After the storm

During storm Benjamin I had a flashback.

(The storm was mild where we live, which was a pity… because I love a storm.)
Anyway, it pulled me back to summer. To the way I dove into movement—of nature, on and in the water, and in myself. It influenced my painting. I put down a whole series.

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No “flower girl” on commission

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Just before the holidays I got a commission. Theme: sunflowers. I mainly make autonomous work, and now and then a commission. The theme has to fit me, or I have to be able to step into the client’s question. With “something with sunflowers,” that was hard. All the clichés rushed in. This series didn’t start with a plan, but with a place—central Italy, around Orta San Giulio. A valley full of sunflowers, a small house hiding. “Sunflowers,” said the client. Not my starting point, I thought (a requested theme has to fit you), but I went to work anyway.

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Italy happened

Central Italy, around Orta San Giulio. A valley of sunflowers, a small house among the stems. Heat, silence, crickets, light scraping past shadow. I took my materials into the field. And I stopped rendering petals and correctness, and followed what was there: contrast, breath, the light of the sunflower field and the dark of the green around it. The movement in the field. That’s what moved me.

Acrylic—my summer fling

I usually work in oil. In Italy I chose acrylic, on paper. It dried in the sun while I continued, sheet after sheet, materials around me, warm sun on my hands and face. My husband (captain and lover) took the helm for wakesurfing (Lago d’Orta is perfect for it!) and commanded the Italian barbecue. (The kilos flew off and back on.) And after surfing I returned to the field every day. Love it.

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Sneaky by Nature

The sunflower didn’t become a subject, but a sign. Light. Present, sometimes almost invisible, sneaky even—yet in a gentle way. In my versions they hide among other forms, nested in the landscape, found if you look just a little longer. For me the small cluster of sunflowers became a symbol.

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Wooden floater frame, a touch of gold

Each work (20 × 20 cm) sits in a wooden floater frame with a subtle touch of gold on the front. With the golden plaster pigments my equally artistic husband uses for the new walls of the Dutch central bank. A quiet gleam, just enough to catch the light the way those fields did.

Layered acrylic paintings, Italian landscape, lightning and contrast, emotion and movement. 20 × 20 cm. By contemporary Dutch female artist Lace Ruig. Wooden floater frame with a touch of gold.
In a floater frame with a golden edge—a soft line, keeping the authenticity of the paper.

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From petal to feeling

I paint what I see inside, inner realities, not decoration. The sneaky hidden sunflowers are a feeling. In the end they became so much my own that I’m glad I took on this commission. Light against dark, rough plant life next to soft air. Strength beside vulnerability. (A theme that returns for me.) My work doesn’t have to explain—only to open. For your own interpretations.

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Back in the studio

Back in the Netherlands I varnished the whole series in my studio. A matte finish, to preserve the skin of the paper and the honesty of the surface. I kept the raw paper edge visible. Like Orta: softly authentic.

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Available work

This year many pieces found a beautiful place. Want to see which works are available now? Check my site under “available artworks.” I deliver via Saatchi Art Gallery and directly from my studio.

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