Sim
Cootjans, born in Antwerp, lives eversince in Brasschaat.
He is a citizen, well known by everyone. With his quality
as a singer, he makes sure that the old songs would not
be forgotten.
He gets an education in working
with wood, wich offers him a lot of ideas in designing,
redecorating and rebuilding furniture. At the Royal Academy
for Fine Arts in Antwerp he finishes his classes making
sculptors. He also gets classes in etching technics at the
Academy ' Sint-Lucas ' in Kapellen and at the Drawing
Academy of Saint-Michael in Brasschaat.
A lot of ingenious works are born
in his patient hands. These are not only sculptors in wood
and stone, but also etchings, drawings and paintings in
watercolors. His workshop is also a classroom, there he tries
to transfer his talents to other people. Since a number of
years he organises a vacationcourse in ' Dion ', in the french
part of Belgium. Sim wins a first price on an open air exibit
in 1995 in ' Kalmthout '.
He describes his workshop as following:
" It is not a fancy place... It is full of rubbish, but it looks
like paradise. When someone enters there for the first time you
can easily see the surprised expression on his face. You really
have to experience the atmosphere there to understand it. It is
a world where everything can and may be done, where impossible
dreams sometimes become reality. A simple piece of wood is
already full of life, you just have to set it free. It is a
material given by nature, already set and formed in odd shapes,
gnomes, elfs, kids and hands. In one word said ' it is a symphony
of life created by nature '. Wood feels warm, it is thankful.
Look at the ribs, the structures ... ".
Sim is like his sculptors, real, made
with dynamic hands. His works of art tell a story, the reality
of their creator. ' Kerststal 2000 ', a project for the new
Christmass stable in Brasschaat becomes a new challenge for him.
For this Christmass stable he cuts down life-sized wooden sculptors,
he gets suported in this by privat fundrisings.
Exhibits of him take place in Belgium and
in foreign countries. Some of his works are kept in Belgium, India,
Holland and also in the USA.
