981

end of my street - often when i walk by this patchwork of bricks, i stop and i revel quietly

calling blogging a day, right here, right now. happy to do so, fresh out of talking. it's been over ten years too. wowsers. where did that time fly to anyway? 

lessines/lessen - notre dame à la rose

all those creative saturday posts, filled with writing and anticipation. the photography, the drawing. it was wonderful while it happened and it enabled contacts with fellow bloggers from around the world. 

lessines/lessen - art in town

i've loved as good as any single moment of those times. i am now mainly using instagram, but who knows what it'll grow into, in the near future? i'm happy to find you somewhere, anywhere. 

brussels - tattoo shop in the 'hood where i work

this blogpost title refers to the amount of posts i've written. reaching for the stars (of a 1000), i landed on exit 981. as good a place as any. x

dark screen

oh my winter is the darkest of dark. that's not even a bad thing, but i didn't expect it to be so dim and masked, and chilly and dank. i am now wholly living a life with little directed creative aspects.

proper throwback to good old drawing challenges... ;)))

i didn't think it possible, but here it is. going into Brussels, i enjoy my commute, listening to a podcast or reading, drawing in my bullet journal (which i regard as the sacred tool it is), walking into work,

lest your forget, sort of map of belgium :) 

to do the same in the opposite direction at night, train rides in darkness both ways. since i haven't worked full time for close to two decades, always being on the go is new to me and demands adaptation. 

one night in drawing academy, speed drawing

i remember saying last summer that i'd schedule in creative outlets at nights, an hour, two hours, but these hours are invisible. obviously winter isn't the best of times to make happen, but i'm perplexed at

reading, erm, not much. 

how little time between the cracks of working, commuting, cooking, doing chores and generally planning there sits. and we haven't even relaxed yet in this schedule. weekends are too short to be called days even. 

F for february (to come), pages unfinished

but not complaining either. just realising i need to consider my weeks differently, organise home work in a kind way and e.g. simplifying my menus into having hot lunches and just having cold cuts at night. 

Brussels, Grote Zavel

my second floor creative hub patiently awaits my return. i don't even climb up to the second floor anymore, since life happens mainly on the ground and first floor. it has got me acquainted to my place in a new way. 

week to be, at the seaside, for work

coming back to creative aspects... i do doodle. an awful lot even. my bullet journal is an excellent link to creativity, drawing and playing around with colour and mainly pattern. i seem to discover motifs in everything. 

will be working on this one, between the cracks, a doily-to-be

which keeps me excited. i am beginning to envisage how to integrate my past drawings into new digital designs, and making for different compositions, a challenge in itself, for balance is probably not my forte. 

accidental photo, whilest being on black screen, image popping up in my google photos... :(

on that note, i must go shopping on a sunday (!) to find me a new cell phone, since my now 'old' one broke on me last night. the title says it all, we must now first fix that tiny darkness. enjoy the week ahead! ♥

renovations sometimes just happen

tiny champagne bottle for the collection ☻

2018 has gone. i've worked in the house a lot more than i had anticipated. in summertime i put floors in on level 2, so i could accomodate the summer gathering's women more comfortably.

back room turning into study. old diaries coming to good pressing use while glueing down skirting

in the month of december i had the painter in doing up 3 floors of hallway. i repainted the second floor back room. this room will turn into the study. and the big second floor room will be my new studio. 

new goblets ~ my very own house number ~ to be used to store pens

which means my bedroom has descended a floor. as much as roof skylights let moonlight flood in when it's that time of the month, i never enjoyed nerve wrecking skylight rain splashes on wet nights. 

such poor, poor images, pooh! but yeah, before and after

finally, where the ground floor restroom patiently hid behind curtains for years, a proper door now hangs. thus i'm filled with joy, moving around a house hesitantly, yet finally entering finishing mode. 

my newest craze

tragedy descended upon our family, in that we have lost my big brother to the big c, big being the only common denominator in this sad record. may you rest in peace, dear p. i miss your song. 

bujo spread. nope, not going to london, not at all

as life goes on, i'll be happy to get myself settled in over the winter months, into my new studio. i'm also still down sizing everything that i own, so i'll be busy for a while longer doing that. 

kitchen view

then hopefully, one day, i'll return to the drawing board and pick up being creative in a smaller way. on paper and in the paint box, hopefully. to ease my way i've picked up a bujo and doodle to my heart's content. 

bujo spread

may i wish you all a merry new year. yes you, perhaps 2 {wo}men and a dog, picking up my best wishes here, they are most sincere. ♥ this blogpost is dedicated to my big brother p. ♥

pow pow pow

screen shot from LIAR, set in Deal, UK, the tiny sea town i discovered just a few months ago... ☺

good old "past midnight and wide awake". i decided to climb out of bed and do something i never do at night : open my computer and write a blog post. i don't even have much to say, perhaps not even a thing. 

well shaven ;)))

night time is not a good time for me. i don't often see clear. but i feel at peace, and accept all that is around me that is far from satisfying (not wanting to use that much misused word perfect). 

my notice board in kitchen

i realise i'm not being creative much, because of the daytime job. oh, my intentions of pushing myself an hour an evening into creating, as to make up for time lost....  not happening. and as such, not working. 

cuppa with me

i manage to listen to podcasts on creativity, mainly to cut out surround noise in public spaces. i also watch a lot of series and pretend i am reading the books. you know? words or images, it's all one go nowadays. 

cookie with me ☺

and i'm not malcontent either. i frown upon times past, my need to make things, and these days the total lack of making things, and what's the difference, i ask myself. surely the art of living is being happy and content. 

one of the scenes i pass as i'm cycling down to mum's

it seems i'm letting go of beliefs and convictions and replacing them by better suited experience. maybe i'm having a break from creating. or perhaps the night makes me broody and meek. 

enjoy your weekend though. pow, pow, pow ♥

out with it

i have added a topping to my house cleaning: i am now losing half of all that i own. it is exciting to get my life back on track in a liberating fashion. house clearing is the best, right now.

i have to admit there's room for little else in my life than shedding and shredding. burning will come later. i don't even feel fanatic, i just crave for a simpler life and airier surroundings.

a work collegue introduced me properly to marie kondo, and i'll say there's been no turning back. mainly because i was and am so ready to rid my life of excess that stands in the way of moving forwards.

now that i work fulltime too, i have to be careful about priorities. i'm still adjusting so i won't be professing profound changes. what i do know already is that time is valuable and creativity is not happening.

maybe the creative side of things is mainly toting 'round my brains anyway, what with the house clearance? it's scary sometimes, you know, to be throwing out stuff i thought was going to stay with me. 

it's the most powerful tool of all : "do you like what you have ({holding in your hand}?" if not, out with it. as simple as that. but i'll also say that i needed to find myself in this exact stage, to be able to do it. 

i've been restless for too long. i've been looking high and low, and isn't it ironic to be finding the solution right under my nose? who knows what'll happen next? enjoy your week ahead! ♥