t i n y W O O L F the blog

drawing | another roadside attraction

2012-01-28T15:16:00.001+01:00

greenwich park tea pavillion

one january sunday morning, a few years ago, i walked alongside greenwich park and ended up at the top of blackheath hill. the air felt crisp and heavy with snow. i crossed a few virginally white fields, found a cardinal blue felt hat ~ who ever loses such a thing of beauty in the snow? ~ and crossed the wide lanes to get a better view on the park and its observatory.

·
i didn't stay long. there was just nothing happening, on top of that hill, but for one roadside attraction, that was unsurprisingly closed for the morning, 'due to extreme weather conditions'. i hastily made my way back through the park, stopping at the halfway café, for a brew of hot earl grey.

demie's mysterious proposal on this week's drawing theme made for interesting grey-cell-matter-overtime. ..☻

corner view ≈ january

2012-01-25T05:00:00.022+01:00

·
dead of winter to be born in, and it was, when i was born, many moons ago. father apparantly, dropping mother's suitcase on the stairs of the maternity hospital.

·
i came out of the ordeal and was sped home, horns blowing. through ice, and wind and snow. is this why i love whiteness in winter so much?

·
with the month of january rapidly drawing to a close, it leaves us with the prospect of february, the shortest month of the year. by far, the longest.

·
fair deuce though... enjoy this dreary january wednesday, for as long as it may last... and happy 25th to you all! ♥

·
theme january, chosen by kelleyn, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

ps - honestly

while figuring this month out,
i found
in old saxon slang
january is called
wulf-monath,

i assure you

I DID NOT KNOW

☻

tinyWOOLF lucky draw

2012-01-23T06:29:00.001+01:00

look who's uncurling

on top of the heap

of curly whirlys?

my battery ran flat, so i needed to wait just a little longer,

before i could unveil the lucky winner

to the winter draw.

that's right!

all of you happy contestants...

there will be more

in summer.

congrats, jane!

could you possibly send me your address
{again}

☻
·

home is .... {where result imposes}

2012-01-22T17:24:00.003+01:00

anybody active in renovations, at any one stage, knows how much time one spends in thinking up solutions, chosing materials, dividing the works, assessing the progress, liking the result.

{or plain freaking out.}

this is not a post about all that, albeit the image wants to boast a little about houses, in progress. ☻

tomorrow is the draw of the tinyWOOLF giveaway. tinyWOOLF, the shoppe, is counting down too. first things first though.

come check here tomorrow.

this post will have worked itself into a result.

[and wishing all participants good, good luck. ♥]
·

drawing | bundle

2012-01-21T17:33:00.013+01:00

these bundles of falling light caught me by surprise, last july, in the V&A, london, uk. the installation hung over a sidewing staircase and made me swoon.

if one were able to catch the light at all (oh! blessed wish), then standing, just waiting for the light to fall over one's head, could have been a way to do it. letting the light envelope one's patient soul.

drawing a bundle of joy, of light... unexpectedly worked out. i thought i would have had to sleep on it, but no. i did see some light shine. ☻

rachel holds many bundles, just this weekend. scoot!

also this weekend ~~last chance~~ giveaway.
DONE

ceiling (111-8) {vintage wallpaper musings}

2012-01-20T05:00:00.006+01:00

for those who wonder if i'm carrying my camera everywhere. rest assured. i don't. what i do do is get it when the image grabs me. i have to, don't i? what if i let the moment slip and forsake to document the obvious?

for those who wonder if i take my camera up on the ladder? i do. i hope i don't scare you. i often scare myself, i'm prone to vertigo. so how do i do it? i don't honestly know. heraldism? challenge? stupidity? i should learn from my mistakes.

but when i'm standing high, i can touch the sky, or at least the ceiling. nice view up there!

woolf, 19/01/11

corner view ≈ black & white

2012-01-18T05:00:00.035+01:00

·
a while ago, before we moved to our new, old house, we lived closer to the river, which cuts right through our small town. i find living in different areas appealing, since changing angles lead to quite different and unexpected hikes.

·
one of my favourite walks used to be alongside the river embankment, up a steep slope, cutting through small woods and ending up over the railway, in a pretty desolated open field.

·
on one of such walks, i took images in a soft toned, near black & white, which left ample room to the imagination, in the afterthought of mentioned itineray. come to {re}think of it, i might just hit that road again, this morning!
·
black and white theme on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

today's toast

2012-01-16T06:59:00.002+01:00

the best ideas cook up at dawn. do they?

i'm dreaming of a few cheese nibbles and garlic yoghurt. furthermore fresh trout mousse (smoked trout + sour cream + black pepper + lemon juice) on sourdough toast.

add a small handful of yellow cherry tomatoes for colour.

too right: tomatoes in winter.... not so ecologically sound. refreshing though!

drawing | tea time

2012-01-14T05:00:00.012+01:00

just losening up

a bit.

·
woolf is tiny

and experimenting.

·
in between

tea and cake{s}...

·
no red riding hood

for me ...

... but mixing,

... flour,

and butter,

and sugar

and cream.

all through

eisenbach
castle
ariane!

♪♪ h i c c u p ♫♪

also
giveaway

of mice and (wo)men

2012-01-12T05:41:00.057+01:00

i feel generally unconcerned by skittish mice, or even just the one. i have a thought on one in my parents house, pattering over the central heating piping one summer's day, long before stuart little saw any light shining. blinking at me, it soon disappeared off to greener pastures. no, i am a one perturbed by spiders. writing down the word feels like tempting fate. mice, and other rodents, don't faze me. unless.

i sit watching a movie, relaxed, drowsing perhaps, until i hear a gnawing sound. alarmingly on edge, i am informing the reader that above my head is PLAIN ceiling and a FULLY timbered down mezzanine. but for space, i presume, between ceiling and wooden planking. i start about, the edina way. is the scratching rodent working its skiving way through the hidden ceiling beams? are our mezzanine days numbered?

the next day, in full daylight, our charles dickens atmosphere subsiding, i am left with the riddle of how the rodent got up there? more pressingly perhaps, how are we going to unburden stuart the second of its predicament?

corner view ≈ ring out the old

2012-01-11T06:21:00.002+01:00

i thought i heard the song last december, as it probably gets air play at least once a year. i never realised either, this prooved to be a song with sparse lyrics. ☻ which isn't true at all for alfred, lord tennyson's original words, starting a tradition from the 1850's. year after year and on the occasion of the turn of a new year, by different people around the world, the poem gets recited. {george harrison only turned it a little trivial, and popular.}

enough said. the winter turn and the new year. it has started and it feels wonderful already! does it for you too? the very new in this here, our new, old house, is the addition of a tiny shop, in case you didn't know that already. to justify my marketing babble, there lies a comfort in ackowledging the fact : there's a · giveaway · running.

ring out the old, ring in the new! ♥

renee chose this week's challenging theme, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

wolves giveaway | vintage finds

2012-01-08T08:03:00.003+01:00

www.thefunnyblog.org

i swear i was not shopping for wolves the other day, but what-y'-ma-call-that recurrent event, when at any given time, but mainly when something is on your mind anyway, you get it confirmed in the oddest corners?

tiny porcelain bowl

english pewter
made in sheffield, UK
wolfette, to do what?

browsing through the toy stuff sales, i bumped into mister, (on the left). later, while thrifting, the pewter head (on the right) caught my eye. oh, and enlighten me, dear reader, on its function, if you can? does it sit on top of a bottle, simply for cheering? i can see no function to that! i am truely wondering.

it is only fair after such an eventful run, i should START already on carving that tinyWOOLF stamp!

mainly also, because it is willing out to call you on a giveway. here's your chance to be the sneakest of the peekest! why not treat yourself to a tiny box, filled with tinyWOOLF goodies?

careful not to give it all away ☻, what will be in your tinyWOOLF magic box? there is one tiny booklet, made from vintage papers, which have lived a first life in children's hands. i use scissors on old illustrated books that would otherwise end up on the fire stack. i sew new book leafs together and add a few words of wisdom or random, any which way the wind blows. i carefully slip it inside a matching tiny envelope.

there will be circles of delight, i can't tell you more, because that would be... telling.

one way or another a tiny wolfette travels with any package. this giveaway tinyWOOLF box being a surprise to the receiver in the first place, it wants to be an indication of what is to come in the shop. tiny magic will be part of the deal. {more on a tinyWOOLF box contents throughout this month.} ☻

the tinyWOOLF box itself, ofcourse, embellished with vintage papers where possible, is recyclable to a tee. i leave it pretty sober, it is sent to you flat packed. flat pack transport ensures no flattened box at your doorstep, so no nightmare there.

easy assembly according to an explanatory note inside the parcel, you can then place all individually wrapped items inside the tinyWOOLF box to your own convenience.

so. go ahead already and send us a note, is all you've got to do. the winner of course will perform as some kind of guinea pig to this tinyWOOLF venture: i will gladly receive a typed report back. {ahem.} giveaway closes in a fortnight, on january 22nd, GMT.

i take a bow and thank you for playing.

o'georgia, o'rachel!

2012-01-06T08:36:00.009+01:00

at the end of a dreary but comfortingly wet day at the office, i stumble home upon the world. it lies on the concrete floor and looks a little chilled. i press the parcel to my chest, before i carefully pry it open. out pop guardedly wrapped layers of bits and bobs to start me off, dreaming. here i find : rachel and kids,

all images by rachel fannin

the postcards giveaway, by rachel, showing her dab hand at and good eye for what goes on here and there (many thanks, once again!),

a reminder of what it is that matters... and last but not least a (cookery) book on, or more precisely by georgia o'keeffe. what can i say? it kicks open an unexpected door on food filosophy, at a time in my life i am questioning my relationship with food, receiving an acclaimed artists' reflection in the bargain.

overwhelmed. ♥

from rags to riches, they say

2012-01-02T09:31:00.005+01:00

alcohol free lychini

january being the month par excellence for new year's resolutions, i shall make none. i will dream and offer you tinyWOOLF, but apart from that, life will be life. as usual. which suits me fine.

lest i confuse the reader thoroughly, tinyWOOLF is my love child and woolfenbell will slowly and happily receed. you can already witness tiny changes here and there, the header being the latest pickle. i shall have to live with just a wolfette in that banner from now on {but she might travel to far and exciting places, knowing her a little} so she will probably and frequently change costume and style anyway. yes?

punched circles and, well, 'reservoir' ☻

i hope you have passed exciting holidays, possibly still having some? i shall now retreat to my comfy seat for the day, nonetheless accompanied by punch and reservoir, to come up with bloomin' ideas to materialize in a giveaway, next weekend. this with MY FAIR LADY in the backgrounds, chanting the well known lyrics in the foregrounds, working hard at materializing this post's title....

on the sound side, just as well i'm the only one home today.

end of year reminiscence, pt III {road works}

2011-12-29T14:28:00.012+01:00

♥ ♥ ♥

as i twist and tweak sometimes, i simply can't help myself. the tinyshop business has lead me up many roads already, and the one i'm trundling on right now, it's been a bumpy morning ride, but i think i've just headed uphill. i've only decided to merge woolfenbell and tinyWOOLF into one and only spot {since it will not do tending two blogs, even if one is to play shop only}.

♥ ♥ ♥

welcome to my new surroundings. how about this for an end of year reminiscence? i'm still adapting, and coming up for short breaths, so i expect no less of youse all. {and forgive me for older posts being thoroughly shaken by this new lay out. it can only get better.} ha-howl!

♥

andenne {ceramics} offensive

2011-12-28T08:14:00.005+01:00

le fête flamande - the flemish feast

the days between december 25th and december 31st always come pretty serene, a moratorium-of-sorts to seasonal madness. {because one does get soaked in occasionally}. so, enamoured by a contented car engine hum, we drove our way to the belgian pre-ardennes, unaware of the historic importance of our intentions.

biscuit porcelain

our debriefing by the museum conservator offered us an hilarious introduction video
(informative but dated, both on the reader's and the technological side).

art deco ceramic tiling detail

we climbed two flights of impressive vintage stairs to break into a treasure's throve of art deco finery.

detail on vase

[making some pictures on the sly, i am a

little weary showing these.]

while precautiously concealing most images for courtesy reasons, i simply cannot deprive you of the sight of a small terracotta sculpture by adolphe wansart {1873-1954}. the unnerving simplicity of his couple d'amoureux mystified me. if i was to express love, i'd be tacitly tempted to offer you this.

{the art deco exhibition is on until january, 8th. it is so worth a detour into the valley of andenne, which will be officiated in 2014 * to do with the great war}

♥ ALL PICTURES ENLARGE GLADLY BY CLICKING ♥

end of year reminiscence, pt II

2011-12-25T23:52:00.001+01:00

with the window open a little to mild december air, a few more takes on the wallpaper side of the house. as i'm scanning snippets i steamed off last week, ideas {to work those paper shreds into a little project or two} fizz up like bubbles in a glass of champagne.

how do you like this,

and this

or an alternative map of the world, for wallpaper relics?

ending on a soft, warm and rolling note. i should really get both these ones finished first, but someow i always come up with the same excuse: i need a proper workroom first, before i can finish any started projects. yeah right, {as tinyWOOLF sighs inaudibly}. ☻

end of year reminiscence, pt I

2011-12-24T08:16:00.001+01:00

[son's room then]
i did push most of the stuff
in adjacent attic room
so i had space
that, and a mattress.

an itch. it's been a year exactly since i moved in, in our new, old house. son residing at dad's, two doors down, i slept in one of the two attic rooms that seemed livable and sleepable. the chaos in all other rooms felt quite confusing. but i hid, and i hid well, watching the tudors season 4 on my notebook, whilest munching away on toasted ciabatta with melting salty butter, three year old cheddar cheese and the odd glass of burgundy red wine. those were, erm, one way or another, the days. ...

[my room now]

still. so glad to be one year later ... ☻ see, i've been at it again, stripping of paper off walls. downstairs now, we're slowly and definitely rounding up. plenty of wallpaper musings ran through my head, which explains a reminiscence of sorts. more to come this week, no doubt. first things first though: front room decorations (about time) and preparing a reception of 12. no worries. just the starters... hoping fervently you are having a jolly good time. ♥

corner view ≈ seasonal

2011-12-21T05:00:00.061+01:00

first the weeks, then the days running up to seasonal festivities; those are the moments i cherish most of christmas and the new year.

the humming buzz, the rush {i am careful not take part in}, the occasional snow drop, carol music in the street, ice skating somewhere uptown or imaginary, the smell of booze.

you get the general idea, don't you? {and i know! totally ran out of another 'y' in holidays. oh well.} ♥ this week's theme seasonal on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

drawing | hat {trick}

2011-12-18T08:20:00.002+01:00

a walk amongst books, thrifting up and down aisles, who wouldn't? once a year we do, and we do it good and proper. waiting at the till a little less daunting than usual, as the cashier recognizes our local accent and joins in our jolly chin-wag. i'd taken off my hat as we were leaving, but i didn't have one on.

my next door neighbour is a hats freak, besides a few more malfortunes. when he's walking to the station in the mornings, he does this under a cowboy hat, stomping next to a wife who methodically wanders dressed-down. his hat doesn't impress me, since that man, he has no horse! and when the couple goes out driving in their car, it's the wife that does the wheeling. a cowboy with no licence makes me chuckle. this we can not say of mister johnny cash.

too true. i only just now saw walk the line, and the film baffled me. all the while as i was hearing these well known melodies, i kept on shrugging, didn't know that belonged to johnny! as a matter of fact i did not know anything about the man, for the simple reason he was alive and kicking his fierce life when i was just a toddler and i heard his songs on the global radio. mister johnny cash wore no real hat, but i saw it dangling nonetheless, all through the crazy beautiful movie. hell, he got me drawing one! [include this movie on your holidays-to-{re}watch-list!]. greta collects hats for the weekend. hee-haw! off to find me another one.

corner view ≈ lonely together

2011-12-14T05:00:00.003+01:00

walking home, wondering what exactly i would throw in the skillet to brave an evening to a day filled with rain, wind and cold, i was also musing upon lonely ≈ together, whilest getting hungrier by the pace.

consider the humble pea, and how peas roll about like it's nobody's business. a pea sometimes feels very lonely. if so, it needs company of a handful of other peas.

that shouldn't be too hard. but now. what happens if a carrot pops in for company?

kristin chose lonely together, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

drawing | rush

2011-12-11T07:03:00.000+01:00

image shown for size

glaring at a silver swan

perhaps no bigger than my thumb,

renders one humbly silent,

and still.

image from a grimm brothers
fairy tales collection

ariane built up her rush week beautifully. it is a theme which traveled with me up and down criss-cross, which kept me focused, all while a rush came over me last nite, as i had somewhat forsaken my plight. nothing like a trustworthy poirot to remind me of life's values : solve a murder or two, and get on with drawing and stippling, unperturbed.

did your week fly by? the swan i found in the thrift shop was so tiny and charming, i put her in my shopping basket, to consecutively forget about her existence at the till. the cashier fished it out of the basket's depth and queried, '.... this swan yours?' ☻

down the unknown path

2011-12-09T14:31:00.002+01:00

♦ alert ♦
high alice content to this post

this morning i dared to walk the distance instead of jumping on a local train. the sun out, my heart hot with anticipation.

already the office mornings this week held promise to a fair friday. it was not just the brussels town hall tower that glamourously lit up in the morning east blaze,

the mont des arts did, just yesterday and

just so glimmered the brazil europalia building (although i do tend to opt for the china temple of some years back).

today though, i found my way to a local wood supplier, and in between that job and the much-longed-for thrifting i thought i might just stray a little.

walking, i polaroided my way through an unknown path,

which felt like a sweet pit, or hole, if you like; meeting a succulent partridge, who fearlessly warned : no photo, no plate promise (my father was the chance killer in the house, so to speak).

i wonder if a squirrel, perhaps, could be served, at any time....? unforgiving, i agree. ☻ but no further jokes.

this is, quite simply, how one woman makes her way, from one place to another. any given day, the alice way.

♦ have yourselves a rocking weekend ♦

i will most definitely be back

with some thrift shop goodness by sunday

♥ try and stop me ♥

lewisnluke encore

2011-12-09T07:21:00.004+01:00

i love it. i've had some of you fooled, haven't i? i hadn't even expected this. i thought you'd gotten used to my sense of humour by now. but i'll say it once and then no more : i work at the (serious) union, and if ever these guys come dancing in our (serious) office, i won't be sitting still behind no (serious) posh desk! and i agree, the film quality of these scenes is awesome. ☻ having said that, we do have a similar parking lot underneath our offices, we do.

if you like, you can watch all advent (!) countdown songs by simply double clicking those guys.

lewisnluke

2011-12-08T05:23:00.000+01:00

today. in the office.

corner view ≈ today you are...

2011-12-07T05:00:00.008+01:00

susanna is the winner of the longest corner view topic title ever, isn't she? i looked up dr. seuss, and learned a thing or two,

"... today you are you

that is truer than true

there is no one alive

who is youer than you..."

from : happy birthday to you - dr. seuss

{images from 2007}

haven taken this topic rather personally, i shall now track down that book! theme chosen by susanna, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

drawing | vacation

2011-12-03T07:09:00.006+01:00

from the V&A to piccadilly circus
to emergency buy myself a new pair of sandals
and foot lotion. overheated feet!

vacation. it is such a dreamy word. it laughs in the face of the rain pouring down outside our window. fair deuce. i love pouring rain.

vacation is the only time i ever start a scrapbook, months before the vacation, as a source of inspiration. i hardly ever take it with me, on the trip. and it seldom gets finished afterwards. that's my style, 'afraid. on behalf of scrapbooks, that is.

my walk from dulwich park
to horniman's grounds in lewisham

in the soon-to-happen year of 2012, yours truely has decided against extensive traveling. i will not city trip. i sometimes do not practice what i preach, but this coming year, i want to invest holiday money in a pro cooker or fridge. it's either one thing or the other.

coming back
gazing at the white cliffs of dover

leafing through my latest {last summer} scrapbook, i have also decided to scrapbook travel instead and finish a collage book already.

london skies are poisoned of 'em
♦ planes ♦
[south london area]

above are a few tracks to my last teeny weeny couple o' days spent in london. as you can see, many pages unfinished. as you may well gather, plenty of completion ahead. {all tracks open to a click}

the one thing i always settle straight off
is the {hard back} outside cover.

i will now head towards greta's adventurous ship and go see what she means by vacation. perhaps she gives away what mummy wouldn't say??!! la la lala la...☻

today's toast

2011-12-02T08:05:00.001+01:00

today is happy friday. today there is time to enjoy breakfast, cheerfully clean a few messes up, tear the wall paper steam machine from its cave, walk errands instead of running them, go thrifting, get back to tinyWOOLF a little, day dream, anticipate christmas preparations, dress up a plain pancake into a worldly wrap.

take out pancakewrap
with greens and salmon
[to be eaten in the park, i think]

☻

it is officially december,

and we are loving it.

are you getting in

a spirit of a kind?

☻

corner view ≈ joy {renov # 24}

2011-11-30T12:44:00.001+01:00

when one has been waiting

on a leveled downstairs floor for almost one calendar year ...

... the
feeling of j*o°y
when the floor levels,

quite frankly,

is an understatement.

that's right! all that remains of the blue and red highway are the bits stuck up... ☻this week's theme chosen by karyn on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

making the possible impossible {renov # 23}

2011-11-27T15:55:00.006+01:00

{previously}

warning : this is one long post

oh, you guys rock! i'm taking all of your sweet comments in account and now simply must tell you a story. taking a deep breath : did i really say, december, 1 st, on that other business? i did, didn't i?

i have hardly had any time to visit anyone's blog the way i want to, in a rummaging kind of way. i'm admitting, this is not a good thing. not visiting youse makes my inspiration dwindle to ever smaller circles and that is simply not good. after today's débâcle on the renovation front, a rather harrowing experience, of which i will NOT put youse in the picture, my nerve cracked a little, and i needed to do something.

tinyWOOLF howled, and that's it. she's decided to keep herself on hold. she simply won't perform on december, 1st.

i think it all started with the above. i took the serious comedy happily for granted, both laura linney and philip seymour hoffman in one movie. that is quite simply wow!

♦ ♦ ♦

back to life, back to reality. let's just say a sewer is involved. and let's note that nobody does warn anybody when 'stuff' is going to hit the fan. i mean, my son witnessed the happening, my builder got a call, and now the emergency is subsided till monday. good. solution is at hand.

but things like this (forgive me for not going into further details) do make a girl wonder, when she's trying to relax. what i was scheming and dreaming about is now half way there, that is the good news. desperate times though, call for desperate measures.

♦ ♦ ♦

notice the red and blue highway
tomorrow, gone forever

the kitchen is fully plastered, the downstairs central heating radiators are up, we are clearing out the three rooms, as we speak, because builder man, besides groping in that sewer, will concrete over on monday. which is the best thing! the other thing is yours truely has a load of near future renov jobs ahead.

thus the news is devestating for tinyWOOLF : i won't even be able to enter the house on tuesday night. in last minute tweaking a tiny business; those finis minutes, days and nights are crucial. {shyly, tinyWOOLF is advocating for january, 1st, 2012. and if at all necessary, even later than that! ☻}

♦

on the other hand though, i am SO relieved to look forward to a happy, peaceful month of december instead. a month of renovation activity, of sitting down to a chat at night, of scouring the internet after youse blogosphere creativity, of quietly getting tinyWOOLF back on mindful track and, last but not least, regular blogging. that's what i mean : i need me more time to be with youse all, is all. ♥

all of the above wolfy illustrations
from DIERENSPROOKJES
by alena benešová
illustrations by karel franta

♦ ♦ ♦

so now. it's back to the savages. i think the trailer just clarified i need to watch it again. true, last time i did distract my mind as i was cutting circles, crocheting a few hearts and gobbling down my supper while watching. i might just go about it in a relax way this time. i hope dear reader, you will be forgiving tinyWOOLF. she will most certainly keep you posted, and she loves you very much.

drawing | curve

2011-11-26T07:07:00.002+01:00

un vrai doodle, this week! i had another plan, but it ended up vertically. i came back to my simonetta, the handbook i am dressing up now and then. funnily enough there's a thought evoking title to the original page : het leven is mooi, or, life is beautiful. which it is. ♥ {and also many other things.}

soon tinyWOOLF will be howling. running up to the opening date (woolf still focuses on december, 1st, does she ever!), i seem to be cutting corners on every corner in my daily life, the bending way. i am looking forward to all of your curving though. ariane, patrice, demie, renilde, rachel, ...

please, may the next challenger speak up. who's got a theme? please tell us, or tell ariane, she's courageously, sweetly so, keeping track. enjoy the weekend, i know i will. and keep those eyes peeled. december, 1st. whoopee!

drawing challenge NEW THEME : curve

2011-11-24T06:57:00.003+01:00

the best thing about being late with last week's drawing theme is i can now kill two birds with one stone. ahem. here's bird lucky who came back home after the weekend. its realisation cheered me right up though, all through a few days of commuting. the student next to me this morning looked puzzled, but i smiled right back at him.

found here

now, about next week's theme? ariane was wondering, and so was i. and i got thinking about the vitruvian man. and about his delicious curves, aka as love handles? ☻ even if the name doesn't ring a bell, you'll know above image by the looks of it, realizing leonardo da vinci is the genius behind it. what i find most fascinating about the vetruvian man is the circle-in-the-square feature. to be more precise, the curve of a circle, in a square. a juxtaposition, if ever one.

so there. this week's theme : curve. if you like to play, please leave us a comment below. thank you, and let's bend it. unlike beckham. ♥

curvers : ariane, patrice, demie, renilde, rachel, ...

corner view ≈ a different corner, in amsterdam

2011-11-23T05:00:00.008+01:00

'i ♥ corners'.
strange?
probably.

new york, fuller building, 1903

after the new york flat iron building,

london hampstead corner building

london hampstead's {most likely unintentional} 'replica', i found me a new favourite corner, last weekend in amsterdam. i am almost inclined to start a serial corner collection.

amsterdam corner building

but naaaaah... i don't think so. in the end,

amsterdam corner shop

the surprise of finding a truely amazing corner {house} is just so much better than trying for one.... linking to jane's corner view, hosted by francesca. more amsterdam here.

drawing | (this) lucky bird (has flown)

2011-11-19T07:53:00.000+01:00

running out of time

in continuation of last week's corner view theme, i have completely run out of time on all possible fronts.

paper strip soup

my lucky bird is stuck midway and is not going to fly anytime soon, i am so sorry. it's not like me to run out of time, but all the organizing in the world couldn't deliver.

washing the vintage type

instead of grieving, i'll be in amsterdam. it's the best consolation prize, really. and to keep you posted in that other unceasing department : the kitchen is now (bare but) plastered w·h·i·t·e. glory!

corner view ≈ where has the time gone?

2011-11-16T05:00:00.013+01:00

brussels - kruidtuin/botanique

an open query. when one starts leafing through photo albums {really old ones, because do you find you just don't glue photographic mementoes into albums anymore? i mean glueing for projects, try and stop me! but family memories? they all seem to reside.... online. what if the online bank breaks? in half? in two? in a million pieces?}

brussels - kunstberg/mont des arts

time flies, leaks, seeps through seams. blurs, fades, dims. which i don't necessarily find a cruel thing either. imagine, if time didn't do all of the above? we mightn't age, but, really. would you like to stay forever young, weary, uncertain, small? bar the advert part of below video, here's a cute take on 'good times'... enjoy ♥

where has the time gone? by theresa on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

vintage finds | the rose and the ring

2011-11-13T08:37:00.008+01:00

it is not every day

you find a vintage
william makepeace thackeray

in the thriftshop.

[at least, not i.]

♦ ♦

my little discovery had me hooked on the outer appearance first. quite soon though i found my head buried in the inside fairytale story : arriving one minute late for a train in an alienated little railway station, where trains run one an hour, could have been an harrowing experience, if not for the darling company of prince giglio and bulbo.

of course a hazy autumn sun did help. now, we may be familar with the gist of the famous author of a.o. vanity fair, through literature or the big screen. this little gem THE ROSE AND THE RING delivers just as much clever farce for [appreciatively quoting the editor here] "... big and small children". the valuable dutch translation catching me unawares, same goes for the beaming illustrations by the hand of wj rozendaal. i always very much like sardonic black and white cartooning to a surprisingly fresh fairytale.

♦ ♦

and thus, an historic tragedy,

right up my street,

and i take it, you won't hear from me

till somewhere next week.

[at least, i don't think]
♦ ♦

better turn back to my cuttings now.

drawing | outer space

2011-11-11T22:39:00.001+01:00

this is how it (sometimes) goes when one creates. one makes associations. well, you needn't create to make associations, i'm just saying. then you hear a song surface, erm, from your subconscience. it happens to be 'i will survive', because survive i will. i mean, we will. we all want to, until we don't, but that's a different story. now. as i'm humming the words, i realize gloria g. is actually singing 'bout outer space, which coincidentially, reflects this week's gnarling drawing theme. okay.

♦ ♦ ♦

now to draw something outer spacey, while i'm elbow deep in paper cuttings and the lot.... nothing outer spacey about that, or else everything. nonetheless. i let you be the judge of this sweet little outer spacey gloria g. persiflage, whilest i further draw upon a few gods to help me out.

{above video kindly brought to my attention by maggie. ♥}

being a rather classical kinda gal {where gods are concerned} i'm gonna need me some help too. from outer space. heavens above! but... huh-ho...

how do you feel outer space, via rachel?

corner view ≈ home sweet home

2011-11-09T05:00:00.006+01:00

let's try this. home sweat home, for manyfold reasons. the sweet will come in one day, and that day will be unique and fine. for now, i'm passing the bucket, for renovational reasons. won't get into that.

let's try another. home sneak home. for woolf's lower ego tinyWOOLF is sweating away in da home, to get an acceptable kit together, aka act. the little grey cells are working overtime, in a non-poirot fashion. no mystery resolve perhaps, but plain hard grafting all the more, nightmares too (one crochet flower swam in a murky substance of unknown origin, just now, before awakening). whilest doing all of the above, seizing slivers of a-ha-erlebniss from the crackling air.

oh, i have a dream {wait a minute, that was last week's theme!}. seemingly, themes do tend to wanna hang out with one another. thus, in vivid anticipation and trampling impatience, sprinkled with occasional procrastination on the creator's part, tinyWOOLF's offering a tiny home sneak home. {december 1st. a date to save, folks.}

this week's 'home sweet home' theme coming from bonnie, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

vintage finds | in a mister deery kinda mood

2011-11-06T07:04:00.000+01:00

without needing to scroll through a little vintage-finds-archive, i enter him in the flea-market-find-of-the-year draw, for obvious reasons : he's been cute and quiet. let's hear it for the boy, he's the greatest shadow model! but, shhhhh, he's started his winter wonder beauty sleep, in his wrap up card board box. and when he will be done sleeping, he is going to be the greatest pop up artist, ever. thank you for witnessing. ☻ find full {retro} post here.

corner view ≈ dream

2011-11-02T06:12:00.006+01:00

the scheldt / l'escaut in tournai

the river scheldt / l'escaut runs diagonally, from south to north, through our country. the river springs in france and enters belgium, near the walloon city of tournai.

a river and its banks often proofs to be a place to dream away by.

rue de la wallonie - piano bar

i. and me live our own little dream, along the river bank,

restaurant giverny - quai du marché au poisson

as we encounter giverny from the bridge over l'escaut,

restaurant giverny - interior

and decide, on the spot, we will come back here, in almost giverny.

antwerp - groenplaats

well, since this summer is just not ending, we've made the best of the past few days and dreamed away some more, inside --

oude graanmarkt hen

and out, -- under an adamant blue sky.

jordaenskaai

and since the river scheldt ends up being the recurrent stream in our adventures, bell and i hop off at antwerp.

optician's shop window - lange koepoortstraat

living another little dream, that of carefree wandering, not feeling like we are having a care in the world, actually... there really is more antwerp for you, so you can build on your own little dream.. ♥
this week's theme by tzivia ♥, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

better-late-then-never-hallowe'en post

2011-10-31T05:43:00.007+01:00

when the girl is out in the wild

near-cornfields....
dracula's hopefully forgetting 'bout his duty.

{all to be found on a sunday's walk in our neighbourhood streets. easily. the teeth might be washed away by now, or else gobbled up by some animal.}

drawing | alice

2011-10-29T05:00:00.024+02:00

♥ ♥

♥

♥ ♥

♫♪ oh, alice, dear where have you been?

so near, so far or in between?

what have you heard what have you seen?

alice, alice, please, alice!

♫♫♪♫

oh, tell us are you big or small

to try this one or try them all

it’s such a long, long way to fall

alice, alice, oh, alice ♪♫♪

♥ ♥

♥

♥ ♥

alice and tinyWOOLF boxes on my mind during the day, falling leafs and poetry racing outside, and a dream which urges me to remember. upon awakening, i run blindly for a scrap of paper.

the dream - i was in a shop and discovered a tiny box (well, evva!) in the softest of colours, and in the shape of a house. i picked it up from the shelf and started to investigate. it fitted snugly in the palm of my hand, and straightaway i noted a few curious devices. upon pushing the front door open, a girl's body with a fancy looooooooong neck would drop down, creating a ♪♫♫ melody. upon turning the house upside down, a tiny gateway from the backside creaked open and a bed-cum-quilted-duvet appeared, in which the little girl slept. all of this was so delicate to look at, so magical to feel, i almost burst. upon almost bursting, i woke up. {and drew above sketch}

i got so curious about this enchantment, i simply could not withhold from expressing my vision a little better, a little more colourful.

and so it was, on a sunny afternoon last week, i chased a few cobwebs from my mind. because life has a knack of happening all at once.

as i sat on the milkhouse steps, near the duck pont, i listened to distant sounds invading my head. there is no real quiet about, nowhere nigh. one needs to find the hole inside. ♥

and wait for inspiration to come flooding in. until that very moment happens, when you find yourself mirrored in a shard of chance glass.

or if you don't find yourself mirrored, then at least a whole forest. then you know again, all is well.

'bout time for tea and biscuits now! aren't you getting curiouser...? i'm on my way, on a trail,

to play and have plenty of cake and cookies, with a gathering of alices... ☻

c·l·i·c·k m·e
♥ {twice} ♥

♥

♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥

thank you

so much for

showing up!

♥

{patrice}

ariane
renilde
demie
jasmin
kiki aka victoria
{kristen}
greta
rachel
misha lulu

you?

♥ ♥ ♥
♥ ♥

♥

drawing challenge NEW THEME : alice

2011-10-28T06:17:00.005+02:00

when weary, i tend to put on this. it always does the trick, more so when the booming percussion sets in. it kinda takes me onto a different plane, especially whilest racing through fall landscapes on the train. perhaps i grow taller as i listen?

♥ ♥

♥

♥ ♥

but the other night, i had this dream. it was an illustrious dream, from which i awoke abruptly. you so want to know where i was!

do you too have a take on alice? if so, then i invite you to draw us a bit of magic, any kind of magic, as an antidote for the dreary winterdays ahead. please leave your comment below. next weekend we'll hold our legendary mad hatter's tea party, so that we may ask riddles that have no answers and recite poetry that doesn’t make sense! i'll be serving all that you want. careful now, tea is hot! ☻

alices-in-wonderland
for the weekend
♥

patrice {will try}

ariane
renilde
demie
jasmin
kiki aka victoria
kristen
greta
rachel

you?

♥ ♥

♥

tomorrow, tomorrow.

alice is getting ready!

♥

♥ ♥

corner view ≈ exotic

2011-10-26T05:00:00.015+02:00

{link to alice here}

♫♫♪ could it be- yes, it could.

something's coming- something good,

if i can wait ♪♪♫

this {poland} image
as close to a ghetto image
i could come, on this occasion.
bear with me

the exotic part being, a.o. the mind working overtime. else i've just been overwhelmed by last week's cv theme (fancy tickling) and now i can't force myself back into my usual self. when you happen upon a west side story version somewhere in indiana (us of a), quite unexpectedly, (yes, kim, you are reading correctly, it happened in 1990, and it was in a school play), brilliantly put together by last year students, you can't feel but a little exotic, especially when the sports gym has been whizzed into a staged new york ghetto.

as i have no image to show for the above, i've had to tap into a few takes from last weekend, when another exotic clung to the afternoon air: that of summer, once again, heading for a grand finale.

the corn, overdue and unfortunately destined for kettle only, near drew me in {well, we are coming closer to hallow-e'en, and horror has been known of in corn fields}☻. sniffing the nigh to pallid air, dappled by sunshiney flakes, sporadically torn open by a proud rooster or two, i have to admit i shall never be as fortunate, nor shall i be patient like francesca, to immortalize moving animals on photographic paper.

may the colours of this memorable afternoon breathe exotic to you too. theme from elsa, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

not november yet {renov # 22}

2011-10-25T05:00:00.016+02:00

{previously}

it is funny. i've had to look up when i last posted anything on this house here being finished. in may. of this year. i mean, who's counting though? but now we're back, slowly progressing. without wanting to rush nor swoon, i dare to think :

morning
look at the right wall

when the kitchen walls are plastered,

spot the difference, would you?

the downstairs central heating will be completed.

when the heaters are on, the floor will be concreted over. when the concrete is dry, wooden flooring will be laid down.

when the floor is done, and dusted, our furniture is coming home. when the furniture is home, cupboards will be filled. to the brim.

somewhere in the middle of all these things, christmas will happen. whether we'll be hanging balls from a tree (totally dusted over by now, our fake plastic plant), i leave in the middle. but the new year does look promising. and we haven't reached november yet.

drawing | bottle

2011-10-22T07:01:00.006+02:00

tempted to cut about it the dillinger way, for that was the first tune on bottles popping up in my head. the song cracks me up, just like it used to, for whooooooooole different reasons than the artist's. thus i dismiss dopehead's optimistic way of spelling n-e-w-y-o-r-k in the seventies. as indy passed on the small screen last night, mainly as wallpaper, i was looking for bottles in the movie, but it was all about crosses, so i needed to spill a scene for this week's theme myself.

the police's message then. renilde should have a few more bottles up her sleeve, if you pardon the expression. ☻

by the way, how about alice, you-know-who to be next time's drawing challenge?

corner view ≈ out on a mobile limb [or... whatevva]

2011-10-19T05:00:00.001+02:00

whether walking

the streets

of brussels,

ghent,

ninove

or geraardsbergen,

adventure is at arm's length,

surprise at the ready,

solution at hand.
ninja at random, on jane's corner view, via francesca.

scribbles on an indian summer

2011-10-15T19:53:00.001+02:00

i left a scribble for son before i set off.
into the sunshine, i dare say.

the indian summer keeps on pouring on us.
m. had it all planned.

we decided on mussels for lunch,
a splash of golden delicious and
the cake to be made.

the one cake: the nigella cake.
it'd been a while, but it came out sound,
and delivered.
oh,
my precious oven that i miss.

m. wanted gingerbread billy bunters.
we made them.

by jove, we made them.

i even cracked her cookie mold!

this morning i did go and pick up the bicycle i left behind.

the walk through quiet landscape felt invigorating.

on my way back i bumped into alice.
just to top up the day.

so.
i would like to know.
how about you's?

drawing | development

2011-10-15T10:05:00.000+02:00

development makes me wonder whether possible progress always and automatically leads to something new. whether development perhaps serves as a deserving tool to (self)reflection upon life and its circumstances in general, and from the dawn state of a project to its finishing point in particular? are we talking constant re-creation, re-development? does our circle of challenges, ladies and friends, reflect well upon the eternal (re)turn of life and death,

like e.g. the snake biting its own tail? ariane gathers the others on development.

corner view ≈ october

2011-10-12T05:00:00.003+02:00

almost one year ago, i moved in at l's. that was after one hectic october, in which i both tried to manage renovation going on (or rather stagnating, and thus pressing builders) and plan an akward house move.

to this day, most of our furniture remains in limbo. we kind of live from boxes (and therefore lead a diluted, sparse if you like, daily life). oi, it can wear the most optimistic soul down.

october last year, and october this year therefore leave me well stranded, trying to make sense of it all. i should really put on this, and give october a well deserved kick up the --- (whilest keeping the spirit up though.)

october on kari's mind, on jane's corner view, hosted by fuoriborgo.

drawing | family

2011-10-09T15:53:00.000+02:00

it's been a while (library school to be exact), when i came across a less obvious definition to family. just as much interrelating as the family troupe we commonly know, but alot, and alot bigger: the family of nouns, the gathering of terms, the sharing of definitions, the organizing of things. let's also think amoebae.
let me assure you, back then, i grew pretty desperate on the subject. trying to grasp it, i cursed under my breath. for there's a system to work yourself through, there's a one and only way to do this properly. i only just passed the test. and forgot all about it by the time we left thesauri behind. still thinking amoebae.
since family as we know it comes a little akwardly to me anyway, i would like to grab the bigger picture. of course, one could also argue i just felt like doodling about in organic thoughts. greta thought up family for this week's theme.

greetings from anvers, jardin zoologique

2011-10-06T05:00:00.004+02:00

[pictures found in thriftshop, lessines/lessen, be]

yes. anvers is antwerp. will always be that. in the tender fifties of the previous century, both flemish and french (sub)titles were applied in flemish places of interest.

but what am i saying? today english is added. multilingual, for sure. i wonder what the beasts of today think?

do they think at all? ☻

corner view ≈ the last thing i learnt

2011-10-05T05:00:00.005+02:00

old shop front
ninove

i love a theme that makes one think. i like it lesser when i can't think up something.

"i'm being collected!"

i guess one of the funniest latest things i learnt is not to grip an iron skillet with my bare hand.

old shop window
bruges

one of the things that made me jump, literally, was when i fixed my new bed, without shoes on. we all know the painful consequence to that. [toe nail finally gone, stump of a nail instead. ah well].

"do not run - DANGER"

will i always wear hand protection, will i unfailingly wear shoes? nope. because even though i learn things, i remain pretty templated. or patterned. rash could be another word for it... [sigh]. ☻

sophie chose this interesting theme, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

colour

2011-10-03T07:47:00.002+02:00

elogedelart.canalblog.com
[discontinued]

two years older than my own mother, and he's (unlike her) sounding like a monument. he's looking it too. he is totally unknown to me, but here's what happens.

http://www.borntobenervous.com

i am drawn to the posture of a man in a checkered shirt, on the telly. his voice screetches a little. he's talking about marit, being a precious gem in his later life. he finds himself in front of the camera. the backgrounds are chaotic but colourful. i don't mind the atmosphere of the interview and start listening. it takes one and a half minute exactly to realize i am witnessing gold.

http://evewithoutadam.net

the man's wit, wisdom and creative abilities fill the screen in spinning succession. he's painting a portrait of marit in a tiny sketchbook. colours on paper. then i look around. on the walls, on the shelves, in the air, colour specks crackle. depth and vibrancy of colour. his late partner soames (bantry) in a few black and white portrait pictures. the memory of her. i'm sure i freeze. at some point i start crying. i rarely experience this. i feel like i have come home.

http://www.lensculture.com

photographer and painter saul leiter is showing selected work in gallery fifty one, in antwerp, until october 29th. a surprisingly illustrate artist at arm's length. i feel lucky.

drawing | breakfast

2011-10-02T07:57:00.004+02:00

i had a peek at patrice's breakfast table yesterday morning, and boy did i feel honoured, to be invited at the table with all of you challengers. indeed, we may not touch the food, if we could only sit together like this, in the flesh. i finished my little contribution late last night, thus only now i feel ready to take my seat. patrice 's table is here. thank you, love, i'm only having the brekkies of my life!♥

corner view ≈ music

2011-09-28T05:00:00.003+02:00

do you know him?

ai, larry wright is energetic on his compound cans ...

and he set the tone for a rather good film comedy on human behaviour in 1990 ... i thought this film's opening scene did that too, just one year earlier, in quite a different way, 'cos when the heat is on, so is the beat (in between 0.38 and 4.25 you want to hit the button)...

this week's theme is music, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

drawing | bike

2011-09-25T09:11:00.000+02:00

off to higher grounds or on our bikes... let's go for a sunny cyclic stride alongside the river. 's been a while, but today might just be the day. no olympics though. resting if need be. rachel is cycling in the shadow of the king of bikes (seems to me, both husband ànd vehicle ☻), and we obviously follow....

greetings from an unknown belgian village

2011-09-24T11:27:00.005+02:00

salvatore adamo, sixties
picture thrifted

contradiction and paradox. from yesterday's sorrow {by the way, amazing and ♥ warming how we share similar thoughts on today's politics throughout the world} to the abstract politics of music. a few months ago i found this gentleman in a thrift shop. could you fall for this kinda guy? i know i could! vaguely smiling, i took adamo home.

salvatore adamo, sixties
picture thrifted

for some reason or other i mixed both adamo and rocco granata up in my head, and therefore paste them here in one post. true, they both are originally italian/popular belgian singers. dj buscemi joined forces with this old nostalgic power, and spruced up renato carosone's oh, sarracino. i hope fuoriborgo's land line opens up to this musical legend, while i wonder what the meaning is of all those belle frasi ... (hint, hint & yes, fran, this one is for you).

seasons & time

2011-09-23T12:21:00.003+02:00

ill. season autumn, by rebecca stadtlander

i am not writing a political blog. but now and again the politics of modern day living creep up on me. worries, sorrow, joy, abundance interlace, in a way life fluctuates anyway. also, now and again, attention is called to topics that make one wonder about the value of our everyday living. it makes me wonder.

ill. season winter, by rebecca stadtlander

a few recent remarks on the fact the country i am living in has no government, {and we're still alive} makes me stop in my tracks. in a time of change, in which politicians are nothing but economy's messengers, people today seem (head)strong(er) than politics. in this light, what do today's politics stand for?

ill. season spring, by rebecca stadtlander

in the seventies, when as a child, i got all excited over sunday afternoon political party street campaigns, parades in which sweets and other small stationery thrills were thrown at the spectator's feet, life and politics seemed to easily track. there were catholics, there were socialists, and there were liberals. things were cut and dry.

ill. season summer, by rebecca stadtlander

today i believe there's some twenty seven political crumbs, to this country alone, that either can't or won't agree on anything. their aim seems to be to divide and rule, but not even this they attain. they argue. they look after their own breed. they stagnate. meanwhile, the world runs. countries are run. people run. us, individuals run. or, we don't. we stop running. we reflect. and wonder.

{incidentally i stumble upon manuel castells' morning run in barcelona. ever since 9/11 spanish sociologist castell has entered my heart and brains with his think tank on social behaviour & personal identity, network theory & changing society.}

i realise i live in a country in which i can speak my mind freely, definitely a treasure. i appreciate this. and i don't think i will post anything in this style for a long time again (else i will start a political blog). but in these times of incredible change, i find our vows of values not half bedazzling. offering food for thought and consideration of today's society, in which our children grow up and will define ever changing global contours, i wonder also. is time perhaps pressing and otherwise excruciatingly ready for popular and firm(er) revolution?

corner view ≈ silly

2011-09-21T05:00:00.003+02:00

belgium is divided, if you want to so call it, in two (three even) language areas. close to holland, we speak flemish, down the south french is the word, on the east side, german would be most popular. {a rather silly data, governmentless as belgium is to this date}

as i live pretty close to the wallonia region, i regularly take the train into such places as ath, tournai, charleroi and mons. on one of such trips, i slid past this unobtrusive place. the walloons may not blink at the name, but i'm wondering what anglophiles think upon riding through this village?
{the fact the railroad sign seems to be upholded by small zip cable wire, sure feels like a silly detail too, don't it?} ☻

silly theme from Heather on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

chicken pie

2011-09-19T20:00:00.000+02:00

once upon a time

there was a sunday that desperately needed

to get dressed.

impatient for that moment,

the sunday

hung low in the sky,

the overcast

washed out

the watery sun,

in places,

a recent summer storm

had beaten branches to it.

the speeding sunday

needed reinforcement.

it decided on

first dessert

(that would be tarte au maton),

followed

by chicken

later.

you could say,

it was kind of an upside down day.

i wouldn't contradict you,

if you did say.

the seaside rocks

2011-09-18T22:16:00.001+02:00

apartment

staying at the seaside, in a family apartment from the seventies, doesn't just bring up ready memories. as at night i'm dropping off in front of a romantic b-movie, i catch zeta-jones whispering how cleveland rocks for some. i can't hardly believe there'd be a lotta heart to cleveland, even if singer ian hunter thinks rather so.

jim jarmush's stranger than paradise, portraying hilarious boredom, showed quite the opposite of cleveland (but the cold winter season as shown may have had something to do with that?).

blankenberge pier
entertainment hall

back to the seaside, which isn't boring if you don't think it is. and it was alright,

north sea
cabins

with amber & tangerine sunsets, a thrift shop & recycle gallery, fresh shrimp & cherry beer,

deserted hotel on sea parade

soft rounded local talk from the west in the backgrounds and red, red wine & scrumptious traditional foods from an excellent italian on fishery street....

sculpture
artist's name unnoted

probably more diversity in the tiny coastal town than any bigger cosmopolis at the best of times, and coincidingly as good a place as anyone's imaginary cleveland...☻

drawing | ship

2011-09-17T05:00:00.004+02:00

in the eighties of the last century alternative music in belgium thrived. one of many succesful musical artists was luc van acker. besides a musician he produced other upcoming bands. his life and further musical escapades remain pretty obscure, which i prefer to shameless touting.

in the blessed year of 1984 luc van acker created zanna, a ship he sailed with anna domino. the video still is just that : it brings the music. by the looks of it, i have no idea where my ship will end up. i am only too surprised it finds itself atop a huge wave.

{to be truthful, lyrics on drawing by luc van acker}

as elisabeth steers her ever astonishing course, she's linking our dinghy's up this weekend...

today's toast

2011-09-16T07:35:00.000+02:00

do you like toast? i can't live without it. a toasty crunch is mandatory on a daily basis in our house. i even toast my polenta! i like it better that way. on it a paste of rucola and white mustard seeds.

corner view ≈ iconic

2011-09-14T05:00:00.009+02:00

icon... me thinking, the swedish interior design warehouse... pretty worldwide iconic.... ? the other week, i did have an interesting iconic experience, in an unexpected milieu.

i was in my local thrift shop (an icon in itself, actually), when i encountered a something very green and very intriguing. you know, when you stumble upon something, which you cannot define, but all the same, you sense you are staring at some golden egg or other. i wasn't too convinced at first sight, but at the ridiculous price they came in i bought three of 'em. well, sadly, there were only three.

coming home i looked closer turning the objects over and confirmed my suspicion they'd be rather swedish by design. upon encountering the PS sign, i knew i hit home. squinting my eyes i derived the name of one graeme findlay. wait a minute. not an average name after all.

well, to make a long story short, i only bought three makalös ~ please click to find out!, now out of production. sophie, i thank thee for a surprising theme, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca. and today also joining sophie's flea market finds!

christmas in september, and the shop open!

2011-09-12T07:07:00.006+02:00

a tiny story through the key hole

this time it is the postman who's moaning ♪♫ ho-ho-ho ♫ through the letterbox! what has bell (latter part of woolfenbell) all been up to?

i did mention before bell is opening up a real time shop, right?

full of surprises she is,

she only made these {postcards} too! how soon is now? this soon!

opening night, here's a little recap.

made-to-measure barbie cake!
{bell in the background}
fetchiiiiiing....☻

good vibes in an old street in a suburban town of brussels.

three business partners join forces. vanclever is born.

and wishing a good flight to the creative minds!☻

{no, not me yet. my performance comes with father x-mas. ahem.}

drawing | 9/11

2011-09-10T05:00:00.007+02:00

belgian artist jean-michel folon's work i could never appreciate to its full impact. colours too soft, meaning incomprehensible (to me), subjects too dreamy or either too pronounced. in short, just not my cup of tea.

therefore i am appalled that, upon closing my eyes and trying to imagine anything about 9/11, i see spirits flying through the air, human birds raising against a darkened sky. i witness this, in folon style. thus i feel i should give credit to the man, for popping generously to mind, and offering me a vision, which for a non religious girl like myself, is nothing short of a premiere.

all while remembering 9/11, and not just 9/11. all while remembering people dying too fast, too soon; for being in the wrong place at the worst of times; for being human.

jasmin is holding us together this weekend. ♥

new l·i·f·e

2011-09-08T05:00:00.003+02:00

in springtime a. was serving coffee and cake in prince's garden, do you remember at all? i referred to her tummy, which wasn't prominent, for a five-months-pregnant lady.

just a few weeks ago, we had lunch by the canal in ghent, talking mum's business. a. had added the necessary pounds, did she ever. look at the love for the bump!

and now, a few days ago i got the news. j. is born! welcome to this world, jérôme.

corner view ≈ indispensable

2011-09-07T05:00:00.001+02:00

these are some of my handy indispensables i dip into on a daily basis, in no particular order.

crochet hook, did i ever know the hook was gonna make me so overly happy? but it really, really has. it has also become crucial.

fountain pen, picked it up in a shop, it could have been on sale. didn't cost me an arm and a leg, and pink at that! it being a waterman pen, it has lived with me for years now, still growing strong and pretty indispensable.

morning coffee, what can i say but spilling the beans : too right, downright fundamental daily fix.

blogging, ladies & gentlemen! i could never have guessed this was going to take flight as it has. thanks to all of you, wonderful readers, you are making my day {and my every day} capital!

last but not least, these are totally essential... i'd be blind as a bat without my glasses (ànd lenses) at hand, or rather, on my eyes ...

all the indispensability that tania can muster, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

antwerp, be | revisited

2011-09-05T10:49:00.003+02:00

i couldn't really deprive you of these... come walk with me.

vintage finds | when in antwerp, be

2011-09-04T07:59:00.005+02:00

bleach and dye house de geest
antwerp

it's happened to me before. i stroll and lounge

begijnhof / beguinage
antwerp

(and dip away from raindrops), and all that i can find is of the non portable kind. which is why i would love salvage grounds or brocante warehouses. which is why i do refrain from visiting them.

exquisite old tiled floor in shop
antwerp

my ♥ would tear apart, i fear. but then there are times when you know you will come closeby anyway, and you endure.

fallen, wooden angel
antwerp

the beauty. the history. and the non portable aspect.

lady and flowers in shop window
antwerp

these honeys were unattainable because the shop was closed,

design bureau, antwerp

so all i could do was snap and admire.

little port in old dockyard
building to the left = museum mas
antwerp

last but not least, when a miniature replica will be made of this museum, i'm gonna get me one. a replica, that is. which will not be vintage at all, not in my time, i realize. flea market finds.

drawing | stained glass

2011-09-03T07:52:00.007+02:00

the days seem to have merrily rolled into saturday and i find myself at a loss at this week's drawing challenge. how thrilling! i'd had a few plans, they all dissolved. so i started doodling on photoshop for inspiration and finally came up with rather a pixelated abstract draft to start from. me being just a teeny tiny bit lazy (and pressed for time) to colour in umpteen coloured shards for the weekend, i still had trouble enough over applying worn out fibre tip pens. must add those to shopping list!

call the drawing {above} an abstract to the image {below}, shall we,

box n° 1
more on these soon ☻

because funnily enough, that's where i started from. the pixelated drawing reminiscing of colours-by-number, does it not?

i'd rather now just come and have a look at your masterpieces, elisabeth, renilde, jasmin, rachel and ariane! your name not on this list? ring a bell!

♥ who is chosing a n e w t h e m e ? ♥
update : jasmin suggesting 9/11 for next week!

drawing challenge NEW THEME : stained glass

2011-08-31T05:00:00.006+02:00

stained glass often has a religious connotation. how could it not have? its sparkling beauty rises holy debate, especially when sunlight falls through abundantly. nonetheless and even without the help of god, we can let ourselves be immersed by spiritual thoughts.

illumination ahoy! let's have it for the late summer light? feel free to join the band of glory, and especially of stained glass. elisabeth, renilde, jasmin, rachel and ariane have signed up!

anybody with a new (next week's) theme, feel free to indicate ... ☻

corner view ≈ change

2011-08-31T05:00:00.001+02:00

what better time for change than september, on the last day of august? oh glory! for some reason or other this tune springs to mind, but then the air seems to burst with humour and lol. oh yes! it's that time of the year when the coen brothers uninvitedly knock on the door and hazardous dapper dan, for obvious reasons, melts my ♥. all over again.

in september.... i just live twice! in september, i find change to be easy as pie. cherry pie. and then pumpkin.
bon appétit joyce, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

drawing | window

2011-08-28T09:20:00.000+02:00

photo on wall : henk van rensbergen

windows are magical. when outside looking in, i love all kind of shapes, brand new or wheathered, i really do not make a distinction. they are the dreamy part of a house.

tannery schotte in aalst, belgium

if darkness falls and you find yourself outside looking in, and windows aren't dressed by the inhabitants, magic mounts to a crescendo. it may be punch & judy in there, hence broken windows. [a friendly banter anyone can appreciate, you should have been in my house this weekend! ☻]

derelict house in aalst, belgium

upon entering a house, a building, an apartment for the first time i fly to the window, to aknowledge the view and then nod. yes, this is how things look from right here. i love window talk!

dreamy window in hemiksem, belgium
all time favourite window of mine,
i wished i could have taken it home!

in view of next week's theme, which i chose independently from but coincidentially close to jasmin's, i will leave my window unclad, pristine and bare this weekend, so that i can burst out next week....


do click image to read the quote by elisabeth kubler-ross {swiss-american psychiatrist and author}

nonetheless, i believe some pretty windows shall open over at jasmin's this weekend!

montgolfiere

2011-08-26T06:31:00.000+02:00

sometimes when we drive

we see things

hot air balloon!

corner view ≈ passion

2011-08-24T05:00:00.007+02:00

lessen / lessines

let's face it (and speaking for myself), when one surges to google up passion, then perhaps one isn't focusing? thus i refrain from quick reference, as i refrain from many automatic gestures these last couple of weeks, omitting cybernaughty internet, deflecting world wide webbing, dismissing stiffling bookfacin' and tweetin' stuff. bringing the actual bird back in, so to speak.

passionate flower in a's princes' garden

crawling back (it does feel like crawling, because letting go of too many impulses means slowing down. slowing) to a quiet pace, where passion roars from an explosion of words or a panoply of images only. just the one or two senses at a time, yeah? perhaps just, and only just, accompanied by a bite into something heavenly nice?

l's passionate enokitake sushi

indulgent? moi? passion for dorit, on jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

vintage finds | reminiscence

2011-08-21T08:03:00.000+02:00

this thrifting mode sure tells us something about our tendency to melancholia or nostalgia, do you think? as i'm slowly walking the archived hall of objects passed and bought (and then stored for future reference), i see it all happening again in front of my very eyes.

the why's of things adored.

the how's of bringing some things home.

the if's that may lose out.

the propers that will live until they break.

the images.

oh.

the images.
sophie's choice.

drawing | monkey

2011-08-20T13:43:00.001+02:00

taking the boy out of the monkey is one thing. taking the monkey out of the boy, i'm not sure i can or want to. born a monkey under chinese sun&moon, it might just always have him turn into a curious, clever & mischievous little apa. now, where could he be hiding? elisabeth is gathering our monkey businesses today!

clouded

2011-08-19T09:02:00.006+02:00

in answering a few people's questions, what to do with {tiny} clouds indeed? it sure makes me wonder, after last night's wreckage at the youth music festival in the east of our tiny country. a few blistering clouds there did no good at all. hail beating down thick as snow, wind lifting trees from their grounds. son tottered home soaking wet, after a late night hike, with most of his pals. like with so many others, his eyes filled with harrowing disbelief. we are mourning the lives lost.

corner view ≈ tiny

2011-08-17T05:00:00.003+02:00

'home cutting'

day by day tiny gets more ground. by setting forth the tiny journey, the tininess of things appeals more.

'cloud cutting'

especially when one can put tininess in x-mas boxes! {here she goes!} will it help if this is the very last time i mention x-mas before x-mas? (but not boxes, 'course).

'bus cutting'

and don't let appearances have you deceive either, all will be revealed, in due course.

'booklet folding'

in fact, tiny soon to be a recurring theme .... in the meantime looking forward to your tininesses... ☻ jane's corner view, hosted by francesca.

tuesday broth

2011-08-16T07:51:00.002+02:00

when salad leafs whimper themselves into a sorry state and corn wavers from the sideboard, broth is the word.

drawing | metamorphosis

2011-08-13T05:00:00.006+02:00

while googling metamorphosis, my mind starts focusing on one i love to jabber about, whenever i get a chance. do you know of maria (some semblings to the original maria are in place, yes), who is waiting on an intermediary (read : saviour) in metropolis?

directed by fritz lang in 1927, metropolis has, throughout time, been subject to controversy and genius. the sap that i am is most crazy about the eighties giorgio moroder version, reverberating (a.o.) freddie mercury's theme song LOVE KILLS. doesn't it just, sometimes? kill. love. ☻

this week's theme found me drawing and scribbling on something i threw out this morning. the relief! which is the reason why i have to turn metamorphosis upside down, and show you a possible before.


{filmmuseum berlin - deutsche kinemathek} image found here

if the above sketch served for lang's fantastic megalopolitan vision in his 1927 movie, then below here is just one of the urban places we come from, right? well, perhaps not in those colours...

ariane, she did touch a vein in me! the cultural minded lady she is, i'm pretty sure she'll nod at metropolis, nein? anyway, metamorphoses galore in her house today! go see...