cairn - part 2

When ceramic artist Anita Huybens came back from a hiking tour through the Chilean Andes she started a series of works based on the local version of 'cairns' called Apacheta or Stone-men. Travelers passing over the mountains will place a stone on top of the structure to ask the spirits for a safe return from their journey. Anita's life is a long journey with many difficulties and so she made her own Stone Sculptures, each one with a meaning and symbolizing the good things and people around her.

cairn - part 1

Cairns are artificial piles of stones, often in conical form. They are erected as landmarks, indicate paths across stony or barren terrain. Along hiking trails it is traditional for someone passing to add a stone. These cairns are found all over the world in mountainous regions.

these 'cairns' marked the entrance to the site were Guy Forge had his sculptures during the art tour in Tourinnes-la-Grosse. I like this picture because it shows only stones. Man-made like the bricks of the wall in the back, the others from nature but still manipulated by men, into pavement or built up in a 'cairn'.
And of course, it needs no more explanation why I'm drawn to this : my obsession with piled up objects.

all posts on the art tour Fêtes de la Saint-Martin : click HERE

Gallery Hartdiest - part 2

gorgeous lighting by Marjan Vrankulj

assemblage by Lisa Mei Ling Fong


more assemblage by Raf Veulemans

intriguing piece by Raf Veulemans & Marc Janssens

art gallery Hartdiest - part 1

Dimitri Pichelle

Jo Pirard

Marc Janssens

Johan Nieuwborg

exhibition at Galerij Hartdiest

not a christmas tree

Merry Christmas

can't help it

Frozen Fountain

another 'pile-up' crazy object called Grandfathers Predilections

from Vika Mitrichenka

There seem to be a lot of people who like to pile up things

from Piet Hein Eek

furniture made from recycled boards

hadn't seen this 'bowl' before

I like to go to the Frozen Fountain when in Amsterdam
a shop in a nice location with interesting design

going crazy

the garden this morning was SO beautiful, I made hundreds of pictures. We're expecting visitors, otherwise I would still be making more.

Found this frozen pigeon in the garden yesterday, I can't get enough of this picture. I haven't figured out why.

self portrait

fascinating Lieve Prins

Strolling through the Jordaan quarter we noticed eye catching artworks in a window (that is why the image is not so good, taken from an angle to keep out my reflection). They reminded me of a performance we saw at a friends house who is a childhood friend of Lieve Prins. The works are from her latest series Idolls.
Lieve Prins is a pioneer in copy art. Manipulating the copier, building up her work with A3 and A4 copies, she developed a specific image language. A closer look on the 'Anthropomorphs' works reveals that the trees are made from arms, legs and hands. Gorgeous flowers are in fact fists, really fascinating to discover what the image is made from.

fluorescent environment

Also in the Jordaan quarter we spotted this through an open door. The round paintings caught my attention because of the interesting texture,like cracking peeling paint (I do have a soft spot for peeling paint). It seemed to be the latest work of artist Nick Padalino. The basement of the house contains The First Museum of Fluorescent Art ; a room sized Fluorescent Environment where the visitor becomes a part of the piece of Art, and then experiences "Participatory Art".
Because of the use of fluorescent paint and ink, his paintings and pictures will light up in the dark with the use of blacklight.

the third word in my blog title - I love this

I absolutely love African wax fabrics. These plastic plates have African fabric patterns on them. I would love these on my table in the garden during summer. They would have been perrrrfect for my garden party.

From Sentou.

for sale in Kitsch Kitchen
Have a panoramic view at the shop by clicking here. Not recommended if you have a color or kitsch allergy.

design recycling - Maarten Baas

While walking through the 'Nine Streets' area in Amsterdam I passed this hairdressers shop and spotted these tables through the window. So I popped in to ask if I could take a picture. The tables are from designer Maarten Baas and are made from second hand furniture. He has this range called "Hey Chair, be a Bookshelf".

Right up my alley!! One of a kind design, unique pieces.

I do love his 'Eppur Si Muove' referring to Galileo also, a sculpture that needs the sun to get its significance. I could take the picture from his site but I do feel uncomfortable doing that, so I only use my own pictures.

UPDATE : another post on Maarten Baas HERE

guns for tools, arms into art

Fiel dos Santos

The 16-year of Civil War in Mozambique left many weapons and mines in the country. A project was set up : guns-for-tools, transforming arms into tools so that people could pick up a normal life again. The dismantled weapons were given to an artists collective Nucleo de Arte that turned the arms into art.

In both of the sculptures on the pictures you can recognize butt ends of guns, bazooka's, pieces of landmines ...

Gonçalo Mabunda

pictures were taken in the Galerie 23 on the KNSM island in Amsterdam


Olga Dengo

And what do we spot here? the painting I liked so much during the Antwerp Open Studio days

To view more posts on Olga Dengo, use the 'search this blog' on the top right of the page.

nostalgic glory

The KNSM island - that stands for Royal Dutch Steamboat Company, the company that served the Dutch colonial territories - houses a few galleries and stores. The KNSM building with its former luggage hall and arrivals and departures hall is available for exhibits and cultural events. The upstairs Kompaszaal from the fifties, open for lunch and dinner, has been restored in its original state. It is impressive in its own way, a rather cold and austere design, but yet there is this contradiction in feelings because of the strong nostalgia. I have no difficulty imagining people waiting here for the ships that will take them to far away places.

nice place

The Public Library in Amsterdam is a nice place to go online. A brand new, airy building next to the Central Station. The whole area is still a building site, but it is worth the trouble getting there.

my kind of thing

We just got back from Amsterdam where we spent the past 4 days. So yes, I've been cheating a bit with my daily posts, publishing prepared drafts.
All those who know me will see why I simply had to take this picture. I'm an absolute cheese addict, this 'pile up' (a constant in my work) makes this Christmas tree my favourite of the season.

The picture was taken at a cheese shop in the famous district called the 'Nine streets'.

new light 3

new light 2

new light 1

lights

Every year I take the green glass balls as decoration for this season, they were once used by fishermen. This year I added the white glass globes, normally used as wall lights.

eco-friendly decoration

Every room in our house has a different atmosphere. I'm at home all day, so I like to be able to 'travel' from one room to the next. According to the season or my moods I will spend more time in one room or the other. The decoration will be different in each space.
The upstairs landing is used as a library, since the space is very big. The Christmas decoration here is according to the theme of the room. The idea of the paper pendants came from a Marie Claire Idées some years ago and they are very easy to make.
The pictures on the wall are enlarged copies - on very thin almost transparent paper - of our family portraits. Pasted on the wall it almost looks like they're painted on it as you don't really see the paper edges. I prefer this to loads of small frames, I don't need to take the dust off these. They're just perfect on this flight of stairs.

eco-friendly gift wrapping

I can't remember the last time I bought wrapping paper for presents. I can't say I already saved a tree this way, but all small efforts count. The funny thing is that the receivers of the gifts are sometimes more pleased or surprised by the wrapping than its contents. And it doesn't stop with this single use, our friends and relatives will use them for their gifts too.

important tip : check with the owner of the shirt if he agrees with you cutting off the sleeves.

kindergarten for cars

Every time we happen to drive past this spot where these cuties are for sale, I think it looks like a kindergarten for cars. These cars are SO tiny.

Some have extra storage space

rainbow colours

a glamorous one with 'eyelashes'

some with 'handles', I can't stop thinking that it looks like you could lift this car by its 'handles' on the rear and the front and carry it to a parking space.

very funky interior - is it fifties?

FIAT 500