Destination...

for a short vacation this week.

See you next weekend, with pictures, pictures and more pictures!

Land of Enchantment

Some days ago I read a post about the license plates in New Mexico in this blog. As some readers may know we visited New Mexico a few times this year and whenever I hear or read Santa Fe 'good things' happen with me, I just love that place!! You can read about it here and in this post. Since we own a motorhome that is registered in New Mexico, my interest was there!

I simply had to check whether the sentence "Land of Enchantment" was still there on our car, and luckily it was...

Being an enthusiast collage/Photoshopper, I could not resist the challenge of making a new one...

our rv's license plate

Kokopelli

and this picture of a gorgeous sunset near Cochiti Pueblo
turned into this digital collage:

Land of Enchantment

Island fever

...Because the weather is steaming hot,

this tree can be seen on St. Maarten also,

and the view over the water on another island is familiair too:

Island Fever

digital collage

This week

starting with the back of the quilt

and slowly revealing

the front!

- This week I was without internet, for a change!

By now I have learned not to be (too) frustrated and decided to use this extra time for swimming, walking and lots of reading in our hammock, for it is hot these days...

- also this week I started managing all the (fabric) stuff that is in our house, omg, what was I ever thinking??!! This will take a lot of time, since there is way too much. There are:

fabrics bought years ago for making quilts

fabrics for making clothes

and fabrics for making all kind of other 'fabricy' things

No pictures of this proces, for surely you can imagine this mess!

- last but not least: this week, on 21 September four years ago, I moved to this island

*****

All this activities led me into 'memory lane'

of a time when there was no (or hardly) internet, when I was living in a farmhouse with husband and three children, was having a demanding job, and at the same time used every minute left to make quilts, quilts and more quilts.

So today's pictures show this very traditional Feathered Star quilt, made by me, in 1995 (or was it 1996?) and though I don't ever want to make quilts like this anymore, I will always cherish this one...

Agave

digital collage

From my place

to yours...

a happy weekend!

Deeper Creativity - Finale

Still trying to understand, trying to let the creativity out from deep within, letting

the collages speak... these are all done without any previous planning.

'Little peaces of life', the words say in French, but :

- why did I choose these words?

- why do all these eyes look at me, are they expecting something from me?

Until today not clear to me...

Ouverture/Opening

- opening up? finally?

- caused by a glass of wine in a relaxed atmosphere?

- but then again: why the words Ice Sauna?

- Ice after the Sauna?

Now: finally! This one really speaks, to me at least!

Lots of letters

- Day by day

- Moments

- home deco style

- job hopper

-traveling

-museums

and

the color RED!!

Visiting Vancouver

After our stay in the Olympic National Forest it was time to pick up our son at the airport of Tacoma, where he had flown in from Europe. The three of us had decided that the first thing to do after entering Canada was a visit to Vancouver. We had heard very positive things about this town so were very curious. Visiting a big city with a camper is not really our thing, so we found a campground in one of the suburbs and could easily go downtown with the Skytrain.

Detail of a First Nations Totempole in Stanley Park

View from historic Gastown towards the Vancouver railways and harbour

'my' men trying to understand the technique behind the Steamclock in Gastown

as you may know I love murals, so this one I had to capture... it is of the Vancouver Gastown Fire Department

entering Chinatown

whenever we are in big cities like this, we try to walk, simple pleasure,

always good for simple beauty

and sometimes you just have to hold your head high,

Oh, I loved these guys!

Gastown is a historic industrial part of Vancouver, that has wisely been saved from

project-developers and has been turned into a wonderful, friendly neighborhood chockfull of (Inuit) galleries, shops and restaurants. And: flowerbaskets galore!

Vancouver fashion? So different from the Antilles!

Downtown Vancouver from the Lookout, in the distance is Vancouver Island.

We could have spent way more time there, as we enjoyed this city and its nice inhabitants very much; but we had three weeks for our stay in Canada, so we had to travel on.

To be continued...

Deeper creativity

After we returned from our vacation in the USA/Canada in August,

I followed a short collage online workshop with Shelley Klammer.

Some results I posted here and here and last week I showed this one

The purpose was to free your creativity, by making a quick collage at the start

of every day during the course. Without much thinking (it had to be done quickly!), without being bothered by design principles, technique choices etc. Then during the day you had to let the collage speak to you... I must say that this is the most difficult part of it, being a rather down to earth person, but yet the meaning of the collages keep me wondering:

Why did I choose the word enduring mysteries? And why did I choose these particular images?

It is true that I am intrigued by the unknown, which is presented by the religious and asian symbols in this collage.

But maybe it is not important at all to have the answers, maybe just 'wondering why' is enough...

A perfect Monday: Good Morning!

Fort McLeod (Alberta, Canada)

digital collage

Yep, this is how today started! During my daily walk, early in the morning, I happen to meet just very kind people that are, like me, taking an early walk along this wonderful beach. Maybe for other reasons than I do, but that is not important, it is just o.k. and I'm sure they feel the same healing from the ocean...

So Good Morning, to all of you! If you wonder where this lovely beach is: go to this site, and you will see.

And then, the afternoon finally braught me this movie: Legends of the Fall! Starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and many others.

OMG, I can't believe it: I've had it in the house for months now and somehow never seemed to have the time to watch it; since it is quite old already, I'm feeling like a hobbit, or hermit, but alas, better late than never...

The countryside of the movie, being filmed in Alberta, British Columbia and Montana, brought back many sweet memories from our recent journey there. Isn't it funny what coincidence life brings sometimes?

Bear Claw

Digital collage

Composed of images made in Buffalo Bill Historical Center

Cody (Wyoming)

USA-Canada trip 2009

Cowboys, cowgirls and hats... it is all cowboy there in Cody!

lovely boots galore...

Buffalo Bill 'Cody' , after which this little city has been named

the Plains Indians exhibit in
Buffalo Bill Historical Centre, Cody

there was a quite extensive collection of Plains Indians clothing. All images are clickable

+ + + + + +

This past summer we made a nine week trip with our camper throughout the USA and Canada. While arranging and renaming my pictures, I realized there is a gap in my posts about this journey, mainly due to poor internet connections while traveling. And once home again, everyday life seems to beg for my attention. Today I try to catch up in reporting about our trip with our visit to Cody (Wyoming)

So far we had traveled New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. And on we went to Yellowstone National Park via the east entrance. There in Wyoming, on the day before we arrived at Yellowstone, we spent a lovely day in Cody. It is a ghost town, was a busy wild west town once, we were told. But in fact it was quite lively when we were there. In the morning we visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre. There were five exhibits at that time; most interesting for us was that of the Plain Indians and the exhibit of Buffalo Bill Cody.

We really enjoyed our visit to this town!

Cycles

Collage

6 x 8"
magazine pictures, torn

One thing leads to the other

Sorting out fabrics in my studio

led to starting a new quilt, a traditional one this time,

in a color scheme like the threads below

Some 50 triangle blocks per day

must lead to a finished quilt pretty quickly!
To be continued...

My tree... Getting Arboreal

Julie Prichard, from the Land of Lost Luggage, has taken the initiative again: Getting Arboreal is the name of this tribute to nature, where bloggers from everywhere post pictures of their favorite tree during the year.

You too can join!

Here you can find all the information to participate.

Let me explain about my choice...

It could easily have been the one with the orange blosson, the July cq. Flamboyant Tree. At the moment it is still flowering all over our island, it is beautiful, and it could have been my choice. But I was looking for something else...

So I went to the only park we have on the Dutch side of our island, the Emilio Wilson Park, and pictured this: don't the seeds look very promising? I'm fond of their shape, they look like dots which I often use in my work. Again, this could have been it, my tree...

But then, finally, in that same park, I knew: this one is the tree I want to present to all of you!

Why, you wonder?!

Is it beautiful? Mwah...I could easily find a tree that is more impressing, but hey:

this is the tree where I have had my stand during

ART IN THE PARK

for the last three years!

!

It provides shadow for the often relentless Caribbean sun,

shelter for the unexpected heavy rains,

its branches offer a splendid place to exhibit my quilts,

apparently nothing special, but for me it is a tree with a very special, personal meaning

And you, what is your favorite tree?

This year...

has been a good one for me, again

No, it's not December 31, I know,

but for me a new year of my life has started today!!

Last year has given me:

- beauty

while living near the ocean on a Caribbean island,

by travelling in foreign countrysides, by meeting lovely people

- creativity

while working in my studio, in sewing, painting, working with paper and glue; this all being possible

because I am free to spend the days as I want to

- inspiration

through the internet, the blogging community, through reading and often simply looking around and being

aware

- health

probably the most valuable of all. I am so glad with my body, that everything 'works' in the

proper way, that it serves me so I can do what I want, without being held back by physical problems

and most of all

- love

from the love of my life, whom I married 37 years ago, from my three wonderful

children, from my friends both in Holland and on the island

I am so grateful for that, happy birthday to me and:

THANKS ALL OF YOU! 

Peyto Lake, July 2009

Banff National Park

Canada

Baie Orientale

This morning, on my way to the beach for my daily walk, I came along these lovely houses 

 

Now, who would not get happy seeing these exuberant colours?

I am sure they have been inspired by this...

Baie Orientale, St. Martin, today

It's that time of the year

Message from our Government tonight:

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR DOMINICA...GUADELOUPE...

ST. MARTIN...ST. BARTHELEMY...ANTIGUA...BARBUDA...MONTSERRAT...ST.

KITTS...NEVIS...ANGUILLA...ST. MAARTEN...SABA...AND ST. EUSTATIUS.


Because of the expected high swells, we did not go to the beach today, but went shopping in Marigot, the capital of French St. Martin (capital is really a very big word!)

Dilapidated houses, which I like so much, not to live in of course, but from an artistic point of view...

Here is some eye candy, and some traditional clothing you can still see around here. But to be true, most French ladies prefer the latest fashion from the catwalk in Paris...

In the meantime we have prepared our house and garden, again, and hope that this storm will not bring the amount of rain that is forecasted.