Thirty-six years ago....?

Where did thirty-six years go...?

At 8.30a.m. on October 30th, thirty-six years ago, my eldest son Christopher King Perryman was born. Through my tears of joy, my most urgent thought was, I must draw this little miracle! Now, many drawings, paintings and photos later, I wonder where time went.....

My first sketch of Chris, eight hours old. I was in tears.

I am going to play a little joke on you!

At four, practising with Mami, who is sadly no longer with us.

At nine, trying to keep a straight face during a watercolour sketch in a tent, on vacation.

Chris at fifteen. The left-hand side of his face betrays the subtle humour. On his right the quiet thinker. Try covering up each half alternately. This works with almost anybody, if you're wondering about the makeup of their personality.

The humourist was there very early on, and the musicality, the acting ability and ultimately, the hilarious "Brokstukken" Comedy-Trio theatre show - and more: like most actors, he's multi-tasking. He's always so busy - I'm lucky if I can even get a glimpse of him on television! But I'm proud that I can always phone him in a crisis, for wise advice. Check out the link: www.chriskingperryman.nl. (King after his mother, the American cellist Vivian King).

At thirty-six, Chris the actor. The two sides are still there.

The strong sense of humour in the Perryman family may get pushed to extremes, as when I had just solved a technical problem: "Hey Pop, you're not as stupid as you look!" (translation: "Thanks Pop - love you"). Happy birthday Chris! Love you too!

A man full of rhythm

A man full of music, rhythm and wisdom. 

It's a fascinating challenge to portray a multi-talented Dutch musician like Michael de Roo, who has brought so many people together for music or dance performances, or to share spiritual ideas in his search for alternative philosophies.  Since we met in 1978, he has become one of my best friends, full of warmth, wisdom and humour. Michael opened my eyes to much contemporary music, especially works in which he excelled as a percussionist. He was the founder of the Dutch Circle Percussion ensemble in 1973, that by the eighties had become world-famous. It was named after Luciano's Circles, the highlight of their very first programme.

"Circles", for vocalist, harp and percussion, by Luciano Berio (texts by e.e.cummings), 

watercolour & ink, 70 x 50cm, 1978. Collection of Michael de Roo.

It was inevitable that Michael would develop a relationship with the Japanese KODO ensemble. When working with the Netherlands Dance Theater, Michael was the one who drew the attention of choreographer Jirí Kylián to Maki Ishii's suite for percussion (1984) inspired by the story of Kaguyahime (the Japanese fairytale of the moon princess who came down to bring peace to the earthlings, only to provoke conflict). This led to Kylián's creation of the internationally acclaimed 65 min. masterpiece of modern dance and percussion, a production in which Michael still plays a major role, as the conductor. 

So, although I had listened to some of Michael's favourites in preparation for this portrait (Berg, Berio, Prokofiev, Bartok), the brushwork in my portrait of Michael was driven by the rhythms and colours of Kaguyahime. From the very first sweeping stroke - an echo of the huge Odaiko drum. Ever since the première of that masterpiece in The Hague in 1988, where I made sketches for five paintings of this work (see below), it still fascinates me. Those multiple percussive rhythms made my brushes dance playfully across Michael's shirt as well. Yet, this man saturated with rhythm stands calmly, listening, friendly, wise, his thoughtful blue eyes reflecting insights from his amazing multi-cultural life. 

Michael de Roo, watercolour, 67 x 48cm, 2014.

Below, three of the Kaguyahime series, watercolour and oil pastel, 75 x 50cm, 1989