10 Year Anniversary
To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of The Jaunt, we have invited some of the artists that we have worked with over the years to create a new silkscreen print. Collin’s print is one of the seven prints that makes part of this series.

Artist: Collin van der Sluijs
Title: A few days in Porto

Print details
Dimensions: ± 50 x 70 cm
Medium: three colours silkscreen print on paper
Edition: edition of 50, signed and numbered by the artist

“While walking around in Porto I really noticed that the financial crisis had hit a lot harder here. The woman working where I had my cup of coffee every morning told me that a lot of Portuguese moved to Brazil or anywhere else to find work. Even though, the Portuguese have a great mentality, which I really enjoyed discovering. Everyone was very interested in why I was in Porto, and when I explained that I was an artist, and there to get inspired by their city, they became very proud. While I was drawing on a terrace, a lot of people came over to have a look and strike up conversations. On the contrary, I feel that in the Netherlands people have this feeling of ‘Don't you have something better to do?’.

Every day I made sketches and small drawings of elements that I discovered and enjoyed in Porto. After a visit to the central train station Sao Bento, I had an idea for the artwork. Sao Bento has an incredible tile decoration in a white and blue style that depicts a historic battle. That's what I tried to capture in my work. I changed all the people to animals because the love of animals is always real and sincere, as opposed to people. It also seemed to fit very well with all the stray cats I saw in Porto."

Travel diary

Monday, June 17, 2013

All aboard and off to Porto!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Went out for a couple of hours for a walk through Porto, having a good espresso and drawing some local people. The guy didn’t really get it but oh well, he tapped me on the shoulder so i guess its okay.

Livraria Lello is quite the tourist attraction. “No pictures! No pictures!” But acting like a typical tourist helped me to get a photo anyway. The interior is the most beautiful i’ve seen so far, with all the crafted wood. On the first picture you can see one of the many tile works in the city, which is also a good reason to visit the trainstation tomorrow.

I’ve got some ideas in my mind for the print already and am going to do some sketches now. I”ll keep you updated!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Took a little tour to the coast in Porto, great atmosphere. Every morning I get up early to avoid most of the tourists so it’s still quiet everywhere.

In the last 20 years I have visited a lot of train stations, most of them are quite boring. This morning I went to Sao Bento, the main station here. The painted tiles blew me away. So much details in these scenes.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Got up early this morning to work on the screen print after a cup of coffee. This is a small preview of what I’m working on.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Bye Porto , I had a great time!