Gerard Van Velzen

GERARD VAN VELZEN / Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands

Paintings in acryl on canvas and paper.
It has always been in the blood: Drawing and painting.
I attended the Rotterdam Academy of Art and worked a graphic designer,
art director and ultimately as a producer/director of television commercials
and of industrial film productions.
This environment boosted my broad interest in arts and design.
Since the late nineties I was finally in a position to make more time
to express my creative abilities into free painting.

One of my favourite motifs has been inspired by my passion for horses.
Throughout my lifetime I have been fascinated by the intruiging blend
of qualities of this magnificent animals: elegant dynamics, speed and intelligence.
Another prime subject: the graphic pattern of the Dutch polderland.
In my stylised impressions of this typical landscape, with trees in line
silhouetting on the dike, I toy with space, perspective and with
colour contrasts.

Apart from these specific themes I experiment in free compositions
and a variety of subjects. These balance on the edge of abstraction and
figurative imagery.

Philosofy and concepts: Pleasing the eye, teasing the mind and soul.