- Do you want to elaborate on that?
- Yes
- Yes?... Go on (laughter)
- About…
- Because you raised a quite interesting point about your impression
about a saturation of information, whereas first we could say
"Look, it's interesting because that means there are more and more
people who are creating so, there are a lot of facilities trying
to support that" but for you, that's not so much it. It's the commercial aspect
in fact, right?
- Exactly! Exactly!
- It's in fact leveraging systems and networks…
- Take galleries for example: here in Belgium we have galleries
with owners who are going to take 2-3-4 thousand Euros to show your work for,
let's say one month.
You have to distinguish between the owner who takes his fees, who shows
an artist and who could care less, meaning once he has his money,
the artist's work sells or it doesn't, it doesn't matter.
There are galleries that go by percentage so the owner exhibits an artist X times,
he shows his work, if the owner doesn't push the sale the artist gets nothing
nor the owner, at the end of the month he must pay his rent, right! Then there are
galleries like what we have at La Poterie - we have a gallery at Chaudfontaine
- we charge a small rental fee simply so the artists can come
for one month.
They get to show their work but we also have to pay our rent so we calculate
according to the time and rent spent on the show,
It's not huge, we won't go into detail about the price but anyhow,
I for example live two minutes from the gallery, when I'm on duty
I enjoy pushing the sale of this or that work because it's my job,
it's my thing and I like to show off the work of the artist on exhibit
and that's another of the three ways of selling.
For example, in a collective show usually, I know it's not fun sometimes
to stay a whole day from 10-11 am until 6-7 at night in the same place
when there's no one, but the next day… you've had nobody Saturday but you have
people Sunday and you're once again the office boy. Sunday you talk
with people "Ah, well, yesterday we had nobody but today, on the other hand, people are
interested." You have the pleasure of saying: "Here is my work."
It's essential.
I couldn't care less whether I sell or not, because in a month, in 6 months,
I might come across the same people who saw my work at Liège or Charleroi
or Houte-Si-Plou and who'll say "Ah but we already saw this, let's see
what's new" and if there's nothing new, they might go back to one they've seen…
and that they liked previously, but, for whatever reason,
they didn't purchase at the time or whatever, they let it go
and lo and behold they'll buy it six months later.
That's how I work. I don't tell myself "I hang it and just as quickly I sell it"
No! It's ludicrous to think that way because 9 times out of 10
that doesn't work at all…!
- Some people have left comments on Facebook on the subject,
all their definitions of art, I'm going to read them… feel free
to comment as you like.
There's one person who wrote: "For me art is a way to express oneself,
a manner of viewing things, a way to be yourself."
- Exactly! Exactly, that sums up what we were saying earlier!
- So, there's another person who says - it's rather interesting because it
revisits what you were saying just now: "Art can be
of all sorts."
A painter who depicts the nuances of life, the poet who conveys to us his
thoughts, the sculptor, the carpenter who makes a staircase with his own hands but also
the singer or the musician, the cook who makes his meal a work of art and the dish
a canvas, the interior decorator, the photographer who can transmit feelings
through the lens, the storyteller who carries us, dreaming, into his stories,
there you have what is, for me, art!"
- Yes, exactly, that's what I was saying earlier.
It can be whatever, whether it be… from the moment something is created,
whether it's the carpenter who builds a staircase, it's his work.
The baker who… I'm not talking about the guy who just makes his loaves every day,
but who will develop a pastry, create a pastry.
To me that's fantastic because it's his way of working,
his way of seeing things.
He'll make a chocolate eclair with chilis in it, for example, I'm not a chef
But, hey, why not! It works or it doesn't! A play which is put on
might really please one audience whereas it might displease another.
A musician, it's true that he has to be eclectic and be able to appreciate
a little bit of everything.
Anyhow I don't like people who tell me "I don't like that!" No!
Whether it's painting, or food, or
a play, whatever, "I don't like it." No! You first have to look
and then examine.
You could say "I appreciate the colors of a painting, I don't appreciate
how salty this dish is" but you can't say "I don't like it," it's not possible,
at least for me, personally.
- Because that shuts things down?
- Completely!
- Do you think that to create, to some extent, is to take a risk?
- Always!
- So it comes with the territory?
- Absolutely! That's why I say…
- One must take risks?
- Oh yes! Mind you, it depends a bit on a person's outlook! When I was younger,
I played a lot of sports and, unfortunately, perhaps or luckily,
I always took on – I quote – risky sports.
Why? Because…here's an example: I was paragliding, when I no longer experienced
- because I have vertigo too - when I no longer felt the effect of fear,
those pulses of adrenaline, I stopped because it wasn't doing anything for me.
Like in painting, when I was doing figurative works in watercolors or even in oils,
thirty years ago, I stopped because it wasn't doing it for me anymore.
From the moment when…it's very possible in 10 years, or I don't know when, but in
a few years I'm going to be fed up with the way in which I work…maybe I'll
find something else…always as a painter of course, but maybe I'll find
another technique or something else, when I'm facing a wall, and this wall
must be toppled.
When painting it's the same, from the moment I've had enough of the way
I work, I'll find something else.
At least I'll try to find something.
- So there was another person who gave their thoughts on
a quote from a film called "Good Will Hunting"
that says: "For me, art is the freedom of the soul to breathe."
- Quite profound…
- "Art is the freedom of the soul to breathe…" What do you make of that?
- For me, it means… when an artist expresses himself,
again, whatever form of art that encompasses, he's in a rage because he wants
to get to the heart of what's gripping him and…often things aren't going as well for the artist
As one might think… Often things are rough because people carry… certain judgements that are
completely erroneous, it's a shell and I don't think that we can just shrug it off
- I don't want to, anyhow I don't care - but whatever "Oh yes he's an artist…."
In France you're lucky because artists enjoy a certain status there;
here in Belgium we don't.
We're considered... I won't say next to nothing but
not far from it! It's a shame, but really it's a reflection of what can happen
when we carry out a work.
- Do you think that, in a way, it hurts to create?
- At times yes!
- Yes?
- At times, yes! Because… at least, for my part and I believe for many colleagues,
it's similar, we get to the bottom of things, there's never satisfaction when
I finish a painting... even when someone says "Yeah it's great"... Yeah...
'cause one can always do better.
By contrast, when I see someone create something, it pleases me to tell them:
"Damn, what you did there is great!" I had just such a case this weekend: I have two interns
who come here for internships.
They made something together, it's to die for,
when I saw it, I said "Don't touch a thing, it's magical!" This painting,
it's drying right now and I enjoy seeing it... By the way I put it
online because I'm truly proud of their work, because they made something
which I find exceptional, but personally I never express myself like that,
because sure I'll say "Oh yeah I like it a lot" but in 2-3 days,
maybe not two to three days, but in two to three months I'll say "Damn, this painting, yeah...
I liked it but not anymore." Other people might like it sure, but me, personally,
after seeing it repeatedly, well, I get bored...which is normal.
It's like a musician who plays the same song all the time,
eventually he'll get sick of it.
However, he'll hear the audience saying "Ah that's a great song...."
That's how it goes!
- Another person said: "Art is the image of what my words
cannot express."
- Well, maybe!
- What do you think of that?
- Yes, I've already seen that often but who knows? For my part, no, because I'm very
frank, sometimes too much so, I say what I think and I don't reflect that in my work!
Because I don't think that's important, well, it could be... I'll give you an example:
the show where I'm going Sunday at Saint Quirin, the theme is
peoples' resistance in light of what happened with the attacks and all.
I'm going to try to express in my painting what I won't say verbally because
there are things that... I won't make a fuss about, I also have, but
I prefer to keep that to myself because it's not a given to go…
you know…, if everybody shouted in the street, that might cause some movement,
but small actions like they take from time to time, that's not my style!
- But, in any case, you find that painting is a way of going a bit
beyond words?
- Yes
- Yes?
- Yes!
- It helps matters?
- Yes!
- That can be stronger than words, how you... ?
- I did a painting last year for... in fact it was for our event
"We love art in Europe." It took place at Forbach in Lorraine
the day after the events in Paris.
I was in the studio, I had taken a blank canvas, I balanced the colors
blue white red... I said "Well, alright, I'm going take it in... " - but in my way
of working, it was very abstract - I said, "I'm going to go take it to
the embassy here in Belgium, the French embassy." Then I said to myself "Well shit,
they won't do anything with it" and we were invited by the City of Forbach
to the unveiling of the painting completed in May.
I said to myself "All things considered, I'm going to offer it to them." And anyhow,
the red in my painting, it was the blood of the victims of the attacks.
It was the same on December 13th when, here in Belgium
in Liège, a guy blew himself up... He blew up a lot of people, there were
seven to eight dead, I think it was seven, people injured... I was leaving the Academy
and I passed 10 meters from the site where the guy was, I was on my way home
and on my way, maybe 200 to 300 meters farther, I started to come across ambulances,
the cops, the whole mess... I said "What's going on?" I got home,
turned on the TV and sure enough, there were reports on the guy
who had decided to blow everyone up.
He blew himself up and I made a painting, I called it "Why" because...
it's an investigation into what happened, I don't really know what...
In my mind, this painting represents the Place Saint-Lambert,
I see it whenever I look at the painting - because I offered it to the city of Liège
and right now I think it's still hanging in the office... it's part of
the private collection of the BAL in Liège, it's on permanent exhibit in the office
of a president or someone- in short, I went to the grand opening
of the library and the painting was there and when I saw that painting, even when
I see it in photos, I see myself walking by at the moment it happened.
It's a way of being able to express what I experienced because
when I retell it, for me, it doesn't have the same worth.
I could say "Well yeah, I passed by where it all happened" but that's about it.
But those are words, words are fleeting, writing remains but so does a painting!
- What did you say its title was?
- "Why"...
- Because I had even... I can't come up with it now, but I even wrote
a short poem that went with the painting at the time, in which I explain
{see the attached text of the poem} that I passed by the place,
that there was a lucky star that, in parentheses, protected me.
Why create victims or carnage that serves no purpose? That strongly affected me
and I think of it often now... even right now, I often think
"I escaped alright, I could have happened by 5 minutes later and found myself with the others!"
It's fate! It's life and death!
- I don't know if you know this quote by Jacques Salomé, the social psychologist:
"Between the act of dying and the act of creating there is but one small difference, where I'm concerned,
between dying and creating, I prefer to dream!" The person who posted this
adds: "For my part, art remains by far the best of therapies."
- Yes
- You share this point of view?
- Yes completely! When I'm not feeling well -this happens to me- I come here
to the studio, I work and it's an escape.
That shows in my work, as I've said before, but anyhow
it does me good.
We put on a lot of events, we do a lot of things, I can't sit
and do nothing and when, now and then, we have a big weekend and I'm tired
like everybody...I'm tired and I tell myself "Oh hell, one day, two days,
three days, without doing anything" - no that lasts one day because the second day
I have to move. So yes, it's a therapy which is drastically better than medication
and corporations!
- There's someone else who shared a very personal story... she says:
"Since my son's suicide, art has become the bedrock of my life.
Yes, art was always part of my life, poetry, visual arts but since
the arduous and even at times monotonous roads, barren with grief which subside in their own time,
art has truly become vital to me"...
- Last weekend, we had an open house.
There was a woman there who had exhibited last month at the gallery at Chaudfontaine.
I didn't know her story.
I learned that she had lost a son, she wasn't doing anything before... actually
she was a housewife... She had lost her son and she began - she was
constantly depressed - she began to do pottery, to sculpt...
You have to see her work, it's exceptional.
She says – I quote – "When I'm feeling down, I work and I'm cured!"
Her pain, she will always have it, that's clear, but somehow the work helps her,
it has been a real therapy for her because I don't believe she was destined
to... become an artist, but the death of her son made it so... She has embarked on
a career, and it's more than promising! So that's
a good assessment...
- The last person who contributed comments on this topic is someone who says :
"Art is a form of freedom to be and to think."
- Yes, I agree with that too! Freedom of thought, we can no longer do that
nowadays, globally we can no longer just do as we wish so
for us as artists, as a painter, on the canvas we can express a lot of
things, which serve as a roundabout way of saying things, but it is often possible ...I have
a painting you've filmed here, there are little silhouettes being engulfed so...
- So that sums it up for you?
- Yes yes completely.
We are gobbled up by those bigger than us.
I hope to one day be able to live off my art but I wouldn't want to be rich.
I'm richer than they are, the wealthy, the lobbyists.
That's one way of seeing things.
I think right now that there's no longer anything that works, we're being taken over by the bigwigs
and that's it! I don't think things are going to improve, on the contrary, so we need
a big revolution, a worldwide revolution! And yet... But I'm not going to
launch it. I may have the intention of one day creating the Free Republic of
Pottery, that wouldn't be bad but well {laughter} that remains
to be seen.
- So then, would you like to share any anecdotes, any feedback that you
have had from the public or people who have bought your paintings, who admire them?
Since you've been making your creations, do you remember any specific
feedback that you've received, anything that's left an impression on you?
- I always come back to the same... this painting that I called "Purgatory"
I had entered it in a contest, before that it was in the gallery.
A woman introduced herself to me.
She had seen the painting and said: "I would really like to buy that." I told her:
I'm sorry, that's not possible because I have to keep it in the exhibition for a year..."
she said: "That's no big deal. I'll come back in a year." Usually, when people
don't buy something straightaway, it's rare that they come back,
so it's forgotten.
I had the chance with Marc, we were... we had the chance to exhibit at the casino
Crans-Montana in Switzerland.
After the exhibition I retrieved the paintings, I didn't have a lot of time,
we had other things to do so I drove from Crans-Montana to Liège.
I loaded the paintings at 7 in the morning and started back towards Belgium
and the woman called, she said: "Listen, do you still have the painting
I reserved?" "Uh yes" (already surprised) and she said: "Well listen,
I'm in Vagnas, in Ardèche." I told her: "That's very nice but I'm in
Switzerland, I'm headed back to Belgium." Her: "Do you have the painting?"
Me: "Yes it's in my trunk." She said: "Could we meet halfway?"
Me: "We could meet in Lyon."
Her: "Ah but I have back pain." I told her: "Listen, I'm exhausted.
It's not a big deal, when you return to Belgium give me a call." I was taking a risk
then and there that she might say: "Well then, I won't buy it." One month,
two months later, she was back in Belgium, she called and I brought her
the painting and I thought "Well now, she has it finally."
That really touched me...
Recently, I had the same thing with a lady who had been clinically dead,
who saw a painting here, which released a flood of emotions in her.
When she took ownership of the painting, I knew it would be of great help to her.
It's a pleasure to know that.
If I sell a painting well... sometimes it breaks the heart, I wonder
where it will be shown... Often these are personal favorites.
It makes me happy to know... it's an accomplished work, the painting is good.
I'm talking about material well-being.
I would say my paintings fare well, they're well surrounded, there's the wood fire,
there's the little dog running... It's silly but... I prefer that
to knowing that someone is buying a painting to make me happy.
I don't care, I've suspected that, and I end up disappointed because this painting
is going to be hung in some corner out of sight, it's rare but it happens! So that's
the kind of thing that can happen!
- So before one last question, do you want to tell us about any projects, whether
on the go, or projects to come,
knowing that you take part in "We love art in Europe" could you
talk about that a bit more?
- Of course, with pleasure! It's my baby! I set it in motion four years ago
on a sudden impulse.
I said to myself "Hey! Why not bring together artists in Europe
to make a painting!" Originally my idea was, in each European capital,
to find one or two artists who would paint a 10 by 3-meter painting.
My idea was: contact a tv channel like "Euronews" or
something like that where they do... they excel in soccer matches,
so they could very well put in small squares, in each European capital,
a camera with the artist who's working.
So that was the goal at the beginning.
To achieve that, I needed about 25,000 Euros because I needed to
buy the canvases, the paint, transport them to each country. Here the border with Holland,
with France, Luxembourg that's fine but well the project included the Isle of Malta,
it was going everywhere! I had a thick binder, I still have it,
I sent it everywhere possible, saying "Look, I need support..."
It was August, it took nine months, that's why
I call it "my baby," it took nine months to be able to say
"There, we did it." I've been able to find several people, politicians etc..., by saying
"here's my project." Everyone told me: "Oh yes, it's a great project,"
but there wasn't any cash. I tried sponsors, big societies
who replied "sorry we have no money." Three weeks later I saw
advertisements, I won't name names, it's awful...
For sports, it's great for those who play, but for sports there's dough,
for the arts and culture there's none! So I thought
"This isn't going to work, why not have the artists involved come.
I contacted about 30 of them, they were all ready to follow me in this adventure.
Why not have them come to Belgium to paint one common painting?"
Surprisingly it was less expensive to have them come here, pay for hotels, etc...
but we still needed money! We had no sponsors! I thought "I don't care,
even if I do the whole thing alone but May 9th I will be on the esplanade of Cinquantenaire
Park in Brussels!" You should know, too, the media here in Belgium is terrible!
It's awful because, again, since the State gets nothing from it,
it's not a money-maker for the municipalities, I'm not saying they're unethical,
whatever... but, well, it's how I feel - other than some journalists with whom I'm on
good terms and who follow my events - otherwise, it's useless.
I thought "Well, let's organize a little demonstration." We met up,
nine artists I think, nine or ten artists. We met on December 8th, I think
it was -2/-3 degrees, in the street in Brussels with big banners saying
"We love art in Europe" and we first tried RTBF, which is a national channel.
I talked to the clerk there and asked if it would be possible to meet with someone
in production or with a journalist. The guy was really uneasy: "Oh no
that's not possible." I insisted a little, "No it's really not possible,
there's no one." Yeah there's someone... I left the place, out of luck. I had
a megaphone in my car, I climbed onto the roof of the car, I started
to yell, I really expressed what I wanted to say! I had prepared
a small speech because I doubted that it was going to be easy. And then...
we saw people at the windows who weren't budging, then
at RTL, there we met with a journalist, who told us "well yes but we do
the news not..." I don't know, I said "Come on, can you plan,
when you cover a soccer match to take place in six months, can you predict
that it's really going to happen?" "Well yes, but not exactly because here,
we don't know if you're really going to be there." I said: "I assure you there will be
28 of us artists there." "Yeah, but listen, come meet with us and this and that...,"
I said: "but you'll come?" "Yeah, yeah, no problem"... We never
2saw them again! So I carried on. With the permits it was the same,
because well it's a public monument of course, we had to
have the authorizations of the Ministry of Defense, the Army Museum, a ton
of approvals that I received verbally the day before and in writing 15 days after the event!
What can I say, that's Belgium! The 9th of May, we were there, our event took place,
we made a stellar painting, there was a great ambience and when I got back that evening
I said "No! Wait! I have to put a stop to this because it's not sustainable!" So
I put out a little note online saying: "Well, we've followed through on our dream
but we're stopping because it's not sustainable." I received some responses
"No! We'll continue, we'll have another and another..." So I said
well, okay, fine! We did the same thing in Liège the year after, at the Place Saint-Lambert.
The city of Liège was very supportive. With respect to planning, I didn't have
anything to do, it was a piece of cake. We had our event, it was great
except for one thing - the weather! Because we were outside and it rained,
it rained the whole day so, it was a bit of a fiasco, but
because we were part of a big event in Liège, in spite of everything there was a turnout.
There were people, we got to share our experiences etc... And then I had the chance
to meet and then to do a show in Forbach at the gallery Têt'de l'Art. I had
hung my paintings like everyone and then we talked a bit. We work
in sort of the same spirit, whether it's work, or the gallery,
we share the same perspectives. They kindly asked at the beginning to do some
intercultural exchanges. So we sent some artists to them, they sent some
to us, and then when I had hung my paintings, we had developed
the thing. There are some organizers, Thierry Crusem who told me: "Listen, why not
do "We love art" here in Forbach?" It had been planned for Paris.
I thought, all things considered, why not! I panicked for a few months
because I had sent out mailings, called... "yeah, yeah, don't worry, it'll happen"...
It's just me, I have to know the answer before asking
the question, so I was very very worried right up until the last week and then
we arrived, 37 artists, in Belgium. We lodged locally, we were very
well received and then we had the event. There was music, a ton of activities
and when we left, I said well that was great but I want to do
better, I want to raise the bar! I think this year, we're going to have it
in Hamburg on May 16th, Pentecost Monday, it's a holiday.
The event will be integrated with an artist's walk so there will be a lot of people coming
already for the exhibition and I hope they will stop by our place.
There is a lot of entertainment planned. There's a big surprise
and it's going to be something... We'll have musicians; here in Belgium, they're people
well known in Liège. There's Monsieur 13, Quentin Léonard, Xavier Mommers and
Eve Willems, those are the people performing... they aren't concerts, they're mini
concerts if you will, a musical show for the audience
alongside our event. So for guests of honor, we have three: I have Lucien Rama
who will be the patron of the event, who is an art historian and an artist
as well. An extraordinary man... I had the chance to attend one of
his conferences and they're too short, he doesn't speak long enough,
then I have a cartoonist from the Huy area, Sondron, who will also be there
and then as a guest star I have Juan Ramirez who is the godson of Salvador Dalí,
with whom I had a good rapport throughout the unveiling of the painting at Forbach.
I had, of course, invited him to participate in our event. As luck would have it,
the day after tomorrow, he's having a show here in Belgium as part of the
Dalí exhibition in Liège so I'm going to meet with him there. I meet with him
Saturday morning, we'll come here to La Poterie. I think that his coming here merits
showing him the studio… I'd like to get his views on my work {laughter}...
So we'll see, right! He's a very nice man, very open and, in spite of his status,
he is easygoing. It's a joy to see him work. He works with a sword!
He paints a portrait using a sword, he puts a brush on the end of his foil and
he works. He's a character! The week after, so May 16th, the weekend after
we had the André Coppens festival. In fact André Coppens is
a friend who has visited us for a long time and who has organized a festival for
14 years now and two years ago he said: "Well now I'm quitting, would you like
to take on my festival?" For us, that was an honor, so we accepted!
We kept the same frame of mind, by trying to improve certain
small things. We have it here, outside, we put up tents. There are arbors,
it's a little village inside the village, in La Poterie. That's how we're going
to come about the Republic of Pottery, eh {laughter}. It's a little village,
there's entertainment, music, it's really a big two-day party.
We do the same at the end of August, it's called Le Carré de la Poterie,
it's the same concept, everyone picks a spot and sets to work! It's thanks to the initiative of
Anne-Marie Lizin who was a politician, who unfortunately is now deceased. She was
a friend and neighbor who would often visit us. One day she suggested to us:
"Why don't you organize an artist's walk?" So we started
here at La Poterie, of course, and there is a rest home a bit farther,
they welcome us every year. We stationed artisans mostly in La Poterie, people
who work in pastels, since what they have is a bit more fragile so needs to be
protected from the heat; it's sheltered. Some people from the neighborhood
agreed to host artists in their homes. It's been working out well.
We welcome in general between 50 and 70 artists, we try to not bring in too many, because
of lack of space and then, well, we can't bore people, we have to
allow them time to... We've had a big exhibition too for the last two years, the city
loans us a gallery at Place Verte; unfortunately there are renovations scheduled
at the end of this year so that won't be possible, but it's still a lovely show
that we organize. What is there still? There are still some things. Ah...
in August we have the Mot'Art Days, so we invite bikers who are also artists!
I have painters, I have sculptors, there will be tattoo artists,
it must be the bikers showing their work! We did this last year,
it took off in no time. I laid the groundwork one or two weeks before the event,
I sent out a call to artists saying: "I need bikers who paint..."
Five to six turned up and that had its plusses. There were a lot a friends with whom
I used to ride who participated and that went really well, and they asked
"Well, why don't you do this every year?" Ok, that's good! That's one more
little thing! Then, 15 days ago we had a one-day show for Women's Day.
So we try each time to have..., the 24th of April there's a gourmet walk,
there are people, walkers who stroll by, and then they stop at La Poterie,
there's a tasting corner outside..., that lets them take in the place
while conversing with the artists. Once we've connected, we're happy.
- You've listed so many things that you've done…
- It's quite the investment!
- Yeah! Not everyone has that...
- You need the drive!
- Yeah! What drives you within, why is it so important
for you to meet, to gather?
- Because, as I said, I can't just sit and do nothing, not at all. Once I plan
something, whether it's a show or whatever, I try to mobilize a lot of people
to participate in the events we create. There are a lot of things to share, a lot of
things to say to people, and it goes both ways: it's a way
to free yourself, to experience a release, and for them to learn. There are people,
even artists, who come to the studio from time to time, they see how I work
"Ah! I didn't know about that!" Here there are no secrets. Because,
at first, my colleagues told me: "You're going to give away your secrets!"
No, I'm not giving away my secrets, I have no secrets. I show how I work
and every artist who comes for an internship works in their own way.
Personally I am not capable of doing the same thing twice so each time
my works are unique and the interns who make their own things also create unique works!
- Is it a way for you to fight isolation, for example?
- Isolation, not really, because I...
- Or the loneliness that others might experience?
- For me, no, because I... I admit I sometimes I like being alone,
it's rare... No no... This I enjoy: I go to the coast with my girlfriend,
we walk along the beach with our dog, that's the good life! But despite everything,
I always find a way to go make my little figures in the sand!
Someone butted in a few months ago: "You're making a big silhouette."
I had been taking a picture but... even then he didn't know to leave us alone!
Because that's how I am ... that weekend I had promised my
girlfriend to not talk about painting, not set foot in a gallery, nothing at all.
I kept my word except for the little figure in the sand {laughter}!
- So, we've come to the last question, what advice would you give to someome
who doubts their own creativity, who keeps awesome projects locked inside, who hesitates
to put themselves out there? Do you have a message for them?
- You must always follow through on your dreams! That's my thing and... even if
we sometimes stumble..., we fall but we get back up. We must advance, not stagnate,
not step back under any circumstances! We must move forward in life and we don't fall alone, whether it's...
even faced with illness we keep going, we push on,
it's a form of therapy! The act of saying "No! You're not going to do me in!
I'm going to make it!", that helps. Be it for artists or whomever,
someone who doesn't dare, must overcome barriers, must take the plunge,
must let go, say "A barrier? No problem! We'll leap over it. There's
a chance, there's always a chance for everything." People who say it's impossible,
what do they know? As proof, someone told me once that what I wanted was impossible to achieve,
but I made it! I thank Jean-Luc Dossche for having told me it was impossible
because if he hadn't said that, I might have been less committed or I might have
gone down another road but no, at that moment I was convinced that I was going to make it.
I struggled alright, I don't hide it, no, you have to follow through!
- Is there any last thing you'd like to add, Patrick?
- Ha! There are so many things to add! Do what you want in your life, stay free
and always be respectful despite everything, towards all points of view. Share, I don't
do it socially, but sharing for me is one of the most beautiful forms of life
because you give and you receive. Someone who shares..., I'll give my ideas
and the other person will give me their ideas, from there other ideas can form
that spead from there and that's fabulous!
- Patrick, thank you very much for having taken the time to welcome us.
- I said at the start: it's with great pleasure!
- See you soon, then? - Okay, no problem!
This English translation has been possible thanks to the PerMondo project: Free translation of website and documents for non-profit organisations. A project managed by Mondo Agit.
Translator: Christa Levy, Proofreader: Karen Lapprand >> A big THANK YOU goes to them ! <<
"I'm starting a new life, I've turned a page... A chance for renewal that I didn't find in Belgium where art and culture are scorned... I'm now settled 7 kilometers from Nîmes, in France.
I have an artist friend who rents me a studio where I have absolute independence... I can paint beneath the sun... Of course, everyone is welcome in my little paradise". Patrick Vanden (August 2016)
Thank You All, your own testimonies are welcome
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