Dreams

I hugged Heike and exclaimed, “We are still alive!”

Our car had turned in the opposite direction, the caravan had slapped us against the guardrail and moved further down the highway. For a moment, we were like a big sandwich between the guardrail and the caravan.

We ended up in the south of Spain. I was still dreaming of doing nothing else but creating art, and Heike still dreamed of a warmer climate and the beach. We had planned to travel through the south of Spain and create art in the towns and cities we visited along the way, retelling the anecdotes and myths of the region.

We wanted to interview the oldest people in the region and turn their stories into art.

Now we were here, just outside the pueblo blanco of Vejer de la Frontera. No car, no caravan, no money, but I had my brushes, my paint, some of my artworks, and even my airbrushes.

I could give painting lessons. Yes, that could be a solution.

We started looking for a venue, maybe the library. Long story short, we could use the library of the museum in Vejer.

I got some other plans:

Dreams Between Tanger and Vejer
Paint Your Dreams Retreat

Yes, I know, I am — or I was — all over the place. Finding my way. What’s wrong with that? But maybe you see a pattern. Well, I didn’t.

The someone said in Dutch, “Rob dreams are deceit.” this means forget your dreams they never going to amount to anything.

This year I met Emma online and we clicked, so I suggested, “Let’s make a podcast together.” Emma was in.

What would be the title?

Art and English
Don’t Take Us Seriously
Dreams with Emma and Rob
Dream Your Dreams

Emma was saved by dreams during Covid. I want people to find and live their dreams.

Still no clue…

Then one morning I remembered my mother grabbing Heike’s (my partner, twin flame) arm with tears in her eyes:

“Rob is a dreamer, just like his brother Adriaan. Please let him dream.” (Adriaan died in 1996)

At the same time, I started a new artwork on cardboard. I was inspired by an artist I saw on Instagram who made beautiful paintings on cardboard she found in dumpsters.

This was it, I thought.

On cardboard, I could incorporate all the things I liked: painting, sculpting, and kringels.

It looked horrible. No, don’t get me wrong, I liked the painting I made, but because I had taken the first piece of cardboard I found, with folds in it, it looked like an old piece of cardboard with a painting on it and not an piece of work that would become an artwork. Certainly something so sophisticated as the reflection paintings. On top of that, the folds reflected the light, so the face I painted sometimes looked strange.

I liked the papier-mâché and the kringel I made on it.

One morning I remembered that I wanted to make a light sculpture that used light from outside. Not like the De_Lights I made with LEDs in them. No, I was thinking about a circular artwork made of silk paper that you could hang in front of a window, like a… a… dreamcatcher.

Or a dream grabber, a dream gatherer, or…

What about Dream Starter? Artworks that make you want to dream, that inspire you to discover. I like it!

What do you think?