Embracing your Core Schilderij door Artist Edwin Ijpeij

Edwin (1969) was born, raised and is currently living and working in Sittard-Geleen, a town in the south of The Netherlands very close to Maastricht. As a little boy, he already showed promising talent in painting and therefore his enthusiastic art teacher recommended him to attend the art academy to become a successful artist. However, his parents preferred him to start a more "realistic" career, and he decided to study chemistry.

After obtaining his BSc degree in organic chemistry, he enjoyed a stunning industrial career as an inventor at a multinational enterprise, apotheotically ending in an worldwide applied invention, improving both environmental emissions and costs. The circumstances after this invention taught him that he had sacrificed too much from himself. He forgot to stay close to his heart and he drifted away from happiness. However, he learned from his last and most successful invention, that the most beautiful and sustainable solutions are closer than you expect. Because of this, his artist mission was born.

Edwin is intruiged by the powerful influence of light on his subject. Therefore, he loves to experiment with this in his artworks. It will not surprise you, that his first paintings were inspired by the light in the Provence, as Van Gogh, Puget, Picasso and so many other artists have experienced before. Later, when taking art masterclasses, his teacher noticed his talent and tempted him to study and paint portrait and model. She convinced him to study the nude, since an artist needs to know the anatomy of the body, to be able to paint clothes correctly over this. This great advise that he never regrets, brought him very close to his essence.

After a while, he discovered that photography is a powerful technique to study composition, light and colour in an artwork. He took private lessons and masterclasses to polish his technique and skills. Beautiful photographs are the result. For him, photography is a complementary technique to painting since the human eye observes significantly different from the photo film or the camera sensor. The fact that the camera has one lens and we have two eyes is already a big difference. Therefore, in painting he works from life, as eyes see more than a photograph can disclose.

Edwin works preferably with tempera and oilpaint, accordingly to the Old Masters' techniques, as pioneered in the Renaissance. For him, this is a practical and aesthetical choice, since these techniques have proven to survive centuries and depict the texture and colour of the skin the most realistic. For this reason, he makes his own tempera and oilpaint using genuine pigments. Because he holds a BSc in chemistry, he can purchase them to use them in his paintings.

His works were exhibited in his hometown area of Sittard-Geleen and Maastricht till Miami, Barcelona, London, Venice and Amsterdam. Works of him are part of collections in Maastricht, Aix-en-Provence, Oxford, Genk and Sittard-Geleen.

• Nationaliteit: NEDERLAND
• Geboortedatum : 1969
• Artistieke domeinen:
• Groepen: Hedendaagse Nederlandse Kunstenaars