The mysterious
colour story
scroll down
behind the scenes| Art by Nature
share this page!
WITH LISETTE MARIJE
Never a straight line
My route, as with my wanderings through nature, has never been 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.
* See struinkunst.nl where I share art lessons and a peek at my art journals.
"My route, as with my wanderings
through nature, has never been
a straight line."
scroll down
The red line
Being a child of an 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 before I could walk.
A great anecdote 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 placed underneath to prevent me drawing on the table.
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.
behind the scenes| Art by Nature
share this page!
scroll down
"In these fairy tales people try to explain nature they cannot comprehend. "
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 ‘The Night Circus’ 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 or how the ending was going to be – I just wanted to stay in this magical realm forever.
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.
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.v
* for example: the project ‘Eens ging de zee hier tekeer’
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.
These days my journals are a 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*.
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.
"Colour, texture and design
of the surface of objects
are my main focus."
the mysterious colour story
"My route, as with
my wanderings
through nature,
has never been
a straight line."
Want to see more and enjoy the special effects? Check the aricle on your Desktop computer or tablet.
scroll down
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.
