Let’s talk,

On a cold morning I went to an area where I wanted to work for a while. It’s a divergent place, loved by locals and a bit of a shock to the system for non locals. It is reality to a high level.

When I was hiding in my two coats in the wet fog, alone in this uneasy industrial area with its ancient clay and dark sand (husbandguy went to explore and shoot his shots), realizing I could find dinosaur bones and shark teeth digging and shaping this heavy mud, placing heavy rocks, hearing the windmills and warning sounds of the energy plant and the soft sounds of the ships,  I understood how this work is my voice.

.. and yes it is occurs to me that in this political climate you must be mental to continue working as an artist. but héy, someone has to do it. ;)

Sigur Rós went home to Iceland, the 97 minutes long dvd made of the in- and outdoor concerts is called Heima. One of the best music dvd’s around. (..I think.:))

Rules.

That really hard work remains really hard work and I have no exciting photo’s.. or even not so exciting photo’s of the process. The regime of working in the studio and at home, 3 to 4 days a week on the installation alone is relentless and I am going to  let mysell get sidetracked coming week, just for the sheer fun of being sidetracked, but also to regain energy. You cannot believe how much I slept these last weeks in between the work and how many hot showers I took to wash away that lovely but penetrating sheep smell.. grinning..  I realize I need to seriously start thinking about finding that muscle man assistant or a millionaire to finance the contraption which will make work so much easier :).

And talking about sidetracks, I bought some  new plates.. rather old plates actually.. and delightfully thin old, cups to add to the collection. You know, the collection to make sure that when you set the table no cup or plate is the same..;)And to brake that rule, because what are rules for anyway, some new white teacups.. well not new either, 2nd hand for 50 ct old French (happy memories) cups.

How about Shirts for old times sake?

ow! take your socks off!!

Here I am looking at how this 2012 lies before me in all its gorgeous unspoiled glory.. oaky, minus a couple of days.

Next to 2012 is stack of portfolio’s, freshly printed at a small printers in town, and envelopes, as spotless as the year. On the other side; my agenda with a note that I have to plan my trips, with my trip wish list which I wrote safely back in 2011. ..And now I feel I am actually hesitant to start…to decide. ‘Why complicate when I could just as easily lay on the bloody beach for the entire year, or snuggle up in husbandguys arms!’, I ask myself… :)

Two links to prove the point that you really have to dream.. and step forward and maybe take off your shoes and start climbing. 1 and 2. enjoy.   and the photo? yes, handmade.

In the wake of the descision

I do not know how life is on your part of the planet but it seems the resession fear is holding us all ever so nice and snug to its chest. But as we already mapped out the mess and instead of walking backwards into our rooms, bolt the door and hide under our beds it makes sence to step forward.

This is the year where I will not teach nor focus on vedible objects, but on material knowledge, installations pieces, exhibits, the global burrow project, growth. A logical step. ( The whole story is at the Dreamer post)

but first its time for a video creatrix Lynne Brunning shared. it made me laugh and also well up.. grinning.. such a woos.. but it does say it all.  Hope to go there one day. but in the meantime, try to do good to yourself and others me dearies, and get on your way! :)

Spectacular stuff.

We are used to living in a land where the sea levels can become higher than the land, but we never take it lightly. We have flood controls, men walk on our dikes and dunes to check if all is still well on blustery days. The last flood we had here was in 1953, not that long ago really, and the effects of that flood are still noticeable in the area.

There is no spring-tide until next week but windforce10 or 9  is spectacular and good to blow away cobwebs and dusty thoughts and I went to the beach to make a Burrow. The first of 2012. The wind blew me off my feet twice, partly because that big bag of felt on my back was such a good wind catcher :). When I sat down after digging the burrow and making the first photo’s I watched how the sand covered the felt quickly untill only the longer fibers were visible from under a thick heavy blanket of sand. It surprised me that watching the felt being covered was almost painful, although I also felt a bit like Pooh.:)

lots to learn.:)

More photo’s here and music on this blustery day is something completely relaxed, IAM.

Thanks guys, hope this year treats you well.

Loads of thoughts about lots of stuff goes through my mind at the beginning of this year, but what occupies my brain most are people.

Lives change and friendships change, and some friends become acquaintances and what remains are the good memories, the shared love. So, thank you old friends, for spending your time with us, hope life will treat you well. Some people we just carefully started calling friend, and with the gathered knowledge we say again, thank you for spending time with us. And a ’thank you’ to friends we know for so long, it’s good to walk with you.

Family are the ultimate friends, (and not just because they cannot..not really.. escape you.:)) With them the biggest part of my heart and mind dwells.  A huge hug and thank you to my clan. A special thank you, goes to me mom, the ultimate well wisher and supporter.

Husbandguy, 38/45 is all I say :). x

And thank you everyone who spends time here, hope this year brings you the really good stuff. Let’s beat the crap out of the bad stuff.

We have had an incredible amount of guests and out of towners last month and I saw little of my studio, I did see a lot of home and kitchen…grinning.. and I have been listening to him a lót.. Ben Howard. (again..)

Established in 1980.

Christmas days are over, new year’s eve is near, and we are in between celebrations and family visits or sitting on the sofa with hot cocoa and good books. Hope you had good days whatever you did, laughed lots, saw Scrooge at least 3 times and drank to someone’s health.

Music link; Rachelkid is studying for graphic designer and she made a video with Mom and Dad about why our relationship is so strong and Donovan’s Hey Gyp, the song husbandguy sang to woo me. (still waiting for the mustang..:))

Do stay safe!

Have a good Christmas everyone.

Happy Christmas everyone and have a good rest.

We hope to see you, preferably in person and otherwise on the www, again in 2012.

And before you sit down after all the hard work, warm 300 ml (full fat )milk with 90 grams of pure chocolate, one spoon sugar, less than a pinch of chili-powder and pour into two pre-warmed mugs, top with whipped cream, put on Nightmares on wax with Les Nuits then sit down and breathe.

take care.

ps, last three posts @ jane’s place are about our place. :)

About interviews and a studio.

First of all; the interview Misty Ericson did with me for the magazine ‘Her circle Ezine’ is now online, go click . tell me what you think.

In between working on the new installation (in carefull steps not to make the body complain too much,)  I make sketches and write down ideas, work on small stuff and I clean,. Really I am, it just sééms to be bit of a mess. I do major cleaning and throwing away stuff in between different projects.. which is just not now.. :)

So this is how the studio looks now at the end of 2011.  I use good size bubble wrap and sheets to secure the big pieces of felt when I roll, which I leave hanging in front of the windows to dry. The wool I use for the new installation are hard felters like Shetland ao, mixed with different raw fleeces from milkbreeds.  One of my collective colleagues told me that some of the raw fleeces in my studio smell as if I just opened a húge bottle of a really good wine. ‘That wild deep smell..’    :) Sounds good to me.

In the meanwhile Irish Artist Caroline Schofield  staying here to talk work and ideas. These ideas also have wild deep smells:).

Music? Emilie Lund.

work and life.

Jane was here and I loved having her over. The morning she had to go we sat down early and agreed we will one day talk about all the things we now wanted to talk about but did not have the time for.

Jane  is a photographer and she made a gazillion photo’s of our home and our area and ( importantly) for a portfolio shots of my studio. She already posted ‘Zen and the art of pie making’ on her site. A pie made with organic apples and the blackberries husbandguy picked in the summer and put in the freezer for a rainy day.

She walked around our home and asked; ‘Why don’t you do a book?’ and ‘Have you never thought about making a book?’ or  ’A book about your work and mix it with home photo’s, you guys have such good stuff..’. ‘What about a book about life and work..’.

I promised her I would think about it.. in 2013:)

Also easy-going is Helios to accompany the sweet apple pie and photo’s of the visit.

 

‘How do you..’ and ‘can you tell me..’ and ‘is it possible to..’

Whatever the decisions, t is difficult to make a living as an artist and I sometimes feel offended by the number of emails I get in which people ask me to tell them all they want, for free, and ask me to send photo’s to explain what took me years to learn and develop..

:) But also sometimes the emails are so funny and open and if you now all promise not to use these photo’s (yes, you can repost the link to the blog:)) and give credit where credit is due, I will post here and some here, the phototurotial which was made in the old studio on the ‘How to, tell me and yes it is possible.’  A picture paints a thousand words.:)  Some of these photo’s you can find somewhere else on this blog some’ we never used.

It is cold outside so here some to warm the inside. Ben Howard’s Fire.

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Dreamer.

We, husbandguy and I, talked a lot about my work this last period of time. About the pressure, about what you dream,  about what is in your mind’s eye, about what burdens your heart, about visions. About his view on my work, about his accumulated knowledge of living with me.

(In finding the right words and directions we had some help from artists at Kipvis. I never wrote about those who form the collective. In coming weeks I will tell you a bit about the different artists there, about the artist in residency we have, about the exhibits and opportunities. )

Anyway, husbandguy and I figured it best if I made a radical decision for next year. And it’s decided  that I will not teach or try to earn any money this coming year.

Teaching or try to figure out how to make money, asks for a lot of energy. Energy needed for finding inspiration and development, for finding open doors in mind and heart. Energy needed for my body as my work takes a huge proportion out of the energy levels. It is physically hard work, especially realized in periods like this where I just started working on a new installation.

So, wide open spaces? Not completely,:) but I will do my utmost best to push the boundaries. and I bow my head to love and generosity.

Not sure if I used this music here before, dárn its good. Ben Woods.; Rebuild in silence. Stay safe guys!

* think I will call this piece ‘Where the heart is’ :)

Feet. (2) (..or 1,2,3.)

Some time ago I told you that I was working on feet. I still am and dreaming about them.

I now made three feet. The first one you saw on this blog and I like it. The 2nd one was humungous.. so heavy to make and such a pain in the.. Nr two stands, in all its glory, on the floor of my studio. I have no photo of nr two as I know it has potential but cannot figure out what the potential is.:)

The 3rd one is the smallest with its 75 cm, it is hanging high on a wall and I am smitten with it. Will miss them for sure when someone else wants them on his wall.

So..the feet quest is not yet over and I made some evening and day feet-photo’s for you. (Sweet dreams.:))

Some of Dufflefolks‘ music for this post? Nice video.

ps. If you would like (even more..:)) info about my work just click and like.  And before you get sick of all that clicking dó click on this one. His name is Filthy Luker. He is the one who made the octopus creeping out of the building. Brilliant.

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A, B, C…

This whole aabeecee stuff started with  A dutch art magazine has a column by Robbert Dijkgraaf. B, He wrote about Synesthesia. and he asks the quesiton what the colour is of the letter A… :) (No C here.)

A photographer came to see if our home is glossy magazine material. B, We talked for hours about work and stuff. Some of her work can be found on her site. C, If and when the photographer, and the stylist she works with, agree on the matter there will be a photo shoot in our home and in the studio. You bet ya’ I will tell you when and how. :)

A journalist with who(m) I had a skype interview asked; ‘On the Global Burrows blog you recently wrote that you were creating a burrow in a woods that hardly exist in the Netherlands any more.  Is part of the goal for this project to connect with endangered landscapes?’  B. What a significant question amongst a lot of good questions about the project and my work in general. Made me realize things.. afterwards. C, Her name is Misty Ericson and the skype interview is for Her Circle Enzine. Interview is due to come out in beginning dec.

A graphic designer asked if I wanted to become part of her second book about Dutch Felt when I was in the States. B, More  felt books are being produced these days. For this one also came the question if the book could contain photo’s of my work . There is no C here either but maybe I can give you a C  in the shape of phone photo’s of the newest hats I made last week to sell ànd some home stuff (now we are on the subject..) ànd the music Parov Stelar featuring Max the Sax. Soo much C for nought.:)

Take care guys, treat yourself on a moment where you realize (your) life is precious.

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I function best when I am happy..

This winding down thing… I am doing my best.

So for rest; Husbandguy is one of the most supportive amongst the males around the world and I kinda :) like spending time with the guy, he is the one that makes my heart do that soft thmb…thmb… and the fast thm.thm.thm… (Pleased to say I have the same effect on his heart:)). Our family is kinda cool (read; awesome:)), and we love the; talk, eat, walk, rest together, with them. …Eating well is part of the downtime deal anyway, so lots (lots) of good veggies, lots of tea.

But, before I went to London I already knew I wanted to bring some order back into a neglected home, and work related things as in; writing, talking, drawing and studio time is as normal. Just minus the travelling for now.

When we came home from London the UnitedFelt Gallery 2011 went online. If you have not seen it, make yourself a cup of something and click and click. In London Cynthia Reynolds and I talked about the future of Feltunited. From setting up, it was clear that our friendship and combined view was and is what makes or breaks Feltunited. And we now agreed; it is time to change things. We will ofcourse tell all as soon as we can.

So, although days are still filled,  pace is a bit slower and I am happy.

Today music by Sigur Ros. A heartmoving song and clip. Their music somehow makes me feel normal.. .:) Talking about which, help me remember to tell you about how it is to wear a hat in the area..:)

(lots of tea)