Throughout my life I have been interested in art. At first I did not know much about it but in my heart I felt if something was special, beautiful or challenging.
Marlies
I met Marlies Knops at an art market in Einighausen (in Limburg). It must have been around 1989. At that time Marlies was making spiritual color etchings. At that art market we soon struck up a conversation and a deep bond developed between us. We wrote each other long letters at that time and shared the challenges in our lives.
Sometimes I recognized in Marlies’ artworks the things that occupied us. With each of her works, it touched me at a deeper layer of my soul.
Exhibitions
I looked for exhibition venues in the Randstad area for Marlies’ work and sold many of her art to family and friends. The color etchings later became drawings made with pastel crayons but the theme remained unchanged. Marlies could draw wonderfully and she did not depend on any technique. What she wanted to express came out on paper. I am still in love with her work because it so connects to my inner experience.
Flooding
Marlies and her partner inhabited a goat farm located near the Lower Maas River. In December 1993, large parts of Limburg flooded. This was caused by persistent rain. About 8% of the surface of Limburg was affected and so was the goat farm. The entire first floor was flooded. Marlies and her partner repaired the damage but over a year later (January 1995) the area where they lived, was again hit by widespread flooding. This second flood was the final blow to Marlies’ partner from which he could not recover.
Processing
Marlies incorporated much of what touched her into her art. There was a period when I could see in her pastel drawings her despair and how she tried to find her way back. Once she regained herself, Marlies closed the period with pastel drawings and moved on to making bright, happy paintings.
She had come to the conclusion that one should not let a day go to waste.
She began to depict the everyday life of the ‘man in the street’. Her goal was also that her art brought people pleasure, recognition and joy.
Comfort
Marlies bestowed comfort in addition to joy. When I, due to cancer, was undergoing chemo treatments, Marlies came to visit me. She gave me a painting that she had made especially for me. She had painted me with my guardian angel on my shoulder, which she hoped would encourage me.
Cancer
Recently Marlies passed away from cancer after a two-month illness. Everything we experienced together has passed me by. I have 23 artworks of her on my walls and everywhere I feel and see her. I am sad because she had a short but hard illness. I carry her with me always and am grateful for the road we walked. Johanna
