After a long and very busy week, yesterday’s outing was a real treat: It started around 10am when friends Hayley and Gavin invited us on a day trip to the National Park Hoge Veluwe. This park is a real gem of The Netherlands as it consists of 5500 hectares of unspoilt woodlands, grassy plains, sand drifts and is the natural habitat of deer, mouflans (goats) and wild boars. The best way to see the park is by bike of which there are hundreds of free ones at your service, especially for park visitors. We all hopped on one each and set off to explore our surroundings. The air was so beautiful and reminded me very much of the fresh air of the West Coast of Canada. I was in heaven as I rode past moss-covered rocks, baby pine trees and thousands of lofty conifers. The most bizarre and beautiful of all was the sand field which just appeared before our eyes after riding through a few kilometres of thick forest, it was as if we had ridden on through a travel machine which had taken us right into the sahara…

As if that wasn’t enough to captivate us, right in the heart of the parkland is the Kröller-Müller Museum which houses an extensive collection of works by living and long gone artists, including some 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

Two artists who tantalised my artist taste buds were Tom Claassen …

and Anselm Kiefer…

images from White Cube.

Although things got a little obscure with Anselm when we all discovered that he had used his sperm in one of his sculpture creations. Needless to say before we walked away in shock we all took a look at this masterpiece.

There is also a world famous sculpture garden within the museum grounds that we did not get time to visit but we are all keen to go back in warmer weather, take a picnic and spend a long lazy afternoon amongst the forest surroundings. Thanks again Hayley and Gav for a fab day out!

all other images courtesy of the Kröller-Müller Museum

Yesterday I managed to drag myself away from the killer deadline to go and pick up some of my prints. Racing against time on my little bike I zoomed past the many beautiful galleries in the Jordaan area of Amsterdam, wishing I had more time to stop. But one particular gallery window did manage to stop me dead in my tracks, striking me with that ever-present bolt of inspiration. It was the Wieke Ververs gallery, and it is currently featuring these absolute beauties…

Check out the Ververs Gallery blog to find out more info about these works. Oh I love Amsterdam!

This morning I woke up to the first snowfall of the year. I found the chestnuts tucked away cosily in their shells on the trees, dangling delicately like baubles.

And in the garden I found this beautiful butterfly shape amongst the frost covered leaves.

After a morning bagel I was off to the studio and on my way home this afternoon I came across these inspiring windows… (Click here to read more…)

I usually make alot of the gifts that I give for Christmas, especially to the children of the family. But this year that has been a far fetched dream. Instead I did all my Christmas shopping at the most spectacular store last weekend, and what a find and so appropriate for my life: a French inspired boutique that is right in the heart of Amsterdam. And you won’t believe that I actually found the most beautiful pillow cover embroidered with the Australian flag in a soft blue fabric with white stitching. What are the chances of that?

The service there was incredible, and check out the wrapping: snowflakes and stars nestled under cellophane on craftbrown & gold paper. Fantastique! It reminds me of how I used to wrap Christmas gifts in my store in oz, but mine was just plain brown craft paper with rose petals under the cellophane layer, I love those colours as you are probably well aware by now. Wondering where I went?

Rivièra Maison!

Check out there website, maybe you can guess what I’ve bought by looking through the catalogue. And here is an interesting article I also found about them on squidoo. Ooooh la la.

You may have gathered from my last very australian related posts that I may be missing my birth home just a little bit at this time of year. But it is just a little bit, becuase I am absolutely loving my new home: Amsterdam. I have been dying to show you my favourite canal, all lit up. So last night after work I dashed out with my camera and tripod and snapped some shots for you. I am now nursing my frost-bitten finger tips but worth the effort, I just wish you were with me, I could have used a hand and someone to make me laugh while I froze!

(Click here to read more…)