The Grids

The Grids: tic, tac, toe / boter kaas en eieren     

 

Years ago I started with the idea to entitle some series ‘tic,tac,toe’ or in Dutch: ‘boter, kaas en eieren’ or ‘butter cheese and eggs’ as a playful thought and also because it evokes for me a fertile place a spot under the sun and a green land of milk and honey.

 

Besides grown ups especially children do enjoy this game and fill in the grid easily with circles and crosses because the game is simple to do. But why name it in Dutch: boter, kaas en eieren..and  what about the history behind this designation ..? Its well known that the Netherlands is a land of cows grazing in the many meadows that milk produces a lot of products in making cheese and butter. And these symbols reminds me of the old fashioned milkman or greengrocer who used to deliver milk, cheese and other goods at peoples doors. As I can remember, they put crosses when the customer paid up, and a zero when delivery was on credit.

 

Obviously the origins of the game are unclear. At an archaeological dig in Italy, depictions of a 3 x 3 grid from the Roman period were found, accompanied by the text ‘terni-lapilli’, or ‘the three pebbels’.

 

Thinking about at a different level the range of the positive- and negative electrical poles or the countless zero-or-one schemes that produces all kind of signals over the world. Perhaps the universe is the sum of all mathematical numbers, a gamble in which numbers sort themselves in groups and form the structure of nature and construction of the earth.

 

The grids in my series are small circles, little planets similar like our earth, with fantasy  forms filled in with colors as budding buds of flowers or where life begins and a fertile green growing place to be. Because of their gentle and calm appearance the colorful little ornaments are a contrast within the my many strong brushstrokes and areas in my Pastelpaintings.