Inspiring images from Holland/Denmark

What is it with abandoned caravans? No matter where you go in the world you can find them.

I came past this one, which was situated north of Copenhagen.

Also inspiring was a Gallery in a town called Enschede in The Netherlands. It was created on the site where they had a terrible fireworks disaster. Most of the area has been rebuild but in an a very cleaver way. Artists, architects were given the opportunity to work with the area and create something a bit more unusual then the expected developments. The Gallery is called Rozendaal 21, have a look at the link, http://www.21rozendaal.nl/.

It's heating up in the studio

Working on a set of 9 new canvasses at the moment. 15" x 26". Not huge but a follow up on the water colours I did for "Forgotten Places".

Just send 6 Framed watercolouls to Anita Traverso Gallery for the show: Paper Chase. Starting in February.

Intaglio Printing

19 x 7 cm, intaglio print

Here are 2 results of my Dry Point etching day in Kyneton at Lauristen Press. Its something I wanted to try for ages but never taken the time to do so. Just great to find a new medium and I am certainly planning to do more in the future.

19 x 12 cm, intaglio print

New Website

Finally managed to finish the website. I have kept it pretty straightforward, no fancy flash or roll overs. Easy to navigate. A selection of previous work will be added soon.

http://www.stefangevers.com/

Video " Forgotten Places"

Just one more week to go and for those that can't make it, here is a video of the show.

Images of "Forgotten Places" exhibition

Edie Gevers

Included are a couple of images of the show, thanks to John Bodin. The opening went great and a big thank you to Robert Hollingworth, for his fantastic speech. Like last year with Danny Huppatz, Robert did a great job in explaining my work. Both are able to explain my work in the right context, much better then I really could do.

It's necessary from an artist point of view to get feedback and honest feedback to be able to go forward. The artist him or her self off course will try to analyse their work while working but comments from outside sources are very helpful.

The watercolours have had a great response which I am pretty happy with because it's the direction I feel I would like to take. I feel the need to be more spontaneous and emotional in the way I paint. Not sure if it is result of painting on canvas being so labour intensive.

Included are some images from the show at Anita Traverso Gallery.

Forgotten Places opens May 5th

So, except for a couple more things to organise the show is pretty much finished. Next Wednesday is the big day. Robert Hollingworth is so kind to give an open speech on Wednesday night as well. Tuesday evening I will be on Radio PBS with Susan Buret between 7 - 8pm.

The Saturday after Albert Street Galleries are having an open day, which is a great opportunity to view the work of a number of Galleries involved.

Their is a load of my shoulders because the work is finished, but I am also very excited about starting on my new projects and keep the momentum going. Lots of great ideas I can't wait to start working on.

First lets see what the feedback is of this show.

The Water Wall

"Rust Never Sleeps", Water colour on Arches paper, 30 x 85cm

Have just worked on a series of water colour paintings. Must say I really enjoyed doing those. It's great to be able to paint in a more direct way. A more emotional and direct response. The acrylic paintings are labour intensive and a different experience to work on. They grow slowly and are more predictable.

"Closed Curtains", Water colour on Arches paper, 30 x 85cm

With the water colours I really wanted to focus on objects, in the landscape, rather then the landscape it self. Often the landscape and it's aura is created by man made objects. Those that are discarded, now live their own life.

"The Wedding Car", Water colour on Arches paper, 30 x 85cm

"The Two of Us", Water colour on Arches paper, 30 x 85cm

"Lullabies gone Forever", Acrylic on Canvas, 50 x 80cm.

Two more weeks to go and two more paintings to finish. This one I have just finished and is titled, "Lullabies gone Forever". I came across this place and got a very strong feeling of when I was a child, back in Holland. The whole place was enclosed by fencing, with remnants of a house in the middle. I wish I could get inside and get some of those memories back. Perhaps it was a sense of being home sick. As a child child I spend many hours in the country, usually on my own, walking trough the forest and I remember to be perfectly happy. I loved the birds, studied them and recording their songs. I must have been about 10 years old.

My Grandmother who lived nearby used to make us wet our pants laughing with stories of my Mother and her sisters and brothers. Stories about wartime and how the Germans stole their bikes fleeing Holland at the end of the War. Great memories and every time I go back to to Holland I will visit the area. The House she lived in has been sold and just isn't the same anymore. I wish I could go back in time and revisit but there is this invisible border that stops you from doing so. "Lullabies gone Forever" is a painting that depicts exactly that feeling.

Some pics of the area I grew up in. A small town in the East of Holland called St.Isidorushoeve and later on Haaksbergen.

The Hidden Garden

Two more finished paintings and very happy with "The Hidden Garden", which was first titled " Quick, get dressed, before your father sees us". The feedback wasn't great and took the attention away from the actual painting. It reminds me a lot of my first paintings on Felt. Great contrast and depth and gives the feeling that the viewer is the one hiding.

The images aren't great of colour, struggled with the camera to get a good representation. Should leave that up to the professionals!

The Hidden Garden, Acrylic on Canvas, 200 x 100cm.

Three more weeks before the opening and feel I have improved on the last show. Started thinking about what is next, to avoid the "post exhibition blues". Having ideas floating around about picturing old legends, stories, historic events. Following trails, etc.

Love the old botanical drawings and perhaps will work on water colours for a while.

"Where the Shadows Play", Acrylic on Canvas, 120 x 180 cm approx.

Where the Shadows Play

Right in the middle of it! Energetic one day, absolutely exhausted the next. Trying not to think about the amount of work I still need to do and keeping my confidence that it will work out. I love this stage but I feel i am living in a cocoon, just focussed on this upcoming show and not allowing a lot of other things happening. Feel guilty about not spending the enough time with the family/kids but are happy in a way, just doing what I love to do, although getting a bit sick sometimes of my own company. It all sounds a bit two headed but that's usually the case leading up to a show. Looking back it's a recurring pattern that's hard to change I feel. But perhaps it is needed, the intensity and focus, to create work I am happy with.

The first image is of canvas I am working on at the moment.

Titled "Where the Shadows Play".Acrylic on Canvas.

Trespassers Delight

"Trespassers Delight" , 50 x 70cm. Acrylic on Canvas

Road trips are my main source of ideas for my paintings, and they often come with some excitement and danger. I do not follow maps but have a rough idea which area I would like to discover. A left or right turn-off is taken on impulse and can lead into some interesting situations.

Some absolutely beautiful and surprising, others the opposite. Or in one case both, when I was enjoying this off road section listening to the sounds of the country, when suddenly this dog nearly jumped through the car window and made me sit on the passenger seat. Came from nowhere and scared the hell out of me.

Numerous times after jumping a fence to find the best location for a shot, I had to run back to the car with some dog on my heels. Avoiding snakes in high grass is important and electric fences are still not my favourite. Back in Holland as a child we used to have dares in who could keep hold of the wire the longest, which I remember wasn't very long, and for the brave ones urinate on it, which you really only do once!

Some times it pay's off though to take a risk and it is usually the people you meet, that will make the difference. I drove past this farm one day which actually looked like a museum, with vintage car's,truck's and other equipment. After driving past twice I decided to enter the property and instead barking dogs I met the owner who I explained to that I was an artist, looking for inspiration. He came down the roof and shook my hand. He showed me around the property and chatted about him self and the way he lived and how the land had changed over the years. Ended up with some great images.

Over the weekend I found this remote sandy road that was lined with bare trees. They all were filled with crows. Very Hitchcock and an eery feeling I got, driving trough. Also during road trips I have seen way to many "Keep Out" signs with bullet holes trough it. This one had a particularly big hole in it!

I used to hitch hike a fair bit, in Europe and all around New Zealand. The feeling of the unknown, not knowing where you will sleep that night and who you will meet, gives me a great sense of freedom. I have learned to following my instinct and looking back I am just amazed where it has taken me.

I left my home country in 1993 with the idea of travelling for three months. Nearly twenty years later I live in Melbourne, but it could have been Canada, South Africa or another country, who knows.

Forgotten Places

There is something about abandoned places that that is very intriguing. A place that was once a centerpiece in a few people's lives, is now all but forgotten.

Those places are left in silence, surrounded by a sense of stillness that makes us reflect on our selves. Depicting moments in time, present and past, taking us on a journey of silhouettes and horizons of the Australian landscape. The absence of Human presence intensifies the stillness and abandonment.

My paintings of abstracted landscapes are the results of many road trips, scanning the fields searching for Forgotten Places. Capturing the essential elements of a visual and spiritual experience, eliminating unnecessary details.

Man Made Man Kind

"Untitled Yet", 50 x 100cm, acrylic on Canvas

Titles

My last show was named "Natural Order". Natural Order was a title that I found suitable for a show that was about Nature taking over. Man made objects that where doomed for slow but inevitable expiration.

Some critics though took it differently and with Global warming on the agenda I got some interesting and mixed responses. I am not sure if there is a perfect title for a painting or exhibition, but I am certainly more conscious about choosing one.

I used to give my sculptures numbers as I found titles were distracting/confusing the viewer. Titles came secondary and still do.

Should I be as clear as possible with choosing a title or decide on one that could create interesting discussions on subjects. Or should a title just be a name so we know what we are talking about?

Can a title give an extra dimension to a work, or should it speak for it's self?

I have just finished the painting you can see above and I could call it "Paddock" or "Field", but perhaps "Afternoon Delight" is more appropriate. I quite like the last one, but isn't that a chocolate brand as well?

Lost Ground

Lost Ground is a large canvas I have been working on for quite some time. It is nearing it's finishing stage and can be viewed at Anita Traverso Gallery in May 2010. Size: 197x100cm. Acrylic on Canvas.

The smaller watercolour is a study.

Size: 30x15cm, watercolour on paper.

Naked Canvas

Instead of not showing my “face” for a while because I am so flat out with working on my up coming show, I will try to keep you up to date on some works in progress and some other in-sides.

I love the, “The Naked Canvas”, as I call it. It the start of often spending a lot time in the studio. Boiling hot in Summer, like today and cold in Winter.

Before starting a lot of preparation needs to be done, starting with my road trips and recording ideas. Scanning the landscape. I noticed I am in favor of wide open landscapes with often discarded objects. I am not sure if this stems from being Dutch, having spend half my life over there. Forests are no good, unless I can see trough or over.

Stillness and space is what I am after.

I believe they are accentuated by discarded man made objects. They also need to have the right contrast in terms of Light and dark.. I will take photographs or use water colours to take back to the studio. Watercolour is great as it is fast and I feel very comfortable using this media.

To give the canvas that same Stillness, I feel the need to simplify and abstract the painting. Focus on form, contrast and colour. Not being distracted by detail and receive a direct emotional response.

February 2010 Update

For those that don't know me that well I have added a link to a video taken of my last solo show at ATG.

In the future I will add some more information regarding my Felt Sculptures and other work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-5ZZA4GELo

At The moment I am working on my next show at Anita Traverso Gallery in Richmond. May 2010. This show will be of paintings,

acrylic on canvas and watercolour.

I have completed a couple of road trips which have been my main source of inspiration. Recently I have travelled to the High Country of which I

have added some pictures of scenes that I love.

Lost Ground

Welcom to my new blog.

Stefan Gevers is working on his new show coming up in May 2010.

Exibiting at Anita Traverso gallery in Melbourne.

More details coming soon.