Tax rise and Happy New Year

This last day of 2010 is one filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand I'm happy, I'm close to completing my larger sized painting, an extremely complicated piece which potentially can stir up things a bit. I got a couple of great shows coming up as well and I can't wait to get started on my daily paintings again. As a matter of fact, my new year's resolution is to make one each day again like I used to do. All good things!

But on the other hand I'm saddened by the fact that our government here in The Netherlands decided to go through with the tax-rise for arts and culture. I just heard they had an emergency meeting this week. Taxes for visual arts will rise from 6% to a staggering 19% starting tomorrow! Can you believe that? Not only is this an outrageous high tax-rise, but our government gave us about 3 days to prepare ourselves for this!

Taxes for performing artists won't rise untill july 2011. This too amazes me, why make a difference between performing artists and visual artists? That's sure doesn't strike me as fair. Well, the whole tax-rise doesn't strike me as fair.

Fair or not, taxes will rise tomorrow. After giving it much thought I decided not to let my beloved collectors take all the heat, meaning I will not raise prices for my daily paintings, but I'm afraid I have to for my larger scaled paintings. This means my income level probably will drop a bit. Of course I'm not pleased with this to say the least, but it's the best solution I can come up with for my collectors.

To end on a positive note: I completely changed my packaging for my daily paintings. They now come in a luxurious white gift box filled with 2 layers of foam. A certificate of authenticity and a free digital book on cd are included as well.
Sarah Bowie, a collector of my work, recently quoted me in her article about
'Brown as color mix'. A nice read on this last day of 2010!

I wish you all a happy new year and make sure to have some fun tonight! Be safe and I will see you again this monday!

kind regards, Gerard

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Bookshelves- Woman Looking For Books In Local Bookstore

Bookshelves

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
6" x 6" or 15 x 15 cm
2010
SOLD

From a gun back to a nice scene of a woman looking for books in one of our local bookstores. I wish I had a bookcase like that, mine isn't as near as big. It would be great to have a wall covered with books, like you have your own library and never run out of anything to read. But then again I'm glad I haven't got one, there's no room left for any paintings!

kind regards, Gerard

webshop
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www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

Colt 45

Colt 45

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
8.7" x 9.9" or 22 x 25,2 cm
2010
SOLD

Something completely different from museum scenes, shoes or bookstores! Todays still life painting shows nothing else but a Colt 45. This painting appears in a yet to be released videoclip of popular Dutch band The Proov.

One of the bandmembers is nicknamed Colt 45, don't ask me why, I wouldn't know, but I do know they didn't want to use a real gun in the videoclip so they used my painting instead. Quite an honor!

While painting I couldn't help but notice how powerful this gun looks, even against an yellow background. Perhaps it's because I'm not used to guns, but man that thing is powerful!

kind regards, Gerard

webshop
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www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

Prince- Woman Looking At Richard Prince

Prince

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
2.3" x 2.7" or 6 x 7 cm
2010
SOLD

A while ago I went shopping for some new panels to paint on. I ordered my usual bunch when the owner said he got an oddly shaped piece left. I asked him if he could chop it for me, he did and now I got a stack of tiny ± 6 x 7 cm panels.

Todays painting is the first on one of those little panels. It shows a woman looking at Richard Prince's work called Nuts. Like yesterdays shoe I zoomed in a bit making the large painting by Prince the backdrop for this painting. I like the contrast between the abstract background and the realistic woman.

To be honest I'm not exactly sure what to ask for this little gem so I thought this is a perfect chance try something new here. It works a bit like the big auctionhouses Christie's and Sotheby's. They usually give an estimate of what the painting is worth and then start the auction just below the estimate.

By friday I collect all bids and who ever has the highest bid wins the painting. If two people place the same bid, the first one gets it. To make it fair for everybody please note that you can bid only once!

kind regards, Gerard

webshop
info@gerardboersma.nl
www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

CL 014

CL 014

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
6" x 6" or 15 x 15 cm
2010
SOLD

The second high heel shoe painting for ebay. I approached it a bit different this time around. I thought it would be fun to zoom in and only show the nose of the shoe. It gives the painting a more abstract feel, but still it's realistic as well. I like that!

CL 014 is the last shoe painting for now, I will be returning to some urban scenes and of course I continue working on my larger sized painting. That one is really complicated, it has over 750 little portraits. I'm about half way through and cannot wait to get it completed!

Today I'm heading over to see my painting relatives Gerrit Wijngaarden and Grietje Huisman to discuss a very special show. More info follows soon!

kind regards, Gerard

webshop
info@gerardboersma.nl
www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

CL 013

CL 013

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
6" x 6" or 15 x 15 cm
2010
SOLD

The first of 6"x6" shoes of Christian Louboutin. I'm really loving the red/orange against the blue blackground!

In other news, yesterday I heard that the tax raises aren't final yet. I'm not sure what's going on, but at least this is some good news!

Have a great weekend!


kind regards, Gerard

webshop
info@gerardboersma.nl
www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

Newspaper

Newspaper

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
6" x 6" or 15 x 15 cm
2010
SOLD

I'm staying with the books today, well a reader that is. I saw this woman in the library of Amsterdam sitting down and getting updated of what's going on in the world. I tried to paint this one a bit more lose as usual, giving the painting a more painterly feel. I kind of like it.

kind regards, Gerard

webshop
info@gerardboersma.nl
www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

Lost - Man Reading In Bookstore

Lost

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
6" x 6" or 15 x 15 cm
2010
SOLD


It's kind of hard to follow up on yesterdays painting with a small 6" x 6", but still I like this one a lot. To me it represents that feeling I get when I'm surrounded by books, finding one with an interesting title and just cannot stop reading. The whole world seems to disappear around you and the book just completely absorbs you. That's why I entitled the painting 'Lost'.

I also got some bad news I'm afraid. Starting january the Dutch government decided to triple (!) the taxes for art and tickets to cultural events. The taxes will go from 6% to a whooping 19%. They are also making some heavy cuts on subsidizing art and culture.

This has caused a lot of turmoil in the Dutch artworld and no one is pleased about this to make an understatement. I don't like it one bit, but still I have to play along I'm afraid. Since I never like it when people raise prizes and you get nothing in return, I'm thinking of a way to add more value. I haven't decided what to do yet, but any ideas are more than welcome. So if you think of something please let me know!

kind regards, Gerard

webshop
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www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com

Anker En Anker

Anker en Anker

G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
28.3" x 35.9" or 72 x 91,3 cm
2010
SOLD

Finally no shoes:) Remember a while ago I talked about a painting that featured some well known models from the Netherlands? Well, I have been working on it for over a month, but this is it: my painting of Anker and Anker.

Anker and Anker are twin brothers and both are attorneys at their own lawfirm. They handle some of the most famous lawsuits in this country and appear regularly in the mainstrain media. A two hour documentary about the brothers recently aired on national tv for example.

I asked Anker and Anker a while ago if they wanted to model for me and I was thrilled to learn when they agreed to do so. Last week I showed the painting to them. I got up early in the morning, packaged the painting carefully and headed over to their headquarters. A nice note to add is that their firm is located in a 16th century building were the first wife of Rembrandt was born.

And here I was, a 21st painter with a painting of the new owners, quite exciting I can tell you. I always get a bit nervous before showing a portrait to the sitters. Last minutes doubt creep in about the likeness and many other things. But there was no need to worry: both brothers absolutely loved it! They loved the light, all the details and they even said that one could actually see the difference between the two of them, a great compliment when you're painting twins!

Currently the painting hangs in their firm, but it just might go on public view in the not so distant future. Sure hope you enjoy this one!

kind regards, Gerard

ps I am returning to my beloved dailies so from now on you can expect regular updates once again!

webshop
info@gerardboersma.nl
www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com