AC | sanctuary

ghent forelstraat, bisserart

raining cats and dogs all week long and more of it promised for the weekend. central heating on the blink, maybe the problem will be solved today. there's hope. last night, i was watching NW, the story based upon Zadie Smith's 2012 novel.

ghent forelstraat, bisserart

not since BORN EQUAL, i got hooked on the tiny silver screen to fully realize the foundations of an inner sanctuary can be easily shaken by our daily realities in which joy, optimism, frustration, anger and rage huddle. 

sanctuary. i almost watch the now fully filled 'new' sideboard more than that tiny telly... ☻

picking up on bits of the daily news, social-economical imbalance will only grow and hit ever more individuals. maybe you, maybe me? and i mean, i aim for sanctuaries around the house, i do. i know why and we all make choices in our lives, and live by them. 

ghent forelstraat, bisserart

and chances need taking, when opportunities arise. i'm pretty sure no one is deprived of those sentiments these days. making also, i guess, cats and dogs look trivial, or the temporary lack of central heating subordinate. veronica's sanctuary this weekend.

ps - to be fair. above graffiti artwork isn"t mine! look for the link in image footing. painted sideboard is mine. ☻

AC | winter room for nostalgia

all images (except last one) from my former high school i recently revisited

she was fifteen and crushingly in love. amidst the johnny rottens of the era she found peace in a boy three years her senior, wearing stiff pressed white shirts only, adorned with a silver safety pin, under a black shiny longcoat, his dark bangs a stubborn blaze. 

all images (except last one) from my former high school i recently revisited

soft punk if ever, alongside the even sweeter you're the one that i want. dreamy lunchtimes, shared in a tiny canteen off the main hall, where forks in potatoes and one veg rattled on worn stoneware. and them four, or five punks huddled up together over sarnies. 

all images (except last one) from my former high school i recently revisited

and her. watching their every move, learning fast. all through never ending doses of rotten biology, haughty physics, lamentable latin verse and sweat stinking PE potions, her bets were laying in one camp only : lunchtime break. him. and her. 

all images (except last one) from my former high school i recently revisited

for him she would insult that geology bastard, who courted his dreary self smart. for him she would defy home teacher's prying tongue as she choked on hebban olla vogala, while prévert for french helped her along the way of her wild, if unsophisticated fantasies. 

all images (except last one) from my former high school i recently revisited

however. nostalgia can only bring back so much, never that person nor a given situation. stefanie's winter rooms remind me of keepsake days. and my memory wandered to those few weekends i held, a long, long time ago, called OPEN HOUSE. no more, for now. 

i'll bring the cookies! ☺

thank you though, stefanie, for this recollection that could only stem from your gentle probing. i so wish i was living closer by so i could step right into your saintly world and bring me home an angel. and we could sip liquorice tea, for good (wintertime) measure. ♥ 

AC | halloween and school... whaddayaknow...

i had never expected to combine halloween and school, but fate took a leap! here's a mix of today's bonfire night (the well known guy fawkes ~post~ halloween mask), and a fond school memory. both images recycled and popping up on ariane's AC this weekend! ☺ 

subject, as opposed to object

elsene musem, recent exhibition on photorealism, forgot to take down painter's credits. yeah, bad ass me

that can happen. the book i'm taking part in is being put on hold. the socio-historic association financier is objecting to the means of presenting the subject. in other words? they fear they are feeding the artist rather than the promotion of disappeared buildings. 

onwards

when the library room was a distant dream. five years later the framework in corner happened at last

years ago i was told renovation takes years. at the time i felt inclined to counterpose and then i didn't. now i know why: it does take years. it may not ever stop! yet the focus {and result} this entails is actually exhilarating. 

soon

zarlardinge art route. one fine sunday a few weekends ago

everybody's talking at me. not really. the song pops up in my head as i feel like writing a blogpost tonight. it was that kind of autumn day: soft, still, warm, blue, sunny. i mean, what more, right? 

AC | tide {and did you know about my new 365?}

maths as a science is fascinating. i love proclaimed formulae and extensive mathematical deductions, purely for their rhythmic properties. tide immediately reminds me of nagakawa's great wave. i granted that masterpiece a numerical twist in ariane's AC.

the 365 project with no name

one sunday i took a round trip to never get off that train. POURING down it was! 

 so i was thinking, why not kick start another 365 days project? i'm kind of craving for one. like before, i'd love to couple the factual to the functional. in other words i'm linking the subject of drawing to a point of general interest. let's put it this way: it is my aim. 

warming up

· as i'm doing no courses of pertinence this fall, i've been brewing upon a new recurrent project, besides the houses work and the tiny booklet folding. letting myself be inspired by the everyday, i feel like drawing and painting random subjects.

welcome autumn

porcelain bird with moss and on ariane's vintage scarf

trying for a new thread in my blog has kept me awake some, the past couple of days. there is something brewing, although of course, the start of yet another {much favoured} autumn season could have a hand in my fickle yet manageable restlessness. 

on comments

· do you find you {heart} an instagram image, next like it on facebook to then send the author a comment on a probable blogpost? it's silly in a way, isn't it? i think i want to send the message out into the universe, that perhaps blog comments as such are over. to me anyway. 

walking through light

once upon a time, artists painted from life scenes only. a model sat, or the artist stayed in a field, day after day, to get colour and composition right. so, when i walked into PAINTING WITH LIGHT, i expected quite something else. i expected, well, painted light.

♪♪ georgia on my mind ♫♪

yesterday afternoon a blog entry made me reflect upon what an exhibition, usually put up to make the viewer wonder and wander, will do to the mind and soul, besides showcasing the artwork of a group or individual.

particularly, what does any one frame of mind do to your own? where does the perception of one lead to, in the other. i guess a school example of the sender and receiver game in the old communication scheme, innit? ☻

AC | ROOM

london, osborn street, image tilted

we've had a {work}week from hell, though some folks find 30° onwards pleasant. i'll be clear about one thing : i HATE hot weather. after one hot italy and one hot holland i had a moderate england, but now this! i hate climate change if this is what it is.

art challenge NEW THEME | ROOM {with a view}

brussels, grote zavel

 as some of us got together last summer, we found ourselves gravitating towards a summer theme that would connect us, ranging from la-la-la-ing songs to letting our thoughts wander over ways to tie creativity into our daily lives.

☼ .... and the living is easy ♪♫♪♪

night train to italy, july 2016

i got back from the holidays a while ago and still feel in a certain summery swing. keeping my studio windows wide open is a plus. sorting out the last batch of july photos is almost a fact [via facebook ☻]

it's all about the space

ariane and barbara concentrating

how lucky are we, when we visit patrice at her home, we find her studio squeaky clean and in wait for us, hungry lionesses from the north and south, as we bring our unraveling (from the summer heat) and burning (from excitement) wishes... that lucky! 

rijksmuseum amsterdam

rijksmuseum amsterdam. poster with marten and oopjen. patrice, barbara and ariane walking towards the museum

almost four hundred years after rembrandt van rijn painted the opulently clad aristocrats marten soolmans and oopjen coppit, the amsterdam rijksmuseum is showing both life size portraits for the short period of just three months. 

just show up

i started painting the 100+ years old sideboard in the beginning of july

 if blogland lies dormant still, then there's another rattling thingy in my cupboard : renovation. yesterday morning, as i pulled myself through lesson 7 of a running program, i promised myself recovery on my renovation planning also. 

doing it my way, not the italian

BRESCIA - view from via del castello

 in deciding to write about my journey to italy and back, i have to be frank on a few things. i started with great hopes and a view on a relaxing trip, seeing inspiring scenery along the way. i did stock up on culture and variation, however rather haphazardly.

tanti saluti da italia

when you read this i have sailed. 

i will be roaming from town to town in the veneto. 

depending on italian wifi, 

i shall be waving a most heartfelt salute from padova. 

a presto. 

♥ x ♥

AC | blue. like the deep sea

what with the busy-ness of the past few months, i've neglected blogland. again! but strapping up for a party in blue, i cannot resist. okay, so i missed the ° {tea} party. here's my contribution to blue{s}... 

drawing | sky

kingfisher blue. off-white fat clouds floating by. even, when the sea seems to reside up above {not shown here}. it happens. once i drove into work and the sky shone unearthly mountain solid. i felt as if i was driving through the french alps in belgium.

calling you

finding balance is a cause well worth aiming for, as we work and relax, while we eat and drink, when we decide to do nothing at all and hopefully fall prone to boredom. don't you just love being bored? great things happen when we're bored : nothing-at-all!

drawing | meditation

the drawing challenges of the past i enjoyed most were the ones where a quirky element sided up with dots and line drawing. and really it takes me straight back into my childhood days, where lines and circles and dots were also prominent. it is for life, i figure. 

drawing | pink horse {trying}

what with entering another online, virtual community, the risk of not seeing the wood for the trees is imminent. i've actually gone and bought a smart phone to connect to the world this summer, as i travel, and of course now : distracted by its tinsel. 

play us a slow song

i realise i'm not showing much of my drawing going on. there are simple reasons for not doing so: i simply cannot publish here before it appears... there. i have created a new pinterest board however, where i will let grow 'my' homes collection. bear with me on that. 

an old fashioned blog post

like those in the beginning. coming up with just about anything, about anything. or how we evolved as blogpost writers, prodding along. going with the feckless flow, and then some. sitting back, relaxing, dreaming. at times doing naff all, for the muse to feel welcome.

drawing | leap

any time is a good time to brag about socialism, lest we grow sour and dour. there, that's probably the first and last time i come up absolute about my position in politics on an otherwise neutral and usually straight creative blog. but then veronica is giving us a leap.

drawing | halfway metamorphosis {please hover}

our first time metamorphosis was hosted by rose ariane also! let's have a look at what we are talking about four years down the road... and although i started out doubting the challenge, an early morning pinterest walk got me inspired. 

drawing | cocoon {winter cycle}

when to bed, curling up in a tiny pool of warm sheets and soft bedding, atop a well comfortable mattress, i feel in sheer heaven. indulging in that trusted mass of cotton, wool and expectation is a thing to look forward to every night. 

drawing | where the ♥ is, and also rather a few "anyway's"

every year, for many years, my mr. valentine has no inkling as to behind which door i'm at, for he's passed my house repeatedly, with little hope of a return. it sounds bleak, but don't let my blab fool you! i love my mr. valentine {unknown}, and one day, yeah? 

drawing | 6 and 7

uh-hoh. sixes and sevens... starting with animals....

DRAWING CHALLENGE NEW THEME | 6 and 7 {sixes and sevens}

i first 'mis'heard the expression {of sixes and sevens} when julie covington conquered the world in her fragile 'don't cry for me, argentina'-voice. were you lost in that world of power and deceit? i hummed that complete musical well into the eighties, i was smitten! 

drawing | 森林浴

dear, dear viewer. i will call on your imagination this weekend. all the best objectives ordained, multiple house chores, late sales and food shopping, cooking & relaxing are standing between me and the forest this sunday of relative freedom.

drawing | reef

the design of reef in my opinion comes close to my all time favorite of wrought iron design: lines and curves that flow and float. i pushed my luck on paul auster's novel (brooklyn follies) p. 164, which didn't do it for me. the reading, i mean. 

rhythm {reprise}

when i look back at my rhythm contribution of march 2011, having just moved into our house, writing my blogposts from a make do table under the skylight window in a room that has since become my bedroom... well, life looked very different then. 

thank you, mr. gorey

okay. edward gorey. our cartoon teacher has ofttimes requested our likes in cartoon land. i never reached beyond billy bunter, or charlie brown & co. but now i'm set. now, i'm all ears, or rather eyes!

*s*n*o*w*g*l*o*b*e*i*f*y*o*u*p*l*e*a*s*e*

i see it's snowing in germany. so send on over some snow white crystals if you please. am (almost) dying for wanting some: to roll in, to gaze at, to freeze in and thaw again, to new moods and expectations. 

hurried, though 2016 here to stay

i think so. 2016 is here to stay. i felt it this morning, as i waded my way through grass and fens.