Doortje van Ginneken, *Japanse Garden, The Hague May 2014* – 2014, oil on cotton

While researching a string of art sites I came across a series of interviews conducted by Peripheral ARTeries almost a decade ago, in July 2014. Works by the Dutch artist Doortje van Ginneken immediately caught my attention. I was intrigued as much by her art as by her confidence, so far as I could surmise the latter from the printed word.

“I don’t know what defines a work of art,” van Ginneken was quoted as saying, “but I do know when something that I’ve made is a work of art… I see what I painted and it’s asking me questions. It’s also telling me not to add anything to it anymore”.

Doortje van Ginneken, *Untitled*, 1994, chalk on paper

Disregarding her parents’ advice against a career in art, The Hague-based artist studied at the Vrije Academy in the 1980s and later graduated from The Hague Academy of Fine Arts, specialising in drawing, painting and etching.

Drawing is an essential feature of van Ginneken’s art and she invites the viewer to see the initial outline beneath the layers of homemade oil paint, oil pastels, and even on occasion egg tempera. As so many great artists, she starts with an idea but lets the canvas surprise her, saying “the colours and shapes direct me which way the painting will go… I have no idea where it will lead me and what wonder[s] lie in store for me”. She enjoys the wonder both in the unfolding of the process and in the final artwork which - when she gets it right, she says - expresses the wonder of the nature that inspired it.

Doortje van Ginneken, *Oxford Botanical Garden, August 2013* – 2014, oil on cotton

Often working en plein air, van Ginneken is particularly fascinated by nature and its infinite variety and depth of shapes, scents, colours and sounds. Her flower garden series capture the wonder of nature so well, I can almost feel the sunshine, the movement of the wind, the living, breathing gardens in all of their captivating colours.

“Nature has always been my first and most prominent muse” she said in 2014. A decade later, now working in a different style, her inspiration remains remains the same. In her artist statement she says “landscape is central to my work. I look for form, surfaces, rhythm and composition and go beyond realism.”

Doortje van Ginneken, *Storm*, 2008, oil on linnen

Van Ginneken has a large studio in the historic centre of The Hague where she paints and gives art lessons. If you would like to see more of her artworks, these are the links to her studio and website:
www.atelierwesteinde.nl
http://www.atelierwesteinde.nl/Gal_werk_Doortje/index.htm
https://www.door-werken.nl

Wonder