Q&A - 10 questions answered by Rick Triest

Q&A - 10 interview questions answered by artist Rick Triest

1. Can you introduce yourself?

"Of course! I am Rick Triest, 32 years old, I live in Hoofddorp and have a studio in Nieuw-Vennep where I make paintings. 

2. What is your greatest passion?

"To create. To make something out of nothing, this often involves an enormous dose of perseverance, until it succeeds. Achieving that "moment" is my great passion."

3. What inspires you?

“I paint almost every day. My biggest source of inspiration is architecture. When I paint Amsterdam I think of the charming and playful classical facades. I also find it a challenge to constantly apply new techniques to give my canal houses a new look.
Apart from architecture my great inspiration is the art of; Alberto Giacometti, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yves Klein and the Cobra movement.”

4. How long does a painting take?

“That's a recurring question that's very difficult for me to answer. I think the most important thing to count is that I have been making paintings for over 14 years. Making the paintings has gone through trial and error. And it's right; practice makes perfect. Sometimes it takes me a few weeks to finish a painting. That's so long because, regardless of the time it takes to apply paint, a painting has to grow. This is a creative process that involves a lot of ''studying'' of previous steps and a lot of looking back.
But I don't like too much hassle either. For me, a work must also radiate energy and you can only achieve that by painting with good energy and speed is required. But also different techniques. Still, I think you can expect an average of two to four weeks for a painting."

5. You are self-taught, what does that mean?

“That means you didn't go to art school or study that prepares you for being an artist. So I taught myself the trade. I started painting because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I started painting for myself and the more people saw my work, the more interest came. It has grown tremendously from there. Of course I had to learn a lot and I bought more and more materials from sold work and thus gained material knowledge. That was an expensive learning experience in the beginning, but because of this my material knowledge is very broad and well developed.”

6. How do you prefer to spend your free time?

“I am a real thinker and dreamer. When I sit still, the ideas pop up in me. That doesn't often end with an idea. I'm going to work on it. You could also say that when I was 18 years old I turned my hobby into my job. Now it is both. Sometimes it's work and sometimes it's what I love most."

7. Are you satisfied with the choices you have made?

“In general, yes. It's not saying that trying to make ends meet from your paintings will make you an overnight hit. It's more like a marathon and sometimes that goes hand in hand with a real artist's existence. That includes blunders, certainly unnecessary blunders. I am almost certain, even though I call it an artist's existence, that every entrepreneur pays tuition fees, falls and gets up."

8. What would you have done differently?

“In my early years as an artist I made a lot of abstract work. Very solid and safe work. Looking back, it would have been better for my development as a maker to make figurative work even then. I wanted to do that then too, only I was advised by my representative to continue working abstractly. If I had started working figuratively right then, it would have helped me now.”

9. What are your ambitions?

“My ambitions for my art are mainly about the development of technology, making things better and more beautiful. I always do research and train myself. I often try new things to grow my style. The ambition to grow is for now about the quality, content and content of my work. I used to have ambitions, big, bigger big. I learned from that. I am satisfied and have a nice studio with a beautiful exhibition space. But the ambition and drive to be viable and relevant is very present.”

10. If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

“In the Rijksmuseum!”