I am Verhofstede Beatrijs, born in 1943 in the region of Flanders Belgium.
Last child of 10, daughter of a brewer and farmer.
In secondary school, I studied Greek and Latin.
To me, an excellent base to know the world and human beings in particular.
At 17 I met a young man who has become my husband when I was just twenty. I continued doing studies during almost all my life and got diplomas in accountancy, administration sciences, family sciences, Spanish, English and French
When I was 25 I met an architect of decoration, a famous art dealer and a creator of furniture who had a gallery in Brussels. He was decorated by the emperor of Japan for his design of furniture, inspired by Japanese art.
He told me that art can only be understood by the heart
The writer A., de St Exupery told us :on ne voit bien qu avec le cœur. I started psychoanalysis.
My life was continuing. I was still interested in understanding the deeper meaning of art and life but it seemed to be a mission impossible
My marriage failed we got separated. I got ill and was even in a psychiatric institution
My oldest sister, who lives in the South-West of France invited me to meet an artist who worked with wax. From the beginning, the practice of coincidence has been important. I noticed that I was able to create something beautiful by practising coincidental art. I continued to make artistic work of wax and participated in some exhibitions but without success. At that time I started writing poetry to soften the grief caused by a fellow human being
I was already aware that in art when we connect with the Truth, we get touched
My approach to painting is like poetry. It is beyond words
At a certain moment I got triggered: I wanted to make a portrait of a person.,of her soul, and I associated immediately that person with colors. I wanted to make a portrait of her soul, of her inner self
It was only possible to do it in an abstract work
I started to make a portrait of The therapist in general. I wanted to use real gold leaf on my treated linen for spiritual reasons
The most important colour I used for the portrait was reseda green. When the work was finished I looked up on the internet to find the meaning of the reseda plant and discovered that it is healing wounds! During all my life the quest for the meaning of life and art has been important. Very lately I discovered the encounter with the Truth, the Beauty and above all the Infinite
To me, the Infinite becomes visible through coincidence.
The portrait of a soul is about that.
I also want to connect to the ideas of Richard Wagner concerning the importance of the Inconscient, the social role of the artist and the Gesamtkunstwerk. That means different art forms merging into each other.
