Carie was born in 1967 in a small village Achtmaal next to Zundert (NL). In a neighbourhood where the people she new never talked about art. Surely not as a way of living. Never spoken of or even visited a museum once. She knew the name Van Gogh, he was born in Zundert. She knew the sunflowers but no story about them. The people she knew at that time did not talk about one of his paintings. The school at the village did not mention art. When someone rarely talked about Van Gogh she always saw a laugh and a pity in the faces. The ear, the institute and of course nothing sold. This is not about his paintings.

 

When she was young her parents had a farm and in her teenage years they became arborist. Carie chose art and they let her go. What a treasure that was. Probably they trust on the case that she should find a husband who earned enough money for their family. Of course this did not match with the time we are living in now but this trust gave her a big opportunity. They let her do her thing. If she had been a boy they probably would have interfere much more. This old fashion thought came really good on her. Mostly it is the other way around.

 

She went to the art school in Tilburg (Netherlands). She loved the school but after three years she quit. She saw no future. Other students who finished the school had no job and she wanted a  independent life. She also was to common. Everyone looked like an artist and she looked like a classical girl with mostly expensive decent clothes on. Everyone wanted to look different in art school. They all kind wear strange combinations and a lot of mixed colours. She wanted to have the feeling to fit in. At that moment she did not see that only her looks, told enough. That she had achieved to be different. She did even not see that this was a quality. She did not want to be different but she looked different. Teachers saw this quality but did not speak it out. It was too early. The students all had magnificent stories about art and she had not. They saw most magnificent things and she did not see it. It gave her the feeling like the story 'the king with no clothes on'. Everyone sees beautiful clothes but she sees him naked. She became quiet and looked very seriously. This for more than 30 years. She is now 56 years old. 

 

The last day at school a teacher told her that she would never be happy in an other life than art. Carie found him very strange all the time and after this remark she gave his remark no value. He did not knew her. She went to Antwerp (Belgium) and studied management and European languages.

 

Gratefully she got a job in business. In the meantime she knew an old person and she learned from him the whole time to really look at 'things'. He was her school at that time. After a few years working in business she could not do that anymore.  She was almost always ill. She quit and went to the art school in Antwerp. At the end she started to paint flowers in model class. When the teacher came to look at here work she was ashamed. What was happening to her? It took her about thirty years to get the answer to that. It was all worth it. Thirty years in silence. Thirty years with a body that only gave her power to the canvass. How can you manage that? Time was no issue. 

 

I think it is possible to see the importance in her work or in her entertaining readings. What she never saw or felt, she found it.  Everything that was necessary to let her see is found. A grounded and live worth explanation that touches a common life. It helped her a lot to understand art and her reason to live. Time is very important and is her boundary and friend.

 

She found 'The meaning of art' in common life.