Throughout the World Inspired Landscapes series I have tried to avoid cliches. When I got to the Netherlands it was just too tempting to paint a scene of a tulip farm on an otherwise flat and dreary landscape. Going all in on the idea I added a tacky windmill. Van Gogh painted scenes like this so its fair game for a landscape painting! The Netherlands is a major tourist destination, we actually went there a few years ago and I go to make some location paintings. Historically, there were various regional powers that vied for control over the area, and it was heavily impacted by World War II. Geographically, the Netherlands is essentially a large, low lying swampy region that has been engineered for farm land and urban development. An amazing network of canals and rivers keeps the water at bay. Like a lot of the coastal countries they are going to be affected by rising sea levels due to climate change. Fun fact is that the Netherlands sends tulips over to Canada every year to promote our enduring friendship dating back to war time.
World Inspired Landscapes: Netherlands, watercolour 9 x 6" watercolour paper, June 2024
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