Terschelling is Beautiful.

The little island of Terschelling is gorgeous. I had heard about the famous "wadden" (mudflats) up here in the north but had never visited them before. Technically, I still haven't - I only saw the northern side of the little island in the weekend I spent there with my husband and his mother. I saw, instead, the north sea. The island itself is covered in these dunes, with colourful grasses, heathers, and pine trees contrasting with the otherwise subtle tones of the sands. Almost more remarkable was the sky. I have noticed that the Dutch landscape is often a skyscape; being such a flat land, one often has a particularly grandiose view of the Netherlands' cloudy, stormy skies. I managed to get a few nice shots when I was there, and hope to go again soon. 

New Painting, New Series!

No.1 - Acrylic on canvas, 80x90cm.

And, in the isolation of the sky,

At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make

Ambiguous undulations as they sink,

Downward to darkness, on extended wings.

                     -excerpt from Sunday Morning, a poem by Wallace Stevens

This painting is the first in a new series I'm making, called Streets, sewers, saints, heroes, beggars, and madmen (after a poem by Charles Bukowski), and I am very excited about it. I have a number of works planned, some already in the drawing stages. I won't yet go into details on the concept behind the paintings until I'm able to show you a few more. For now I will tell you that they will all have some connection to the idea of loneliness and isolation in the midst of the crowd.

* * *

Oh, Bukowski.

Sam Dillemans - Charles Bukowski

Working Out

Van Gogh cut off his ear
gave it to a
prostitute
who flung it away in
extreme
disgust.
Van, whores don't want
ears
they want
money.
I guess that's why you were
such a great
painter: you
didn't understand
much
else.

Sand and Wind

First you dig the dirt out, deep deep deep. Get rid of that dirt somehow.  

Then you order sand.

Get that sand into that hole! (Later you can put the bricks down. Be patient.)

Today we experienced one of the heaviest wind storms in Groningen since 1990. It also happened to be the day that we had 3 cubes of sand delivered. Not to worry! I was able to get a good amount of it from the end of our long winding path to our driveway-in-progress. Using a wheelbarrow. And elbow grease. And gumption.
At some point, when the wheelbarrow was lifted and tumbled down the aforementioned pathway, I did call it a day. I managed to empty two half-cubes. Let's try again tomorrow, shall we?

Wreath!

Some things are intrinsically motivating, while others have the pressures of earning, of buying and selling, hung on them like a heavy yoke. Would that I could work with the same vigor that I procrastinate. If I could spend all of my time making silly household crafts and puttering around my garden, without worrying about bills or making a contribution to the world, I think I would be quite satisfied. Retirement in my 20's. Would be great. In the meantime, I will have to satisfy myself with occasional crafting and the associated guilt.

Lo and behold, the product of that crafting:

Currently Reading: Momo en de tijdspaarders

Book # 1 of my attempt to read more Dutch language books and get my head out of the sand. Momo is a little wild-haired girl living in the ruin of an ancient amphitheatre, next to a village of poor folks who collectively care for her. She ran from an orphanage (yeah, it's an orphan story) where she had been beaten and locked up, and is now living happily on her own. Everybody loves to visit her, because she's a good listener.

That is the premise, up to this point (page 16). I think it will be a good one! My friend and colleague Marit recommended it (along with two books by Herman Hesse, with a little post-it declaring that the stack hailed "from Marit's Library"). I will keep you all updated! Hopefully this is a good way to begin improving my less-than-stellar language use.