By Renee Wood
It could be said that painters are always on an adventure – perhaps not always hitting the road but when they sit down at a blank canvas, their options are endless.
Yarra Glen artist Ton Antheunisse allows his art to take him on an adventure daily as he create works of subjects he loves most days.
From animals, to landscapes and flowers, his work represents all things he enjoys to paint and share with local residents.
If you live in Yarra Glen, you may be familiar with seeing Ton’s work at the local supermarket.
Last year alone he painted 200 paintings, which were all delivered to IGA to be displayed and collected by anyone looking for something to brighten up their day.
“They disappear very quickly – last Saturday I put three paintings on the shelf and Monday morning there was only one left,” Ton said.
“They go quickly as people come that like what they see.”
Ton said he loves to know that people enjoy his work.
“It’s nice to be appreciated.”
The 91-year-old first learnt how to paint when he joined an art class as a teenager, but he hasn’t always had brush in hand.
Over his life, he has enjoyed painting on and off however and in the last four years it has become a great passion.
“I didn’t do as much then occasionally, whenever the mood sort of struck me,” he said.
“When I had my last surgery, open heart surgery, things went downhill from there on so I took it up again.”
Now painting has taken a front row seat in his day to day life as he sits down for hours in his studio working on a canvas.
The pieces are inspired by photos of landscapes and animals, always inspired by holiday periods like Christmas.
He said what he likes most about painting is ‘when it works’.
“I like the idea or the setup, or the scenery itself and then I put my own variations in and if it works, that’s what I enjoy most of all.”
Ton often gets people asking for specific paintings and accepts small donations that he says just helps to pay for the paints.
Most of all he just likes to sit at the canvas and create something beautiful that will make someone smile.
“I would like to paint something very special but I have no idea what,” he said with a laugh.
“The only thing that stays hopefully intact is to make people smile.
“That’s all I can advise people to be nice, create smiles.”
