St. Rochusstraat 37
Eindhoven, Netherlands
2 October 1997
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4 x 6", archival mat & backing to 10 x 8"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
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This was painted my second year staying at Ad and Ankie's apartment in Eindhoven where many, many fellow singer songwriters have been hosted and a number of beautiful albums have been recorded and produced.
The light is exceptional in this 3rd floor room and I'm afraid that I came nowhere near to capturing in this little painting the way the light played on the roses. Determined to paint something, I included in this little arrangement a small teddy bear given to me once by a club owner who insisted that the bear must go on tour with me. That very moment, I placed the bear in my guitar case where he lived throughout my touring years.
I think of this painting as the beginning of my working relationship with Ankie Keultjes who is largely responsible for my albums Ephemera and The Glory. She also beautifully produced and performed on The Watchman (Ad van Meur's) albums.
Most of old Eindhoven was destroyed during bombings in the 2nd World War so, though the city was established at least by the end of the 12th century, it has a very modern feel. There's an enclosed graveyard near St. Rochustraat with a large wall listing columns of names of people (some entire families) that were killed in a terrible Allied bombing. (See A Bridge Too Far for a good description of the ridiculousness of war and its tragic mishaps.)
Eindhoven also boasts the largest park of any city in The Netherlands. This park includes a theater, lake, organic farm, prehistoric village, stream, walking paths, gardens, aviary and more. Fortunately, Ad and Ankie live about two blocks from the park and I spent at lot of time walking there, often with Blaue the Border Collie (and a well-worn frisbee).
Eindhoven Roses
Alkmaar
It's Sunday and, as promised, it's time for my tour paintings post. Rather than start right off with the first of this series, I thought that I'd set the scene with my preliminary venture. I may be new to the painting blogosphere but my little secret (no longer) is that I've been at postcard (size) paintings for exactly eleven years.
Towards the beginning of my first European tour as a singer-songwriter, I performed at Atlantis in Alkmaar, Netherlands. Not too long before that, I'd landed in Brussels with a fresh head cold and was already exhausted from dragging around a suitcase filled with CDs, my trusty guitar on my back, and, as I was on my own except for the club folks, audiences and occasional host, lonely.
With plenty of time before catching the train to my next gig in Nijmegen, I took advantage of the gorgeous October day and walked around Alkmaar, enjoying the architecture and remnants of the Cheese Market. Turning a corner, I discovered the marvelous Theo Groothuizen where I bought a Winsor Newton field kit, small watercolor block and sketch pad. This morning, I dug out my journals from those tours and found this entry dated:
"16 October 1996. ...Bought field box of watercolors. Sat on bank of canal and made tiny sketch of house that caught my eye yesterday. Great fun. Got covered with little green bugs from tree I was sitting under..."
As long as I'm setting the scene, let me show you the studio that served me for a decade.
Closed:
Open:
A slightly later addition without which I could not work — a selection from my fine, old linen napkin collection:
If you go to Diary of a Studio you can watch as my present studio emerges. But for ten good years, I painted everything out of this little knapsack. Stay tuned for Sunday postings where I'll share many of them with you.
Alkmaar, Netherlands
16 October 1996
Watercolor and Pencil on sketch paper
available to select collector of Tour paintings
Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized post by working your way up from the bottom. (This post is the bottom!)
