WHAT HAPPENED????

Where did September go?  I have some catching up to do.  This blog will be a bit of this and a bit of that. 
Piet Hein and his wife Janneka who have stayed at our place in Vancouver  had us over to their place for lunch.  They live in a big Polder (land that has been claimed from the sea) north of Amsterdam about 1 1/2 hours away near a town called Volendam.  They live in one of the old farm house/barns.  As the farms join up they do not need so many of the barns so people are starting to buy them as homes.  These are the kind of places where the family lived in part of it and the barn was attached for the cattle with the hay stored in the middle.  The Polder is about 15 feet below sea level.

Of course we went to a windmill.  They cost about 20,000 to 30,000 Euro to maintain per year. There used to be about 80 of them and now there are about 15 left in that area.  The one we went into was a water pump.

water pump windmill

The house inside the windmill

This would be the screw that brings up the water to a higher level.

Civic building in the Polder

Dutch landscape

Some interesting visuals around our neighbourhood....

The canal we live on.

moving day from the 3 floor for the neighbours

our neighbours boat returning from getting the bottom repainted

fishbowl setup in an aquarium in a cafe

love the colour pallette

Opera singer travelling around on this boat and giving impromptu concerts

our friend Evold on a canal boat with us.  His wife Marianne made the cake!

what to do with an old bridge...stores in the old bridge and offices above

crooked house

We took a trip with our friends Marianne and Evold to Maastricht which is in the south of Holland about two hours or so away.  

One of the towers

cobblestone streets everywhere

we climbed the red tower

old church

view from the tower

cool store entrance...love the old speakers

beautiful cafe

thick metal door to the bookstore

this is the bookstore...in a church!

cafe in the church/bookstore

street musicians....four accordions!!

wood front on this storefront

When in Maastricht we went to the fabulous museum called Bonnefanten.  They were having a furniture show by a famous Dutch designer,  Marten Vissers, now passed away.  Also included was his and his wife, Joke's amazing collection of art.  Most of this art and his furniture had been in their house which was designed by Gerret Rietveld.

Entrance to the gallery

Sol Le Witt

Giving you some perspective...also the room was a dome

Marten Visser's couch

Marten and Joke's collection

Marten and Joke's Collection

Sol Lewitt's colour palette for a piece painted on the wall

Sol Lewitt

Sol Lewitt's piece on the wall.  Two days after we saw it they painted it over in white.

Ceramic installation

Richard Sera

Men tired after gallery

We stayed in this lovely town outside of Maastricht called Norbeek.  A great little inn with only 6 rooms and an amazing chef and a great wine list.   Only one road and lovely walking paths.  They had a huge church though!

Marianne and I on the terrace of our hotel

One street in the town and this huge church

 

Hmmm....looks like they were trying to spell Arntzen!

A peek inside the wall of a housing complex

Love the box car red on this place

old barn

Marianne and Evold took us on a walk about the area

grapes, cows, sheep, horses and apples

At every intersection there is a place to pray

gorgeous views everywhere...this is right on the Belgium border and the hilliest part of Holland

typical house from this area

same style but painted

very organized garden...not like at our home

On the way home we stopped in Thorn where all the buildings are painted white.  Lovely little town with community gardens, babbling streams with trout and great cafes.

Our dear friend Rob celebrated his 60th with lots of family and friends and great food.  Pauline and Simon and Alida came over from Canada to help celebrate.  Our very first trip to Amsterdam was with Pauline over 15 years ago.   We went to markets, piano concerts with tap dancing, canal boating, bike riding and visited old haunts. 

Alida and Pauline

Simon and Arnt kicking back

very skinny canal

boat from Indonesia

Interesting plant...but after all it is Amsterdam

reminds us of our old cabin on Gabriola Island

typical Dutch Boyer sailing vessel

and another one

then there is this!!

 

 

 

 

 

these bridges are all over and a man opens them up and then bicycles to the next one to open

the ugliest boat in Amsterdam

Theo who rents and restores grand pianos put on this outdoor concert and yes she is tap dancing on the piano!

Went to a Festival at NDSM in Amsterdam Noord.  Lots of music, kids stuff, food, beer and prosecco.   They had the best set up of stage and sun covers.

Not sure about this Teddy Bear!

This stage all folds up and gets towed away

Shipping container bar at NDSM

Love the tents they used...metal and aged canvas

Nothing like kids and inner tubes

cutest juice bar

cutest car on the merry-go-round

cutest bike on merry-go-round

He is the most creative busker I have every seen.  Plays classical music on the organ (note the paper going through) and plays along with his horns, steers boat and turns crank of organ all at the same time!  To get money he sells postcards that he raises up on a fishing pole with a wooden shoe on the end for the money!  So creative!

double rainbow over Nemo

Our cousin Randi who lives in Isreal came to visit.  Had a great time with dinners, bike rides and lots of catching up on family.

gondola on the canal

Valerie and Randi relaxing and taking in the view

Randi

Arnt

Arnt and Swan friend

Houses right on the canal

swans going by the front door

Next up more cousins...Helle and Ola from Norway on their second trip to visit us and Kaja and her brand new baby from Copenhagen.  This trip we walked around town as we had the baby pram.  Lots of dinners on the beautiful house boat they were staying in on the Amstel River.  They also all came to our show at NP40!

this is the house boat they rented on the Amstel

Ola and Helle suit this lifestyle

view from the houseboat

Cousins Kaja, Kornelius, Ola and Helle

Ola, Arnt and I went to the newly opened Stedelijk Museum which is the big modern museum here in Amsterdam.  It has been closed for over eight years.  Fantastic collection.  It is huge and we only got to see part of it so Arnt and I will go back.  Ola and I also went to the Oud Kerk (old church) and Arnt took the gals to the Waterlooplein Market.

new addition attached to the very old building

outdoor portion of the cafe

installation in the new addition...goes all the way around in a square

this was a film from Chernobyl...very haunting images

Canadian Rodney Graham's camera

Happy to be in the Stedelijk

the orange room

a peek out to the big park that is part of the Museum area

Great ceramics..all different artists

this was about 6 foot long and made of wood

installation by Dan Lavin

love this man's paintings

Matisse

Ellesworth Kelly...93 and still painting

Of course I love this piece!

Yves Klein

Jan Schoonhoven (cardboard)

Just the lips of this portrait

love the Buddha watching himself on TV

crazy metal, wood and leather 3D piece

Finally our show at NP40 Gallery.  We made all the art here in Amsterdam (except for my prayer flags) in our home studio.  We were pleased with the gallery space and how the art looked.  And most of all lots and lots of people came.   Great conversations about art and life and good reaction to our show.  Special thanks to Rob and Eric for all the help and support.  What is left from the show we will show at the Eastside Culture Crawl in Vancouver.  

If you got this far thanks for checking out the blog.  It was a long one as I had not posted in a while.  There will be a couple more posts and then we leave Amsterdam.

getting started

maquettes of new designs by Arnt which will someday be full size

Helle, Joos and Maraatsj

the youngest visitor, Kornelius 3 1/2 months

Millie from England and Hans from Amsterdam

Sabina, Alexander and Harold

we inspired a little girl to make art

ended the night with dinner at the house boat with family and friends