INGRID DE YOUNG
PAINTED ART
Art by Ingrid de Jong
Appelmeisje
Houtskool, ca. 30x40 cm
Dreamily she stares into space. In fact, she is also a bit tired. She has already done a lot of chores for a little girl like her. She had to feed the chickens early this morning. Her brothers think that's stupid, but she thinks it's a very nice time of the day. Pleasantly strumming, the chickens all come to her. Always happy to see her again. Immediately they start digging furiously with their legs, looking for the tastiest snacks in between. Then comes the fun part: looking for eggs. The hens always hide them very well. Sometimes they are hidden deep in the bushes or somewhere else that is difficult for her to reach. For example, she has sometimes found eggs between the chicken coop and the wall. You wouldn't think a chicken would fit in there, but they were still there. On her bare feet she searches until her basket is full and gradually she knows exactly where to look. She likes to do this barefoot, because then you don't easily break an egg when it is somewhere between the tall grass. She only has to wear her shoes to school, but otherwise she likes to be able to feel the blades of grass or the warm sand. Some think that's crazy, but she doesn't want anything else. When she was done with that, she also had to change the water. Her mother taught her how to take good care of animals and that they also like to have fresh water every day. There is an old water pump in the back of the garden and she has to pump the crank very often before a little water comes out. After she had refreshed the last tray, she went to farmer Bart. It has a very large orchard with delicious, juicy apples. She was given a larger basket and was only allowed to come back when it was completely full. It wasn't that hard, because there were so many of them. Everywhere she looked, the most beautiful apples were on the ground. She carefully turned them over one by one in her hands to make sure there wasn't an ugly spot on them and placed them side by side in her basket. In the end it was filled to the brim. It had made her thirsty and was so proud of herself that she decided to eat the best apple right away. She does that day in and day out, because she is an image. A statue in the garden of farmer Bart.