The sunflower subject
“The sunflower stopped being a subject and became a sign. Light. Present, sometimes almost invisible. Sneaky, even.”
It was a joyful and playful struggle to find my way to what I wanted to do with the theme.
I painted Italian landscapes with sneaky sunflowers on small surfaces, in the countryside around Lago d’Orta. It is a place we return to often. Always green, always alive.
When I’m there, I spend a lot of time on and around the lake, wakesurfing, walking and looking at how the landscape changes throughout the day.
For a collaborative art project, I was asked to work with the theme of sunflowers. At first, I thought: “hmmm…”
That’s not really me, working with a theme that doesn’t originate from within. But that very tension led me somewhere else. To intensely painted landscapes, with hidden sunflower fields in an Italian valley.
In my versions, the sunflowers were quietly tucked into the landscape. I became more interested in the light and contrast around them. Summers around Orta can be sultry and hazy, interrupted by sudden thunderstorms rolling in between the mountains. The light can change quickly there.
My captain and lover – Italy
Orta San Giulio – summer Italy
Landscape near Orta
Italy – landscape
When I returned to the Netherlands, I varnished the entire series. I chose a matte finish that kept the feel of the paper. Almost ready for framing in the wooden boxes.
Almost ready for framing in the wooden boxes.
The energy in the field
The warm sun over an Italian field of sunflowers. I threw myself into it because it kept ‘grabbing’ me. Over and over again. Until it became less about the sunflowers and more about the light and the colours. The energy in the field.
Back in the Netherlands, works from the series were exhibited at Gallery De Pomp in Warmond in August 2025.
View the complete Sneaky Hidden Sunflowers series >