Oil on cardboard – 9,5 x 12 inch – Unique work

Today is the big day. I came to Amsterdam on purpose to be part of this unique event. One of my paintings on a giant screen in the IJpassage at Amsterdam Central Station. Just like that!

Written like this, it’s impressive. But once there, when I had slept very little the day before, had driven 7 hours, eaten little and drank even less… Already, the story is different. It’s time, it’s 4 p.m. All this crowd, all this noise. Fortunately, I’m not alone, I would have left running. My daughter came with me for the adventure. The countdown has started and here is the screen coming to life and successively showing the works of each person. No less than 299 artists from 38 different countries for a total of 377 artworks, that’s no small thing. And I am part of it with A green mill in a field of tulips, an oil painting on canvas measuring 20×24 inches.

People rush, people jostle, it’s who will be the most visible, the loudest, the most interesting. This is not my world. Some artists are interviewed. I wait for my turn, worried, doubtful, stressed. My daughter went for a walk in the station gallery. I have doubts. I look around me. I’m calling my daughter, I won’t do the interview, I want to leave this place.

We go out, it’s not warm at all, the rain isn’t far away. We wander the streets we know well. This is not our first time in Amsterdam. Actually it’s the fourth! And by wandering around the city on foot, and since the center is not that big, we obviously know it. Once to the right, once to the left. We like to pretend we are lost. I share my doubts, my exhaustion. My tears mix with the rain. The general color is gray. I who only dream of colors…

The next day, I insist on returning in front of this giant screen and seeing my painting exposed for everyone to see. And in that moment I realize… Everything is okay! It’s still quite an opportunity. It was worth witnessing this opening.

The life of an artist also has doubts, sorrows, hopelessness to appreciate the magic even better…