Pen and ink drawings

From the age of 11 I made pen and ink  drawings with which I exhibited when I got older. Newspaper reviews often emphasized their commonalities with Native American and African figures or mandalas. It was a time without internet and mandala coloring books. So I went to the library to look up pictures of madelas,  I had never heard of them. I just started in the middle of a sheet of paper and the symmetrical figures came a life . They were always filled with small figures.

Here the story about my pen and ink drawings

The first flute

Years later, these pen drawings took me down a path I don't think I would have walked had I never made them. A plumber who cleaned my geyser also saw similarities with Native American figures and told me he had an Indian flute. Had never heard of this. If you saw in pictures of Indians they were with a bow, spear or peace pipe.

This time I didn't have to go to the library to look it up, but looked on the internet. After some searching I found a Dutch website that sold these flutes and ordered one. The sound the flute made was beautiful and I got the hang of playing it pretty quickly because this instrument suits me

Druid Forrest

After a long search on the internet, I found the Druid forest in Belgium, where various workshops were given, including making Indian flutes. I signed up for a workshop and I was warmly welcomed by Els, the owner of the forest.

It turned out to be a great weekend and met new people who made me feel right at home and went home with a homemade flute. In total I made three flutes, a Gm Em Bm, under the professional guidance of Danny van Hamme.

I am now an annual visitor to this beautiful place and make music with my new friends with flute and percussion instruments and help clear the forest and enjoy the evenings by the campfire.

Wikiloops

As my flute playing progressed, I also wanted to play along with background music. One day, after typing in free backing tracks, I found a website called Wikiloops. There I found various styles of music to play with and met musicians from all over the world.

Once a year, the founder of the website organizes a 3-day jam session in Germany. I took the plunge and skewed myself. I enjoyed the beauty of the Eifel there, the experience of playing together with different instruments offline and meeting musicians from different countries. This has also become a place where I now return every year.Nieuwe alinea

 From Hagelslag to Hart-Beat

Through a friend of a friend  I came into contact with Ella who wanted to start a band that combines music from different cultures, including Indonesian gongs, digiridoo, guitar, etc. They were enthusiastic about my flute playing and I joined this group. (which is called Sprinkles)

This again took me to places I would never have been otherwise. For example in the Mediterranean sea garden Uilenbroek where we can practice and play during the open days.

With Wieteke and Inge we recorded music at my house and made a few songs you can listen online . Click on the button to listen to them

Because I got  problems with my hand, making pen and ink drawings was no longer possible. I then found a way to digitally draw them which was not so intensive. Here some examples But in combination with my current job, where I actually spend  much time behind the computer, this is also too taxing. But luckily I found a new creative expression.

Click the button to watch a video where I combined both in closing the old and beginning the new.

Because I thought it was a shame that all the drawings only took up space on my hard disk, I started at Speadshirt Navota design.

The suitable designs have been used here as designs for t-shirts, etc. Every now and then I also make a new figurative design, but I no longer draw the small figures that started it all.

So far my mother and I are the biggest buyer but I do have my own designed T-shirts. All designs are free to use. Running a shop requires a lot of time and energy and I'm already running out of time and I have to admit that I don't really have a commercial spirit.

Some of my songs can also be heard on Bandcamp

they are free to download or listen online.

 You can make a donation if you download them.

The proceeds from these donations will go to the Lakota Waldrof school in Pine Ridge where a community hall and school are being built. This school ensures that the Lakota language and customs are preserved and the children receive a good education and a good meal. I have been supporting this school for a number of years and by promoting it I hope to motivate people to support this Lakota community.