Last days of Solo Show

Party - life is what you make it - diptych, 140x30 cm

Next Friday, Saturday AND Sunday are the last days of my solo exhibition at ARTISHOX Art Gallery (July 29, 30 AND 31!)
Of course afterwards there's still work in stock and available through the gallery.
So if you want to seize the opportunity to see some of my latest paintings for real, this is your chance.
Friday and Saturday from 12-18.00 hours, Sunday 13-17.00 hours, Witte Nonnenstraat 18, Hasselt - Belgium http://www.artishox.com

WAKE UP!!! WAAAAAAAAAKKKKE UPPPPPP!!!!

photo courtesy Walker Pickering

No, I'm not a US resident. So, hey, maybe I should just shut up.
But since the world has become so small through internet and social media, we are all related to eachother, somewhere or somehow.
Moreover, it is said that someone from outside who's familiar with the facts, can see the state of affairs more objectivly.


What happens in the USA affects the world.
Furthermore their happen to live a bunch of people in the USA I really love.
That is why I have to write that I'm just dumbfounded about the fact that there is so much counteraction against Barack Obama. Of course Obama is not perfect, he ISN'T a god... but he does his utmost!!! In my opinion Barack Obama is a president to be very proud of. He knows what integrity means and sets out to save the country from ruination after Bush's devastating leadership.
Bush left something that looks suspiciously like a garbage dump, and now Obama and his administration have the thankless task to clean up the trash in only 4 years.
This almost impossible task has become even more impossible, because of the constant counteractions by the republicans who's only goal seems to be 'power'.
Not the welfare of ALL their residents is the most important issue on their agenda, but the next presidential elections.
But hello.... HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
What about COOPERATION to save the USA??
Do I have to spell it out?
OH MY GOD....
Work together people, and save your country.
Use the money meant for the presidential campaigns for your country.

I know it's not enough, but it will have a better destination.
Rebuild the US... so you can start living the REAL American Dream!
After reaching that goal, you can start quarreling again about who will deliver the new president.
Anyway, the competition will be much more righteous by then.

More photos of Walker Pickering: http://walkerpickering.com/

Feeling privileged...

Sometimes I feel guilty for feeling happy, while at the same time there's so much misery on our planet.
Tsunamis and earthquakes, civil wars, religious wars, people starving in Africa, idiots shooting dozens of innocent young people in Norway...
The blindness of the people for the pollution of our planet, overfishing of our seas, the consequences of the meat industry, etc....
People trapped in their personal situations/relations/problems, often without the perspective to be able to change a thing...
I tell myself that I'm just a tiny player in the whole and there's not much I can do to change all this. I take my responsibilities, help where I can, and there is not much more which I can do.
I tell myself that 100 years ago it would have taken days/weeks before news from other countries/parts of the world would have arrived, and that it does not help to carry the weight of the world.

I tell myself that it's better to focus on the positive sides of life, than the negative, without ignoring them.
So I try not to get influenced too much by the news of the world, to seize the day, to enjoy and be thankful.
But hey... isn't life extremely bizarre? Beautiful and devastating at the same time...

There's too much ignorance in this world and I really don't know if this will ever change...
It should be possible to invent an improved version of life...
I think that's what still drives us artists

I can plunge into my paint, dream away in creation and in the results. I therefore feel privileged.

In front of 'A true bottle redhead' from the 'Girls in Paint' series.

More Girls in Paint.

Detail of new Girl in Paint...

There will arise more paintings in the Dynamic Abstracts-series, but right now I'm just too excited and full of ideas concerning the Girls in Paint.
There are 4 new ones on my website, and right now I'm making another one... Well not right now, because I have to wait for the third layer to dry, before I can continue.
Impatiently waiting, which is good!
There are some great events waiting for me in the Fall, so now's the time to flourish.

Autumn in the Summer

Details of 'Don't touch without gloves' of the Girls in Paint - series.

Last April it was Summer in the Spring. Lovely surprise, and I enjoyed it as much as I could. Unfortunately now it's Autumn in the Summer. It's raining cats and dogs overhere, while in Somalia there has never been so much drought as right now. Life's a bitch. My thoughts are with the victims of this disaster.
Although I miss the sun, the rain does not bring me in a bad mood. All I want is to paint... (I'm dying of excitement)  and when it's too hot I don't have the energy.
I've made several new paintings, amongst which 4 new Girls in Paint. This time only full colour.
Tomorrow I will start a new larger one, also a Girl in Paint.
I just love my job so much!!!