Here's what I found at the Noordermarkt in Amsterdam during my recent trip, two old coffee bowls to add to my collection. And I bargained for them too!
I started collecting these bowls in the mid seventies when I was still in art school and used them often in my still lives. Somehow, from the start of my painting career I was always drawn to still lives. I felt very comfortable painting still lives composed of diverse objects, I could just quietly contemplate their shapes, the mood changing with the change of light, playing around with forms, proportions and color.
From the start on this type of (French) coffee bowl has always been one of my favorites. I've purchased them in France, new, from little old Quincaillerie stores in tiny villages, on flea markets, from antique stores in Holland and now again on a market in Amsterdam.
I love the round shape, the foot of the bowl and the straight line of the top when you place them on eye level, they're almost like a perfect half moon. In the early days of my painting I composed my still lives in reality, with backgrounds and all. Nowadays I use the shape of these bowls in my paintings just the way I see them in my minds eye, I allow myself to play with them, make them look flat, shift them around or let them dance. Ah, to be God in the universe called studio!
The dark red painting is one of a series I did in the mid-nineties, the others all found loving homes but I could not let go of this one...
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