Oil on cardboard – 8 x 8 inch – Unique work

It was on a beautiful morning in April 2023 that I visited the Zaanse Schans site with my daughter. The sky is a tremendous blue, no clouds. On the other hand, the wind is freezing!

We move forward dumbfounded by this landscape from another time: old-fashioned mills, small green houses with red roofs. It feels like going back to previous centuries. They look like dollhouses. Some are inhabited, truely, while others are transformed into shops. The products for sale are very tempting: souvenirs in the form of soaps, pigments, clogs, cups, and much more. It’s so hard to resist… And yet we did.

We walk among the houses, the small bits of gardens, take the small paths, the bridges. We meet a resident who plays the guitar on the porch of her house. Obviously we are not the only ones. It’s too bad. It’s Sunday after all.

I take this opportunity to take some photos. The place is terribly magical. It inspires me. Hence this painting which has become obvious. We regretfully leave the houses to reach the mills a little further away. There they are, majestic. The path is narrow, the wind is violent. I almost fell!

I’m taking this opportunity to rebuild the world with my daughter. Imagine what life was like here. The raging sea, the wind carrying the leaves from the trees, women and men busy working, surviving in sometimes complicated conditions.

As we leave, we come across a herd of sheep. They are so cute, I love hearing them bleat. They are too wild to pet but I like them anyway! We leave this place of a thousand secrets with regret… But I know I will find it again!

It was on a beautiful morning in July 2023 that I am back to the Zaanse Schans site, all alone this time, in my office, with a watercolor pencil, initially, to make the drawing. Then, the brush dances on the canvas, depositing pigments of all colors. A sweet mixture from my memories and my imagination. The sky is represented with a mixture of three different blues and white. Clouds appeared. Shadow meets light. Do you feel the icy wind?!