Janne unfolds / paddenstoelenbroedplaats

17/05/2025

After the open ateliers of last weekend (as guest exposer in Norg), it’s time to get organized in my own atelier. Sorting through unorganized stuff, labeling all my current fungi watercolour paints, filtering jars of mushroom extracts, sorting out bags of soil (including some awesome red soil from Japan collected in June 2023).

And while doing so, this automatically stimulates new ideas for works in progress and new projects..

Yeah…!

14/04/2025

Zin in een inspirerende weekendactiviteit? Ja? Kom dan langs bij de op 10-11 mei.

Hier ontdekt je het werk van 40 kunstenaars en gastexposanten in hun ateliers en op andere bijzondere locaties.

In deze editie tref je naast vaste kunstenaars van locatie 16 - kunsterf Norg - ook werk van mij als gastexposant met mijn fungal artworks. Hierin spelen schimmels en ecologische relaties in de natuur een belangrijke rol, en worden soms zelfs letterlijk onderdeel in het maakproces; als inkt, pigment of drukmedium.

Check voor meer info over deelnemers, hun werk en de route de website www.openatelierroutenoordenveld.nl, en de links in mijn bio.

Mocht je mij willen treffen? Zaterdag ben ik in Norg aanwezig van 12:00-14:00. Zondag start met muziek en ben ik daar van 11:00-17:00.

24/12/2024

Today is the last of ‘1 month - 2 pieces a day - range of materials’… 🎨

Without consciously realizing I end this journey precisely on the day we buried my mother 15 years ago.

My mother, Pepie, was an intelligent woman full of wisdom and ideas, with a strong connection to nature (flowers in particular) and art. There was also a strong willingness to fight, and deep layers of intense emotions that give life its glare but are also difficult to safely carry. Forces that I strongly recognize in myself, and also struggle with. It takes a long time, effort and courage to let them unfold in a gentle, safe and playful way, and prevent that this intensity turns against you and others as a destructive force.

It’s the journey of taking radical responsibility for yourself and what is yours, rather than praying for the other.

I feel so much connection when looking to my mom’s oil painting of her envisioned and beloved garden she created with my father. I treasure all the gifts of this lineage. Today’s drawings are in memory of her, for the legacy and love, and for the space that opened up for my own growth in the last 15 years, despite all that I miss. A reminder to nourish the Flowers of ourself.

18/12/2024

17/12/2024

Already day 23 of my month ‘2 pieces a day - range of materials’. Time flies when you’re having fun and dedicate time to creating. Today featuring with ink and ecoline.

Dark & gloomy creations like these - more often than not - start very friendly, gentle, controlled and with light colors. But then.. I feel that something is missing.
Is it a background, something elemental in the subject, a bit of soul & rough edges of the outer world?

This is the point where I allow myself to get loose and go crazy with more and more layers, possibly destroying what is. It’s where I rather following my hands and feeling than my head or eyes.
This is also where it becomes hard to stop, or pause and judge when to stop. It’s where accuracy and realism are left behind. And my hand are covered in dirt and search for the right materials or tool to add another something. It’s where aliveness, surprise and the risk of complete failure take over the driving’s seat.

I love the process, the vibrant energy of the result. I feel the sense of belonging here: not in the gloom, but in the letting go, freedom & surprise.
I’m curious to find out if there is a way to learn (better?) where and when to stop, or, that this is just at the heart of this kind of creating…

13/12/2024

Weird how hating a material can change into something new: a positive curiosity. Within the 19 days that I’m in my own 1 month challenge, this has happened for the fine soft pastels, and for the wax crayons (that I have since ‘who-knows-how-long’ and never liked). Especially when layering and combining them with other materials such as ink or watercolors.. i get more interested…

I might even buy some colors I’m missing in my box…

The drawings show a beefsteak fungus, Fistulina hepatica, that a saw this autumn nearby.

05/12/2024

Yeah, daar zijn ze weer! Wanneer je denkt dat het gedaan is met de eetbare paddenstoelen, duiken deze snoesjes de kop op: Fluweelpootjes! 🍄‍🟫

Deze exemplaren groeien op stammen van Spaanse aak, boswilg en schietwilg die bij onderhoud en stormschade vrijkwamen op de biotoop. 🪵

Ik entte ze in december en het voorjaar. Een deel van de stammen werd onderdeel van het kerstpakket van Carex werknemers, en de rest bleef op mijn paddenstoelenbroedplaats ().
Ik heb ze wel op een beschuttere plek gezet, want ze houden er niet van op de wind te staan.💨

02/12/2024

At 24-11-24 I started with ‘1 month - 2 pieces - range of materials’, which I share in my stories.
It’s a creative journey for focus, to get out of my comfort zone, and an exploration of materials.

It was on day 7 when I went for outside drawing to the Drentse Aa… But only on day 8 when I unfolded an important deeper understanding 💚

Day 7:
Being alone, surrounded by nature is an endless source of magic, sensations, wonder and surprise. It brings silence, rest, exercise, joy and nature observations. It’s almost impossible to describe how important being outside is for me.

Day 7> 8:
Being in nature triggers a kind of creativity that I find difficult to touch when being inside, and all needs to come from within. It not simply a common theme or inspiration. There is something less obvious: a deeper layer. It’s maybe even the ‘thing’ that I, Janne, aim to unfold with janneunfolds.com & the Paddenstoelenbroedplaats.

Being alone in nature is so inviting and vital to me. It creates an interaction, a conversation between the world and me. It stretches my own borders, diluting the edges of the one that creates, and the things that are simply there waiting to be observed. Always refreshing and changing my view on things. Questioning what is ought to be. And what my role is in this all.

I wanted to share some of the players, borders (of maybe ‘transitions’ are the right word), the process and some end results. Because these are moments when I surprise myself about what I made.

28/11/2024

‘1 month - 2 pieces a day - different materials’ is an experiment in ugly drawing & painting, focus and loosen up a bit. It’s also an ode to materials and the raw physical ingredients that allow to create.
An invitation to explore, understand and redefine my relation with a range of materials and media.

Some of these materials feel like a marriage. The small watercolor travel kit - that my father gave me when I was 15 years old - traveled steadily with, wherever I went and moved in life. One that I can rely on, know what to expect, feel safe and comfortable with.

Others - like the pastels and stumps of pencils - are literally antique and have been used by me, my mother Pepie Leusink (1951-2009), and originate from my mothers’ great grand aunt and artist Anny Leusink (1889-1985). Although the quality is amazing and the colors beautiful, I have never felt comfortable with using pastels (any kind) or color pencils. They lack a certain freedom or roughness that I do feel when using charcoal, oil paint, or watercolors… I always doubt if I will ever find out how to treat them well.

Working with other media - like the earth & mushroom pigments - feels so exciting! Like a new lover, it’s difficult to explain why.. but you feel from all over your body that you want to spend time together.
Again others just happened to cross my path, and lack any kind of expectation.

Let’s see what this month brings me.