Re: [OT] translation from Dutch, please
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003, Derrick 'dman' Hudson wrote:
> An artist friend of mine was admiring some work by Marjolein Bastin.
> She would like to find out more about Marjolein's technique and also
> what she studied in school because Marjolein's work is similar to the
> sort of thing my friend wants to do. My friend found some web sites,
> but they are Dutch and neither she nor I can read Dutch. If someone
> who can read Dutch has a few spare moments, we would greatly
> appreciate it if you would help out.
>
> (http://www.marjoleinbastin.nl/winkel.asp)
Hi dman,
Here's a very quickly (may contain some typos) translated version of her
bio as found on http://www.marjoleinbastin.nl/marjoleinbastin.asp
Marjolein Bastin was born in 1943 as the daughter of John and Pia uit
den Bogaard in Loenen a/d Vecht.
"I can still remember all details of my delightful explorations as a
pre-schooler in the great gardens bordering on the Vecht (a river).
The swing next to the raspberry, the flower garden, the small avenue
leading to the Vecht bordered by apple- and peartrees, the bench on the
waterfront - the boathouse I was forbidden to enter - the chickens and
bunnies."
In 1952 her father, the famous author of "Swiebertje" (great
nostalgic stories about a tramp in the times before the war, read mostly
by children and made into a hughly popular television series here in the
Netherlands) who was a schoolteacher in Loenen, was named editor in
chief of the N.C.R.V. guide (the TV guide of one of the largest public
broadcasters in our country) in Wageningen (a city).
The family, which included a second daughter Babette by now, moved to
the Veluwe (a region known for its fruits). A completely different world
with its dry sandy soil, different scents, different plants and birds.
Again a new exploration of discovery began. Lying on her belly on the
moss she saw black beetles laboriously drag rabbit pellets to their
tunnels. She saw gleaming green ground beetles running over the loose
sand and lizards and blindworms hunting for bugs in the heather.
Those blessed early years formed the blueprint for her life. She wanted
to share the surpise, the delight, the enjoyment with her mother as a
two-year-old, now she shares her love of nature with millions. She found
a means for it: drawing and writing.
After attending the Academy of Expressive Arts in Arnhem (where she met
her husband Gaston Bastin) from 1960 to 1965, she was employed by
several advertising agencies and publishers.
>From 1974 on she worked for "Libelle" magazine, where she got her own
nature section in 1980, and was joined by Vera de Muis some years later.
In 1992 the Bastins signed a contract with Hallmark U.S.A., based in
Kansas City. Since then they stay a couple of months each year in their
house in a prairie reservation.
"There the same thing happened to me all over again as when I was a
child exploring the gardens along the Vecht: everything was new, the
scents, the trees, the climate. Suddenly there were racoons in my
birdhouse!
Birds unknown to me, new flowers, strange butterflies. I had to start
all over again, everything I had to lookup! And now I want to share the
beauty of America with all my Dutch friends, just like I show my
American friends how beautiful Dutch nature is."
In 1994 Hallmark launched "Nature's Sketchbook" by Marjolein Bastin.
Since then cards and stationaries have been complemented with a rich
line of gifts. Currently it is one of the most succesful lines ever
carried by Hallmark.
Marjolein and Gaston Bastin have a daughter Sanna, born in 1973, and a
son Mischa, born in 1974. Sanna, married and mother of Merel and Roos,
manages the well-known "Marjolein Bastin Giftshop". Mischa is a lawyer
in Kansas City, America.
Grx HdV
P.S. Sorry, I found nothing about the techniques she uses.
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