Warmond

You could say the weather forecast for today
wasn't exactly sunny
. . . .
but we (my dear friend Anet and I)
didn't think that it would be that bad

We arrived well in time in Warmond
to set up the stall and park the car on the parking lot some further away.
But we were halfway finished when a few drops fell,
and we decided it would be wise
to clamp the large white canvas sheets to the back of the stall.
And exactly that moment the rain came pouring down !!!
(thank you Anet you are such a great help !)
Stool wet, chairs wet, we wet.
Thank heaven the paintings were up (or under) the stall.
Hmmm, all stall holders were struggling
to keep their art and themselves dry.

No it didn't last very long
but, after a dry spell a new shower came.
(I was soooo happy I had packed the clamps and the big sheets)
Wet and dry alternated until early afternoon.

But YES there were customers too !
Although not as many of course
as there would have been in dry weather.
but I'm very grateful to the people that did come
with whom we had many lovely talks about my art.

The brand new Sea Spirit (see the previous post)
has a new home and one of my textile birds too.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH
I hope you enjoy your purchase a loooong time !

In two weeks time on Saturday (with daughter) to AMERONGEN

GRIETMARKT

(hopefully with better weather . . .)

birthday and painting

Yesterday
I had a lovely birthday with friends
and there will be more celebrating this Sunday :
a dinner party for a special round-figure birthday !

80


Right now the garden is looking lush with blooming trees and new greenery
(haha, birthday beauty for me !)

Just some days ago I started a new gouache painting.
After the initial idea sketch I made a bigger one 
with more elaborate details,
one ready to move onto the heavy water colour paper.
(I often use a grid for that)

I work in layers, starting with the background.
Earlier on I made the whole background in one colour
but with gouache, unlike acrylic paint,
the pigment dissolves again when the next wet layer is added
(colours start mixing !)
So now I changed that and leave certain parts open.

This far I finished today.

 

a fresh start

April started with sunshine and a few showers
but rather cold and windy
so a perfect time to start a new painting.
I always make several small sketches
of ideas that come into my head
for the narrative gouache paintings I love to make.

People sometimes ask
if I shouldn't make illustrations for (children's) books
but then I always tell them
there is already a little story in it . . .

"helping a friend"

I love the visiting birds in our garden
so here's another painting with a great tit in it.
(I made one with them before and it was sold)

Because the Amelanchier (Juneberry) in the garden is in bloom
I thought it was just right to add that one too.
The fun part is, that this (still) small tree
was sown by some bird a few years back !!!

I start with the background when the sketch is on the paper
(300grams watercolour)

There are more sketches
but, tomorrow we have daughter and the children
looking for Easter eggs in the garden
(and it doesn't matter they don't have the egg-hunting age anymore !)

a wonderful day !

Tired but satisfied
that's how I felt yesterday
looking back at another wonderful day at the
GRIETMARKT
A dear friend accompanied me there, because daughter
was flying to the UK very early today.

Thank you, lovely Grietmarkt organisation !
(and especially Nienke and husband)

As usual here, we were welcomed with coffee or tea
and the tasty "Grietmarkt-biscuit"!!!

Ready for our customers in the morning.

A sunshine day with  only a few white clouds and lovely people.

Sooooo many nice chats with old (!) and new customers.
(it's always fun to hear that people are still happy
with what they purchased in previous years !)

My latest work, the Barn Swallow
will fly to America soon !
It will be a present to people that own an old farm
that has a loooooong written history with those cute birds
(200 years !)
No better place to "fly home to", don't you think ?!
(Thanks a LOT Katy !)

My many lovely customers
made it also into a successful day !!!

THANK  YOU  ALL  VERY  MUCH  !

Art Market in BAARN

Yes,
this Sunday we have again an
Art Market :
this time in BAARN

The Cultureel Festival Baarn again organizes the market in the

PEKING TUIN

There will be performances,
workshops for kids, music
and . . .
ART !

The entry is free
and the program is from 12.00  till 17.00 

(One of my paintings for appetite !)

Our stand is near the "Baarnsche Courant Podium"
Maybe we'll see each other there

spring design

I think the second workshop in early STITCH CLUB days was that by
Merill Comeau
and I did love that one very much !
No wonder I was quite HAPPY to "see" her again
three weeks ago !!!
She introduced a fun way to start a(ny) project
but I was very sure I knew already what my design would be :

SPRING !

In our garden there were lots of aconites
showing their yellow heads
and the snowdrops were not far behind either.

Apart from using the "normal" fabrics, Merill urged us to paint our own
and also use homemade stamps on them.
However, the downside of that is that you have to stitch
through quite hardened fabric.
(and arthritis hands don't like that very much!)

Hmmmm . . . and working on a big scale doesn't help either,
but now I'm very happy with the finished piece !

the start with some stamps

the first lay out

and choosing more colours

Taking TARLATAN as backing  (because my all time favorite
Dutch textile artist Leslie Gabriëlse does that too !)

Slowly going, first with lots and lots of pins !!!

And after many hours of stitching
(and breaks in between !)
I finished it !

(hmmmm . . . the video doesn't want to load)

May

 First of Mai already
(though the day is still very young)

MAY,
means a new letter of the alphabet
in the "#bibabowildmarathom"
A challenge to make an animal in a month
(in any creative technique)
which name starts with the chosen letter,
a fun game invented by Yaroslava Troynich !

Though I'm still struggling with the previous "Q" for March,
the "C" for April resulted in a CAT for me.
I didn't make a felted cat but took half of the painting
that I'm making (and which is nearly finished)

(hmmmm, I hope only half a cat is still a CAT . . .)

So MAY
is also the time for my first Art- market :

in two weeks :

Saturday 13
in Amerongen !

De Grietmarkt

MAY
is my garden exploding in greens and whites and blues !!!

The Bluebell feast about to begin !!!

Easter Sunday (post 1111)

Months are flowing into each other
with all kinds of appointments that keep us busy.
But luckily there is also time
for stitching and painting
and 
family !
No matter how big the grandchildren grow,
looking for Easter eggs in the garden is always FUN !
So today they hunted for eggs
(hmmm, one is still somewhere hidden in the green !)
and later had a yummy dinner.

Yesterday I finished my first gouache painting
to replace the ones I sold last year on the art market.

I have three more sketches ready
for a few more
(but I surely won't finish them all before May 13,
perhaps only one !)

(detail)

a SUCCESSFUL day !

After an early start
we had more than enough time in Zeist
to prepare and place all my items on the stall.
We were some of the very lucky ones
to have a place under the trees with lots of shade !
(and Man was very glad that the parking garage
was just next to the park where the market is held :
no long walk back and no car in full sunshine !)

everything ready to GO

Early that morning I was still afraid
that people might decide against a visit
because of the extreme hot weather . . . but
it turned out that many visitors made an early start,
and they even kept coming during the rest of the day too.

What I love most
(apart from selling my art of course)
are the many lovely chats with all the visitors
that are interested in how things are being made.
It was fun to see familiar faces too.

So many different ways people decide
if and what
to buy !
I KNOW you can spend your money only once !
Some people know it right away
and some need "to think about it"
(there are choices to be made !)

It is so rewarding when they do come back
(and even decide then : to take móre than one !!!)

And I love the "stories"

This fish for example, was to be a present for a dear aunt
who has a "sea" - theme for "the smallest room" in the house !

This belt pouch was seen and snatched up right away !

So many lovely customers !!!

I wish them years of pleasure with the items they bought !

THANK  YOU  ALL  VERY  MUCH  !

A FUN day with lots of music too !

"the Nightingales" two great singers and sisters
(nót the British punk rock-band :

their Dutch name IS Nightingale  :-)  !)

And now back to some felting and stitching
for Stitch Club and for the next market in September !

what a day !

It truly was
a wonderful day
yesterday !

Our first Art-market in a long time
turned out to be very good.

Sunshine,
a quiet ride towards Amerongen
(the last bit through lovely landscape and ferry across the river)
a lovely organizing team,
many compliments about my work during the day
and
good sales too !

I sold three of my (whimsical) paintings
a belt pouch
and also two textile pieces
and some small items.

A  BIG  THANK  YOU 
TO  ALL  MY  BUYERS  !!!

I hope they have as much fun using
or seeing them on their wall
as I had making them !

And like the previous years I was there :

A  BIG  THANK  YOU
TO  THE  "GRIETMARKT"

just wonderful

This was a SUNNY day

(in more than one way !)

Saturday early morning traffic is low :

it took us only one hour to the

"GRIETMARKT"

Someone had cancelled, so the stall

between us and our next neighbour was empty

and we were allowed to divide that space between us.

(some welcome extra space, easily filled !)

Ready for the customers to arrive !

The sun shining, the stall filled,

so just time to do a quick round at the market

and greet some lovely people we met last year.

This market is such a happy mix of artistic and ecological products.

(with a welcome of the organization

with coffee / tea and something sweet !)

Lots of people came by during the day.

I talked and explained a lot about the things I make.

I received lots of compliments,

and I had wonderful new

and even some "old" customers

THANK  YOU  all very much !!!

I hope you enjoy the things you bought, for a loooong time !

And imagine this :

when we came home

our daughter had made us a wonderful dinner !

("Kip in de Hoed"   Cherry/chicken Pie)

Totally unexpected, but 

soooooooooooo sweet !!!

Thanks my love !

Grietmarkt

Yesterday Man and I were at the

Grietmarkt in Amerongen

The name comes from  

Margaretha Turnor

Chatelaine of the Amerongen Castle

in the seventeenth century.

The people of Amerongen have chosen her name
(also the flower "marguerite", which is "margriet" in Dutch !)

for their market of organic products,

art, music and other cultural events,

which they hold twice a year.

I've visited and attended several markets this year

and I must say :

this one was the best !

A good organization, a lovely place,

fun events and life music.

We had wonderful, kind helping

stand-neighbours

lovely customers and nice sales !

I hope they all enjoy their purchases

Thanks "Grietmarkt"

Just at the start of the day

Us, and the neighbours opposite with weaving products

(made by mentally disabled in a social workplace)

The wonderful ceramic birds "next door"

a silversmith and embroidered landscapes

bird feeder- coffee cups and insect hotels 

more paintings

Many, many, many people with lovely items,

I didn't take pictures of them all ...

A special fashion show by a group of "Down" people

Crafting, a puppet-show

and a small carousel for the youngest visitors !

I didn't take pictures of the many delicious

organic-food stands either, but there were many.

We took home some gorgeous chanterelle mushrooms for diner !

All in all a wonderful day !