Carie was born in 1967 in a small village Achtmaal next to Zundert (NL). In a family where people never talked about art. Surely not as a way of living. Only visited a museum at school. She knew the name Van Gogh, he was born in the village Zundert next to Achtmaal. When someone rarely talked about Van Gogh she always saw a laugh on the faces. The ear, the institute and of course nothing sold. This is not talking about his paintings
When she was young her parents had a farm and in her teenage years they became arborist. Carie chose art and because she was a woman they let her do. 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. Often 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 when she looked at other students who finished school. She wanted a independent life. She thought that she 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 wear strange combinations and a lot of mixed colours on their hair. She did not fit in. At that moment she did not see that she was very strong in living her own life. That she had achieved to be normal different. She did 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. She never is forgetting this important period. 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.
The students art school 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 57 years old. And early went back to art school.
Gratefully she got a job in business. In the meantime she knew an old person, a hairdresser, and she learned from him the whole time to really look at 'things'. He was her school at the time after art school. 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.
Now in 2025 she went back to art school in Antwerp and she has the same teacher from twenty years ago. She is nothing changed and he helps her on the same red line. She is free. All these years she followed the red line and now it is time to come back to 'earth'. I am drawing the line of the story the invisible life tells.
Everything that was necessary to let her see is found. Time says so. A grounded live worth explanation that touches a common life. It helped her a lot to understand art from this extra side. Time is very important and is our boundary and friend.
'The meaning of art' in common life. Real common life is very adventurous.