'The Herrings Hairdo' is the name of Femke's fifth shared solo show (and  the first shared exhibition in the California area).She presents 11 new  stories in colour and black & white that tell dark, witty tales about  a world where banana's wear ink and snowmen get tricked during a game  of cards. Though the style of mixed media paintings and graphite  drawings may be precise and the surrounding or scene has a dark-fairy  tale gone wrong- twist, there is lightness and humour to be discovered  in the concept or the featured characters.

Every work she makes has romantic roots, coming from childhood memories  and characters from era's gone by. Part of that work is painted on  vintage objects such as wooden panels and books which gives these old  surfaces a new life as a frame for my tales. "I like working on vintage  materials because those cuts and damages tell a story of their own,  they breath life and uniqueness. Painting on those materials contiunes  my story."

The Herrings Hairdo is a personal interpretation of the expression  'the bee's knees'. This phrase was coined in 1920 by cartoonist Tad  Dorgan and it's used to describe someone or something remarkable. Tad  Dorgan's also the creator of similar expressions such as 'the cat's  pyjama's' or 'the canary's tusks'." I discoverd the work of Tad Dorgan  a while ago and besides his great sport featured work and cartoons  about dogs he was also well known for his prose".

With this in mind Femke came up with the Herring's Hairdo. In the words of Femke"It's a made up title. 'Hairdo' alliterates nicely with 'Herring', and it has a   Dutch touch (Herring is the fish the Dutch eat raw). I thought it   would capture the atmosphere of my new series of work nicely. and the  title has the right Dorgan-ish 'hep'ness'."