Artist
Marina van Stekelenburg

  
beautifulyoo.com
Exploration Through Painting
Marina van Stekelenburg was bursting with enthusiasm as she talked openly and expressively about her painting, powerful examples of which filled the walls of what she described very contentedly as an ‘artist’s house’ in Alora, where she lives with her husband Mike in a home they created from an old school. The peaceful garden, which they built up from a piece of ground previously used as a car park and the interior of the house, appointed like an art gallery in itself, from the distinctive front door through to a bright studio upstairs, with views over mountains, was the perfect complement for Marina’s artistic vitality.

You live in such a beautiful place, does that influence the way you paint?
I am working with watercolours at the moment, said Marina shortly after her exhibition of watercolour paintings called Acuarelas in Malaga. With watercolours you get inspiration from light. There is an atmosphere. For example, through my window in my studio I can see different layers of light in the mountains. I had been through a period when I had what I call painter’s block and I couldn’t seem to paint anything. Now it is coming through again and I am exploring colours, it is a question of exploring yourself too, like a writer or a musician. I tend to work with certain colours for a while and see what I can do. The country around me goes together with what I am doing now. At other points in my life I have been exploring things inside myself and during that time the light and the countryside around you is not so important. As you go through life and you develop, what interests you changes. Andalucia has given me inspiration and new ideas. It is a different culture.

 

 

What was it that made you start painting?
Marina, who was born in Helsinki in 1970, but has lived in Alora since 1998, explained: I have liked to paint ever since I was a child and I was encouraged to do it. My grandfather was an artist. There were paintings in our house. He taught me about the masters of art. I did some work experience in an advertising studio and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t right for me. I wanted to do something in my life where I could be free. Then I went to art school.

You have studied and taught art formally. What relevance do you think academic training has for an artist?
At first there are so many things to learn, such as technique. You have to learn the basics, a good way is to try to copy a photograph. But study depends on the person concerned. People can be taught how to draw or to paint, but they must have an interest. Without that it is impossible. You have to open your eyes and learn how to see. There are lots of mechanics you have to learn and it helps if you have a real master to help you. You can’t discover everything yourself. Art history is important too. You have to learn about where it all came from and how it developed and then you have to learn about yourself. It is all about discovery, which is a life-long process. There is always something to explore.

How do you feel when you are painting?
Well, that varies. Sometimes you just have something inside you that you have to get out. I have done paintings when I have been angry or frustrated and you can see that on the canvas. I used to work with big paintings, with big dramatic strokes and I would sometimes dance while I was painting. Now with watercolours everything is calmer. Sometimes I have a clear idea of where a painting is leading and I go straight there, I might also have several different paintings on the go at the same time. My studio is quite small and I really need more space to do bigger paintings again, but these circumstances suit watercolours and I’m more patient now.
What is the process when you paint? How do you go about it.
With watercolours I prepare the paper first. Then I think about it and focus my mind, leaving everything else behind. I prepare the colours, starting with only a few. I might start without knowing exactly where I am doing. There is a form of communication between the painting, the watercolours and me and we are all doing something together. Sometimes I don’t feel like a director, we are all actors and I let the colours play. At other times, like with two I am working on at the moment, I behave like a dictator, I still let the colours play, but only inside certain very clearly drawn boundaries and I keep them in control. I am enjoying working with watercolours, it is very different from the way I used to work. Now I need to be more precise and patient, more careful. I can’t escape the way I feel at the moment, I feel that this is it, this is me.

What would you say is the most important aspect to you, subject, technique or colour?
I have always had a constant love of colours, although there have been darker periods. I keep painting naked women, I suppose because I am a woman and without clothes you have the real person. Clothes can make you look like something, but the real person is underneath. I think really my work keeps changing as I develop. You must develop or you are dead. I suppose I have been lucky because people have bought the paintings that I wanted to paint. I have never painted to order. I think I see myself as a kind of instrument. I send out and hope that there is somebody out there who is receiving.

What part does other people’s reaction have on the way you feel?
People’s reaction is important. Not how they react, but whether they do. That’s what’s important. If somebody doesn’t like something then you can talk about it, talk about why they feel that way. Art is not for liking, but for people to look at and question themselves. People often see paintings as objects, such as decoration in the home, things that should match the colours of other things in the room. That is not important, the painting is what is important. The purpose of a painting is to start a thought process.

You are young, you have had many exhibitions already. Do you have any clear ambition still to achieve?
When I was younger I had ambitions to be successful, maybe famous, but now I don’t have ambitions. I feel that I need to be better known, so that I can afford to continue. Recognition is important in that regard. If I can afford to go on, that is the main thing for me.

Does your work bring you satisfaction or happiness?
Yes, painting always gives me satisfaction. I think there is no such thing as a bad painting, only one that perhaps has not been done well.

What advice would you give a young person starting out as an artist?
I would never discourage them, but I would warn them that it is not easy. Most painters never get rich. I would say don’t dream about one day selling a painting at an auction for a huge amount of money. It doesn’t happen. But having said that, if you have an interest in painting, then do it.

And an observation on painting in general, for those new to the subject and those already experienced.
You need to incorporate life into your work. People in northern Europe are often industrialised and tense and that shows on the canvas. Here in Andalucia I have an environment in which I am happy. It is important. I have my garden, I love cooking, the colours and the smells of the food give me inspiration, my life here gives substance to my work.

A selection of Marina’s paintings can be viewed and are for sale at Rob’s Bar at Artestacion near the Alora railway station. Appointments can also be made to see her work in her studio.

Other paintings can be seen on Marina’s website: www.artestacion.com

February 2006
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