it is not an exact replica of him and his horse, but more the way I felt it. Gven it a title meaning: "irresistably towards his goal"

This is a painting in the series of Unconscious Power; you can read more about this concept in this blog or on my main website at the concepts