What to do

Time for a blog challenge again, it seems to work so why not start this month.
Not sure if I should write in Dutch or English. I come across small responses to find out what's best. So the following is in Dutch.
I have a little pain. About a week ago, I hurt my back by doing nothing really, and working on a very large wall hanging makes it very disturbing. I want to finish it for an exhibition at the townhall of Echt-Susteren, a small village in the south of the Netherlands at the end of October.

Usually I work 3 to 5 hours a day. It is all Handmade, stitch through the stitch. My work space is a big disorder, but as long as my beloved man does not complain, it's also good for me.
Tomorrow I have to go to Valkenburg, together with KC61 an artist community we had a 3 month long exhibition there in the Museum "Land van Valkenburg" and tomorrow it is time to bring our art back home again.

Small Art Garden

July 29th again.
That's how fast the time goes by. I wanted to write a few blogs this month and I did. Not as much as I would have had but better than not at all. So today I write something about our little garden. We are so lucky to have a place to go outside and enjoy flowers, scrubs and even a pond with some goldfish. But above all we love art and curiosities or even 'KITSCH' on the old wall around the garden. When we bought this house about 30 years ago, we thought we would close the garden so we had a bigger store. But fortunately we did not.

Dieters Art Wood Faces ith chandelier

Sometimes we go outside for dinner. Many times when people come to our gallery, they walk straight on to the garden and enjoy all the things that can be seen. Here are some pictures and I hope you like them.

Brass lizart

old copperpan with necklage

From above our chair with handpainted silk covert

Pond with chandelier

Digital Photo Art

A few people who read my blog on a regular basis, know that I love to make digital art very much. Here is a link to an old post from 2013 . This year we had a few days together with our daughter in Spain. She and my husband were collecting some small stones and try to build them together like a pilar. That was not so easy and they had a lot of fun with it. So I took some pictures and last month I made an other digital art from them. It took me quit  a while to do, but I think it is funny. And the proof: Do not believe everything You see on photos it may be all untrue.

Big stones!!!

This is how it started

Opening Exhibition at the "Museum Land van Valkenburg."

Last Sunday we had the opening from the Exhibition " Eder zien eige stiel"in Valkenburg. This time I was better prepared to find a parking place. So I only had to walk 5 minutes to the museum. It was a beautiful day. I was the first from 7 people from KC61 (kunst corridor 61) and that was good, my textile art had found a very good place and everything looked  nice. The exhibition is on the top floor from the museum, it is an old building but has a lot of charme. The windows were open and I was able to make a few pictures. Two ladies from the museum came down to put glasses and drinks.

my textile art. Winter and Autumn
plus some ceramics from Lei Hannen.

About 50 people arrived and at 3 o'clock pm  Jos Solberg opened and then gave me the floor so I could propose all my friends and tell about their work.

Evelien Wink Schilderijen

Jeanne van Hest Ceramics

Moniek Daemen Textile Art

Joep van Kerkom Schilderijen

Leo Kornips Schilderijen

Love and Peace

Yesterday Paul Taubman from UBC wrote: write something about fun today. Well yesterday I did not like anything. All the things that happened in Hamburg because of G20, made me sad. Young people who destroy other people belongings who they not even know. Of course, not all young people were involved . Demostration is happily allowed in a democratic country. But the poor police and the people who saw their cars going up in flames, just terrible. But now it's over today and hopefully there will soon be rest in this beautiful city of Hamburg. Love and Peace

take care of our planet
this is a desert devil

Little sketchbook

Today I signed up for the ultimate blog challenge. I've done that before and I think it's right for me.
Like some blogs ago to be accurate on January 16th, I wrote about my sketchbook. I've pretty well maintained and I'm glad, because by that smal drawings, often come on good ideas. Like my last big textile artwork, but I'll write more about it next week, as the opening has been in the museum in Valkenburg. But just because I like it here a few pictures from that little sketchbook which incidentally is almost full.

two small watercolors made by coby lange

made by coby lange ink and watercolor

This is how it looks now.

just stripes, what to do with them?

My new sewing machinge gets in action again.

This is how it looks now. What will it be after that. Who knows, what is important is, to get rid of some of my stash. I collect and collect I have yards and yards of material still waiting to be used. My textile art pieces are small so I only use some bits and little pieces. But from all the stripes I have cut in different sizez I will create an other quilt. The size of the stripes are 1,5 - 2 - 2,5 - and 3 inch wide. The difficult part is that they are all different textures. Hand painted silks, some sheers and also wool. That means to put everything together as a quilt, some will need a white cotton underneath so it is not too fragile.

I have cut already some squares. It will be interested to put them on a designer wall to create something interesting.

I am so exited

I am so busy with my new digital art, that I hardly find time to write my blog. Because my husband gets all interested too and don"t know anything about computers, but has great ideas he want to accomplish and so it is up to me ofcourse to work things out. So we made an agreement, one day I will work some Art for him and the next day My computer and Photoshop is all mine!! It works, well almost sometimes he says But that You can do soooo easy!!! And I am lost again with his wishes. I should know by now after all we are working and loving each other for 50 years and so far nothing has changed. I cant help it.

So here is a photo from Dieters Art, which I made ofcourse.

Dieters idea

And this one is mine. We both wanted to do something with our pretty netsuke.

my idea

One day there was a big storm and the boats of the fishermen broke down. Then the fishes came to the fisherman and let them sit on top of them and brought them safely to the shore, to say thanks for their good behavior.

I think this is a nice story.

All my digital art is for sale, printed on archival paper. If You are interested please let m know and I will get in contact with You.

My latest Artwork

I would love to write like Jude Hill a woman blogger who loves cloth like I do and than I mean fabric of all sorts. The soft shine of silk or the warmth of a velvet. I allways come in a happy mood if I touch my bits and pieces.

I'm not sure yet, but it looks like I have to give up my nice studio upstairs, someone wants to hire it and if that works out, than I have to move downstairs again. It is not too bad as most of the time I am working in the living room anyway it is nice and cosy to be near to my hubby. This week I am helping my friend Johnn he is a couturier and somedays if he has too much to do I help him making some seems in beautiful couture dresses, so all hand work. With some classic music on the background it is a very good feeling working together.

My latest art work is digital photograph I try to make a few prints from them if they are good enough. We"ll see.

Only a few hours more

  It is all over, our holiday.

Today was our last day in Spain and in 2 and a half hours our bus will pick us up to bring us back home. We were lucky than today the weather was beautiful again and we made a lovely walk to an other castle a little high by Fernals a small fishers village. The view was breathtaking and we stopped at a bar where Dieter used to go many years ago. We sat down a while to enjoy. Look at these lovely pictures.

                                                   

On our way home we made some nice pictures of old houses and gardens.

Now it is time to make this post ready and probably tomorrow there will be no post from me as we will be very tired from the long 17 hours  bus travel ahead of us. Maybe we find a way to sleep a little.

The rain in spain.

The rain in spain , yes it did rain to day and the temperature went down about 10C. I had to put on a warm vest and we bought an umbrella so we could  at least walk a little. We went to a small Dutch restaurant and had Poffertjes a typical dutch delicious breakfast. 

When we past the large place Dieter made a picture of me in the rain and send it to our daughter in Las Vegas just to let her know it is not sunshine all the time here. In the Casa de la Cultura was an exhibition of a Spanish artist named Jordi Urbon. His work is made with photos and digital art, which I too love to make. But he is very good. He tells stories with his paintings. The Casa de la Cultura inhabited also the library and cinema's. Very modern and nice. We liked very much the part for the small children, to look in all the collections of children books. Very colorful ad clean. 

Dieters painting of the castle from Lloret de Mar
in the rain, and some digital work from me,
made this picture.

When we came to the hotel I had to make a digital work too and I think it is not so bad at all, but ofcourse I do not have all the software You would need for this kind of work.

                                                            

It was worth it.

Long hours in Barcelona, but it was worth it. Ofcourse we had to take the bus that took 1 hour exactly. The weather was great for a day in the city. It was about 10 years ago that we had visit Barcelona the last time and it is beautiful. Many people from all around the world, also many young people. The first stop was the Plaça Cataluna and we made our first picture.

 After that we did manage to do the whole Ramblas till the harbour, but first we visited the big market. So nice, look at the pictures of the fruits and fresh fruits of the sea and fish.

                                         

We past a new kind of bridge and people were feeding the fishes, even in the harbour is the water very clean. 

Columbus showing the way to the USA

Then we visit a new very big Center. We had to stop many times to take a break as hour feet were hurting. On the way back we stopped again at the market place and had our lunch in a fish restaurant. It was crowded. On the way to the busstation Dieter made an other picture of one of the beautiful buildings. 

We did not make it to a museum or so, just too much to do in one day. When we came home in our hotel we had to take a little nap to get well again. Next time we take a sightseeing bus through the city, that is for sure.

A walk around the rocks

An other easy day, We went for a nice walk around the castle, climing some rocks,but there are many people going that way so it is very secure. 

There we first saw three cormorans, sitting on big rocks in the see enjoying the weather.

 I took some pictures, but I see now they are not so perfect, so I leave them small. Then a little further on. A man went into the see with a lot of material, like scuba bottles and a underwater camera.

 Dieter asked him what he was going to do and he said those cormerans are very selden here and I would like to take pictures of them under water. Well I hope he was lucky, because those birds never left their rock. 

After we found a place in the shade (because yesterday we had tooooo much sun) we took our pensils and blocks to make some paintings. 

A drwaing in my small journal

Today we wanted to have our lunch in the hotel but we missed it. To night we will have dinner with a friend from us, she lives here for 40 years, is Duch and has a kapsalon her name is Lucy and we invited her to La Campana, our famous chicken place. Tomorrow we will visit one of the worlds most beautiful cities Barcelona.

By the way it is now 4 o'clock in the afternoon and very warm outside about 26 C or 82 F and that in october.

How lazy can You be?

Yesterday we had such a beautiful but tiring day, that we made a very lazy day to day. On the beautiful beach of Lloret de Mar. We got our folding chairs, put them close to the water. Our watercolor and block. Dieter painted the castle in large, I painted it smaller.

Dieter at work

Than I tried to draw some people on the beach, but that is very difficult, they move so fast. But here are some impressions.

From my small journal

The water is beautiful fresh but nice to swim and so clean. The beach here has very little stones so if You get up it is easy to get clean again as You can wipe them off.

While I was laying on my belly elbows in the sand, hands under my chin, I only could see the shade of myself on the sand and I thought: There are You, no age!  You could be 10 20 50 70 it does not matter as long as You know life is beatiful.