Chani's Creative Space

Once a year, on August 13th, I forget that I am a visual artist and a translator to focus on the fact that I am also a left-hander. I know that many lefties are proud to have their own day. Personally, I do not like so much the idea that we still need a special day, although I find it important to promote awareness that we are still discriminated in a predominantly right-handed world: the tools we need to be able to work properly or without injuring ourselves (scissors, knives, tin opener, symmetric ladle, pencil sharpener, ruler, computer mice, left-handed music instruments, etc.) are often not to find in normal shops at normal prices. Cameras, cash machines or turnstiles which symmetric design are most of the time not to find at all. I hate one-sided clothing (shirts, jackets and trousers with pockets at the wrong place and/or opening the wrong way) and I would like be able to eat with the knife in the left hand and the fork in the right hand without be stared at as if I were a Mart...

Last summer, I felt the urge to return to my brushes after so many years. During all this time, I did not even wait passively for my talent to manifest itself; I just had forgotten about it. But suddenly, inspiration became so obsessive that it led me like a zombie to the first art shop to buy some brushes and colours. Maybe I needed this long break to develop my own artistic voice? Already early in life, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but times were hard for dreamers and others did not let me. I was surrounded by pessimists who only saw problems, preventing me from seeing opportunities. The only way to survive at that time was to put my dreams on ice. At home, at school and at university, I mostly learned what not to do, how not to work and not to live, but nothing about the way to achieve my goals. I am sure - this long break was necessary to gain confidence and gather the courage to follow my own path. Playing with soap

It is a strange feeling to live where other people are on holiday, especially in the summer. When the scent of tropical blossoms mix with the salty smell of grilled sardines, suntan lotion and sangria.  Sometimes, the heat makes it difficult to concentrate on  what I want to achieve. But summer is ideal to discover art everywhere. On the beach. In town. Towels. Parasols. Processions. Food creations. Cocktails.  Art is part of life and - almost - everything can be art. Harvest time Finally spring Greens

Making art with brushes and with a camera. I like both.  I do not like sophisticated cameras though. And I cannot imagine spending much time editing my pictures either (too many hours in front of a screen as a translator already...). Taking pictures, I do not want to immortalize landscapes, but to show a hidden, parallel reality. Something which is there but one does not see because he or she does not look at it. Snails also can make good art... So beautiful, because they do not know you look at them...

With the arrival of June, summer season has begun and during this time, population can triple in my adopted home town. Which means a lot of disagreements like noise in the night and overcrowded buses and trains, but also the possibility of learning of those others who come to relax on our beaches and to visit our country. One thing I like all year here is the mixed population, the possibility to speak five languages in one day depending on the neighbours you are talking to, but in July and August, there are definitely even more possibilities to discover other worlds.  It is not that easy to find another place in Europe - except London or Paris maybe - where you can meet people form Iceland, Bahrain, Morocco and Russia within one hour... Before leaving on holiday myself, I can enjoy something new, different, being at home - only by opening my eyes and ears. Some conversations will tell me of other landscapes, habits, spices, colours, will inspire me as an artist and will b...

Trying to discover beauty within banality... For the artist, the view is the most important thing. Or even more as the view, the angle. Traffic jam Provence Orchids Flamingos

After weeks of  cleaning, scratching, painting walls, packing, arranging, I finally inaugurated my new studio this week! I can endorse the statement of the Dutch designer Jan Taminiau wholeheartedly: "My atelier, like a lab, is a place of discovery and development." Harmony