By Elizabeth Cloutman

Nelleke Demmer creates art, using a variety of styles

Nelleke Demmer has always been an artist, even in early childhood. “I realize now there is something in me,” she said. “I paint from my heart. I love it.”

Even a casual glance at the artwork displayed in her Los Altos home demonstrates Demmer’s passion for her work and her range of styles and media - from contemporary to traditional art to cartoon characters, from oil and acrylic paintings to murals and furniture decoration.

When Demmer and her husband, son and daughter moved from their native Holland to Los Altos four years ago, they brought little furniture with them. Instead, Demmer either designed and built her own furniture or shopped at garage sales and Goodwill stores. She transformed her purchases into works of art by upholstering them or detailing them with paint. The transformations may have surprised her skeptical husband, who would sometimes tease her about her bargains when she first brought them home, saying, “What are you going to do with that?”

She has also converted her home’s walls into a gallery of her work. Some of her paintings hang on the home’s walls. The entryway walls are painted in textured lattice style, and she has painted one of the living room walls to look like a stone wall.

On that stone-textured living room wall, she has temporarily mounted a canvas on which she is doing a replica of Dutch master Jan Vermeer’s famous 17th century painting, “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” She said of the works of artists like Vermeer, “They’re teaching me. I look at them and I learn.”

Her son’s and daughter’s rooms have painted designs on the walls that reflect their current interests. Her daughter, now 14, has a lighthouse and flowers painted on her room’s walls, replacing the horses that used to be there. Her son, now 12, has cartoon characters Garfield and Odie appliqués on his wall, replacing an earlier outer space motif.

Demmer has also brightened the community with her talents on both a privately commissioned and a volunteer basis. She does work in local homes, including not only painting and decorating walls, furniture, cabinetry and stairs, but also glass etching. “I feel my style is more European,” she said. “I love working with bright colors and designs.”

In May 2001, Springer School gave her a “Very Special Person” award after she volunteered her time and talents to paint murals on the walls of the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms. She said she incorporated some of the girls’ drawings of flowers into their bathrooms, and took suggestions from her son and other students about the sports portrayed on the boys’ bathroom murals.

Demmer’s siblings, who live in the Netherlands, are also artists. She noted that her sister is an interior decorator and her brother, Frank Lenferink, is a well-known painter.

While living in the Netherlands, Demmer earned a master’s degree from the Minerva Art Academy and a teaching credential from Ubbo Emius. She was licensed as an occupational therapist and taught arts, crafts and textiles at the Art Center for Adults and Children. She also taught drawing arts and crafts in a high school occupational skills program.

Demmer is currently available to do privately commissioned artwork and to conduct art clinics. To contact Demmer, call 948-2877 or send e-mail to nelleke@demmer.net.