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

I walk without a destination through the streets of Amsterdam at the end of summer. Looking for something, maybe myself.

Life is not as easy as in fairy tales. Besides, they only exist in books. In real life… That’s a whole different story. As a result, fighting on a daily basis is the destiny of many people. And I am no exception. What’s funny is that I have absolutely no sense of direction and in my wanderings I admit I got a little lost.

No, no tears this time, but a great burst of laughter. Yes, lost twice: with myself and with this beautiful city in the Netherlands. I have a very important meeting. A meeting that I have been waiting for for years. An encounter that will change my life: Vincent Van Gogh. I have wanted to visit his museum for so long. However, this is not my first time here but… There, I have the advantage of being alone and slowly deciding my own schedule.

I am there in my thoughts, when something catches my eye. To be honest, it is not a thing but a color. Not only one but several colors. Here I am, a florist with a multitude of tulips. It’s beautiful, it’s magical. This is typically what brings joy to my heart. I have time, I take it. I decide to get as close as possible to this Eden. Immediately my eyes are drawn to a specific color: madder. A quick reminder: madder is a red dye extracted from dyer’s madder, a plant in the Rubiaceae family. The shade of the lacquers varies from pale pink to blood red. The one who hypnotized me turns purple. It is prodigious.

I leave taking with me, in my memories, this color that I intend to paint. Madder Lacquer Tulips…it’s intoxicating! Here they are, in all modesty, with all my soul, in an unusual posture with leaves from elsewhere, from my mind in fact! They gave me back my shine, my desire, my life and so much more. Thank you sweet nature for your generosity, your thirst for existence, your energy.

I was walking without a destination through the streets of Amsterdam in late summer. Looking for something, maybe myself.