“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer."

~Albert Camus

"White Rose"oil on wood   12” x 16”  2025

Dear Friends,

I love winter.  The chilly air, the sketched plants, the darkness and all. But last winter the pools of lamplight in my world were not enough to inspire my imagination nor my vision. Painting seemed to have become trivial in the midst of such a troubled world. I struggled with possible directions, with meanings, with the idea of beauty. While trying to minimize unhelpful self-reflection I turned to making panels. I cut up the planks of a 70 year old book case my parents carted all over the world and turned them into 15 wood surfaces on which to paint. The hard, darkened mahogany represented a lifetime to me. I covered them with rabbit-skin glue gesso, a painting surface used 500 years ago, and started painting flowers. As the months passed, I tracked individuals, carefully recording the evolution of a plant with photos and sketches, and witnessed the emergence, the peak florescence and the eventual disappearance of each flower's life. It was a wonderful project. The new paintings in my studio show this October are the result.  

“Dandelion”  12” x 14”  oil on wood  2025

I need not remind you that flowers have been a subject of painters for centuries.  As it happens my paternal aunt, JML van Soest-Wijtman (b. 1911-d.1963) , was also a painter of flowers. She was a sensitive and accomplished watercolor painter in Holland, some of whose paintings I've inherited, including some from her watercolor sketchbooks. We will be exhibiting her work alongside my paintings.  Sadly, she died when I was only a young child, but I grew up with her paintings and her memory. I am honored to be able to share them with you. I like to think she would have enjoyed the examples of our mutual love of nature and art being displayed side by side.

My parents’ wedding bouquet painted by my Tante Joop (JML van Soest-Wijtman)  watercolor   12” x16” 1946