Homeliday

What you see here is the view from the front of my family’s house in Taiwan.

The painting has a deep meaning for me for several reasons. I painted it in 2022, when my family and I really made a step in our relationship, and when I look at this view, I can feel my family behind me in the house, and I really feel their support.

It also feel like it’s an expression of the Taiwanese spirit.

At the end of January and the beginning of February, farmers are extremely busy planting the baby rice plants. I was having my morning coffee at 6 AM, standing in front of the house, and the sky was so mellow, and the reflections in the water of the rice field gave me a feeling of peace and harmony.

Not many people would paint such a landscape, I think. Even many Taiwanese would think that the houses look kind of ugly, metal roofs on a factory building, people trying to save money and not caring about appearances.

But it’s very Taiwanese!

In the foreground, you see ginger flowers. They weren’t planted intentionally, the just decided to grow there.

In the background, you see bamboo, banana and palm trees, and in the left upper corner, a temple for Tudigong (土地公), the “Lord of the Soil and the Ground”. And again with a metal roof!

I really love this view.

I painted this already last year, but by the time I was done, the rice plants were already grown, so I felt like it wasn’t the right time to show this painting to the world. Now it’s the time of year again.

I hope you enjoy this view of Taiwan – both unusual and very typical.

Something a bit old, but the ideas are still new