Walkers all know the images and some come to the Gaasterbos in Wijk aan Zee especially for it. The images are therefore known, but hardly anyone knows who she made. After a long search we found the artist: Martijn Zoetmulder from Wijk aan Zee.
In a few months, Martijn has already cut six statues from tree stumps that remained in the forest after the storm Poly from two years ago. “And there will be many more,” he announces. With his artworks he wants to beautify the scars that the storm has left.
Martijn loves fairy tales and stories and that is reflected in the images he makes “I want to bring the fairy tale back to the forest,” he says. “That lady who lies there, with those flowers and an owl, some people say it is Freya, the goddess of the forest, I think that’s a nice idea. That other image across the street finds some people look like Rudi Carrell,” he says laughing. “It’s just what you see in it.”
But there will be more. How much cannot Martijn say, but he can just get four or five stumps for the mind that he would like to tackle artistically. “It is hoped that there will not be another big storm,” he says. “Then I will be busy for years.”
Martijn was once trained as a professional sculptor, but does not earn his living with it. “I take a picture for far too long, I would earn little as a sculptor,” says the cheerful ‘Bosbeeldhouwer’, who emphasizes that he is doing it for pleasure.
Enjoy
“It is an expression of the soul and it is nice to take a step every time, and to get a little better every time, that makes it special.”
Zoetmulder also enjoys the reactions of hikers, who are generally enthusiastic about his embellishments of the forest. If we meet him, Martijn is not busy with a tree but with a relief that can be moved.
It is a performance with forest spirits and a ‘soul bird’, that is a mythical figure with the body of a bird and a human head.
He wants to hand in the paper for the final exhibition of the art event Donkeys and brushes who is currently going on in Wijk aan Zee. Whether Martijn takes the work on time is still the question. The slot exhibition of donkeys and brushes will be held on the weekend of 24 and 25 May in the De Moriaan village house in Wijk aan Zee.