9 Women Gallery

For those of you who didn't manage to see my 9 Women series this year in The Netherlands, here they are 9 Women 

P.S. Don't forget to let me know what you think.

© Alison Day 2011

9 Women Exhibition

Meet Scarlet from the '9 Women' Exhibition, which is still in full swing in Groningen... still not seen it them yet? More details: here

©Alison Day Designs

9 Women

If you missed the 9 Women series (exhibited 1 May - 31 July 2011 in The Netherlands), why not take a look at them: here. They can also be viewed on Behance here


© Alison Day Designs

Annejoke Luiting & Mango Murals

For as long as can be remembered ancient civilizations have painted murals as a records of their existence, or as an enhancement to their living space. Today the mural is still popular as an artistic decoration in our interiors, in urban spaces to revive the greyness of modern architecture, and also in the anti establishment decoration of graffiti art.

My visit this time took me to Beijum, Groningen to the house of Annejoke Luiting. With a little mobile help and a lot of cycling around I finally found her house. The reason being that the numbering of the houses seemed to bear a striking resemblance to a thought process conceived by Dali, aimed to confuse and infuriate.

Upon entering Annejoke’s house I came into a hall the floor of which was decorated with a swirling mural. A staircase led up to the living area where another mural could be seen just before we entered of a decidedly Art Nouveau influence. The background, a warm orangey colour could be found to repeat itself throughout the decor of the apartment. The area was filled with the scent of aromatic oil, and three cats strolling around or sleeping in specially prepared baskets. Central to view was a large painting of a rose in warm shades of yellow. We sat down to coffee accompanied by a rather heavenly chocolate and Annejoke began to tell me about herself.

As a child Annejoke’s interests were with fashion, which led at the age of twenty-five to fashion school in Amsterdam. Here although she enjoyed the study it became apparent that she was not commercial enough for the fashion world. Confirmation of this was to be seen when she produced a painting for her end examination! After this she changed artistic direction and there was no stopping her, she had found her passion. Painting backdrops for a musical, mural commissions via friends and acquaintances as well as painting for her own pleasure began the build up of her portfolio.

Working part time as a telephonist/receptionist at Eelde Airport, Groningen brought in her first major commercial mural sponsored by Dutch Bird. Her assignment was to jazz up the rather boring departures hall and at the same time make it child friendly. This she managed to do not only by her use of colour and subject matter but also by the interactive nature of the mural, complete with drawers that can be pulled out of the wall. Since then she has had a lot of private commissions.

Her colour palette consists of warm oranges, reds, pinks and yellows and a major influence is the decorative style of Art Nouveau and the artists from that period. In particular including Gustav Klimt, J W Waterhouse and Lawerence Alma Tadema. The classical and marble renditions in the work of the latter intrigued her so much so that she has tried to reproduce the technique in her murals. Her use of shape is generally curvaceous and flowing, and the overall effect is graphic but painterly.

When asked about her philosophy on life Annejoke believes that there is a central “rode draad’, (red line) that we all follow. We are confronted by hardships, illness and problems to make us look at what we are doing, to accept change and thereby learn from it. This is also true of her personal paintings; she believes she still has a lot to learn about expressing herself in her work in order to more than scratch the surface of who she is.

More information about Annejoke and her work can be found here. 

© Alison Day

Alison Day Design

First published in the Connections magazine #11 Spring 2006

East Meets West - Maya Miklic

Comfortably nestled between the dominant modern blockhouses of east Groningen, in a row of seemingly forgotten terraced houses, is the home of Maya Miklic. The minimalist but welcoming interior with wooden flooring, is a complimentary setting for the powerful images of Maya’s paintings, hung in prominent places around the room. Intrigued by the imposing impression of a face eyeballing me as I enter called ‘Wanting’, with a very strong African influence and vibrant colours, I ask her if she has ever visited that continent. ‘No, I haven’t’ she says ‘Other people have said that too, but my work stems from an interest in people’s faces and the emotions that I see all around me, so much so that I have to paint them’.

As a former student of psychology in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Maya refused to accept the confines of her study as a true measure of the human condition. Instead she chooses to explore what she sees and feels about the world around her, with the aid of brush and canvas, often using photographs for portraits or as a stimulating reference for her work. This can be seen in ‘Satisfied’, where she has managed to capture the essence of the subject in a black and white photograph. 

Another impressive work is the triptych of El Tiempo, with its individual parts named el pasado, el presente, el futuro, (past, present and future). This monochrome piece was named after a holiday in Spain and can be hung as a single painting or as three individual panels. An expression her feelings at the time, there are hints of India in the shapes and intricate patterning on parts of this painting. India is a continent that she would very much like to visit in the future and maybe this piece of work reveals that subconscious desire.

‘Heart full of passion’, is a very graphic and striking image, which in its simplicity, with its almost ‘bleeding’, reds shows us yet again that the portrayal of emotions is very important to Maya in her work.

Maya arrived in Holland seven years ago from Slovenia, and has since then established herself under the name of ‘Indivisual’, She is, like many artists today, a multi-faceted one, busy exhibiting here and has plans for a future exhibition in Slovenia (subject matter, Holland!) as well as volunteering her time to work for a group called The Art of Living, who promote an improved lifestyle through the power of breathing. Maya’s talents include graphic and web design, photographic work, and paintings as well as translation work from Slovenian to Dutch.

When asked what direction she sees her work taking in the future Maya replies that she is searching for a more spiritual direction ‘But I am not ready yet’, she says. Like so many other creative people she also quotes wanting to achieve international fame through her work, but for Maya this is not just for personal comfort and acclaim. Her philosophy is that via her art she will be able experience life to the full, by meeting and learning from as many different types of people and cultures as she possibly can. This she sees as the natural way to develop ones awareness and talents in life. ‘To be just as you are, not pretending, this is what I like’, she says. Maybe we could all learn something from this philosophy.

© Alison Day

Alison Day Design

First published in the Connections magazine #8 July 2005