Russian Dolls
Acrylic paint on wood
Design by
Tim De Coster
I painted a set of Russian dolls as a PhD completion gift for a Russian colleague with memories of the Netherlands.
As a farewell gift to one of my colleagues and to celebrate their PhD, I painted a set of matryoshka's, otherwise known as nesting dolls or Russian dolls. Each of the dolls has a little picture to commemorate a memory of the Netherlands (the country where we met and I co-supervised his PhD-thesis).
There are 4 dolls, so let me explain what is painted on each of them:
The city of Leiden. This is the city where we studied and he obtained his PhD. The view is that of the windmill everyone sees at the entrance of the city. An iconic view where every tourist stops to take a picture.
Lisse, a very picturesque and small city well-known for its flowers (tulips in particular). A bike was portrayed here as well because people usually bike through the fields there. This bike also links to the many bike trips we did together al throughout the country, where the one to Arnhem is the most memorable one.
Katwijk, the nearest town at the sea. It is quite unique to live so close to the sea and this lovely place was only half an hour bike ride away from Leiden.
The Dutch flag. This doll was too small to paint anything other than a simple flag, but these three colors signify the chocolates, pastries, waffles, and all good times the country had to offer.