My son, Lucas, has started designing and making skateboards – longboards. His idea is to have them decorated by artists. I was honored to be the first one to paint the under-side of a Lucas-design skateboard.

It is going to be interesting to see the trucks mounted…

I have been working on the last part of the family portrait suite. I started by covering the entire surface with black, which created a very nice structure. Then I spontaneously struggled to find the face. It is like learning to see – by going back and forth I am slowly becoming aware of the characteristics of the face. The first layer was done in light grey, diluted with a lot of oil.

The plan was to add several thin layers and keep searching for the face. In the process I have only made a few meassurements to check the position of the eyes, the nostrils, and the mouth.

After letting the paint dry, I continued with more white, and a touch of light red, adding a bit of black in the dark parts. I worked quickly and without thinking too much, moving about in a pretty irrational way – a little here, a little there.

Suddenly I felt there was a quality of the work that I did not want to eliminate by working too much, so I decided to take a break and check with the family how they felt about the piece. I was a bit nervous as I was wondering if they would think the painting was too rough and not exact.

On the contrary, they felt I had been able to capture his attitude and they could immediately see their son in the work. Needless to say, I was quite pleased.

I suggested a few changes or additions, which I will do today…

Slow process in the studio right now. Yesterday I visited Louisiana and Ordrupgaard in Denmark. It is good to get some new inspiration and ideas…

Some slow progress, though. I sanded the surface of my painting and added some white.

A bit boring, so for several days I was wondering what to do. Then I finally decided to try something new.

Covered the entire painting in titanium white. Then I used a spackle and spread the paint evenly over the entire surface.

I wiped off as much white as I could. I had to go back and use clean paper towels to wipe off as much as possible.

I left some of the white paint untouched in the lower left corner. When you look at the painting from an angle, it almost looks like glare. Now it seems like the face is appearing or disappearing in fog or something. Maybe the face is being forgotten?

It is an interesting face, as it partly looks Asian. I think I will be returning to this face more than once.

I have been out sick for a few days, but now I am back in action again. Before I got sick I started a new painting of a “mystic beauty”…

My idea is to build up very thin layers of paint. In between layers I have also used sandpaper to let the wood grain come through even more.

I have been painting some again. While I am waiting for visitors I am working. It is not ideal, as I am occasionally interrupted, but it is equally hard to work when I am wondering if somebody will come. It is a lot easier to work days when I am not open for visitors.

Now I have come this far. I wonder if I am finished? Not sure. As you can see I have been lucky with the grain under the eye and around the nose. You can go to the post from 6 July to see the first steps.

Yesterday we had a very successful opening of the Summer Exhibition at Villa Holsby. In spite of nice weather a lot of people came, much more visitors than expected. It was a great reward after days of hard work to get everything ready!

This time I shared the space with four other artists.

Pontus Ikander, street artist, made a large painting during the day, finishing it as the first guests came. Check his Myspace site: www.myspace.com/p_ontus

Matthias van Arkel exhibited some of his fascinating silicone rubber works and a few prints. For more, check his website: www.matthiasvanarkel.com.

Jacob Felländer exhibited  two very large photos of New York – a cool contrast to the country landscape around Villa Holsby. Check www.jacobfellander.com.

Last, but not least, architect Alex van de Beld had built a brick wall inside the window in one of the rooms, and together with his colleagues, he displayed three small models of fascinating house ideas for this region.

All visitors were very positive, we all received great feedback. I am very grateful to my colleagues, who wanted to contribute to this event. The exhibition continues until the middle or end of August.

I am spending a lot of time in the studio again. Now I am preparing for the summer exhibition. It will start on Thursday 15 July and will probably go on until the end of August. I will be joined by three other artists and one architect/artist. More about them soon…

But I am also painting some…

I expect that this painting will require quite a few layers. These two steps were done very quickly, based on  thin pencil outlines.

Finally back in the studio. Have workedmore on portrait-half right side…

And the left side has received three layers of varnish – hard to convey the effect in a photo. Both paintings have to be seen in real, as with all my work, as with probably all fine art.

If you place them side by side it looks like this.

Probably more interesting like this…

It has been a very busy time with preparations for the celebration of our 25 year anniversary and my birthday. We were lucky with the weather and had very nice guests.

Julien Matei played for us.

Andrea gives a welcome speach.

About 50 adults and 20 so called children were enjoying the beautiful weather and Andrea’s excellent food.

A 4,8 meter wide board was painted during the evening.

Victoria and I had built the tables…

Each table was a section of a large painting. No table cloth needed.

Yesterday, 18 June, Andrea and I had our 25 year anniversary! I spent a good part of the day in the studio, working on a portrait in two parts. This is the first part I worked on a few days ago.

80 x 40 cm. A careful start to find the face.

After some hours. An almost photographic image that felt more like an illustration than a piece of art? I felt quite miserable in the process – the feeling “I can’t paint anymore” that hits me now and then, and which is a good feeling, because it makes me try harder. I will start on the other half of the face and do it very differently, and then go back to this painting and see what I can do. Maybe several layers of varnish will help create some action – some disturbing glare…?