INTUITIVE, LAYERED FLORAL PAINTINGS
I paint flowers loosely and by instinct, building up layers of colour with bold, visible brushstrokes.
Each painting develops as I work, somewhere between abstraction and recognition.
SELECTED WORKS
"My work is at its best when I follow my instincts and simply paint."
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BLUE NOTES
I put this bouquet together myself at the florist, drawn to the blue tones, the delicate bell shaped flowers and all the little details that caught my eye. I first painted it on a small canvas, around 40 × 50 cm, exploring the colours and shapes before returning to the same bouquet on a much larger scale.
By then, I already knew the colours and the rhythm of the bouquet. That gave me the freedom to paint more intuitively, with bigger gestures and less attention to detail.
I’m not interested in reproducing every flower exactly as it is. I’d much rather capture what made me look twice.
Small study · 40 × 50 cm · Acrylic on canvas · Available
Blue Notes · 150 × 100 cm · Acrylic on canvas · Available
A THING FOR PINK
Anyone who knows me well knows that pink is my favourite colour. And I have a particular weakness for these almost hollyhock like flowers. I can look at them for ages, at the shapes, the layers of petals and all those different shades of pink.
But all that pink and all those pretty flowers can easily become a little too sweet for me. That’s where the way I paint comes in. I like the contrast between the softness of the flowers and a much bolder way of painting them. Loose brushstrokes, thick paint, dark areas and shapes that don’t need to be perfectly defined.
I love the flowers. I love the pink. But I also need a bit of edge.
A Thing for Pink · 15 × 10 cm · Oil on panel · Sold through Galerie Kakelbont, Paterswolde
FLOWERS FROM GELDERMALSEN
I painted this bouquet in my studio in Geldermalsen, quickly and alla prima, in one session. The vase was my old pasta jar. There was no study beforehand and no plan to follow. Once I started painting, I could let everything else go. I stopped thinking about how it should look and simply followed the flowers, the colours and what was happening on the canvas.
That feeling is very familiar to me. It takes me back to the way I painted as a child, before technique or rules ever entered my mind. You start somewhere, get completely absorbed in the painting and find your way as you go.
Maybe that freedom has always been there. I just had to find my way back to it. And I’m happy I did.
Flowers from Geldermalsen · 50 × 40 cm · Oil on canvas · Sold at ‘Dit zijn wij’ exhibition · Stroomhuis Neerijnen
SOFT PRESENCE
I painted the figure and flowers almost as one, using a deliberately soft palette of muted pinks, greens and earthy tones. The figure isn’t immediately obvious, but slowly appears between the flowers, layers and loose brushstrokes.
I like that softness. There is something vulnerable in both the human body and in flowers, but at the same time they have a strong presence. You don’t have to see everything at once.
Sometimes a painting becomes more interesting when you have to keep looking.
Soft Presence · 150 × 100 cm · Acrylic on canvas · Available
LLÍRIA LEMONS
I painted this in Llíria, Spain. The lemons and flowers came from the garden of my niece’s finca and the colourful stripes are from a hammock I found in the shed.
I only had a minimum of painting materials with me, so I had to work with what I had. It was mainly the colours that caught my attention: the yellow of the lemons, the red and green of the flowers and those bright stripes underneath. I didn’t want to turn it into a neat still life. I just wanted to paint with colour.
I paint differently in Spain anyway. Bare feet, good food, a glass of cava and, most of all, nothing I have to do. The more relaxed I am, the more freely I can paint.
Llíria Lemons · Acrylic on panel · 15 × 10 cm · Available
FINE FLOWERS
At the academy, I learned to look closely and paint what I saw. Technique, observation and realism were an important part of my training. But somewhere along the way, I noticed how easy it was to lose the looseness in my own way of painting.
With Fine Flowers, I deliberately tried to step away from that. I didn’t want to paint the flowers exactly as they were or create a photographic representation of them. I wanted to capture the feeling of those delicate flowers in the grass, while giving myself the freedom to paint them in my own way.
For me, this painting became an important step in finding my own way of painting again. Less driven by technique and realism, and more by intuition.
Fine Flowers · 100 × 100 cm · Oil on canvas · Private collection, Voorburg, The Netherlands
FLOWERS EVERYWHERE
I think I have always had the urge to paint flowers onto almost anything.
I started with a face and gradually surrounded it with flowers. Lots of them. I enjoyed painting all those tiny blossoms, letting them spread across the canvas until the face almost disappeared among the flowers. And yet, the gaze still draws you in.
It reminds me of the way I now paint flowers directly onto newspaper, across the words and photographs underneath. There is something I love about taking an existing image or surface and simply covering it with flowers.
Maybe I just want to decorate the whole world with flowers.
Flowers everywhere · 100 × 100 cm · Acrylic on canvas · Sold through De Kunstverdieping, Geldermalsen
ALREADY THERE
I painted this work years ago, long before I fully understood what kind of painter I wanted to be.
It was painted quickly and instinctively, from a bouquet in my studio. Music playing, a cup of tea nearby, and no real plan. I simply responded to the flowers, the colours and what was happening on the canvas. For a long time, I wasn’t sure about this painting. I thought my work needed to be more precise, more controlled, more realistic.
Looking at it now, I see something completely different. The loose brushstrokes, the layers, the unfinished shapes and the freedom in the paint feel much closer to the painter I am today.
Perhaps my own way of painting was already there. I just had to learn to trust it.
Already there · 40 × 50 cm · Acrylic on canvas · Available
SPANISH SPRING
I painted this in Spain, outside on the veranda of our finca. It was still cold in the Netherlands, while in Spain spring had already arrived and it was warm enough to spend the day painting outside.
I had only brought a small amount of painting materials with me, which I actually quite like. There is less to choose from and less to think about. Just a few brushes, some paint and whatever happens on the canvas.
For me, this is painting at its best. Outside, simply letting the brush go where it wants to go. Almost like playing.
Over time, I’ve learned to trust that process more and more. To let go, stop trying to control the outcome and trust that the painting will find its way!
Spanish spring · 15 × 10 cm · Acrylic on panel · Available
RIUDECANYES FLOWERS
This was the bouquet we painted during one of my painting retreats near Reus, Spain. The flowers were simply what was available locally at the time, with their yellows, oranges, reds and whites.
My students would love to paint more loosely, but letting go can be surprisingly difficult. So during this session, we explored how you can still have enough structure and confidence while allowing your brushstrokes to stay free and expressive.
I painted this version alongside the group. We all worked from the same bouquet, yet five completely different paintings emerged.
That’s what I love about painting together: the subject may be the same, but the painting always becomes your own.
Riudecanyes Flowers · 40 × 50 cm · Acrylic on canvas · Available
WINTER FLOWERS
I painted this in January, in the Netherlands, while outside everything was covered in snow and it was bitterly cold.
Inside, I was painting flowers.
Perhaps that contrast is part of why this painting became so light. Soft pinks, pale blues, grey greens and lots of space in between. I wasn’t trying to paint a perfect bouquet. I just kept adding, covering, scraping back and letting flowers appear and disappear again.
There is something I love about painting flowers in the middle of winter. Outside everything was cold and still. On my canvas, things were already beginning to grow.
Winter Flowers · 100 × 100 cm · Oil on canvas · Available
PEONIES
I have always loved peonies, but I don’t like painting them too sweetly. They are beautiful flowers, but to me they also have something bold and almost unruly about them.
What drew me to this composition was the way the flowers seemed to spill across the table, especially that long leaf hanging over the edge. I wanted to keep that movement and paint the flowers with plenty of energy and bite.
I painted this alla prima, in a single afternoon. Working quickly like this suits me. There is less time to overthink things and the brushstrokes stay loose and direct.
Peonies · 50 × 40 cm · Oil on canvas · Private collection, Groningen, The Netherlands
WHERE I PAINT
My studio has always been one of my favourite places to be. Over the years I’ve painted in several different spaces, each with its own character, its own mess and its own light. Right now, I’m between studios while we prepare for our move to Spain.
BEHIND THE PAINTINGS
ABOUT ME
PAINTING BY INSTINCT
After years of training in traditional and realistic painting, I found my way back to the loose, intuitive way of painting that had always come naturally to me. Today, I paint by instinct, letting colour, shape and feeling lead the way. Flowers and nature are often my starting point, but I never quite know where a painting will take me. And that is exactly how I like it.
I’m Merel Feenstra, a Dutch artist creating colourful, layered and intuitive floral paintings.
EXHIBITIONS & ART FAIRS
2025
Landelijk Atelierweekend, Fall Edition
Visitekaartjes Expositie, Galerie Paterswolde
2023
Landelijk Atelierweekend, Fall Edition
Visitekaartjes Expositie, Galerie Paterswolde
2022
Open Atelierroute West-Betuwe, Studio Merel Feenstra, Asperen
Classical Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition, Roomsterborgh, Leek
2021
Nationale Kunstdagen, Evenementenhal Gorinchem
2020
Annual Dutch Art Fair, Amsterdam
ART Eindhoven
2019
Annual Dutch Art Fair
Atelierroute Blaricum
Solo Exhibition, Hilton Brussels
ART Eindhoven
Opening exhibition, de Kunststudio, Blaricum
2018
Blaricum Raakt Je!, Blaricum
Kunst Battle, Zeewolde
Atelierroute Blaricum
Kunst & Cultuur Markt, De Krachtcentrale, Huizen
Solo Exhibition, Louis Hartlooper Complex, Utrecht
2017
Borrel voor Kunstliefhebbers, Restaurant Bruis, Blaricum
ONE OF A KIND PIECES
HAND PAINTED FLOWER VASES
Since 2020, I’ve painted many vases and hosted vase painting workshops in my studio in Asperen, under the name Schilderen in de Betuwe. Although I no longer offer these workshops in the Netherlands, you can still paint your own vase during one of my painting retreats in Spain.
These days, I mostly paint on canvas and panel, but every now and then a vase still finds its way onto my painting table.
Below is a selection of my hand-painted vases. They have all found a home and are no longer available.
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