The Everchanging Reality Of De Wadden
Dolsma finds his subject in the Frisian islands and their wetlands. They form an apparently simple landscape: the straight line of the horizon, the sky, the water. His theme is the vast space, the light and the constant changes of the wetlands.
It is fascinating to see how the character of this landscape can change from one moment to the next, when, for instance, a cloud obscures the sun.
(Groningen, stad en ommeland, Tien jaar galerie Mebius, 2002)
The Temptation Of A Clouded Sky
The sun is hiding but at the same time it’s very present. With a sharp beam that lights up a dune in the distance, or with a subtle glistening on the water. Dolsma plays with the sunlight. His work is so realistic that, seen from some distance, it looks like a photograph. But the interpretation of the painter and the atmosphere he suggests bring the painting to life. "This transition from paint to illusion is magic to me. It creates a tension that you don't get on a photograph"
(October 2008, Wieger Favier, Magazine Vier!)
The Search For The Ultimate Painting
In his paintings Dolsma expresses his vision of the relation between man and nature. Through his work he passes on the experience that man is part of an immense natural whole. Still his primary aim is “to make an agreeable painting”.
(Martha Dirkmaat-Plantinga, Noordhollands Dagblad, april 2003)
Landscape Painting
“As long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by the sea.When I was about five years old I saw it for the first time and I was overwhelmed. I never imagined anything could be that vast. This feeling has remained eversince. Somehow these wetlands are like a ‘mental shower’ to me. Being there puts the world into perspective. During the summer I’ll draw and paint and take as many pictures as I can to make it through the winter.
When I was a student at the Minerva Academy I got interested in landscape painting, especially Dutch landscape painting. Back then I took a real good look at 17th century painting. These last few years I have studied the painting of the 19th century School of The Hague. I also take a warm interest in Romantic landscape painting.
In my paintings there are hardly any traces of human beings. Every now and then I give it a try, but they never make it to the finished work. I don’t know why exactly, but maybe it’s because the painting gets to narrative and that distracts attention from what I want: the illusion of space and light.”
(From: Realisten 2002, Van Soeren & Co, Amsterdam)