music and flowers

Spring was in full bloom this week in the art centre with musical accompaniment from this antique gramophone...

Sint Annastraat, Breda

Beautiful Breda, here in the Netherlands, last week. Met some new Etsy people and their 'real' shops in the Sint Annastraat....a very cool street....the highlight was cafe couture vintage seller of handmade clothing and accessories, who's desk was an ironing board and footrest a mini sleeve ironing board.

dutch design chair

Yesterday I came across a fantastic shop in Bergen op Zoom here in the Netherlands. It sold all kinds of innovative objects and fair trade products. One of the pieces was this amazing stool made completely from cardboard and assembled in a matter of minutes. It can support up to 200kg and is really sturdy, but light to lift. I love it! Slippers weren't included...

the sun came to Zeeland!

At last! After weeks of cool, rainy weather, the sun was shining today (after a lot more rain!). It was a gorgeous day...managed to capture these photos...hope to paint tomorrow!

sunny side of the street

I love watching this artist working...so much light in the painting

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...

British birds

I just received this really gorgeous journal through the post from Dorothy Jane. Being a British bird myself I fell in love with it at once.

It's full of secret hiding places for notes and thoughts and my favourite bit are the vintage bird images...oh and the library cards.

plant your mousse and eat it

These look like a lot of fun to make for spring. 100% edible chocolate mousse plants (apart from the glass and spoon that is!). It's chocolate mousse covered with biscuit crumbs and finished off with a sprigg of an edible plant, like mint or lavender. Here's the recipe in English, and here in Dutch. Pretty cute! (photos are from these two sites)

I got mail: letters in the post

Some vintage letter stencils that I ordered from Vintage Gatherings arrived this morning neatly packaged in its original box. How cute are these! In perfect condition...

I'm looking forward to using them on some collages...they're great...I have a cunning plan! Very happy :-)

Wight light: beach holiday photos from the Isle of Wight

These are The Needles off the western corner of the Isle of Wight (off the south coast of England) and it's where I get to hang out when I visit my family. How lucky am I?!! As you know, the coast and it's colours and light are a constant inspiration for our art work. I find it amazing how different it is to where we live in the Netherlands, which isn't really that far away. 

The sea is obviously more dramatic opening directly out onto the Atlantic. Surfers love this beach. Those are chalk cliffs in the background.

And the beloved beach hut. I could hang out here all year. This is on Steephill Cove, a particularly charming place to spend a holiday with small shops and cafes nestled in the huts looking out directly over the sea. 

Just to add to the nostalgia, a couple of photos from a vintage car exhibition that we went to...

The shapes are great!

And a beautiful rainbow to end with... all food for new art!

beautiful zeeland: translating light and energy onto canvas

Even in winter, this is our favourite place to be, along the dune coast of Zeeland. Zeeland is a province in the south west corner of the Netherlands where we live and is made up of a group of islands joined together with dykes, dams, bridges and tunnels, and I love it here. It doesn't matter whether it's the middle of summer and full of tourists or midwinter and quiet, the light is always interesting along with the movement of the sea. The colours are continually changing.

We take our bikes and spend all day cycling the paths up and down through the dunes and woods.  On the warmer days I pack my swim suit of course! The sights remain an inspiration for our art work. That you can see as far as the eye and the curvature of the Earth will let you. We enjoy the challenge of translating the colours and light. 

andrea cook - coast: oil on canvas 100 x 40cm

And of course the challenge of translating the energy and power of the sea onto canvas.

francesco antonietti: acrylic on canvas 80 x 60cm

andrea cook - waves: oil on canvas 60 x 50cm

There will be more to come, so watch this space!

the sun sets on the ice

The ice is apparently supposed to melt soon so I took these photos in Tholen just as the day closed and before the skates head back up to the attic.

a day in photos...Tholen in the snow

So many beautiful scenes today with a bright sun despite the freezing chill in the air. I thought I'd just share a few...enjoy...