the chickens and the butterfly: new stuff

I had a burst of creativity yesterday afternoon and made 2 etchings, this one of a fabulously elegant butterfly, and the 3 characters below who I met recently in a local farm.

They made me laugh bobbing around on the branch, so I tried to capture their playfulness.

 All now listed in my etsy shop...

clear blue skies in Zeeland

The weather has been really beautiful the last week...clear blue skies and warm sunshine. So we've made the most of the opportunity to cycle along the coast in Zeeland, through the dunes and pine woods and even swim in the sea...which is still pretty cold! Lots of inspiration for new artwork...

the key and a whole load of hot air: new etchings

This week I've added 2 new etchings to the collection. Hot air balloons dreamily drifting through the sky and a key; to a secret garden perhaps or to a love one's heart and soul? I like the way the hot air balloon etching looks like an old fashioned sepia photograph when the etching plate hasn't been completely cleaned of ink. They are both now avaibable in my etsy shop.

it's in the bag

I've been looking for a handy belt bag for a while, for art markets in particular, and I came across this one from Nomadum. It arrived the other day and I love it! It's made of fabric rather than leather, which is what I was after and it's a good size. Great for hands free shopping!

And these were the fab stamps on the envelope!

Golden princess: a new painting

This weeks creation is of a golden princess, well to be more precise a deity called Tara from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, who hears the cries of beings experiencing suffering.  Light and dark are still very much inspiring my work....I really enjoyed working with these shiny, golden tints. She's on her way to Denmark as I write!

Art Market in Ooltgensplaat

On Saturday we attended an art market in Ooltgensplaat, a small town south of Rotterdam. It was quite cool, but the sun did shine most of the day, luckily. Here are a few photos of our display...

 We took the etching press along too and demonstrated how etchings are printed:

On sale in the Amsterdam museum shop

Yesterday this great display of postcards went on sale in the Athenaeum Museum Shop in the Amsterdam Museum. I feel very honoured to be one of the artists asked to participate in this collection of cards from artists who are members of Etsy here in the Netherlands. I love it! Oh...mine is a card of my etching of beach huts in the middle at the bottom...if you were wondering ;-)

This Saturday we're making etchings on the art market in Ooltgensplaat come and say 'hi' if you come along!

a whole fleet of paper boats

Origami was the first creative thing I remember making. I lived in Sweden when I was very small and my Mum learned Swedish with a Japanese friend and she taught us origami: the art of paper folding. I still have the Japanese book that she gave us, full of diagrams with Japanese instructions. This weekend I put these early learnt skills to good use and made a fleet of boats branded with our contact details.  

give us a twirl: a dress made of paper

 

I've been working on this dress for the last week. It was a custom order based on a similar dress I made, and sold,  a while ago. The bodice is made from handmade paper that has been prepared from scratch. Made from apple, rhubarb and banana skin pulps with abaca (a kind of hemp) and kozo (a kind of mulberry fibre). I really enjoyed working with paper again. Even the straps and binding at the back of the bodice are made from paper thread! She'll be flying off round the planet tomorrow..

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