Nowhere near normal

The end is not in sight… Nowhere near… We are at our destination as it seems, at home. That is why I have been working at my mini gallery for the roadside. Here you’ll be able to see one or two sculptures on exhibition and you’ll be able to buy some pieces right away. The ‘Kunstsurprise’ or Art surprise, a box for € 11 with a tiny artwork in it and the Potato whistle for € 20.- plus some other pieces that make excellent gifts. I’ll be honoured to send it to the person who deserves it, for you. In the coming period more things that are on show on the Rembrandt Art Market will be in my shop. Now I’m off to my studio to get the gallery fixed! (You can see it happening on Instagram)

Gift Season

Gift Season... Along with the wind and the rain thoughts of ‘The Lists’ trickle into my head. What would who long for, what would I wish. With all of the plastic whirling around our heads and all utter nonsense we so seem to need it appears to be a challenge to make the giving season a nice one once again. But it is possible! You can ask for donations to plant a food forest or for the Green Wall in Africa, you can ask outgrown good and clean wintercoats for a good cause in your community but you might also give home made jam or socks you knit by yourself! If by any chance you’re no part of the handy crowd there are several people that make beautiful things. They work locally and take care of the environment just like you do and they pay taxes, just like you. Your money won’t flow into the deep pockets of Amazone and Bol who keep some people wealthy and underpay the rest. For the sweetest mirrors you can go to SophieLanham.com, for the funniest bags to SashaWendt.nl, for lovely graphics to ErnaKuik.weebly.com and for sculpture here with me for sure. And, don’t forget, when you buy art from a woman, you’ll get more for your money’s worth! hashtag#buyart hashtag#beauty hashtag#gift hashtag#woman hashtag#life hashtag#beautiful

clockwise; work of Sasha Wendt, Erna Kuik, Saskia de Rooy, Sophie Lanham

This summer

Last summer Joost (Lijbaart) and I were married for 20 years. The camshaft of our car broke on our anniversary and instead of going out for dinner we were waiting for the tow truck service to pick us up. This appeared to be an adorable guy who was taking his (Sunday)shift with his wife and daughters. We got a replacing car and our car was put on a transport back to NL. A few weeks later my bag was stolen with an overload of important things in it. Plus the key of the borrowed car and the key of the borrowed house. I was invited to stay with people I met only that day, organisers of the market I was in. The day after the portrait mask of Frida Kahlo found a home. Again one week later I was travelling to Africa with Under the Surface (Sanne Rambags, Bram Stadhouders and Joost Lijbaart), my first visit to this continent. I saw trees that were doubling as shops, filled with baskets. I saw elephants bathing, lions eat and zebras and gnoe and red dragonflies. I saw Mango and Kapok trees and mahogany and ebony trees and sisal plantations, lasting from colonial times (isn’t our entire world lasting from colonial times?) and a turtle of 194 years of age…I talked about compost and slave trade, about bananas and cashews and got the great music as an extra gift.

Such a great summer.