The Knight of prosperity and wealth

It was a race against the clock, but it is finished and ready for transport to Denmark for "Life is a casino" show at MOHS exhibit, Copenhagen. The painting is called "De ridder van voorspoed en welvaart" (The Knight of prosperity and wealth), oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm.

The first painting (Mammoth Parade) has arrived in Denmark (according to the "track and trace"). Now hope that it arrives in one piece at the gallery! Picture below shows the work incredible carefully packed and ready for shipping last week.

"Life is a Casino"

http://www.mohs.dk
 

December 2th till December 22th 2011

De ridder van voorspoed en welvaart (The Knight of prosperity and wealth).

"Mammoth parade" ready for shipping last week.

San Bao International Ceramic Museum

Just got this nice little book featuring ceramics that I made in Jingdezhen in October 2010, published by the new San Bao International Ceramic Museum, Jingdezhen, China.

More information in previous posts.

"Life is a Casino"

Working (really) hard now to finish a painting for a group exhibition at the very nice MOHS Exhibit, Copenhagen, Denmark.
The picture below shows a study and a detail of the work in progress.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photograph, the painting is really much better in real, really!

http://www.mohs.dk

02. December - 22. December
John Kenn Mortensen (DK)

Silas Inoue (DK)
Matt Furie (US)

Cirque de Pepin (NL)
Tasha Kusama (US)

Odö (FR)
Wayne Horse (NL)

Christoph Mueller (DE)
Saddo (ROM) 

Jesse Fillingham (US)
Mike Maxwell (US) 

Dieter Van der Ougstraete (BEL)
Mitsy Avila Ovalles (US)

MOHS exhibit

sønder boulevard 98
1720 copenhagen v
denmark

Epoch artists

My work is now featured on the website epochartists.com!
http://www.epochartists.com
Thanks Jamil!

Nanou

I shipped the recently finished commissioned portrait of young Nanou to Belgium last week (see previous message on the Mx dynasty portraits). Thanks to the Dutch and Belgium postal services the package arrived undamaged at its destination!

Interesting detail on this commission is that I never met the girl in real.

Nanou's dad, sir Mx, who gave me the commission wrote an email with the following text when they received the painting:

(due to the coarse language, I can't unfortunately translate the text in English:-):

straalbezopen en stoned als een garnaal bekeek ik vannacht het werk van pepijn van den nieuwendijk…..dzeesus dacht ik toen : dit is een vlaamschen primitief op lsd……wat au fond niet klopt immers ik zie in hem ook  een gast die iedere ochtend keihard gaat doen wat hij best kan : detaillistisch hallucinant schilderen en boetseren als ware hij god zelf…..chappeau voor die gast…..en hij is nog heel betaalbaar…. nu nog   ……       mx
 

Big in China

Crunching computers and ridiculously large files.
For almost two weeks now I am working 24/7 on the design for the "Delft - Jingdezhen 400 year city connection" stand at the China Jingdezhen International Ceramic fair, which will be held at the Great China Museum, Jingdezhen, from Oct.18 to Oct. 22 2011.
My poor little Macbook is working overtime. The files for the banners which are going to be hung on the walls are really huge, and uploading them so they can be printed in Jingdezhen, takes hours.
Here you see a preview with some of the watercolour paintings I made for the project and samples of the design.
One of the coolest things I had to make was a design for a 7 by 6 meter big banner that is going to be hung outside the Great China Museum during the fair!
This project is organized by the city of Delft and Delft Heritage (Erfgoed Delft) in association with Royal delft.

http://www.chinaicf.cn/chinaicf/
http://www.erfgoed-delft.nl/

Watercolour paintings for the Delft-Jingdezhen stand design

Watercolour painting for the Delft-Jingdezhen stand design

Design of the banners for the Delft-Jingdezhen stand

Design for one of the walls of the Delft-Jingdezhen stand

Le grand «Cirque de Pepin« boutique

Cirque de Pepin webshop now open on Etsy.com!

I recently opened my own webshop! Visit it here and buy for example my "Mummy of a dog" ceramic sculpture (this is only a suggestion!):
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CirqueDePepin?ref=pr_shop

Ballpoint, pencil, Gouache and ink (and some blood, sweat & tears)

Here are some recent sketches from my sketchbook/journal. I do not share my sketches usually but I just found out that I am now working in sketchbook/journal number 30, so this time, because it is an anniversary, you get a small glimpse into my sketchbook!

Real fantasies

I am participating in the upcoming exhibition "Werkelijke fantasieën" (real fantasies) at Atelier Horneman in Ten Boer, Groningen, from September 17 till November 19, 2011.
 
More information: www.atelier-horneman.nl
 

Other participating artists:
Ricardo Goméz Becerra
Joep Hommerson
Stefanie Ottens
Hans Prins
Carla Stedehouder
Sijmon Terpstra
Hendrik Visser

Alice en mijn liefde voor boeken
ceramics
2006

A series of oil painting studies, 2005-2008

The MX dynasty portraits

Currently I'm working, among other things, on a painting for Mr. MX of The Museum Of Weird Art (MOWA).
It is a portrait of his daughter Nanou. I have portrayed her as the sacred Nanou, with a golden tree in the background. The painting is not finished yet, so this is a sneak preview.

Earlier I made this "portrait" of Mr. MX himself (De jammerlijk gefaalde berenjacht van Koning Mx/ The failed bearhunt of King Mx, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm). 

And also, I painted a portrait of his son Dado and his wife Danielle ('Prins Dado Damascus en zijn gemalin prinses Daniëlle de Schoone op hun Grand Tour'/Prince Dado Damascus and his consort Princess Daniëlle the Handsome on their Grand Tour, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm).

 

On the tabletop

Last week I made a small presentation (tabletop presentation) at STROOM Den Haag about my work in Jingdezhen in 2010, especially on the large vase I made there.

Stroom Den Haag is a centre for art and architecture
http://www.stroom.nl/

InLoop/EnTry: presentations
The lobby of Stroom - also known as the InLoop/EnTry - is intended as a three-dimensional journal with short features, spotlights and references. In order to give visitors an impression of the broad spectrum of activities organized by Stroom various projects are put in the spotlight. In addition there are so-called ‘table top' presentations. For example documentation of artists from The Hague who have an exhibition or project somewhere else; plus special features on current or new buildings and urban development projects in The Hague.

NOW IN INLOOP/ENTRY:
Opening hours: Monday thru Friday 9 am - 5 pm; Saturday and Sunday: 12 noon - 5 pm
Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk (tabletop presentation)
In October 2010 Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk worked as an 'artist in residence' at the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute in Jingdezhen, China. There he particpated in the project '400 years city connection Delft-Jingdezhen'. The project focuses on the historical relationship between these two cities, with the emphasis on the influence the blue and white porcelain had on the development of Delft blue pottery. One of the large vases Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk made in China will be on permanent display in museum Prinsenhof in Delft from August 2011.

Mirabella Majolica klaar

My second Delftware plate "Mirabella Majolica" is ready ("klaar" in Dutch),
see my previous post "Made in Delft", July 6th 2011.

More information on Delftware you can find here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delftware

And more information on Majolica (or Maiolica) you can find here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiolica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majolica

Cucumber time in the city

A rainy summer here in the Netherlands. Not much interesting going on, almost the whole country is in France or Greece. This is what the Dutch call "Komkommertijd", in English "Cucumber time".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_season
And in Dutch overhere:
http://www.geencommentaar.nl/2010/08/22/big-goosberry-season/
Copy text + paste in translate.google.com

But the van den Nieuwendijk family is not afraid of a bit of rain so me and my two boys (Milo and Elias) are playing soccer! The picture was taken on a slightly better day...
And I cleaned up my new studio, and I must say that I am quite content with the result.

Sultan Mahmud Babar II

Work in progress on my new painting 'Sultan Mahmud Babar II'.
Showing left the preliminary sketch.

Perpetua's vase

I am happy to announce that my large vase 'Perpetua Porseline', I made in Jingdezhen, China in 2010, will permanently be on display in museum Prinsenhof from August 2011!

More information will follow.
http://www.prinsenhof-delft.nl/

Made in Delft

I've worked on two special ceramic plates. The plates are made at the 'De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles / Royal Delft', museum factory in Delft, wwwwww.royaldelft.com
I painted them in the Cobalt Blue that made "Delftware" famous!
The first plate has just come out of the kiln.
The figure on the plate is Perpetua Porseline (eternal porcelain), my own goddess of Porcelain. She is carrying a Ming vase, and she is surrounded by Chinese symbols of good fortune and luck.

The second plate is showing the character 'Mirabella Majolica'. She is representing the ancient ceramic 'Majolica' technique. She is an Italianesk Renaissance 'beauty', because the most important samples of the technique originate from 16th century Italy.
Note that both the Majolica technique and the Chinese (blue and white) porselain where a great influence in the development of Delftware.
Below picture's of the work in progress (the plate has not come out the kiln yet).

Sasquatch magazine!

Wow, I just found that the Australian Sasquatch magazine posted my work on their website!! Thank you very much Sasquatch magazine!

Sasquatch magazine 

Pottery shards from Yaoli

At my work period in China, October 2010, I took a trip to the beautiful village of Yaoli (Jingdezhen). Overthere I found some old porcelain shards. The old man in the picture saw me walking with these shards in my hands when I past his house, and he gave me the three (broken) bowls on the left as a present (okay, well, I actually gave him some money for it, but anyway.....)!

The artist Jiansheng Li told me they were probably from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), at least the blue and white ones. The greyish bowl was probably even older, dating from the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368).

According to information, about the blue and white bowls, I recently found on the web, Chinese archaeologists have excavated bowls of this type at the Jiang family kiln at Yaoli. This kiln site is from the Ming Dynasty Zhengtong to Tianshun Period (1427 -1464).
So that make these bowls almost 600 years old! I am so glad I got these through customs and in my collection now! 
Note the special calligraphic style on these bowls!
(on the right you see pictures of two similar bowls found on the internet).
If you have more historical information about these type of bowls, please contact me.

Neko Jita!

This coming Saturday, June 18 th 2011, a new exhibition opens at Quartair in The Hague (where I have my studio).
This exhibition is called "Neko Jita", literally meaning "cat tongue", and it refers to someone who can't eat or drink spicy food. Unliterally it refers to someone who is sensitive for influences from outside. The exhibition shows works of twelve artists who are fascinated and inspired by the country Japan. So maybe you can say that Japonisme is not only an art movement from around the year 1900, but is still very much alive! Come and see for yourself.
By the way: I did the graphic design for the invitation!

'NEKO JITA' 
Juni 18 th till Juli 9 th 2011

. Opening Saturday June 18, 8.00 PM

.
'Neko Jita' shows works by the artists: 
Seekee Chung, Karin van Dam, Sibylle Eimermacher, Robin de Goede, Daan van Golden, Erik-Jan Ligtvoet, Huub van der Loo,
 Nico Kos, 
Rens Krikhaar, Stefanie Scholte, Martine Stig, WassinkLundgren.


More information: www.quartair.nl

Big pot on the spot

My big vase has arrived last week, in one piece, at the Delft city hall. Thanks to Zuliani and Adriaan Rees.

The exhibition, showing porcelain tiles and this vase that I made in Jingdezhen last year, and works by Chinese artist Jiansheng Li which he made at Royal Delft last summer, starts today.

http://erfgoed-delft.nl/nl/wat-is-er-te-doen/actueel-erfgoed-delft/426-tentoonstelling-400-jaar-exchange-delft-jingdezhen

Bubo bubo in the spotlight

My recently finished painting "Koning Bubo bubo De Rode en zijn adviseurs" (King Bubo bubo the Red and his advisors) was photographed today at studio Buitenhof, www.studiobuitenhof.nl

Woodman work

I started the glazing work on my new ceramic sculpture, "Woodman's journey" at Struktuur 68 studio, in Den Haag www.struktuur68.nl . Soon I will post more pictures of the development of the work on this blog.

Majolica workshop

Would you like to learn how to paint in the ancient ceramic Majolica technique?

I am giving a workshop at BK050 in Groningen on Saturday, May 28, 10:00 am - 15:00 pm.

More information on this workshop and how to apply: www.bk050.nl/home/home

Exhibition: 400 years Exchange Delft – Jingdezhen

The city of Delft, Erfgoed Delft e.o. and Royal Delft (and me) invite you to come to the opening of the exhibition "400 years Exchange Delft – Jingdezhen" in the City Hall of Delft.

The exhibition will be opened by Bas Verkerk, Mayor of Delft, on Tuesday May 31 at 16:30 pm.

The exhibition includes the works I made for the project during my work period in Jingdezhen in 2010.

The exhibition runs from May 31 to June 25, and is open daily (except on Sunday) from 10.00 am to 17.00 pm. Admission is free.

Berchtwalder Bartmann

Work in progress on a new sculpture/jug the 'Berchtwalder bartmankrug'.

This is the first of a serie vases/jugs/sculptures for my project 'Woodman's journey'.

The jug is based on historical (mostly German) stoneware Bellarmine jugs (or in Dutch Baardmankruik and German Bartmannkrug). 

I have always been fascinated by these jugs and I have some original 17th century ones (unfortunately not a complete jug, but only shards) in my own archeological collection.

Berchtwald means "Great ruler".

New studio at Quartair

Just moved to a nice new studio. It is located in the city centre of The Hague, nearby our Queen Mum Beatrix's work palace, in studiocomplex and exhibition space 'Quartair', www.quartair.nl

The studiocomplex is a industrial building that started as a bread factory in 1902.

I share my studio with artist Ingrid Mol.

Het harige meisje (The hairy girl) at Pulchri studio

My 2009 painting "The hairy girl", waiting for transport to Pulchri studio, The Hague for the 2011 Spring exhibition starting April 9th 2011.

www.pulchri.nl

www.cirque.nl

Koning Bubo bubo De Rode (King Bubo bubo The Red)

Work in progress on my new painting "Koning Bubo bubo De Rode en zijn adviseurs" (King Bubo bubo the Red and his advisors. Oil on canvas. March/April 2011

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pepijn-van-den-nieuwendijk/ 

Vase hugger

The big vase I decorated for the Delft-Jingdezhen 400 years city connection project, has just arrived in the Netherlands. The pictures here show the unpacking of the bottom part at Zuliani, Zoetermeer.www.cirque.nl

www.flickr.com/photos/pepijn-van-den-nieuwendijk/ 

Sanbao big pots

In October 2010 I was working as artist-in-residence at Sanbao, Jingdezhen for the project
Delft-Jingdezhen 300 years city connection.
Porcelain painting and design of the Delft-Jingdezhen booth at the Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Fair, October 2010

Pictures of this working period you can find overhere: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pepijn-van-den-nieuwendijk/

My first blog message: a Mammoth on Parade and more news.

This is the first time I publish something on my fresh new blog (it is actually my first blog ever).

Last week I finished my painting 'Mammoet Parade' (Mammoth Parade). I think it is a good start to post something new on my first blog. The painting is oil on panel (70 x 50 cm, 27.55 x 19.68 inch, including the frame).

Today I updated the news on my website: http://www.cirque.nl/info/news.html

www.flickr.com/photos/pepijn-van-den-nieuwendijk/