It’s a beautiful thing, living next to the sea. I wake up to the whisper of the waves, and I retire to a marine lullaby. My name is Hans de Vries. When I retired, I gave up my apartment in Bruges, and purchased a tatty fisherman’s cottage on the coast. What attracted me was the large boatshed abutting the main building. I’m slowly renovating the house, but my first action was to convert a large light part of the shed into a studio where I paint my pictures, mostly seascapes. Then I put in a satellite dish.
I love my quiet life. I have all the peace I need, apart from shrieking gulls. When I need to chat, I use my satellite internet connection, or cycle into the village. It’s the internet that led me to a new passion – a friend convinced me to create a blog with WordPress. I did, out of curiosity, but now it’s become a new source of friendships all around the world. When I feel the need to share the beauty of my surroundings, I describe the little joys of my life on my blog, called Peaceful Easy Feeling, after a favourite Eagles song.
My other great joy is painting my seascape pictures. It’s a way of expressing, not only what I see, but what I feel when I see the sea. My seascape pictures are emotional, not just accurate records of the view. I feel such excitement when I feel I have expressed my joy, or even a quietly melancholic spirit, if that’s how the mood takes me.
And my latest venture is sharing my seascape pictures on my blog. I have even started selling some of my seascape pictures via my blog! Who would have thought it? Since I decided to create a blog with WordPress, I have come a long way.