Happy Holidays

2015 starts with a new show

First exposition of the New Year and a very important one for me: "Who's fooling Who? - an exploration of the deceptive" curated by Jill Slaughter at Studio 18 in Pembroke Pines.
It is always an honor for me to be in a show curated by Jill as she always adds the link to the community.

The exposition is about abuse - any kind of abuse in the family, in a war situation, bullying at schools - and how both the abuser and the abused take on different roles and not always the one we expect. There is so much more than meets the eye. 

I understand that as no other because my father was quite the unpredictable bully at home.. but outside as charming as can be: at home he was feared and outside he was loved and admired. It was a strange secret that could not be shared because people would not believe us.

Little Batman (2015)
14" x 18"
Acrylics on boxed wood

I chose to paint children as little superheroes.. dressed up and ready to change their world. I did not want to show them as victims but as creative little beings coping with the situation with imagination and hope. In one of the paintings I show the 3 little superheroes coming together in the dinner (after "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper) where they are safe... for a moment together. There are other pieces of my Proprietary Innocence Series included as they are a little "deceptive"..

This exposition is a group show in which the curator brought wonderful artists together like Erman, Yuhmi Collective, and Maria Mor, just to name a few.

Part of the proceeds the show will benefit "No more Tears" an organization which helps women and children suffering from domestic violence.

Below is a link to the article in the Sun-Sentinel about this exposition and that is always a cherry on top of the...

http://www.southflorida.com/theater-and-arts/sf-pines-whos-fooling-who-studio-18-20150106,0,3722820.story

which aids women and families suffering with domestic violence. - See more at: http://www.southflorida.com/theater-and-arts/sf-pines-whos-fooling-who-studio-18-20150106,0,3722820.story#sthash.3aGyho85.dpuf

which aids women and families suffering with domestic violence. - See more at: http://www.southflorida.com/theater-and-arts/sf-pines-whos-fooling-who-studio-18-20150106,0,3722820.story#sthash.3aGyho85.dpuf

which aids women and families suffering with domestic violence. - See more at: http://www.southflorida.com/theater-and-arts/sf-pines-whos-fooling-who-studio-18-20150106,0,3722820.story#sthash.3aGyho85.dpuf

Happy New Year!!

Fire works at the Binnenhof in The Hague

Happy New Year

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Buon Anno Nuovo
Feliz Año Nuevo
Bonne Année
feliz Ano Novo
С Новым Годом
明けましておめでとうございます
З Новим Роком
新年快乐
Glückliches Neues Jahr
Selamat Tahun Baru
नया साल मुबारक हो

Sretna Nova godina
Среќна Нова Година

Ευτυχισμένο το Νέο Έτος

Bon Fire in Scheveningen, The Netherlands 2014/2015
officially the largest one ever !!

Wherever you are, whatever you do, whatever you dream, whomever you love, whatever you create: Have a Great 2015!!

Artist Profile - in Soul of Miami.

Sometimes life can take a strange turn, surprises come on your path and sometimes they are great. Just like the other day when I was asked if  "they" could do a profile on me. Now I do know the people of the Soul of Miami and I love what they are doing, so I didn't think twice and said yes!!

and this is the result of me agreeing:

http://www.soulofmiami.org/2013/07/29/local-artist-profiles-monique-lassooij-2/

And if you could see my smile now... I think I will keep it for a while.

I was also busy working on some new additions to the series "Proprietary Innocence" and here are some of my new paintings :

 Little Mona

11" x 14"

Acrylics and Resin on Italian Gesso Panel

Little Jimi

11" x 14"

Acrylics and Resin on Italian Gesso Panel

Little Frida

8" x 10"

Acrylics and Resin on Italian Gesso Panel

And I just started to paint Little Janis Joplin  and sketched Little Kurt Cobain... yes, more to come...

Back to work...

After being idiotic busy with other things I am getting back on track by continuing existing projects and starting new ones. I am really excited about the Sincerity Project 2013 - curated by Jill Slaughter - in an effort to call attention to kids that age out of the Foster Care System at the age of 18.

As the Sincerity Project has "HOME" as its theme this year, a temporary house will be build at Gallery 18 in Pembroke Pines with 20 panels of 4' x 8' as it walls. Artist were asked to create an artwork on one of these panels which relates to the theme of this year or to aging out. The panels will be auctioned at the openings reception on June 7th. And I am honored to be one of the artists invited to create his/her vision on such a panel.

Having no real clue what 4' x 8' looks like, I went to Home Depot to check a panel of this size.... I imagine it was probably one of the first times anybody was laughing at wooden panels, as I did when I saw it: it's biiig.

Anyway... started to write down some ideas for the panel... made some rough sketches... and then last week the actual panel was delivered... and it came with a hole!!!

Panel after 1 sanding and 1 coat of gesso

I had a window panel and I knew that I had to literally throw all my ideas "out of the window" - every pun intended - because my initial ideas were for a horizontal piece and obviously one without a window. But after a hour or so staring at the panel - did I tell you it is biiig - new ideas started to bubble up inside me... and I went from OMG to Oh YEAH!!

And in the meantime I started and finished a super small painting, because you need to keep some sort of balance, on a 3.5" x 5" wood floor sample. It is one of my disturbed children, only less disturbed and it is called "Little Heat".

What is on my easel...

Last Saturday I finished this painting and I named it "Secrets of a childhood".Again I painted on an unstretched canvas with acrylics. The painting itself measures 33" x 35". with a band painted in blue of 4" all around it.

The subject relates to me when I was a little girl and I would hide little secrets inside certain dolls. It could be a pebble, a little note, anything that I felt to be my own little treasure and some things I did not want anybody to know about. But even though I was always a little afraid that somebody would find it, I never thought all these little things inside a doll's body would make a noise. I now know my mother would take the arm of the doll to look inside, curious what made that noise when she moved the dolls to clean, but she never said anything to me about what she would find.