In the weekend of September 21 & 22, during the ‘Groot Rotterdams Atelier Weekend’ (GRAW), I will open my studio again.
Now, quite some time after the publication of the book ‘Terra Ultima’, the calm has returned.
A new expedition to the continent is cautiously in preparation.
During the weekend, the already known “discoveries”, and some new small originals, framed and unframed are on show (and for sale*).

Also, after many requests, the painting I recently made for the National Geographic about the Dodo is available as a print. Of course there are still (signed) books for sale in both Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Danish translations.

*To convince you to come over and as a thank you for your visit, there will be a studio discount of 15% on all purchases over €50,-.

My studio is located in Rotterdam in an old school building, situated next to the river Maas and surrounded by a tiny patch of nature.
The address is Nesserdijk 406, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Please feel welcome, both days between 11:00h and 17:00h.
I’m looking forward to your visit!

Warm regards, Raoul Deleo

PS. In the same building there will also be eight other artists and writers opening their studio that weekend.

About two months ago Deleo received an assignment from National Geographic magazine.
He was asked to create an illustration to accompany an article about the dodo, in which paleontologist Leon Claessens states that the dodo was not so much a stupid and clumsy animal, but rather a very unlucky one. The title of the article: “The tragic fate of the Dodo”

Deleo really enjoyed the study and research to determine how the bird, that went extinct more than 300 years ago, must have looked like. Few contemporary paintings and drawings of the animal survived. Most of the artists, just like Deleo, had never seen a living species. His version also blends fact and fiction. However, he closely examined a skull kept by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, a painting (1625) by the Mughal artist Ustad Mansur and the drawings made by Joris Joostensz Laerle during the voyage of the VOC Gelderland in 1602, among many other resources.

In the painting that Deleo made, the (flightless) bird frozen in mid air, refers to it’s seemingly inevitable extinction. The egg, held up very carefully by the bird, symbolizes the struggle for survival (and the revival attempts by humans). Remains of the egg are considered to be the holy grail in Dodo research, and have, until now, never been found.

Deleo tried to depict the dodo in a somewhat unexpected way, but at the same time make references to well-known images and assumptions about the animal. The posture deliberately resembles that of a found fossil of an archaeopteryx. Both, the dodo and the archaeopteryx, are famous but unfortunately extinct. In the posture one could also recognize a reference to seventeenth century still life paintings with hunting trophies. This because the extinction of the dodo, unlike the disappearance of the archeopteryx, is entirely due to humans (directly or indirectly).

The final artwork made with acrylic paint is published in the October edition of the Dutch version of the magazine. A video showing the process of creating the artwork can be seen here.

From today the book about Terra Ultima is available in the English language. It is published by Big Picture Press, part of Bonnier Books UK. The translation is by Michelle Hutchison, winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize for her translation of The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. The cover of the book is slightly different from the Dutch version, with a bit more gold and adjusted typography.

Now, the nature and wildlife of Terra Ultima might touch and amaze even more people. Hopefully it will help to reflect, protect and cherish nature on all continents. For nature is and remains truly miraculous and we are a deeply intertwined part of it, wether we are aware of it or not.

This Friday, September 29, during “het Kinderboekenbal” (the Children’s Book Gala), the book “Terra Ultima” has been awarded “Het Gouden Penseel” (the Golden Paintbrush) for the best illustrated children’s book of 2021. The award is one of the major literary prizes for Dutch Children’s and Young Adult literature.

Each year the jury of the CPNB (their main mission: to enrich people’s lives by having them read more books) selects and awards the best books published in the previous year. The winner of the Golden Paintbrush was selected from all the Silver Paintbrush winners awarded earlier this year.

Deleo: “I am really honored and flabbergasted at the same time. The book about the discovery of an unknown continent has been so lucky to get so much praise and publicity. As the discoverer, explorer and illustrator, this is all (and more) I hoped and wished for. A major thank you to everyone that helped me publish this book, especially the compiler, Noah J. Stern, and my publisher, Lannoo.”