Economist Finds New Calling In Paint

Winand Staring calls on diplomatic travels abroad for artistic inspiration

BY MARLEEN JANSSEN GROESBEEK

HILVERSUM - His way of speaking and appearance remains that of a diplomat but Winand Staring is very much a full-time artist.

For more than 20 years, Staring worked for the Dutch foreign ministry as a development economist in Asia and South America.

His last job in the foreign service was to set up the new coordination office for development cooperation in Guatemala. But all that changed eight years ago when he discovered a passion for painting.

'I had a great job, which probably couldn't have got any better. But it was time to go in a new direction, to make the big leap into painting as my profession. I had a great job, but I felt it had to happen, in good faith and with God's help. Success was there. So there was a reason. Something in the universe,' he says.

Although the 54-year-old economist-turned-artist comes from a creative background – painters and artists run in the family – art was not his primary ambition.

'I didn't paint as a child. I did write a lot of poetry and music and played a lot of guitar... but I wanted to be an economist, travel and do something for the Third World.'

Staring's interest in painting was piqued after a colleague started painting and showed him a creation in a style similar to that of Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali.

Staring took a few basic lessons and began to paint. 'I want to be spontaneous. I paint from my belly. Every painting is a new discovery. I also love the process of painting; you grow to new heights. Behind a painting is my life, my travels through Asia, the Pacific and Latin America — all those colours, all those impressions, not just beautiful things, I have also seen deeply miserable things and helped to improve them.'

It may sound simple: an economist started to paint and his work immediately becomes a success. But that was what happened, mostly because Staring was not easily put off. Years of experience in bureaucratic countries taught him that a 'no' answer did not always have to remain a 'no'.

Staring's persistence is illustrated by his encounter with Ivan Karp, an American art critic, guru and owner of the O.K. Harris Gallery. A friend in New York suggested Staring show one of his paintings to Karp, who, however, declined to see it initially. Staring kept pursing Karp, who did eventually examine his painting and described it as 'colourful, lively and professional'. 'I felt Karp's commentary was a real breakthrough,' said Staring.

Due to his work as a development economist, Staring feels strongly about nature. 'I have a vision about nature, about the preservation of the planet which I want to communicate through my paintings.

'It is not for nothing that water has become the theme of my work. With it, I am making a statement about water and nature... As an economist I have done a lot with water management and participated in the biggest irrigation project in Sri Lanka. If people do not use water well, it could lead to a lethal disruption in the (earth's) balance.'

But there is also a commercial side to Staring's paintings. He has a website where many of his works are on show, and he has just returned from Spain where he held an exhibition of his small paintings meant for the outdoors, known as 'smallies' and 'outsidies.'

'These are paintings which you can hang outside... and the price is comparable to the price of a good pair of shoes. The economy is going somewhat badly, people have less money to spend so these works are also affordable for the small purse.'

This week, Staring's pieces are on view closer to home at the Floriade horticultural festival near Amsterdam, an appropriate venue, since he says he loves to show his work in nature. After that he heads for a show in Miami in October, part of the Latino Festival.

Staring says his paintings are particularly popular among Latin Americans. 'My paintings speak to them perhaps because I have such an affinity with Latin America, maybe it is in my subconscious.' Perhaps it is also because he was born in Venezuela to Dutch parents, and lived in the region for 20 years.

He says he finds inspiration from many things. 'I am not a solitary artist. I let myself be inspired by what is happening in the world. The murder of (Dutch politician) Pim Fortuyn has even inspired me to paint an almost figurative painting, something I never create.'

Publicatiedatum: 27/8/2002

Auteur(s): ..., Janssen Groesbeek, M.