Hans

Let me try and describe our neighbour in this Dutch boatyard.

To start with, his name is Hans and he was born in a little grey brick house beside the canal in the nearby village of Breille. He pointed it out to us as we were walking beside the canal, him wearing slippers and carrying half a dozen of the finest artists paint brushes in his hands.

He knows every inch of the surrounding countryside, covering much of it daily on his pushbike and also knows most if not all of the people who live and work here. They certainly all know him.

He’s a painter by trade and has painted many of the houses in Brielle and the handful of other villages within cycling distance, but he’s also an artist and a sign writer.

His speciality is creating reproduction wood or marble panelling on any surface you can imagine, apparently this is a tradition in Holland, and it’s very convincing.

We stayed in a little hotel in Brielle for ten days and it took me quite a while to discover that the beautiful bur walnut and mahogany panelling that gave the place it’s rich ancient atmosphere, was all done by paint.

His sign writing and restoration work can be seen all around the district, he is prolific in his work.

He can, and often does work 48 hours non stop, eating fifteen sandwiches a day to keep him going. 

He’s as thin as a rake, wiry and fit and at 58 years old can still leap high into the air and land neatly in a cross legged squat.

With his long grey hair and his Van Gogh beard, he talks constantly, or sings while he’s working and has half a dozen languages to voice opinions in.

He really could have stepped straight out of the 18th century, taking a break from painting one of those classic Dutch master paintings this landscape inspires.

He’s well informed about most things in life but you get feeling that he left school at an early age and his education has come from life.

His father was a painter before him, and he recently discovered a couple of his landscapes for sale in an art shop, so he bought them on the spot. 

Money seems to mean very little to him, sometimes he has none at all, and other times when the work is good he can earn large amounts in a short time but his reputation for generosity ensures it doesn’t last long.

Hans is one of those people that the universe seems to look after and that old saying, “what comes around goes around”, really should apply.

He does not count the cost in friendships and as a result is probably taken advantage of most of the time, like the people in the boatyard who just want to borrow some tools for five minutes and two months later after he has been out and bought replacements, they still have them.

He remains undaunted though and is always positive and full of energy and excitement for what ever he is doing.

He is a great inspiration for really living life fully and using your God given talents to the maximum. 

You can find him easily by just asking anyone in this part of Holland, “Where’s Hans, the painter”. 

If he’s not frantically painting reproduction wood panelling or restoring 400 year old boards in the local cathedral, then he’s in his boat living down in the canal just along from the house he was born in.

Like Gandalf the magician, Hans and Anna.