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the artist Paul Christiaan Bos

Paul Christiaan Bos

Born september 4 1956 in Haarlem
autodidact
Methods and techniques: oils, acrylics, charcoal, pencil,
watercolor, silverpoint and mixed media
         Paul Christiaan Bos, born in Haarlem in 1956, chose to use five hundred year old techniques, since these are, for him, the only way to depict — as intensely as possible —, the power of a landscape or the character of a person or animal. He had to rediscover these nearly forgotten techniques for himself. His choice forces him moreover to make his own paints. Over many years, from famous reference books, manuscripts from the Renaissance and furthermore contacts with the Restoration Department of the Rijksmuseum, he finally learned to make his materials the right way.

Paul Christiaan Bos puts extreme demands on his work. It is not so much about the detailing, but much more about the colour and the "intrinsic light" that he insists on from his paints. To get that the artist has to work in layers. To bring the paint to life and to make it, as it were, radiate light, a so-called "whitening", made from his special tempera, is put between every layer. PCBos working in his studio, beginning of the eighties of the previous century This tempera is made from rare balsams and the eggs from a certain breed of chicken (a 16th century variety), who are fed a special diet for this purpose. The pigments Paul Christiaan Bos uses are often made from hand-excavated minerals. Only this way can he achieve his goal, viz. that the "sunlight" seems to, as it were, come from within the paint itself. His works are to be found in private collections all over the world.
Since the spring of 2011 Paul Christiaan Bos has devoted himself to his "Owlery Project", an "intense search for echoes of the primeval truth in ourselves" as he calls it. In 2012 he met with a serious car accident, which made it impossible to continue his old, highly intensive way of working. He had to figure out a totally different way of working. It was at this time that his "Owlery Project" proved not only a source of inspiration, but also something very much like a salvation. In addition the artist started to write about the Owls he met.

With the advice and help of biologists the Owlery Project started with the building of a large, so-called Owlery - a protected natural place dedicated to Owls. The two Barn Owls who live there, Coppernickle and Feline, as well as Barn Owls from surrounding villages, that use the Owlery and the excellent hunting grounds in the vicinity often as an assembly point, are all carefully and unobtrusively observed by Paul Christiaan Bos from within hide-outs. From the very first day the artist kept a kind of "Owl-diary", wherein he writes down notes about their behaviour patterns, making beautiful sketches and extraordinary paintings of them.

a page from the book -Garden of Owls- from artist/writer Paul Christiaan Bos, published by Uitgeverij Noordboek In 2015 the result of all this was the first book, "The Owl Diary". End 2016 the second book, "Garden of Owls", appeared. In 2019 the third book, "Ariane the Moonowlet" was released. In each book, published by Uitgeverij Noordboek, the text alternates with the sketches, observations, drawings and paintings from The Owlery Project.

Through the combination of word and image, artist and writer Paul Christiaan Bos tries to make the reader experience as much as possible the reality of being there, and seeing, hearing and smelling the moment itself.