About Vincent

When making a portrait, I do not think much about the free interpretation of an artist. A portrait should just look alike. Therefore, ” No nonsense” and “What you see, is what you’ll get” applies to me. I make ‘free’ work as well as commissioned portraits of people and animals. My work can be characterized as realistic figurative with its own signature and emotion.

I am Vincent de Kievit, sculptor.

I am not exactly sure why I started sculpting. The feeling came from within; I needed to give an answer to this calling. Due to the premature / early passing death of parents of my childhood friends, I realized that the things you really want to do, should be done now and not be passed on to later. For me sculpting is a critical interpretation hereof / of this thought.

Free Academy

I started sculpting in 1993, and I enjoyed a few years of lessons in modelling and portrait sculpting at the Free Academy in Voorschoten. Through the experience at the Free Academy, I learned that just watching accounts for 70 percent in the creation of a sculpture.

One can draw a nice parallel between the fact that I am active as an artist, but also as coordinator/team leader with a government agency. I am completely in my element if something needs to be built up from scratch. If procedures do not exist, they are conceived by me, developed and implemented. That involves watching, designing, consultation with the customer and rolling up the sleeves to achieve something beautiful together. Both in sculpting and in my work, trust and jointly outcome are relevant/important keywords.

Kees Verkade

In 2004 as well as in 2009, I have had the privelige to participate in a masterclass of the sculptor Kees Verkade. Besides Kees giving me pointers, the most important thing that I learned was that I had to trust myself. The portraits I have made during these masterclasses received some of this confidence. The portraits of Klaas Koper, the towns announcer of Zandvoort and Paul van Vliet have received an excellent destination. The portrait of Paul van Vliet, casted in bronze, was donated to UNICEF to pay a tribute to their ambassador.

I am a member of the Art Association Katwijk (Katwijk), Art and Jazz (The Hague) and Kunstcollectief KuCo (Bollenstreek).

Watch and create

“Blinkers on and just do it.”  That is the advice I received during the masterclass of Kees Verkade. Embedded in this beautiful imagery is the element watching which precedes doing. Observing and watching helps me in the ideation of how to shape a new work, and it is essential to understanding the subject. I am referring to light accentuation, form and direction of the subject.

The common line in my life is watching and creating, tranquility and simplicity are essential to me in this respect. My sources of inspiration are humans and animals. In my spare time, I enjoy being outdoors. I like to go for a walk through the Dutch dunes or through the polder. During my walks, I look and scope. With the camera on my smartphone,  I take pictures of animals, natural phenomena and beautiful views.

As a child, I had the nickname “Eagle Eye” since I always saw things in nature or on the street, others would not notice. This feature helps me in my work as an artist.