While Elly was searching the internet on Thursday morning for methods of making her own canvases, Janny phoned Hannie to ask if she could stop by, no, not to sew, but to discuss something special.

"What time can you come?" asked Hannie.

"As of now!" laughed Janny.

"Then come like lightning!" laughed her friend.

A little later they were sitting down to coffee, and Janny broadly recounted what she had experienced since Sunday.

"I thought it was going to be all about Marcel and Martin's work, but it was also a wonderful time for Elly and me," she said.

Janny found it difficult to explain exactly what they had experienced at Jacqueline and Maurice's house. She only told her own part, about the shield that had disappeared in front of her heart.

"I found it hard to hope it would help, but yes, I can't help but say that Marcel and I became much closer to each other, right away actually. But back to the beginning, to Sunday... before we went to Johan and Marieke's, Martin and Elly came to our house. Elly saw above my stash of homemade clothes, and experienced what we ourselves noticed, that I made it from my soul. She took photos of a few garments and sent them to the digital gallery, which Huib and Margreet had started with Elly last year. The web administrator was absolutely delighted, asked me if I would please send photos of all the garments, a photo of the front and back, and if I saw it fit also a photo of when I was wearing it. I have to give a price with each garment or set, and the size. She will then put it all on that gallery website, and then people who have my size can possibly buy it. Visitors to the website could also give orders for something to be made for them, and for that I still have to look up a sketch showing how people should take their own size. Ilse, that web administrator, takes care of all correspondence and financial settlement. She then receives ten per cent of all work sold as salary. Well, how do you feel about that?"

"It sounds very nice on the one hand, but on the other, I wonder what clothes should be on a site for art. How do you see it then?"

"According to them, art is an expression of the soul, which is also the name of the gallery, Art, expression of our soul. According to Elly and Ilse, I sew from my insides, I am guided in designing by what bubbles up from within."

"Yes, that's right, I do recognise that," Hannie said, "that's how we both work. And that's what makes it so much fun!"

"Exactly, and that's the reason I'm here now, apart from the fact that I always find it cosy... Ilse asks if she can see pictures of some of your garments too. Because from my description of how we are both working, Elly made out that you also work from within. And you are!"

"My garments on a gallery site? Ah come, my level is not that high, is it?"

"It's not about a level. If it were about a level at all, then it is about the level you work with from within, with how much power, with how much light, how much guidance you get from within. What is important right now at this moment is that we are both aware that we are working from our souls. So our sewing is an expression of our soul. We get our pictures, our patterns, our details, everything, from our soul. Right?"

"Yes, that's true... but I do think it's a strange idea," Hannie confessed.

"Shall I take a few photos and send them to Ilse? Then we'll hear what she thinks," Janny suggested.

"OK, do that then. Just do it through my email, or however that works."

"Through the website," Janny said, standing up to look up the website on Hannie's computer. She already clicked on the Contact page and walked with Hannie to the room where she had her clothes hanging. Together, they picked out a few random dresses and sets, of which Hannie took pictures, which she forwarded to her computer. From there, they forwarded them to the website, and waited with a second mug of coffee for a response. Again, Ilse didn't take long to respond. She heaped praise on Hannie's work and sent in an attachment the overview of how they worked on the site. And of course she also asked her if she would take a few photos of each garment, preferably also while she was wearing them.

Hannie emailed back, saying that she felt overwhelmed, but that she also realised that her clothes, like Janny's, were clearly different from what was on sale in the shops, and that somewhere she thought it was quite nice to publicise her work in this way.

She read about Twitter and Facebook in the supplement.

"That saves already, we already have those, so all we have to do later is add the gallery's website, with our details," she told Janny. "Shall we start with your clothes?"

"Well, let's start with yours, we're here now anyway," Janny thought.

Together they thought about how they wanted the prizes to come about. As the appendix said: materials and fifteen euros per hour of work.

"I think we should estimate per garment," Hannie said. "I never paid attention to time anyway..."

"No, me neither, but I do know roughly how long I spent on something. I think we'll figure it out."

They conveniently hung the first garment, Hannie took photos of the front and back, and Janny took photos with Hannie's mobile while Hannie had the garment on. They put those four photos in a folder under the name 'Garment 1'. This is how they went from garment to garment.

After a few hours, they noticed that they were starting to get quite hungry after all.

"Not too surprising, it's almost half past one. Shall we go for a bite to eat? And after that, shall we go to your house and make a start with your garments?"

"I was just thinking about that, about how we should do it most conveniently. You're going to work tomorrow, so if we now try to photograph all your clothes today, I'll do mine tomorrow, only while the garment is hanging, and then I'd like it if, as soon as you can, we take those other photos when I have the clothes on."

Hannie found it awkward for a while, but agreed that this was the most convenient way.

So it happened, that the same day all of Hannie's garments already appeared on the site and Ilse reported in a group email mid-afternoon that a new artist had been added, and that one of these days a series of garments by yet another artist would also be added. Both Hannie and Janny had been added to the group email, allowing them both to follow all the praise from the other artists. They experienced joy from the responses, a shared joy because 'our group' had expanded to include two women who made such beautiful clothes. Many of the reactions also showed that they were looking forward to Janny's clothes. Ilse promised she would announce it as soon as she had put the photos on the site.

On Friday, Hannie went to work in the shop, and Janny in her room, where she took two photos of each garment or set. It took her almost the whole morning, but she didn't mind, she enjoyed it. She put all the photos in folders on her computer, with the price and size attached.

She knew Marcel had been on early shift, half night shift, and the rest morning shift. He would be home by lunch. Usually he would slump a bit after that, dozing off on the sofa or bed. Today, however, he was upbeat, cheerful and fresh as if he had only had half a shift on it. He mentioned at lunch that he had had fine conversations with three colleagues, that he had even gotten some impressions for all three of them and that they had been grateful for it. It had felt good, and noticing his own change had given them hope for themselves that they would also start feeling more powerful and free.

"Suppose Maurice and Jacqueline want to come once, this is a nice preparation for those colleagues. Anyway, soon you won't be the only one who has changed! Nice joh!" Janny was genuinely happy for him.

"And you, how was your morning?" asked Marcel.

"Good, busy and distinct. I took photos of all the garments while they were hanging on a hanger. Well I still have to take photos of them when I have them on. I had agreed with Hannie that she would come and do that soon, on a day when we are both free."

"That's possible, but I could also do it for you," Marcel suggested.

"Are you serious?" asked Janny in surprise. "I would love that, then I can send the photos today or tomorrow. Are you really sure you want that?"

"I want to do it for you anyway. I feel fit enough at the moment. And if I collapse later, I'll tell you honestly, then we'll continue another time, or you together with Hannie, just how it suits."

"Really nice, hey, I'm looking forward to it!"

Marcel smiled at her joy. He enjoyed her more than ever before. That shield... it seemed to be really gone after all!

Together they went upstairs. Janny used their bedroom as a dressing room, with Marcel helping her with fastenings on her back. In the room where her work pieces hung, there was a section of wall that was plain creamy white, and proved extremely suitable for taking the pictures.

Marcel held out until the last piece of clothing, although he had to admit that the last few had been hard on him.

"Tell you what," said Janny, "I'll open a can of soup for once, heat it up, eat it, and then you go to sleep already. Then I'll use the evening to forward everything to Ilse. Good plan?"

"Super plan, you're a sweetheart!"

"If not you!" responded Janny happily, hugging him tightly for a moment.

.

Marcel had gone to bed right after dinner. Janny had put the plates and the pan in water for a while, she would take care of that later. Send the photos first!

It was well past coffee time when she sent the photos of the last garment. She then went on to clear away the dishes of the past two days. Only then did she allow herself to look at the website on the computer to see if Ilse had already put some up. It came as a huge surprise to her that the photos of almost all the clothes were already there.

Just like on Hannie's page, Ilse had put two photos together, so it looked like there were only two photos next to each other, one double photo of the garment on the hanger, and one double photo of herself wearing the garment. Below both pictures were the size and price.

She thought of Hannie, who had also found that so difficult. The final price had been quite high, higher than what was usually paid for a dress or set. But they had kept reminding each other, that this was not factory work, not standard stuff, but creative clothing, or as Ilse had described it in that particular supplement, that the price represented not only the cost of materials and working hours, but also the soul power behind the work.

She looked, not expecting anything, to see if any mail had come from anyone. There, too, she found a surprise, the promised group email Ilse had sent to everyone, to which there had been nothing but happy and joyful responses. It felt to Janny like a warm bath, a huge compliment for her work, but above all a welcome within a group of people of whom she knew only a few. She felt it was a soul group, a group of people who were all working from the same basis, from within.

She thanked them for their warm welcome and beautiful words, closed the computer and decided to have a good shower and sleep....

.

The next morning, the phone rang well before she was due to go to work.

"Hey colleague squared! How did you manage that, all your work already on the website?"

"Martin, Martin took all the photos yesterday afternoon until he almost collapsed. Then we quickly heated up and ate a tin of soup and he went to sleep. I then forwarded everything to Ilse. That woman works fast, last night everything was already there! By the way, it's handy that we number our garments and sets. Ilse just keeps the same numbering. Oh well, maybe we don't need it at all, but it felt nice convenient. But I have to go, work to do in the shop!  Have a nice day Hannie, nice sewing I guess?"

"Oh yes, I'll continue with that dress I was working on. Have a nice day at the shop!"

And a nice day it became for Janny! Several customers popped into the shop to let her know that they had found her photos on the site via her Twitter or Facebook. Her boss liked it, but was also a bit bothered that Janny suddenly turned out to be so well known for her homemade clothes. She was a little worried about whether it would have a detrimental effect on her shop.

"Oh well," Janny responded nonchalantly, "there is quite a difference in prices! All those customers may love my clothes, but it remains to be seen whether they want to buy them. The prices are simply higher than what we offer for sale here. Let's just wait and see!"

.

Elly, meanwhile, had found a way to make her own canvases of about two metres long and at least one metre high. She had made a list of what she needed for it:

.

- Wooden slats for a frame 2½ cm thick, and a length of at least two metres

- Canvas, thick cotton to stretch around it, width of the fabric at least two metres

- Collet

- A staple gun with matching staples

- Gesso, the stuff she had to smear three times over the stretched canvas, so that the paint would get a better grip on it

- A wide brush that she would keep aside especially for the gesso

.

She had also found a recipe with which she could make her own gesso, but since she wanted to focus as much as possible on the painting itself, she had decided to just buy the gesso by the litre. Maybe she would make it herself later, she would see. In any case, she would keep the recipe!

On the internet, she had started searching for all the parts she needed. She had noticed more strongly than before, that she was browsing the internet differently than in the past. She noticed that she was guided from within, that everything was much more instinctive.

She found the thick cotton to use as a canvas on a site selling all kinds of fabrics. She initially wanted to order just for one painting, but experienced that she could order ten times as much. That felt quite awkward for a while, because suppose the quality would be disappointing? Yet she felt it very strongly, and she decided to comply.

For all the other materials, she could not find something she clicked with. It suddenly occurred to her that she could call Huib for that. Explaining to him what her plan was, she told him how visiting Maurice and Jacqueline had given her the idea.

"Genius Elly, that feels really good! And what do you need for it?"

"I've already ordered a best package of thick cotton from a fabric website. I'm going to stretch that cotton over the frame."

"Is that some kind of canvas?" asked Huib.

"Yes, something like that, but you could also use it for curtains. I first wanted to order for one painting, but got the feeling I should order ten times as much."

"And... did you follow that feeling?"

Elly laughed. "Yes, in the end I did, but I found it difficult."

She told him what else she needed, that she could find that stuff on the internet, but that she continuously hadn't gotten an affirmative impression from within, and that's why she called him.

"You're getting better at it, at that following your inner self!" Huib complimented her. "Lately I've been working more on sculptures from stumps of wood and that kind of thing, but I have a lot of leftover wood lying around, from which I can cut the slats you need in no time. Let's see if there are any two-metre-long scraps. Yes, here, I have a large piece here, more than two metres long. I can cut a pile of these slats out of it if you like. Just tell me what you need!"

"Very gladly, Huib! For the first canvas, two two-metre slats and two one-metre slats. Do you mind if I leave it at that for now?"

"No problem! Shall I also put them together for you in advance?"

"That would be very nice. Would you do that while I'm there? Then for next time I'll know how to do it."

"You are welcome to be there with me, but I don't expect you to have the tools to do that yourself. I have no problem putting together a few of those frames for you every now and then, though!"

"Are you inwardly sure you can do that for me?" asked Elly.

"Good question! And yes, I am sure, I experienced that the idea came from within, that I would be allowed to help you with it. Shall we agree on that then?"

"Good, really cool! But should you ever experience otherwise, that you need to quit, feel free to indicate it too, and I'll look further. Maybe Martin might like it too."

"Fine, I promise! Then in any case, I'll start working on your first frame now. And as for those other things you needed, the best place to buy them is at that DIY shop in the village. Also the gesso, he has things like that too. Don't take too thick staples, Elly, they might cause the wood to split. Something bigger than the standard staples. And that stapler you need with it has to be one of those shooting machines, they pop the staples right in!"

" That' s true, I've already found the correct size. I'll get right down to business!"

"And I'll get started on the frame in advance, I'll bring that to your house. I'll let you know what time, so I can be sure you'll be home. Good luck with your shopping!"

.

While Huib set to work making a frame, Elly drove to the shop with her list. She strolled through the shop, keeping the salesman at arm's length for a while because she wanted to try to feel for herself what to do, what to buy. As a result, it might have taken a bit longer than if she had accepted his help, but eventually she arrived at the checkout with a collet, a staple gun with staples of the right size, a jar with a litre of gesso and a broad brush.

"Found everything ma'am?" the salesman asked.

"Yes, I think I have everything," replied Elly.

"May I ask you what was the reason for you wanting to do it yourself? If you don't want to answer my question, that's fine by me, I'm just curious about it."

"Because I wanted to try to follow my inner voice. And when someone is there, I have more trouble doing that."

"OK, that doesn't sound unfamiliar to me. I have another client who does it that way. He is very open to me, likes to have a chat about his work, but he figures out everything himself for the same reason as you."

Elly smiled, "That customer, does he work mainly with wood?"

And when the salesman confirmed that in surprise: "Huib Jansen for sure?"

"Yes, that's right, from Bloemenhof. Do you know him?"

"Yes, he's the one who recommended this shop to me," laughed Elly.

She paid for her purchases and after the salesman wished her good luck, she went home.

A short time later, Huib was already on the doorstep with a beautiful frame.

"I didn't do it the official way, then I would have had to use spindle slats, but with my homemade slats and a method of my own, I envisioned it while I was still talking to you on the phone. And here's the result! Where do you want it? Upstairs in your workroom?"

"Yes please!"

Elly followed Huib as he brought the frame upstairs. He put it on its side against the wall and turned to Elly.

"I'm really so glad you went to Maurice and Jacqueline! Those people are so wonderfully powerful! Your process has created a beautiful swing. I remember well, in that week when you were painting in our nursery, that you told us you liked big painting. Then you went through a piece of process that led you to come out to small painting. And now you come back to big painting anyway. It seems as if your soul has taken a walk with you, and in a way it has, but mostly in the sense of taking a diversion to eventually come back to what really suits you and is also feasible to do here at home. I'm very curious to see the results!"

Elly stood nodding as he listened. "I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right, about that diversions, and then back to big painting. I had been wondering if I hadn't made a mistake about that small painting."

"No, that wasn't a mistake on your part. What you ran into was mostly about that being away from home, painting at other people's houses. With us that went fine, with Lisa and Sjaak too, but that's because we experience that soul connection with each other, and because you didn't have to stay with us. What you need is your own place in your own environment, where you are not disturbed by other people. This right here is the best workspace you could wish for! You have lovely big windows here, you have plenty of storage space on the other side of the room at the moment, and you can go downstairs for some food and drinks. Ideal! How will you solve it if this room gets too full?"

"We will empty the spare room, move the bed to the attic. We rarely have anyone staying over, so..."

"... So that space will be nice and free for you. You're really going to spread your wings fully now and you need space for that!"

Elly laughed. "Exactly, I get to take up space - that was an important point Jacqueline touched on. And Martin immediately agreed with me to start bringing the bed upstairs."

"Wonderful, this way everything will fall into place! If you need help with that bed, just let me know, Sjaak and I will come and help lug it! By the way, were you able to find everything in that shop?"

"Yes, everything, I was able to find everything myself." Elly walked over to the cupboard, where she had put her purchases for so long, and in the meantime recounted her experiences in the shop, how the salesperson had asked further questions, and had recognised her exercise of listening to her inner voice, because another customer came regularly, who was going about his business in the same way... "Some Huib Jansen, from Bloemenhof," she added, laughing.

"Nice, yes, really nice that he recognised that," Huib smiled. "I come there very regularly, often have a chat with him. He was so terribly closed in the beginning, I wondered how on earth he managed to stand in a shop like that all day, helping people. He's doing much better now. Especially in that shop, I was able to follow the process, and thereby the result of the radiance of my soul, very well!"

"Beautiful Huib, I long for all people to come through it well and come out to themselves," Elly mused.

"Yes, that would be the most beautiful thing. On the other hand, I have regularly experienced that it was too difficult for people and they ended it themselves. I can't blame them. People who are so incredibly broken, that the process just makes them completely pile nuts. Their souls are better off if they can move on without a body. I stopped seeing suicide as murder..."

Elly looked at him thoughtfully. "I've never looked at it like that before. Murder is murder, that's how I've always seen it... but you're right, for some people it might be the only way to escape the hell of their earthly life... Heavy!"

"It sure is! But Elly, I'm going home again, I'm working on a new sculpture, theme 'fire', very unusual to make that out of wood!"

"I'm curious, I hope to visit Annerieke soon again, then I might come and have a look at your work. By the way, where do you store your work? At some point your work shed is full right?"

"They're in that storefront you painted that wall of!"

"Oh yes, of course, that building! Logical, and convenient! Have you been getting many reactions to the sculptures?"

"Hearts and thumbs up on our social media, but the sculptures aren't really selling yet. Never mind, that will come! When will you get that package of cotton?"

"Today already, it's being delivered here at home. Well, there you will have it," she said as the bell rang. They scrambled down the stairs one after another and walked to the front door.

"Good day! Heavy package ma'am!" said the delivery man, to which Huib held out his hands to accept it.

"You didn't say anything too much there!" he laughed at the delivery man, who then turned to his van, chuckling.

"I'll just put it upstairs. Shall I put it in the cupboard at stomach level so you can easily grab it?" asked Huib.

"Gladly, and thanks Huib, seeing you lug it around like that makes me wonder if I would have managed it myself. Wait, just put it on the floor, I'll roll the fabric off from there."

"Clever plan!" Huib sank through his knees and dropped the package the last piece from his hands.

Elly shot into laughter: " Another clever plan, it's not breakable anyway!"

"I'm honestly curious about the quality of that cloth now. If it's that heavy..."

Elly opened the box, tipped it over and let the package fall out. With thumb and fingers, she felt at the edge of the fabric.

"Great Huib, you should feel it!"

"That's really good sturdy stuff! This is a day with a golden edge Elly, all great stuff and a stepping stone to the real thing! And now I'm really going!"

Huib gave her a friendly slap on her shoulder and a kiss on her cheek. "Bye Aunt Elly!" he said jokingly.

"Funny boy! Thanks for all your help, I'm really so happy about it!" she laughed.

"So happy, you keep thanking me for every step. No need to, honestly, you're welcome!"

He jumped down the stairs two steps at a time, waved once more and walked out.

Elly thought enough was enough for that moment. She felt like having something to eat. She was expecting Martin home in half an hour, and decided to make pancakes. She had something to celebrate, didn't she?

.

Martin cycled home, amazed that again he did not feel really tired. He approached the house from the shed along the garden path and saw Elly in the kitchen busy with a frying pan. Was she frying eggs? Or pancakes? Secretly, he hoped for the latter. It had been a long time, he thought, since they had eaten pancakes.

With a happy greeting, he walked to the kitchen, where he wrapped his arms around Elly and looked over her shoulder with her. "Yeah, yummy, pancakes!"

"Yeah yeah, we have something to celebrate!"

"Tell me, are you pregnant?" he asked with a mischievous face.

"Crazy guy! That's not going to work anymore yay! No, I have everything I need to make a two-by-one-metre painter's canvas!"

She told how it had gone, what Huib had made, how she had been busy in the shop, and how incredibly quickly the canvas had already been delivered. "Within a few hours! I've never experienced that before!"

"No, that's pretty special!"

"It did say on their website, that they tried to deliver within three hours, during the day of course, but I immediately dismissed that as a nice advertising stunt, I wasn't confident that they would manage to do that. Well, they did!"

.

After the delicious meal, they went upstairs together to see what Elly had collected. Martin squatted down by the frame, looked and felt.

"Different from doing it the official way, but from the looks of it, this is even sturdier. I think it's clever of him to put two more crosswise slats in between here in the middle. Such a large canvas... there will be quite a bit of force on that! And he even thought of how to prevent the canvas from touching these cross slats. This guy is really great! Shall we see if we can get the canvas on?" he asked.

A broad smile slowly appeared on Elly's face.

"What's that hey, those old Cinderella habits of mine! I just assumed I was going to do it alone, and that seemed only natural. I already thought it was special that I could just ask for and accept Huib's help. Although he did say I thanked him far too often..."

"I like doing it with you. And from Huib, it was an inside impression he had, that he would help you. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing such actions more often in the near future, that people spontaneously, and then really spontaneously, not imposed, but completely from their soul, start helping each other."

"That would be really nice..." thought Elly.

Together, they unrolled the thick cotton a bit so that she could cut off the part she needed. The cut piece was 2½ metres wide, and had been folded in the package. As a result, there were several folds in it. Elly got out her ironing board and iron and started ironing the cloth, with Martin helping her move the cloth up a little bit each time and, when she got to the end, turning it over so that there would be no unnecessary creases.

"Good team are we, aren't we?" whispered Martin with mischievous eyes.

Elly grinned, "Great team!"

They laid the ironed cloth on the floor and placed the frame on top. As Elly had learned on the internet, she stapled first in the middle of a batten and then across, using the collet to distribute the tensioning force. Martin consistently held the fabric for her, so she could use the collet and staple gun to secure the fabric herself.

They looked at each other with relief when the whole cloth was secured.

"Photo!" cried Elly, grabbing her mobile phone and taking a picture which she immediately forwarded to Huib.

"You did it! Topper!!!" he wrote back.

"With help from my fellow topper!" she wrote him, "Martin helped keep the canvas well in place."

"Teamwork where necessary, that's the best... have fun 'gessing' and painting!"

Elly laughed: "Have fun 'gessing', applying the gesso."

She saw that Martin had stood up and looked around.

"Actually, you need an elevation where you can put your canvas on later. A shelf or something, at such a height, that you don't have to lie on the ground to paint the bottom, but that you can still reach the top well. What do you think would be a handy height?"

Elly grabbed a tape measure. "The length comes horizontally, the width on this one is one metre. If at some point I could make a canvas two by two metres..."

"Then you won't get it through the door, the length will still fit, but you'll be stuck with the turning circle," Martin explained.

"Oh yes, what could be the maximum width?" wondered Elly. She rolled out the tape measure until she was one and a half metres and tried to make the turn at the door.

"That's even fine while I'm still in between myself. Say Martin, if you hold the end of the tape measure, we'll pretend that the tape measure is the painting, the width of the painting. You hold it on one end, I on the other."

"Good idea, dear!" Martin laughed and winked at her. "Off with that Cinderella, nice doing things together!"

Elly laughed along with him, pulling the tape measure out to two metres and together they discovered that it was even possible, to have a two-by-two-metre painting make the turns at the door and stairs.

"Then you need not only a shelf to put the canvas on, but also one of those kind of step-up benches, like they used to have at the blackboard in primary classes in the past. What do you think, that shelf, or better still, two hooks where you can put the canvas, shall I put it at a height of half a metre?"

Elly nodded. "That seems like a good height yes. But that bench... shall we ask Huib if he sees fit for that?"

"I was just about to suggest that, because I don't think I'm going to manage that myself."

Elly grabbed her mobile and consulted Huib. "No, there's no rush, Martin is going to put two hooks in the wall, on which the canvas can stand, at a height of half a metre, so the top of the canvas will be at one and a half metres, I can easily reach that. But we also just tried out the maximum size I could make the following canvases. We came up with two-by-two metres. And when a canvas like that is on those hooks, the top edge comes way above my height. I can't reach that."

"Elly, I would be happy to make a bench for you, but I have a feeling it could be done differently. If you're going to paint a two-by-two canvas, just put it on the floor when you're working on the top part. Doesn't that seem more convenient to you?"

"Ah goodness, how silly! Of course that' s more convenient! No need for a bench then, nice! Thanks for your smart tip! I'll go on again, 'gessing' my cloth hahaha, nice word!"

A little later, while Martin was drilling into the wall to fix the two hooks, she told him of Huib's reaction.

"Ah yes, of course, that's much more convenient! How are you going to do that with that gesso by the way, will you put it on the hooks here too?"

"I actually don't know that yet. I've never done that pre-treatment with gesso before. I'll just open that bucket..." She stirred through it with her new, wide brush and tried to estimate whether she could rub the canvas with it while it was already against the wall.

Martin looked from the bucket to Elly, waiting for her conclusion.

"I think I can just put it against the wall, on the hooks. I don't expect it to drip. Boy, I am looking forward to it, even that simple gesso smearing! It feels so good to make your canvases yourself, with your help, from you and Huib. Yes, it feels really good, I'm really happy about it!"

Martin kissed her: "Go and enjoy it then. I bent those hooks so that the canvas can stand on them without sliding off, but also so that there is still space at the bottom, so you can paint there too. Only if you want to do the outer edges, you have to move it in between. Will it work like that?"

Elly nodded: "Absolutely! And you, are you going to take a rest or are you going to do something fun?"

"I think I'll sit in my comfy chair, legs on the table and then watch those clips of Lisa and Sjaak. I'm glad they're on YouTube too, then they'll just play one after the other!"

Elly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, "Enjoy it dear, it looks like a perfect way to recharge! I'm going to treat the canvas, and afterwards, when that's standing to dry, I'll come and sit with you!"

Martin kissed her in return: "Cozy, see you later!"

Martin went downstairs. Elly put her cloth on the hooks and began to rub the cloth with her broad brush. She soon sensed when she was using too much, and then smeared it to the lower parts of the cloth. At first she stroked only horizontally, then she went over it again vertically and saw that it became beautifully equal.

"So mister painter's canvas, I'm going down while you stand here drying!" she said aloud. She burst out laughing because she was talking to an object. "I would have found something like that ridiculous before, because people around me find it ridiculous," she chuckled. "Nothing ridiculous, I talk to who or what I want. Come on brush, I'll give you a good wipe down, jar closed, your turn will come later!"

She looked at the canvas again. She felt it would be better for the cloth if it could dry lying down. She grabbed the cloth at the top edge, with her fingers crooked over the edge, lifted it slightly and carefully brought the cloth to the ground, where she laid it down flat.

"The second and third layers I'm going to smear just like that on it too, when it's lying down, well convenient! The next layer... just smear it over? I'll look it up on the internet later, I wouldn't be surprised if I have to sand it lightly first, so that the next layer grips better!"

With her mind on her work, she walked downstairs, made tea for them both and joined Martin in enjoying the clips.

By the time an hour had passed, she walked upstairs, carefully feeling the canvas. The manufacturer of the gesso had indicated that it would take half an hour to three quarters of an hour for the gesso to dry. She felt that it was indeed thoroughly dry. Fine sandpaper she had found in a compartment of her closet, where she kept all kinds of props. She sanded the canvas lightly and applied a second layer.

She was just able to smear the third layer over it before cooking. Keeping in mind the delightful prospect of soon making her first big painting, she went to work in the kitchen. Martin joined her, pleased that Elly always laid everything out on the kitchen counter in advance so that he could haphazardly choose what he wanted to cut. Elly was working on the onions. Martin grabbed the paprika's, washed and dried them, and cut them into pieces. Every now and then they looked at each other, smiled or winked. And that alone, that felt so good, so connected!

During the meal, Martin asked Elly if she had any idea what she wanted to paint.

"Yes, I was reminded of that mural of that deep-water life. I'm going to do that again, but much more freehand, more playful, freer. No precision! I am very curious to see how I will like that!"

"Good, I think, but with the occasional sputter of protest inside. An old tendency or so, like how you bumped into that old Cinderella thinking for a while this afternoon. But I don't expect anything serious anymore, no traumatic collisions!"

"I think you're right, and I'm really looking forward to it," Elly smiled.

.

That evening, while Martin slept, Elly painted the seawater. She chose her colours less precisely than before, blending on the canvas and feeling the freedom with which she moved her arms. As Jacqueline had said, almost dancing with your whole body.

When she went to clean up, her entire canvas was painted in shades of blue. Tomorrow she would continue, painting plants and animals to go with it.

In bed, she thought about that for a while, how she would do that. With a smile on her face, she let it go.

To chapter 98. Family extensions on the way

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