Anniek Artist of Light and Consciousness

Print description

My friend Anniek Verholt is a wonderful artist and art teacher, with expertise in art therapy. She also lives very near me. Her flat windows look out onto the sea and the quintessential bow-fronted terraced houses of Brighton and Hove. Her flat is an extension of her personality—stuff both new and old, fresh flowers, books, and a record player.

She is from the Netherlands, now living in Brighton, and has a deep love for Greece and Athens—hence the subjects in this print: tulips and a Greek temple.

In this print, Anniek sits by the window, listening to one of her vinyl records, focused on her work. It brings to mind the words of the Athenian poet Amphis—The Solace of Art:

There is no comfort in adversity more sweet than art affords.
The studious mind, poising in meditation, there is fixed,
And sails beyond its troubles unperceiving.

Print details

To create this print, I start by crafting individual drawings in ink, which collectively form a collage comprising the final piece. I scan my drawings and digitally add colour. The original design solely exists in digital format, and I print it using archival inks and paper. I then release my design as a limited edition print, available in standard ‘A’ sizes, ranging from A0 (84.1 cm x 118.9 cm) to A4 (21 x 29.7 cm).

People and Places Revelations of Love

I love visiting the British Library. It regularly hosts different exhibitions, and in January 2025, I saw the show Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which was fascinating. Among the exhibits was Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love, circa 1675. I have borrowed this title to name my series of prints People and Places: Revelations of Love.

After recovering from her illness, Julian of Norwich chose to live as an anchoress—a woman who voluntarily isolated herself in a cell to dedicate her life to God. During her solitude, she meditated deeply on her spiritual visions. Many years later, she wrote a second version of her Revelations, known as the ‘Long Text,’ where she elaborated on the theological significance of these visions in much greater depth. This version has survived only through 17th-century copies made by English nuns in exile in Paris and Cambrai.

Another masterpiece I saw in this exhibition was a medieval book with an illustration titled Christine de Pisan with Queen Isabeau. Somehow, the vibrant colours of medieval books have also been a source of inspiration for this series

This work echoes many different sources, from Vuillard’s colourful depictions of the domestic patterned interior, many of which I saw at Pallant House Gallery in 2022, to the Alekos Fassianos Foundation, which I visited in Athens during the summer of 2023. Also in a mental periphery I can think of Ben Nicholson still lifes with his everyday objects; or Gwen John interiors, specially one exquisite painting ‘La chambre sur la cour’

The human figure in a scene

I have been running life drawing sessions in Brighton for many years, and the depiction of the human form fascinates me. Through this piece, I aim to express both my personal experiences and the environment where I live. So the inclusion of a figure is very important, referencing one of my living art heroes, artist Louis Fratino, with his modernist cubic contemporary classics. It also draws inspiration from a recent exhibition at Studio Voltaire in London, that featured a pairing of works by Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland, held in the summer of 2024