Categorie: Print

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Wind of change

Change can happen if thinking outside the box is made applicable inside the box. Combining the house of cards and the strategic chess play can open new doors. The wind of change can just start at one place on the chess board. From there, it can influence the course and level playing field of the complete canvas of society. The chess board is a metaphor for society. The spade is formally associated with spear, leaf and shovel. We need all three.

All systemic changes started like this, with just one idea or one action in one place. This thought empowers hope for a better world. Hope is intrinsic and is about direct personal involvement (Cornel West), and “Hope is the thing with feathers” (Emily Dickinson). Actual change always starts somewhere.

From today on, we need to change more than ever because the direction in which we walk is not the right one. UN Secretary-General António Guterres even talked about hell on the 27th (!) climate top. It is good to know “we all can make a difference”, as Obama stated once.

We need all to turn the tide of loss and injustice (among others) and to keep democracy and our natural ecosystems alive and kicking. We need the spade more than ever against upcoming autocracy, populism, racism, fascism, greed and the world of denial and fake. The spade it is. A personal expression.

Bibliography

Kruf, J. (2022) Wind of Change [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.

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Autumn Beech Leaf

This beech leaf shows that autumn is coming. It is time the tree sends a warm thanks to the leaf for the offered services last spring and autumn. It is now time to say goodbye.

Bibliography

Kruf, J. (2023) Autumn Beech Leaf [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.

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Desert Dimensions


The Acacia at Sossusvlei almost disappears in Namibia’s vast and high landscape of sand dunes (more giant than the Eiffel Tower).

Bibliography

Kruf, J.  (2006) Desert Dimensions. Breda: Private collection.

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Dimensie van het leven

Op deze koude dag (20 graden onder nul), Halsteren, 9 januari 2009, overleed mijn vader. Terug naar huis dus in het landschap van mijn jeugd, daar waar wij ooit in de zee zwommen, speelden en lachten. Ik probeer met alles wat ik heb de wind te vangen in mijn thuisland, maar alles lijkt bevroren. De wereld staat stil, volledig. 

Bibliography

Kruf, J. (2009) Dimensie van het leven [fine art print]. Breda: Privécollectie.

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The tree is dead, long live the tree!

“Trees are the main players in the Empire of the Sun.” This is what friend (professor) Roelof Oldeman told me in the summer of 2022, driving at walking speed through the forests of the Veluwe some weeks before he passed away. He continued: “We should consider them as such and treat them with grace, dignity and respect. Without them, we will be lost.” Wisdom it is.

Many trees and forests are under immense pressure due to human expansion with related lousy governance and management. We need to remind ourselves – from the perspective of ‘hope’, i.e. the idea of a better world with internal high inner connection and involvement (Cornel West) (in contrast with optimism) –  that nature is much bigger than us: the tree is dead, long live the tree!

In Deadvlei, these proud acacias still stand. They are believed to have died 600–700 years ago due to changes in river flow, drifting sand dunes and medieval climate changes. They are silent reminders of my dear friend’s noble thoughts and considerations. I found this one in my notebook from our travels through Namibia in 2003 and repainted it.

Bibliography

Kruf, J.P. (2022) The tree is dead, long live the tree! [fine are print]. Breda: Private collection.