The Artibus art academy in the Netherlands stood on its own in the ’90s because it firmly believed that one should not have to choose, at the start of art training, between drawing and painting on the one hand and sculpture-related subjects on the other.
Their programme was founded on a large diversity of classes, dedicated teachers and the reassurance that I was not the only one well past student age. It gave us a new freedom of expression together with the tools and the confidence to try and translate one’s own ‘voice’.
During the three years I’ve spent in different classes at Artibus I gathered a treasure of inspiration in a number of journals I bound for this purpose. In retrospect I can see how fitting that period was for me: I had gone to India for the first time in 1988, that experience had marked me more than I would ever have thought, I had had the opportunity to return to India a few times afterwards and now I was looking for the best way to translate my impressions into a book.
