Jan has always been drawing, ever since he can remember. He still has drawings of the Beatles, when he was a child, as well as of animals, of course...but for so many years, almost everything stayed in his portfolios it's only 15 years ago that things started to come out little by little. Also, the urge becoming more and more present, he progressively got into the habit of drawing on a more regularly basis.
Jan a toujours beaucoup dessiné, du plus loin qu'il se rappelle. Il a encore des dessins des Beatles, du temps qu'il était petit, aussi d'animaux, bien sûr....mais pendant toutes ces années, presque tout était resté dans des cartons. C'est seulement il y a une quinzaine d'années que des choses ont commencé à apparaître, petit à petit. L'envie se faisant de plus en plus pressante, il se mit progressivement à dessiner régulièrement.
A - Dessins d'imagination
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Christmas card 1
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Christmas Card 2
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Skating - Patin à Glace
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Happy Birthday !
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Little Terrier
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Black Poodle
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Born to be wild.
La fureur de vivre
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Cuddely Cats
Chats Câlins
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Playing teckels
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The Green Cat
Le Chat Vert
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Happy family
La Petite Famille
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Serenade
- You can see many more ink drawings in the section ' The Postcards '.
- Vous pouvez voir plein d'autres dessins à l'encre dans la section Jan's postcards.
- You can send vivid photos of your Pet to Jan, that will inspire him to make an ink drawing for you, format A5.
- Vous pouvez aussi lui envoyer des photos expressives de votre animal familier, qui l'inspireront pour vous faire un dessin en couleurs à l'encre, format A5.
In the chilly morning.... (dans le petit matin frais)
When we visited The Bargello in Firenze, we saw the first sculpture of a turkey ever made in Europe. Of course, there was no way we could have stolen the piece.... Jan had been so impressed by it that here is our own little one:
Quand nous sommes allés au Bargello à Florence, nous avons vu la première sculpture d'un dindon jamais faite en Europe. Mais il n'y avait aucune possibilité que nous puissions la voler... Jan a été tellement impressionné par elle que voici notre petit dindon à nous:
Turkey (Dindon)
They even come deep-frozen ...
Ils les font même en congelé...
Jan is a Taurus...so he had to have his totem in the garden...
Jan est Taureau...il se devait d'avoir son totem dans le jardin...
Bull (Taureau)
Pretty fierce, isn't it?
Il a l'air féroce, hein?
And since jan had his totem, loïc wanted his too...
Et comme Jan avait son totem, Loic ne voulant pas être en reste...
...here is Ganesh, as a bring-me-luck!
...a eu son Ganesh fétiche !
Sow, the pigglets have still to be born...
Truie, les porcelets ne sont pas encore nés...
Owl - This one is no longer in the garden, it has flown away to Jan's mother Fientje, she deserves a bring-me-luck charm too!
Chouette - Celle-ci n'est plus dans le jardin, elle s'est envolée vers le jardin de Fientje, la mêre de Jan, qui, elle aussi, mérite un talisman !
Icarus is Jan's first bronze piece.
Icare est la première pièce en bronze de Jan.
It is Icarus before flying, in fact, just taking off, full of hope...not aware of what was at stake for him...
C'est Icare avant de s'envoler, en fait, juste en train de décoller, plein d'espoir...sans savoir ce qui l'attend...
Horny charm.
Charme cornu.
Dancing Fawn
Le Faune Qui Danse
quite some charm too...!
il a aussi du.....charme...!
The Little Mermaid of GENDT !
La Petite Sirène de GENDT !
and her friend Triton
et son copain Triton
and finally, a serie of little dogs:
et pour finir, une série de petits chiens :
Here's The SheBulldogue
Voici LA Bulldogue
TheTeckel
the Yorkshire Terrier
The Pitbull
and The Whippet .
To see more photos, click here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/33249763@N04/sets/72157612688547221/
There is a local tradition to use this very dark clay that comes from nearby Germany. When cooked, it's very dark, very heavy, sounds like metal, and is frost resistant.
C'est une tradition locale d'utiliser cette terre noire qui vient de l'Allemagne voisine. Une fois cuite, etlle est très foncée, très lourde, sonne comme du métal, et résiste au gel.
The He-Goat
Le Bouc
Neptune
Triton Musician
The Minotaurus
The Youg Crow
Le jeune corbeau
Young female Ape ( up,uncooked - below, cooked)
Jeune singe femelle ( en haut, crue - en bas , cuite)
The Cow
The Bull (unkooked)
There are concrete posts with bent tops in the garden that made the place look quite horrible, particularly in association with the barbed wire underneath. We were wondering how to soften their appearence by whether chop their tops off, or paint them, when Jan came up with this great solution: hollow sculptures that could use the posts as stands!
Nous avons des poteaux en béton armé dont le haut est coudé, et qui donnent au jardin une impression assez désagréable, particulièrement associés au fils barbelé de la clôture. Nous nous demandions comment adoucir leur apparence, soit en leur cassant le haut, ou en les peignant, lorque Jan a eu l'idée géniale de les coiffer de sculptures creuses!
The Giraffe
The Devil
Angel
Angel Face
The Big Mouse
La Grande Souris
Engobe is coloured clay, it can be immediately applied on wet clay, so only one cooking is needed.
L'engobe, c'est de l'argile de couleur, on l'applique sur l'argile humide, une seule cuisson est nécessaire.
The Acrobatic Cat
The Chameleon
The two Tritons
One Lady & Three Pussies
Vanitas 3
The Blue cat & the Goldfish
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The Playful Pitbull
La Pitbull Joueuse
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Raku is a very special way of cooking an already biscuited piece.
By taking it out of the oven when it is still hot, it makes the enamel crack, and by putting it into sawdust, the smoke from the burning sawdust makes the unglazed parts of raw white clay black.
It's quite a scary process, but very exciting!
Ghekko 1
Raku Fish 1
Raku Fish 2
Bart Jansen, the potter from Haalderen, the village next door uses a fabulous red glazing for his pots.
Jan first used it for his Goldfishes, (in French, RED fish), then he used it on other sculptures.
The Red octopus
The Walking Bird
Fish with Ears
Surprisingly, this piece came out with another colour than expected...one of the many mysteries happening in the oven!
Wax is also a very cool way to change colour and aspect.
Of course it's not resistant and will slowly wear off in the rain!
The Wildboar
The Ginger Angel
The Angels are painted on both sides, when hanging, they can turn. It was quite a technical challenge to display them in the oven so they wouldn't touch anything!
Les Anges sont peints des deux côtés, une fois accrochés, ils peuvent tourner. La difficulté fût de les accrocher dans le four sans qu'ils touchent quoique ce soit.
Irises, Dragon Fly, Ant & Bumblebee.
Iris, Libellule, Fourmi & Bourdon.
Blue Cat, Poppies & Bee
Red & Blue Cats
Fighting Rooster 1
Coq de Combat 1
Fighting Rooster 2
Coq de Combat 2
The Big Red Cat
The Bulldogue
The vase in black clay is painted with white clay....
Vase Mermaid
...and the vase made of white clay is painted with black clay: