Ja ik wil

I was incredibly honoured when our lovely neighbours Ingrid and Paul asked me to create their family portrait.

I was also a bit worried, to be honest, because portraits really are not my specialty! (The only other similar painting that I’ve created is the family portrait of my husband and me.)

Ingrid and Paul are such a lovely couple and they were getting married, so I decided to challenge myself to create a painting for this important moment in their lives.

I wanted to show them in a way that really represents them and their lives. A portrait is something very personal, so we began with a long conversation to better get to know them.

Paul is an architect, and be built a roof garden with a glass house. They also like to travel and explore, and go hiking in the mountains. So I transported their glasshouse into a mountain spring scenery, with a garden of their favourite flowers blooming. When you look closely, you will also see a sculpture that Ingrid made, and a hint to an unusual hobby that they’ve picked up recently: welding! And of course there’s Willem, the cat.

Ingrid and Paul got married in August, and this painting featured on the invitations sent to all the guests. I’m very happy to have been part of this special occasion!

Something a bit old, but the ideas are still new