My interview in the SchildersVAKkrant

It really is quite special: I'm in the SchildersVAKkrant !

This trade journal is distributed to subscribers. Therefore, it is unlikely that many people in my immediate circle will see the article. That is why I am happy to share it here.

I am proud of the result and think it is worth reading.

You will find the full article below.

Click here to read the article in the SchildersVAKkrant

The text from the article:

Modest van, big dreams: 'My ultimate goal is an apartment building' LANGEZWAAG Wherever the painter goes, his van goes too. The craftsman and his mode of transport have been inseparable for years. A classic diesel van, an electric model or perhaps even a (cargo) bike? In this series we portray the painter and his faithful four-, three- or two-wheeler. In this issue: muralist Petra Lycklama à Nijeholt (26) from Langezwaag.

By Roy Heethaar

Traveling and painting—for Petra, it is the ultimate combination. Her Peugeot Partner therefore serves not only as a painter's van; she also takes it out into the wide world. 'To go camping, for example. We bought a roof tent last year, so it is now also a sort of mini-camper,' she says with a big smile on the driveway of her detached home in Langezwaag, where she lives with her boyfriend.

So she has now settled in the Frisian village where she was also born, but adventure always beckons. Like in 2023, when she backpacked through Australia.

Silo in Australia

Petra had always been a creative person – by her own account, she couldn't put the pencil down from her hands even as a child – but during that trip, her love for creating murals was fully ignited. 'I had a work visa and had to do something to fund my trip. Everywhere I went, I let people know that I wanted to paint, that I was trained for it. That's how I got the chance to create a mural on a silo at a farm in Hay, a rural town in the Outback. Of the crops that were grown there. That's when I thought: yes, this is what I really want.'

So, traveling and painting. 'I hope to be able to do this more often in the future, yes. I also often think back to that commission in Australia. I created something lasting in a country far away from here. Isn't that beautiful?'

Who knows, her roof tent might lead her to more adventures of that kind. And if not, her solid educational background certainly will. The true Frisian, whose heritage is not exactly concealed by her surname, completed the Decoration and Restoration/Specialist Painter course at Cibap in Zwolle and added the Superior Decoration certificate to that at the end of last year after an intensive MBO 5 course in Utrecht.

Hyperrealism

There she learned the tricks of the trade as a muralist. "Especially in the field of hyperrealism," she explains. Since then, she has focused entirely on mural commissions. In the broadest sense. From children's rooms to silos, therefore. "Although I have a strong preference for large-scale jobs that take at least a few weeks to complete. That offers more certainty."

To help ensure that security, she currently alternates decorative painting with regular painting work. 'I fill in on jobs for other painters. I enjoy doing that too, but my heart lies with my work as a muralist. I really want to commit to it now so that I can eventually fill my entire work week with it.'

Meanwhile, Petra shows us her studio, with a beautiful view over the Frisian meadows. She unrolls a large canvas featuring an impressive poster painting of Captain America, created during her Superior Decoration training. It is clear that she has mastered the techniques of hyperrealism.

High into the air

But she is far from finished with her development as a muralist. The next stop? High up in the sky. Petra has just obtained her aerial work platform certificate. Useful, because her dream commission lies literally at great heights: 'Painting apartment buildings with enormous murals. That is the ultimate goal.'

Even on the back of her modest van, that ambition will soon ride along with her. 'On the empty section at the back of my van, I would like to create an image or painting of myself while working on a large mural from a cherry picker. That way, people on the road will immediately see what cool work I do.'

Her tent is on the roof for now, but Petra's dreams now reach much higher. "Bring on that apartment," she says with a wink. "I'm ready for it."