As every year, Wondrous Goose looks back in December.
We have almost reached the end of the year, so looking back has started. To me, 2025 was a good and productive year. Above, you can see the artworks that ended up on postcards and/or art prints. I made more animal collages, but sometimes you have to kill your darlings. That’s the way it goes. This year went well, with a few nice exhibitions, successful markets, and people finding my webshop more and more (hooray!)
Fortunately, I’ve been able to find a lot of time to make my collages. I enjoy working on my art and living out my own stories this way. Because the world is a big place, but in my surrealistic animal art world, I am King. And that’s worth something in these times.
Exhibitions & events
Over the past year, I have had several wonderful exhibitions. It started with an exhibition at the ‘Ogenblik’ gallery in Leeuwarden. They have asked me to exhibit there again next year. I said Yes! This summer, I participated in the two-day Alphen Art Event. It was a wonderful event, and also nice for me because it’s on the other side of the country, and it’s good to show my face there too.
Speaking of the other side of the country, since the summer, some of my work has also been on display at Gallery DNK in Dorst, Brabant. It’s a beautiful gallery, and I’m delighted that a few of my works are on display there. In October, I participated in the Ditzumer Kunsttage in Germany for the second time. Exhibiting and even simply being in this beautiful fishing village makes me very happy.
Online, my work was featured this year in Photographize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. Two excellent curated platforms.
Personal life & dogs
My personal life has been easy this year, except that our eldest dog suddenly became very ill this summer and almost died. She had developed fluid in her lungs. The cause is not entirely clear (usually it’s the heart, but that seems to be working okay). She is now on medication and doing most of the time quite well with those pills, although she has suddenly gone from slightly senior to rather old. But it seems as if we mind that more than she does. I admire her for making the best of every day. Here are some pictures of her, so you can see she is still having fun. She will turn 14 in January, and I assume that we and our other dog Valentino, will be able to celebrate her birthday with her.
Her younger self shines (twice!) in one of my collages.
Collaborations
I’ve been working with some nice people in the neighborhood this year.
For the organic flower shop Miss Tuinboon, I have designed two postcards, featuring my animals and her flowers together. She sells these cards along with a few other cards that also complement her shop.
‘Akka’s goose paradise’, a goose and other animal shelter, is now sponsored by me. The first collage I made of Aggy was made with a photo of a goose from their shelter. The story of Aggy was actually the start of my whole surreal collage adventure. ‘Wondrous Goose avant la lettre’, so to speak. I used photos of their animals in many of my collages. They do good work there for all kinds of animals. It was time for some payback. They now sell some of my cards, with the proceeds going to their foundation.
And speaking of local, my cards are also still available at the beautiful BIG Art & Garden gallery, where I exhibited last year.
I wish you all a wonderful New Year.
The monkey brings the new times. I will try to use them well. Create more artwork, plant some trees, spoil my dogs, and love my wife even more. I will try not to harm others too much, and I will cherish my sense of wonder. All those kinds of things…
I hope 2026 will be a fulfilling year for you all. Go for it.
Leave A Comment