Another Caribbean island (1)

Last week my husband went on a business trip to one of our neighbouring islands and I decided to go with him, since this island was the only island of the former Dutch Antilles I had not yet visited.

It is about 20 minutes flying from St. Maarten with what looks like a toy airplane. I could see the co-pilot taking care of handles and such, while the pilot himself was reading the morning paper....

Upon arrival we were checked by the Dutch Marechaussee; the people of St. Eustatius have chosen to remain a part of the Netherlands (not striving for independence) and are now a special entity within the kingdom of the Netherlands. The airport was very low profile, as you can see

The neighbourhood around our hotel had several treasures to discover, like this old entrance in a ruin. The island of St. Eustatius once was a very wealthy and prosperous part of the Netherlands Antilles, as you can still see in the old centre of its only city, Oranjestad



At the side of the hotel I discovered this place, look at the old tree trunk base at the right!

Opposite of the road was a lovely place that had been restored, where I found these windows with old weathered vases. If you click the image, you can see the island of Saba in the distance.

Remnants of a very old pier, remnants of times gone by

Time for coffee on the hotel deck where breakfast is being served.

The beginning of a lovely stay on Statia, as the island is affectionally called by its inhabitants. More to follow... thanks for stopping by,

Regina

Looking back and forward

Point Betsy Light Station was the first one we saw along the Great Lakes last year.

I'm looking back to our 2010 summer vacation and at the same time making plans for our upcoming trip. We saw more lighthouses and I love them all, or nearly all. One thing I noticed was the size of these buildings, compared to the ones I know from the Netherlands. The lighthouses along Lake Michigan and Lake Huron looked much smaller than the Dutch lighthouses. I've been wondering if this is because they are situated along a lake instead of the North Sea, but considering the size of these lakes this does not make sense to me. There has been a lot of maritime traveling in the past across these lakes also, like in Europe. Different technique and technology then, oh, whatever, they are simply gorgeous!

One of the vistas along the Sleepy Bear Dunes scenic byway: Lake Michigan

manmade structure, built to protect the lighthouse

and while looking around, plenty of natural beauty

I'm looking forward to what beauty lies ahead...

Art on the road 1

Seen in a galary in Glenn Arbor, MI, one year ago

These past weeks have been very hot and humid on the isle of St. Maarten. And I don't

know about you, but this weather condition is not my favorite for making art, or at least being active in the studio. I tried to start sewing clothes, but cannot do that without my ceiling fan on, and then all the patterns are flying around! Working on the veranda is a problem also because

of the many, many mosquito's. So I sit at my computer in our airconditioned office and/or read library books in our bedroom, which is not too bad...

My goal in the art field is making enough new work for the annual Art in the Park that's being organized in February and since I already made 11 new art quilts I can take it slowly with that.

I consider this charging time, charging for traveling, researching, practising Photoshop and then in a short time we will be traveling again in our motorhome, part 3 of our USA trip that will lead us to the east coast of the country.

The picture above I rediscovered on my computer yesterday, while traveling I make photographs of every piece of art I discover, in an ongoing attempt to build up a library of inspiration. I will show more of these, this one I considered a perfect beginning,

Thanks for visiting,

Regina

Well being

Collage, 5 x 7"

recycled magazines on cardstock

I don't have anything else to show and/or tell at the moment! Spending my days with sewing clothes,

sorting out all kind of stuff for a yardsale next Saturday, and in the meantime enjoying life as much as possible (that is a must for me!).

No swimming, no outings at the moment, for the weather is horrible, rain, rain, and then some more, and steamy hot. I love our fans and airco's!

Thanks for visiting,

Regina

New one

Pallas

original collage, 5x7"

recycled magazine

Friday, almost weekend!

grtz, Regina

Hello!

Here it is, our pet, enjoying the Caribbean sun in one of the trees in our yard. There are many of these at the moment, we sometimes hear them walking (or running?) on our shingled roof. I took this picture from our veranda, where we were having lunch yesterday. We use all of our meals here, maybe once of twice a year when it is too wet outside, we use our dining table inside the house.
Tomorrow is the official start of the 2011 hurricane season and you can feel the change in the weather already, no really! The past few weeks were sticky hot, grey, and we currently have a lot of showers, but mostly early in the morning, so without causing too much trouble with traffic, pedestrians etc.
Today there will be no artmaking for me. I will be cleaning away the bugs, then visiting the library (which I absolutely love) and go for some swimming in the warming waters of our island.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

New work

Three of these squares were the design for the work below


Translation series #8
I started with plain white pfd cotton, that I painted with textile
paint and diluted acrylic, stamped and stencilled and
finally raw edge appliqued


Translation series # 9

This one came out more neutral, which was one of my goals
Normally I work in bold colours, so it was pretty hard for me to stick to
my original plan,maybe that's the reason that it has much contrast.
I was told the design looks like a bird in flight, which I can see also,
but it surely is not intended to be 'something'.
To me it is abstract, the letters are not words either, you can make your own!

Translation series # 10

The fragment with text was added by me,
because I thought the design was missing something.
This decision appears to have turned it into a tree,
with a giant piece of fallen fruit on the ground

Originally I was going to make four pieces that could be hung in a square.
The fourth did not cooperate, I tried and I tried, but it did not please me at all.
Too havy, to dark and all my attempts to bring some light in it, failed.
I then jumped to a very simple solution: "Just forget it, throw
it away!", which I did.
Having worked sufficiently outside my comfort zone for the moment, I am looking forward
to the next one which is forming in my head

Thanks again for visiting!