Happy Holidays, including a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 
   My blog is overdue, I know. The translation is done, the editing is nearing the end. 
For several months this Canigou landscape was all I worked on. Simplifying was my challenge and making it my own. It was a rewarding commission. My husband's enthusiasm did help me along the way.

Canigou from Castelnou, oil, 16x20"

Misty Mondriaan Morning is about peaceful grooming in the early morning sunlight.
 

Misty Mondriaan Morning, watercolor, 12x14"

The following three were painted at Jim McDonald's inspiring workshop this fall, which was all about painting a haiku instead of a Michener novel. 

Dream, Dream, Dream, oil, 12x12"

Storm on the Mesa, oil, 9x12"

They are Leaving, oil, 9x12"

In the last two paintings I was trying different techniques and working from memory. Living by the Lake was inspired by views from a friend's home by a beautiful pond, whereas Prickly Poppies was inspired by The Professor's House by Willa Cather. 

Living by the Lake, oil, 9x12"

Prickly Poppies Dream of Ancient Villages, oil, 10x14"

June 14th 2021

Misty Mondriaan, watercolor, 10x14"

 Misty Mondriaan is the colorful painting I just finished. It was inspired by our 14-year old cat, Misty doing yoga in the morning. It will soon be framed and available.

Maneki Neko, (Beckoning Cat, considered lucky in Japan) watercolor, 3x5"

I participated in the Say Si, small scale auction again this year. These two Maneki Cats were painted for the auction to help raise funds for Say Si's tuition free programs for young creatives in San Antonio. I have an icon in the auction as well. I forgot to take a picture of it, but you can find it on the site. smallscale.givesmart.com

The final bidding day is June 17th 2021 with the bidding ending at 8 pm.  (There is an event afterwards for the pieces that did not sell at the Auction.)

The Lucky Cat, the Torii Gate and Fuji, watercolor, 3x5"

This mini Mondriaan cat was painted this year as a fun  experiment

The Grey Mondriaan Cat, watercolor, 3x5"

 

I painted this anniversary portrait for a couple in San Antonio, it was going to be a Calaveras portrait  (see the small studies on my website www.verasart.com). But we decided along the way that a real portrait was where the painting was headed. It was a difficult painting for me (I am not used to doing portraits in watercolor for once and there were 2 different photos to work from) but I learned a lot from it as always.  

                                            Anniversary Portrait, watercolor on Arches, 8x10"

This is my art news. 

We have had an unusually wet year and our garden is certainly a jungle. To our surprise all the trees we had lost during the snow and freeze early in the year, have come back, last of all our citrus trees, as small saplings in their case. It will be a long time before we have oranges and tangerines again...  The fig trees have fruit and we are looking forward to a lot of picking, sharing, dehydrating and jelly making in a month or two.

Feb 7th 2021

 Hello, Friends!

 It has been several months since my last blog. I need to wish you a Happy 2021, which I do wishing all of you Health, Happiness and Prosperity!

 You did not hear from me because I wanted to finish a painting, which took much longer than I expected.

 This blog is dedicated to a very dear friend and second mother to me. Aunt (or "Tante" as my brother and I called her) Nieke's (short for Virginie, or Virginia) birthday is tomorrow and I want to remember her and all she meant to me. She was my mother's sorority friend from their time in college in Nijmegen (Netherlands) and the two stayed close for most of their life-time. (Both my mothers have passed on and I have even found a third mother in San Antonio. All three have deeply impacted my life.) 

Tante Nieke played a role in my life from the time I was 2 and adopted me into her family when I was 9. I had been bullied in elementary school, we had met with the teacher who was not willing to do a thing, so my mother wanted me to change schools. Aunt Nieke had an answer, her son who was my age, went to a great school! So I switched schools and started eating lunch at Tante Nieke's house since there was no time for the long walk home. 

Where did I get to see and experience kittens for the first time? You guessed it, at her house. When we moved in the South of France, who was the first to visit us? Aunt Nieke and her family. 

                                                          Aunt Nieke with my nephew

When I returned to the Netherlands to study, I stayed at her house in a friendly room in the attic. She helped me feel at home in a country that had changed. When I moved to a dorm in Utrecht, she helped me find affordable furniture and anything else I needed. I spent almost all my holidays with my adopted family and I even went on a trip to Belgium with them.

She was at our wedding and after my marriage, she came to see me in California and knitted clothes for our sons. At so many visits to the Netherlands, I stayed with her; she helped me during my mother's illness. To me, she was always cheerful and full of good advice. She had many friends and came from a real big family. She had 9 brothers and sisters and cared for her parents for a long time. She was active, played tennis, rode her bike and did fitness exercises well into her 80's. Thanks to her and her family, I found my place in the Netherlands as a student and never felt really alone and lost. She and her home embodied the Dutch "gezelligheid" that cozy at home feeling to me. She wrote me almost as many letters as my mother and never forgot my birthday. 

Happy Birthday, Tante Nieke! You did so much for me, I can never thank you enough!

                                            Tochka, series Cats during Covid, oil, 10 x 10" (25x25cm)

Tochka is the first oil in the series. She loves boxes. The painting is a little darker.

                                            My mother, Geraldine, oil, 24x24" (60x60cm)

This is the painting I wanted to be ready. When I look at it, I still see little things to change...

Most of it is set in the Dutch Indies, now Indonesia. Both portraits are of my mother. The house is inspired by the home she lived in before the war. The houseboat is inspired by the houseboat she lived on while studying singing; it was her teacher's home. The hills are covered by tea plantations and the material is traditional, local batik.

October 2020

 October has flown by. Happy Halloween!

Here are the watercolors I have been painting over the last months. Every one of them was started in Linda Simone's zoom class and finished afterwards in the studio. 

Colorful Pumpkin, Tuscan Hills, Little Owl after Durer and Comfort for a Cool Morning were all painted on 6 x 9" (15 x 22cm) watercolor paper.

Two of my Canigou paintings and my whimsical cats are on display in the members' gallery of the San Antonio Art League and Museum, in King William's till March 2021.

My small cat pieces are shown and for sale at Mockingbird Handprints at Blue Star in town. Mockingbird Handprints has a lot of great, local art that would make wonderful gifts.

August 15th 202

 Here is my art news! 

  I created a painting for the GAGA (Gentileschi  Aegis Gallery Association www.gagaart.org) exhibit, called My Story. This exhibit is going to be virtual because of present circumstances. My Story is the brainchild of Sylvia Benitez (GAGA's founder and president) in response to the centennial of the 19th Amendment which finally allowed women to vote in the US. 

My painting will be part of a triptych called My Roots. I wanted to explore women and diversity in my own background. My grandmother was of mixed Dutch and Javanese heritage. Like for many people who lived in the Dutch Indies when she did, the Dutch heritage and a European education were everything to her. They allowed her to be treated with more respect by Europeans and in the Netherlands and to have a better future.

It was an eye opener for me, when I learned in New Zealand how proud people were to have indigenous ancestors. I realized that that is the way it could be everywhere!

My grandmother, Adrienne; oil 24 x 24"

My latest commission is a double pet portrait of Peggy and Maya. The assignment was a whimsical portrait of the cats with Mission San Jose in the background. It sounded fairly easy. But as I was progressing, I found that whimsical cats and a likeness, especially of striped Maya, was something I could not do. So, I limited my playful patterns to Peggy and made the likeness my focus. Peggy and Maya's parents have been wonderfully supportive throughout!

Peggy and Maya, watercolor, 11 x 14"

Except for that, we have been busy picking, delivering and preserving figs in July as well as enjoying our kittens. 

Mama Leila in her box

Adopted daughter, Tochka, up high.

 It was easy to get up there, but she could not figure out how to get down.

Stay safe!

May-June 2020

Art news from May.
As my last blog was long, I will keep this one short.
I hope you continue to do well.
My 40% donation to SARA Sanctuary of all artwork and products bought continues this month.

Retama Dusk, oil 11 x14"

 Retama dusk is a study and abstraction of Retama (or Palo Verde) branches. I left a lot of branches out of the picture, for even this relatively simple tree is overwhelming in its complexity.

Remembering a Cat at Mission Espada, watercolor, 5 x 7"

This is a painting inspired by an orange tabby who was always hanging around Mission Espada 15 or more years ago and wanted to get into the church. Around Christmas time, there was even a statue of him in the beautiful Nativity inside the Mission!
 This piece is my contribution to the Say Si (Small Scale) fundraiser this year. The Auction will be from June 12th-26th online. June 26th in the final Auction Night. (www.SaySi.org)  This year the whole event will be online!

Monaco Cats, watercolor, 11 x 14"

Monaco Cats are in the mail to my cousin. I saw the church of Sainte Devote and the statue on an earlier visit. I was impressed by the statue and liked the church. Instead of putting my cats in a San Antonio decor, it seemed fitting to show them in Monte Carlo.

April 2020

Dear friends,
 In these difficult times, my thoughts go out to all of you. Social isolation must be so hard on so many, the elderly, the sick, people who are single come to mind. This virus challenges us in the way we have related to each other and expressed affection and concern forever. The generosity, spirit of community and solidarity are some of the encouraging things happening right now.
 I am grateful for the sacrifices grocery store employees and other workers are making enabling us to stay safe at home. I am grateful for the sacrifices nurses and doctors are making fighting for us to stay alive.
Please, stay safe, stay at home as much as possible! Thank you for social distancing!

Thank you for you reading my blog!
My family and I are doing well.
My hope is that the same is and stays true for you!

Molly, oil, 16 x 24"

Molly is the portrait of a dog who was so loving that I felt touched by it, even though I saw her only once. She had a fondness for confetti lantana.

Song of Solitude, oil. 12 x 16"

Song of Solitude is a piece I started in 2012 and was glad to be able to finish recently. The red hill remind me now of the fires in Australia and the lonely tree makes me think of the present time.

Adventures in Magic Realism, oil, 16 x 20"

Adventures in Magic Realism was another unfinished landscape. The foreground is a foreign element in this painting which is somehow satisfying to me. I am considering returning to this theme and seeing how I can play with a foreign part and integrate it or part of it.

Cipo and the Alamo, watercolor, 11 x 14"

Cipo and the Alamo is the portrait of a beloved cat for an Italian friend of the Alamo and Texas.


Shea Daniel Youngblood raised $1664 for the San Antonio Food Bank with her art auctions! Her art can be seen by appointment at Kapej Gallery and Cafe, 415, Camden Street SA TX 210-838-8681.

Cindy Morawski is and Maren Phillips was raising money for the SA Food Bank. All three are impressive artists. Check out their work at
www.sheadanielyoungblood.com; www.CindyMorawski.com and Maren Philips' Artlines-Home page on Facebook.

Every Wednesday, Linda Simone makes a watercolor painting on a recycled teabag, inspired by a photo in her Facebook feed. She sends the completed mounted art as a gift to the person who posted the photo. Her work can be seen at @teabagartsa on instagram.

As for me, I want to help the Society for Animal Rescue and Adoption (SARA) www.sarasanctuary.org. Starting right now and for the next 2 months 40% of any of my original pieces of art bought directly from me will go to the Sanctuary. On www.verasart.com there is a collection "originals for sale", with "click here to contact the artist". Shipping of the framed painting in the continental US is included in some of the prices!
If you would rather buy a print, a tote bag, a coffee mug..., I will donate 40% of my proceeds to SARA as well.