Son upon Tine, a trilogy
Since 2012 Ruud Antonius has been working on a series of three novels of which he has completed the first and is now working on the second book. He is represented by literary agency Villain Innovations. If you wish to visit the homepage of Ruud Antonius's novel please click the picture on the left.
On this page you will find a few added Projects in which Ruud Antonius has been involved or is working on.
2006 The Predatur CD cover and Booklet design
2006 The Predatur CD cover and Booklet design
2008 written introduction for the new Art Book of Marta Jedrysko, The Netherlands
Where there is a way, a will has been at work
At a first glance Marta Jedrysko works with an abundant pallet of colours that reminds us of a perfect summer day. The clear manganese blue that harmonises and contrasts so beautifully with the warm yellow and orange areas on her canvasses. The greens and reds to compliment the imaginary landscape. There is no better way to start a more perfect warm day. Comfortably and without opposition the images are mirrored in our minds and we are spoiled by the first impressions her world leave behind.
It is a happy world that she paints. The form she uses to create the works is evident. The base is a still life, a flower arrangement or a human figure and she will commit herself to that. They are then abstracted but never mauled into unrecognisable objects. It is a search for the soul, a search for the essential matter of that what Marta perceives. Not of that what she knows but what she feels of whatever is in front of her and forms an alliance with her. That is what it is all about.
It is intriguing to discover points of recognition within her paintings that radiate a certain quality of serenity amidst the force of colours and passion. She may have let go of the material qualities of the objects, the light and the perspective but it is a bowl of fruit that remains, full of flavours. Not directly an apple or a lemon but certainly fruit. Wonderful. We cannot speak of virtuoso painting skills, but a virtuoso display of translating feelings that are at work here.
Because Marta’s starting point is never completely abstract it seems that there is no room for coincidence and that makes it fascinating. Everything is there where it should be. There is no room for improvisation. Marta knows what she wants. In contrast to others she knows the sum of the individual components and she finds it her vocation to show how it came to be.
It is more than: ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’. Marta has the ability to project: ‘where there is a way, there has been a will at work’. That is how her mind works and what she represents. Everybody knows one plus one is two. She finds no challenge in that. It is however her task to explain how it feels to be the two. How she experiences this and why it got there. Maybe it should not even be the answer or the equation that should interest us. Perhaps it is the string she manages to touch to sort an air of conjecture. A harmonious frequency to give us an idea of where she stands.
All this is painted with a fluent touch, seemingly careless, but after closer inspection one sees the layers, the corrections and the battle for the truth of the feeling. Feelings can never be denied.
That Marta was born, raised and studied art in Poland can hardly be recognised anymore. The solid and hard touch has made way for a more breathing totality. The grey blanket of restraint has transformed into spaces of light between the coloured areas, shining through predominantly and the harsh colours have been replaced by colourful pastel tints. Her work has evolved, has become rounder, softer and has its own signature. She is not bound to a country or a region. Her studio can be anywhere and her paintings define the atmosphere as if to say: ‘Marta is here’.
So it comes to be that Marta’s perfect summers’ day does put us a little out of countenance. It cannot be so that she only shows us the sun. If she can let us taste the essence then there is more. There is no clown that appears on stage with a large red painted smile on his face whilst he is sad. I do however see the optimistic character of the paintings through the sincerity and honesty of how Marta wishes the world to be. It is her ideal she presents. She has the ability to paint away the dark clouds in her head and enter a world where her visions lead the way. She certainly does not want to tell us that the sun shines, that the fields are green and the sky blue. What she wants is that if we try hard enough it could be so and that her dreams and ideals are important. So much is clear.
So be it.
Being in a room with her work is invigorating. It is as if she has seen her personal heaven and grants us to have a look.
What could we want more?
Ruud Antonius 2007.
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