Sketches and Snow

During the Christmas holidays I was three times in Amsterdam for exhibitions and Artis Zoo. The zoo was open until 8 pm (it was getting dark by 5 pm) and this was very special. I made many sketches (for my new book) and I saw many newborn animals and nocturnal animals in action.

Again snow in Middelburg. It's a good time to work more at home... 

Avifauna

Mr. Van den Brink purchased the property "Huis ter Rijn" (in Alphen a/d Rijn) as a garden for his private collection of birds. His park was in August 1949 one day open to the public. The people were so enthusiastic about his birds, that Van den Brink decided to establish a bird park. Avifauna was opened on 17 May 1950 and it was the first bird park in the world.

My parents went to Avifauna maybe between 1953 en 1955. They had a page in an album made ​​for this trip. My brother fond this page:

For my sketches in Avifauna I use a ball point pen and sometimes color pencils. I draw directly on the paper, this is why sometimes the proportions or details are incorrect. I use these sketches for further works (as paintings and linocuts) and they are also a reminder of a nice day I spent in Avifauna.

Inspiration

The "Devil and the Violin" is a folk tale I read last week:
A man played fantastic music on a violin he built himself and with his music he charmed everybody. The devil was jealous and offers the man a lot of gold for his violin. The man fond a good proposal and took the gold. The devil immediately began to play on the violin but no one stopped to listen to his music. He became angry and sought the man to complain that the violin had a problem. The man answered that nothing was wrong with the violin. He said he sold his instrument, but not his soul.
This story illustrates that something wonderful has nothing to do with training, material or to follow a certain fashion. And also that inspiration (as motivation) comes from your inner. 

Rotterdam Zoo

mei 2012 at Rotterdam Zoo: some koffie, a donut and a model for a few minutes...