when the mill turns for the better

in the midst of several creative projects, my daytime job has meandered into a full time occupation, spread over a 4 days week. i need not explain the hectic change this brings along. yet, also a good change. 

collage snipping on the train into ghent, a few weekends ago

i'll be getting the builders in, instead of me trying, and failing, at doing it all. combining a creative ambition, a house renovation and life is a losing game, and anything that feels that heavy needs reassessing. 

lemon & poppy seed cake, last weekend

the decision making pained me nonetheless, but while i can, i want to bring in a little more loot and be done with tying up many loose renovation ends that have been irking me. seven+ years of trying is a long time. 

ariane R's homemade gelee, from Isolde's garden

i've done good, i'm happy with all that i have done. it was a wonderful trip too, but it's dragging now, and i want to live in a house that welcomes me on a calm clean and warm note, rather than eyeballing faded walls. 

exhibition place, september 9th

i'm finally tying up exhibition preps too. in the july i'd unexpectedly accepted an elaborate illustration job, which busted up most of the summer. great learning curve, froze up my agenda completely though. 

wijk-aan-zee sea shell!

the light at the end is now within reach. that second weekend of september seven new drawings will be first shown to the public and i actually can't hardly wait. i'll make sure to post a bit more towards the date. 

s.e.p.t.e.m.b.e.r COME !

looking for the moon inside my cuppa coffee

i am so longing for september. the consolation i hold dear is this heatwave is european and we're all sweating and trying to deal with stickiness of all kinds, in varying ways. good luck!

summer house feeling, that's what i mean

pulling and keeping the cotton and linen blinds closed all through the house all days feels almost luxurious, and very summer house, especially when nights don't cool off. oh. september. and rain.  p.l.e.a.s.e. 

ariane and bee gelli printing!

i don't need much more than this longing and i can smell sharpened pencils, new erasers and doodling paper...  my school memories are fond like that: new dresses, new school bag, new friends. 

fun. extra ears. and balls... 

i have decided to let go of my OPEN HOUSE intentions, because i work the daytime job on a fulltime basis at the moment and until further notice. i simply don't have time to think up stuff, let alone create. 

jan fabre in the royal palace, pardon the bad photo

so i might only partake in the local christmas fair, because of our town's 950 years celebrations, and because i've been designing that poster, right? i'm looking forward to completion. soon. 

us. four. 

last weekend the ladies were over. gelli plate printing, eating, drinking, laughing, going places and generally not doing anything we didn't want to do. we missed the clouded over blood moon. d**n. 

it's all about the balls... 

stay out of the frying sunshine, loves, i'm letting my hair down on a slice of dutch coast this weekend. i hope the short hair blows any which way, i do. have a great weekend! ♥

thirty six square metres

tiny bedroom will become my office... whooh-hooh!

i did not plan putting down the second floor laminate parquet. maybe vaguely i wished it'd get done, and i felt a little stupefied when i saw myself coming to grips with materials and making ways to start myself off.

goodbye grimey carpet rolls, hello bare floor

i didn't plan because i know, from experience, how it turns out. besides lovely, lovely! my body aches in places i didn't know i had. putting a floor down is equivalent to a gym work out, times 10.

adding the images the wrong way. never mind

when i start, i exaggerate. but frankly, putting in a floor means there's no halfway option anyway, because that's just plain uncomfortable and messy. so: two whole labour days {and i'm walking like a dinosaur}. 

earlier this week, a miscalculated half day's outing when most shops were closed.... ☻

today i am taking the day off though. i'm vintage shopping around here and we're taking it slow and easy and we'll sit down frequently and people watch, i think. my studio... ah. there's a new arrival there! 

to entertain me some, i watched this SUPER movie. mr. holmes. they look soooo sad... good film, though

my old bookcase needs a new bottom and a set of humongous wheels to turn it into a linen closet. the ladies will witness all of it pretty soon... our summer gathering is eminent and the house... will be ready too. 

i am going back to work next week (oh, eik!), but do enjoy the weekend ahead like i will. ♥

there's that also

bits and bobs and leftovers still life

i can't remember a summer holidays away from work i've enjoyed as much as this one. 

on my way to herzele, to go find the thrift shop

not doing anything in particular, hanging round, riding my bike, cooking some and working on and off, in the studio. 

still life from garden on kitchen counter

playing more like, which was absolutely what i aimed for. i needed fun, and i got me some. and much more than that i ain't doing. 

my 'bloodlines' plant and coffee break after vintage shopping

i'm stressing it, and stretching it, because i consciously took kairos.

water tower and castle on my way

and still time flies, because time is fickle after all, and one cannot grasp it. so i continue to have fun, i work in my collage lookbook, i observe things in nature to reproduce shapes in the studio.

stormy skies and little green vase. yes, new

i'm stalling on my exhibition preps, because i know it's fun to get the work done, and it'll be like listening to podcasts while i'm doing the drawings, which fills me with joy.

still life from garden on kitchen counter

and of course i go see places, i meet friends, we go vintage shopping, i watch series, i read a few books, i try out new recipes. the heat doesn't allow me to renovate, i'm not complaining. 

so, yeah. keep up with this weather, and bring us some rain. enjoy the coming week. ♥

brilliance

cutting & finishing in photoshop. the sun got away with me...

the holidays have started. i am making good use of every moment, and already wish to hold still time, for days are speeding, and nights are short. 

somewhere halfway there. scanner playing up. that too

we've been having the best summer weather for over a month now. i know, because since i bought my bicycle, i've been out and about and always in short sleeves. sheer heaven. 

ypres. a visit to in flanders fields, earlier this week

i am enjoying the down time, the planned mornings with chores, easy mode however, and the afternoons perhaps spent outdoors. or not. this afternoon i glued together the sun. 

lost soldiers name tags from WW1. a visit to a site where one looses all words, at once

as if we need more sun... ☺i for one am not very much impressed by hot temps, but keeping quiet and waiting for the cooling down moment prooves to be my best option. 

enjoy your week ahead. i keep on reading, drawing, cutting, pasting and doing nothing. ♥