`The beginning of every painting is the same - I start with clouds." So says the Dutch painter, Joop Smits, whose exhibition opens today at the Frank Lewis Gallery in Killarney. His paintings depend on his mood. For instance, according to Frank Lewis, a painting of a mountain stream may focus on three realities - "the world under the water, the reflection of the world above and the reality of the water itself."
Nine years into his Irish sojourn, the artist says he misses nothing about his native Holland. "Space and stillness" are the qualities he has found here. He thinks that maybe 300 years ago he lived in Ireland in another life as a monk. Every morning, with his dog, he walks to the Cloonee River Bridge, outside Kenmare, to meditate on life. After that he's all set to paint for up to 12 hours a day.