The Giants are coming

Back in 2011, a client from Canada commissioned me to do a drawing for his collection. A few days later, while walking through the woods, an idea presented itself, so during the lunch break I did a few rough sketches in my sketchbook.

I remember getting quite excited by the idea that gradually crystallized itself in my mind while walking through nature. The emotion that grew out of this picture was quite powerful. Recognizing a well-known pattern of picture and emotion simultaneously growing out of the same source, a process that often resulted in a good piece of art; I could not wait to come home to start working on the drawing.

Back home, and as soon as I started to draw, quite spontaneously a story all together with the title (The Giants are Coming), “came out” of the scene that was evolving in front of me. I then quickly wrote down the story, not knowing that this would mark the beginning of my writing a whole series of stories which would eventually make up the foundation of my  new book, the book of giants.

Before that, I was already reading about mythology and folklore. However something strange happened in me that day, something like a subtle switch, that made the inner mythology, or my personal myth, come to the surface. Writing that short story was a very special moment for me. It made me delve even deeper into the realms of mythology, as well as psychology. The next few years, I spent much of my time reading about it, writing stories, and doing drawings and paintings inspired by the myth, epics and legends.

Then, about a year after the drawing was finished, a collector from the US commissioned me to do a painting. Because I was quite sure I wanted to do a painting of the recently finished drawing, I presented this idea to him. Fortunately he was excited about my proposal, so I soon set on another adventure with the giants.

The creation of the painting was not as easy as I hoped. Many different things, some having nothing to do with painting whatsoever, interfered with the work on this piece. Finally, after a long struggle that included many short and long breaks, the painting was finished and delivered. And with that, this little journey which started spontaneously about 3 years ago whit a glimpse of a future painting I saw in my mind while walking in the woods, came to its end. However not without leaving a significant trace behind. In one or another way, a few important thing came out of all this: my new book inspired by mythology and based on discovery of my personal myth; rediscovery of the work of C.G. Jung and psychology, and the new elan and inspiration that proved to be so important for a further development of my work.

The Giants are Coming, oil on canvas, 70X100 cm