The Wiersma House!
My Uncle Art told me of a famous house in Burdaard at my Uncle Sieds wake.
So I went!
Ruurd Wiersma, not unlike most artists, was a tortured soul. He spent most of his life slaving away in a marsh trimming and collecting reed growth. A job that literally had no end. Days after he would clear up a patch it would already start to grow back. Self punishment seems to be a common thread amongst artists. Makes the artistic escape that much more rewarding.
Late in his life, after being blindly in love with a woman, and then being completely denied by her, Ruurd started painting. He was incredibly prolific. The more this woman would deny him, the more prolific he'd be. Ruurd would soon start painting everything in his home. Including the his walls, vases, clocks, shoes, clothes and even the inside wall of his fireplace.
Its named "Wiersmahaus" pronounced "veers-mah-house" and when he died he donated his unspoken for works, his home and any remaining money he had to a hospital in his hometown (not burdaard). They in turn left his house primarily as is, and made it a shrine to his works and also a place where people can come see his works free of charge. you can leave a donation.
There isn't a tour guide there during its open hours, instead they have a doorbell that phones whoever is on call to do the tour in town and they'll run over in a minute or two and give you the tour.
Although the works were generally very simple and much like folk art, looking at his collection I saw a tremendous amount of honesty. He may not have had a lot of skill, but his persistence, purpose and output was so admirable.
I was told by the guide that Ruurd had done sixty of these paintings of the fall of Eden. SIXTY. Each one slightly different. Only 3 were there and on display. Differences include, mountains/no mountains, grass/some snow, number of trees, kinds of fruit, placement of the tree of knowledge, etc.
A couple of other interesting tid-bits: He would paint his most important subjects larger than the rest. His paintings were generally gifts to friends. He did 100's of paintings about biblical stories. He also owned a big bottle of Rum with Raisins in it... like a TON of raisins, and if you visited him to see his works when he was alive, if he liked you, you'd get a cup of it. It actually looks really good to me. But I LOVE raisins.
As the guide described Ruurd Wiersma, I realized he was ALOT like another tortured dutch artist that got more prolific as he was hurt by people he had great expectations for... doubt anyone else has heard of him though.
Meh. Sounds like almost any artist.
Heck even I wrote "Goin South," (my first No1 Hit) after an ex-girlfriend of mine wouldnt take me back. lol.
So I went!
Ruurd Wiersma, not unlike most artists, was a tortured soul. He spent most of his life slaving away in a marsh trimming and collecting reed growth. A job that literally had no end. Days after he would clear up a patch it would already start to grow back. Self punishment seems to be a common thread amongst artists. Makes the artistic escape that much more rewarding.
Late in his life, after being blindly in love with a woman, and then being completely denied by her, Ruurd started painting. He was incredibly prolific. The more this woman would deny him, the more prolific he'd be. Ruurd would soon start painting everything in his home. Including the his walls, vases, clocks, shoes, clothes and even the inside wall of his fireplace.
Its named "Wiersmahaus" pronounced "veers-mah-house" and when he died he donated his unspoken for works, his home and any remaining money he had to a hospital in his hometown (not burdaard). They in turn left his house primarily as is, and made it a shrine to his works and also a place where people can come see his works free of charge. you can leave a donation.
There isn't a tour guide there during its open hours, instead they have a doorbell that phones whoever is on call to do the tour in town and they'll run over in a minute or two and give you the tour.
Although the works were generally very simple and much like folk art, looking at his collection I saw a tremendous amount of honesty. He may not have had a lot of skill, but his persistence, purpose and output was so admirable.
I was told by the guide that Ruurd had done sixty of these paintings of the fall of Eden. SIXTY. Each one slightly different. Only 3 were there and on display. Differences include, mountains/no mountains, grass/some snow, number of trees, kinds of fruit, placement of the tree of knowledge, etc.
A couple of other interesting tid-bits: He would paint his most important subjects larger than the rest. His paintings were generally gifts to friends. He did 100's of paintings about biblical stories. He also owned a big bottle of Rum with Raisins in it... like a TON of raisins, and if you visited him to see his works when he was alive, if he liked you, you'd get a cup of it. It actually looks really good to me. But I LOVE raisins.
As the guide described Ruurd Wiersma, I realized he was ALOT like another tortured dutch artist that got more prolific as he was hurt by people he had great expectations for... doubt anyone else has heard of him though.
Meh. Sounds like almost any artist.
Heck even I wrote "Goin South," (my first No1 Hit) after an ex-girlfriend of mine wouldnt take me back. lol.
posted by Benjamin Tiesma at 2:34 AM
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