THE GARDENS | 2018

Every year, the village of Zonnemaire organizes an event where residents open up their homes and gardens to show art.
As part of my long-term project ARCHIVING, I organized an exhibition of watercolors made by my parents, Laurus & Truida.

At the entrance of the garden I had hung some explanation:

My grandfather -Corre Liek- bought this piece of land in the 40s to build a house on. He was a carpenter/contractor. And a carpenter and a bricklayer used to be able to build a house together.
But he did not get permission. The Municipality of Zonnemaire was afraid of unwanted development. Then he turned it into a garden.

I remember going to the garden with Grandpa.
One day he had a splinter in his hand. In his right hand. He couldn’t get it out. He gave me his pocket knife that he always had with him, and asked me to take out the splinter. How old was I? Six? Seven? I found it quite scary to have to cut my grandfather’s hand with a knife. But Grandpa said: Come on, girl, you shouldn’t be so faint. And I took the splinter out.

Later my grandmother worked in the garden, and her brother, uncle Pau (van de Velde). And then my father and mother. And now me.

My father and mother – Laurus Sinke (Sienke) and Truida Lijk (Liek) – were actually always interested in art. Especially in paintings. In 1956 we did a home exchange with a family from Arnhem. We visited the Kröller Muller museum. How beautiful that was! It made a huge impression on me. Six months later, the radio course Openbaar Kunstbezit (Public Art Property) started. Every month you received a number of reproductions in a cardboard envelope that were discussed on the radio. I see my parents sitting, the book with the reproductions in hand, listening to the voice that gave an explanation. They wanted to know more so badly. Of worlds they did not yet know.

My mother was creative with all kinds of things all her life. My father was always busy at work.

After his retirement, they became members of a painters’ club. Every Wednesday afternoon, for years, they went to paint. They had a lot of fun doing that.

My mother said: because of that painting I learned to look much better.

She was really into the big picture, and especially the colors. My father was a little more inclined to ‘draw’. But to be honest: sometimes we are no longer sure who painted what if they have not put their name on it. In any case, they both worked energetically and quickly. A new painting every Wednesday afternoon.

We, the children, inherited their huge piles of watercolours.

It’s not about how good their paintings are. The point is that they enjoyed it. That it was also fun to be busy. That it was exciting to see if it would work. That they gave shape to what interested them in their own way: landscapes, and a lot of sky above them.