Who is the best amateur painter in the Netherlands? They are looking for it in the television program Project Rembrandt. Maybe it is 41-year-old Jesamine Totañes from Assen. She participates, and is still in the running after six episodes.
Jesamine gave herself up two years ago because she felt like having an adventure. “I wanted to see what I could still learn during the program. And I wanted to gain more self-confidence,” she explains at home in her studio. “The program really helped me with that.”
Jesamine was born in the Philippines. She has now lived in the Netherlands for twelve years. She was an au pair here in 2006. During that time she met her husband, for him she stayed in Assen. “When I came here in 2012, it was a culture shock. I am used to big cities. Antwerp, Copenhagen and Manila. And then I suddenly found myself in Drenthe, in Assen. I missed the dynamics of a big city.”
Yet Jesamine has now completely settled in and feels like a real Drent. What makes her a Drent? “I am down to earth and relaxed. And I can now give and accept compliments a little better. For example, people often say here that I should be proud of myself. In the Philippines I thought that being too proud of yourself is not good. I thought that you just had to act normal.”
Ever since she was a child, she has known that she loves drawing and painting. But that was not a given in her native country. “My parents weren’t that rich, so there was no material to draw on. Except for my school notebooks, and I really wasn’t allowed to just draw or paint on them. That was way too expensive.” She was also not always allowed to draw at school. “But I did that, secretly. For example during history or math. When the teacher came, I would tear it off and throw it away. Otherwise I would be punished.”
Jesamine is now in the third year of the Classical Academy in Groningen. She is currently working on the layered technique, as Rembrandt also applied it. “I paint every day, 30 hours a week. It’s a hobby and a lifestyle.”
You could just as easily encounter her on the street or in the woods in Assen with her painting supplies. Jesamine does urban sketching. Usually with a group of like-minded people. “When you draw from a photo you close off your world. When you go outside you see people walking and you smell the smell of the environment. It is very nice to do that together with others who also love painting.”
She also works behind the counter at the Drents Museum and has often been recognized there lately. “People regularly ask if they know me from somewhere.” Jesamine laughs. “That’s very crazy, but also very nice. The people are very positive.”
Although she finds it ‘terrible’ to see herself on TV, she sits in front of the TV every Sunday. “I often have sleepless nights because I’m always afraid that I’ve said something strange,” she says, laughing. “We were not allowed to see anything. It is also a gift for us to look back.”
The recordings have been over for a while, so Jesamine also knows who wins. “But I’m not allowed to say that,” she giggles.
In any case, her family in the Philippines is very proud of her. Even if they don’t understand what is being said in the program, “I will visit them at the end of this year. I have promised them that I will translate everything for them.”
