Artist Interview - Nancy van den Boom

Welcome to the first of our interviews here at The House of Mouse. Each week we will invite a different Etsy seller to visit us in our home, where all the mice live. We chose someone very special to be the first to meet the mice: our friend Nancy van den Boom. Nancy is a Dutch painter based in her studio in The Netherlands, in the little village Uitgeest.

Nancy is greeted at the front door by several thoroughly overexcited mice, they clamour to take her coat and show her into our home. In the centre of the hallway in The House of Mouse is a long wooden staircase that twists out of view. Several quivering mouse noses are peeking out of little gaps in the banister, their owners are very curious about the new arrival but too shy to come downstairs just yet.

Nancy is shown into the heart of our home: the kitchen, where 20 or so other mice are sitting expectantly on the kitchen table, some are bouncing up and down in their joy to finally meet her. Naomi pulls out her clipboard and begins the interview.

Welcome Nancy to our home! As you can see, the mice are very excited to meet you. You are their first visitor, and as both Anna and I are good friends with you online, they feel as if you are their friend too. Thank you so much for talking to us today.
Thank you so much dear Naomi, I am so glad with your invitation.

We'd like to begin by asking you a little bit about your Etsy store and what it means to you: when talking about your store to someone for the first time, what do you tell them?
I am very proud to be able to tell I have a webshop on Etsy. I really feel like an owner of a shop! I tell I paint (which is a surprise sometimes too) and that I sell very vibrant paintings and necklaces with small oil paintings. I love to see the surprised faces!

Oh, why do you think they are surprised to learn that you paint? Do you think that you don't look like a painter?
Well, how could people tell I paint lol? From the paint in my hair sometimes perhaps... But I think too that most people admire artists and when I tell them I paint, it is like "Wow! She paints!"


Would you share a memory with us of when you first fell in love with your craft?
I remember the first time in 2004 I painted the Tree of my Life with acrylic paint. I loved painting light and dark right away. This took me back to my childhood when I looked at the work of my Dad, who painted and worked with dark and light a lot. It felt so good to work with this again, after, lets say 30 years.

So your father was a painter. That's fabulous! You're carrying on a sort of family heritage with your artwork!
And my mother painted watercolours years ago. She was very good with colours. I am sorry she doesn't paint any more nowadays.

How do you plan for a new item in your Etsy Shop, if at all?
When I feel like painting, creating... I look forward to listing!

So do you choose what you will paint before you start, or does the inspiration come once you pick up your brushes?
The feeling of inspiration starts somewhere in the day... then I think of colours and what to paint, finally I pick up the brushes, decide on the format... put my stuff ready... and then I decide what to paint and start painting! And the excitement begins, the magic of the colours, the structure filling the blank canvas


We do hope that you're a keen Etsy buyer as well as seller. What is your favourite shop on Etsy and why?
Listen Naomi please! I love the mice around here, I really do and you too Naomi, but this is a very mean question. How could I possibly give an answer on this? I love shops like www.staroftheeast.etsy.com, www.jealousydesign.etsy.com, www.jkphotography.etsy.com, www.stephmel.etsy.com and many many others... just too many to mention!

Hehehe, we know it's a bit cruel to ask you to choose just one! All of those are favourite shops of mine, too.
But I must say too that I never was in a shop before like I was here in the House of Mouse. So this shop (I am looking around and seeing lovely and cute mousies everywhere around me) is very special to me! To see all the mice in real!

We'd love to get a little snippet of your home life, please describe your home in just 5 words!
Kids, Cor, cats, studio, garden!

Ah yes, Cor is your lovely husband, is that right? Does he love your artwork?
Yes, Cor is very fond of my artwork indeed! He loves the colours and vibrancy of them!
He shows his admiration all the time and he is very encouraging and supporting me with all that goes with painting, framing, making pictures. He likes it a lot I found painting, he knows it makes me really happy.

Musculus Maximouse gets terrible midnight cravings. If he were to raid your refrigerator right now, what treats might he find there?
Not so very exciting stuff really: beans, yoghurt, tomatoes, cheese (ahhhh cheese!, THAT's exciting for mice), lettuce.

That all sounds fairly healthy really, no chocolate?? Would you say you're a fairly healthy household then?
No chocolate left. I have eaten it all! Sorry!

If you were a mouse living in The House of Mouse, which one would you be and why?
Only one answer possible: the Witchy Mouse since I am a witch!

We are intrigued! Do you have a broomstick and a black cat?
I do have a black cat (Zorroluna) and a broomstick indeed. I am connected to nature like witches are. I love the night, the moon and lots more!

And finally, one of the mice would like to ask you a question. The mice tend to be a little random with their choice of questions! This one comes from Terry, the Mouse in a Cat Suit. He'd like to ask you: who do you think would win in a fight, a cat or a hedgehog, and why?!
If it is Terry in the catsuit, it would be Terry who wins of course.

(Terry looks very pleased with himself on hearing this answer!)

While Nancy has been talking, even the shyest mice have crept downstairs and are now crowding the kitchen table and floor, looking up at her with adoring eyes. She has fit right in here at the House of Mouse, we'll be sorry to see her leave so soon but the mice will doubtless be gossiping proudly about her visit for weeks!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit us, Nancy. Please let us know how we can find you on the internet by sharing some lovely links!

Thanks for the hospitality Naomi and bunch of lovely mice. It was great being with you.

Here you can find me online:
www.wix.com/nancyvandenboom/oilpaintings
www.nancyvdboom.etsy.com
www.nancyvandenboom.blogspot.com
www.nancyvandenboom.com