As her neck had stiffened, she tried to slowly shift position.
– Wait! Don’t move!
– But I am tired…
And in an expert manner, he accurately added some pale pink brush strokes here and there, looked at the painting in its brightest parts and then frowned at the model posing before him.
– What are you wearing underneath?
– A silky cream blouse with some white dots.
– Hmm… Did you eat something today?
– Yes, something, before I left home.
– Do you mind if I paint it turquoise?
– What?
– Your blouse! You look better in turquoise.
– I don’t like turquoise.
– Why?
– It reminds me of my grandmother’s ring. It had a big turquoise stone, just like a trans-lucid candy.
– It must have been lovely.
– Yeah…. she said, with a melancholic sparkle in her eyes.
– So…. what color should the blouse be?
– Paint it cream, with little white dots.
– I don’t like cream, with little white dots.
He ironically mimicked her voice, emphasizing on the little white dots, as if adding some small innocent dots to the most mediocre, bland and common of all colors would have been the most outrageous attempt.
– Why?
– It’s nothing special about it.
– Yes but the white dots look pretty elegant. You know, more refined.
Disappointed in the girl’s lack of imagination, who seemed perfectly at ease in her own mediocrity, he lifted the brush up in the air, waited for a few seconds in intense concentration, and dipped it randomly in one of the paint jars. Then, eyes shut, he painted the area where her blouse was supposed to be. When he opened his eyes, a large area of the blouse was painted cream.
Now, all that was left for him to do was to add the little white dots.
………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… Even if you won’t find paintings in the gallery, the works from the ‘Monthly Evaluations’ project are somehow connected with the classic technique of portraying. Paint is replaces by numbers, word and images. And the colors have informative purposes.
Exhibition: 27/11/04 – 08/01/05
Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS | Dolores
Rozengracht 207A
1016 LZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands