Street scenes, Amsterdam

Kids' conveyance

The end of the afternoon

Waiting for the tram

The green line is marked at intervals with distances. We encountered these plucky
joggers again at the start of the track and the end of their run 

At the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam

In the museum shop

The Tropenmuseum's wonderful ethnography collection is based on Dutch colonial history, eg Indonesia and Suriname ... it's one of my favourite places in Amsterdam. I first visited it with my son when he was 12, and the displays have really been updated in the decades since then, within the constraints of a 19th century building. 

This time, we spent a lot of time in a photographic exhibition, Masters of Photography, and saw the film of how Steve McCurry found "the Afghan girl" ... which you can see on youtube. 

Last time the museum had a big exhibition on the colour red - what a simple idea, and how amazing it was, so many objects drawn from the rich collection (175,000 objects and 485,000 other items). This time, a well-known (but new to me) artist called Jasper Krabbé had gone down into the storage area and found dozens of objects of all sorts which he grouped into nine "rooms" - without labels - so you simply looked at the objects, rather than found out about them. His own drawings and paintings were mixed in and everything was very nicely set out. I took zillions of photos in "Soulmade", but resisted buying the "catalogue". The show, which is on till 25 January 2015, reminded me of Grayson Perry going into the vaults of the British Museum to assemble his "Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman" show in 2012.

Krabbe's installation was rich and diverse and beautifully grouped, often on and in shelves and plinths of plywood - 

Krabbe's drawings on pages of ancient sketchbooks are a counterpoint
to textile samples mounted long ago onto paper

My favourite - a casava grater, dozens of nails hammered into a board.
The small objects in the foreground remind me of Shelagh Wakely's wire-encased fruit

Poetry Thursday - poem on a wall by Margerite Luitwieler

Seen from the tram in Amsterdam, a poem by Margerite Luitwieler, an example of "Sprekende Muren" (more and better photos here).

The Dutch version, from her website:

Ik heb ze lief,
de plekken waar het tocht
wanneer je er de bocht
omgaat.
Geef mij maar de achterkant
van huizen en gebieden
waar elke groene spriet
omringd door scheve stenen
de droge grond uitschiet.
Het onbedoeld gemaakt gebied

The English translation, courtesy of Google ... it could do with some improvement! -

I love them,
the places where the journey
when you bend
handles.
Give me back
of houses and fields
where every green blade
Surrounded by crooked stone
gouging the dry ground.
Unintentionally made ​​area

Perhaps there's scope within the slippage of translation for finding your own poetic meaning?

Born in 1960, Margerite Luitwieler studied fine art during the 1980s. Her paintings have been purchased by Delft and Amsterdam municipalities, and other collections. She has been exhibiting since 1987 and her poetry has been published since 2000. As well, she has worked as a docent and gastdocent in various museums.

Houses, Amsterdam

Line your own canal with little ceramic houses

Where to start, with the hundreds of photos taken over the past week? Amsterdam is a very photogenic city, and we went to a lot of places and saw interesting things.

For my own record - and as a recommendation if you're planning to visit - here's a list of the places we visited, in no particular order -

- the Central Library is fabulous - seven airy floors of books and other collections - in a few minutes, you feel more "civilised" even if you don't actually pick up a book

- the Tropenmuseum is one of my favourites - ethnographic collections and good temporary exhibitions, currently by Jasper Krabbe

- Hortus Botanicus has been going for 375 years and has a very nice caf, as well as greenhouses and all sorts of other plants

- the Jewish Historical Museum currently has a fabulous photo exhibition, the Howard Greenberg collection ... but we didn't have time to see any of the museum itself

- Amsterdam Museum gives you, should you take time to read the labels and think about what you're seeing, a good history of the city, though those labels are rather heavy on the "city of prosperity and freedoms" message

- the Rijksmuseum is on everyone's list, of course - and aren't there a lot of guided tours there at any one moment! We spent most time in the "special collections", especially the ship models

- NEMO, the science museum, has lots of interactive activities for kids (and adults) but be warned, it's noisy and active!

- historic boat collection is along the quay beside Nemo - many of the boats are lived on - more big boats are along the quays of Java Island

- the Maritime Museum knocks the socks off the one in London - wonderful displays, lots of little videos explaining things, and the model ships include smaller boats with carefully-stitched sails

- cutting-edge photography exhibitions at Huis Marseilles and Foam

- modern and contemporary art at the Stedelijk Museum - the current exhibition is Marlene Dumas, and the caf is kept busy

- parks - Flevopark in the east, and Vondelpark just south of where we were staying - walking in these wonderful green spaces is very restorative, but as everywhere, you have to watch out for bikes

Now for some street scenery -

Leaning forward ... in anticipation of something?

Front garden!

Red lights, hmm...

Another forward-leaner ... Anno 1653, it says on the gable

In the roundels, twin wolves

Bring out the sofa from your houseboat if the the weather is fine

Note the accordion player, top left (it may help to click on the photo to enlarge it)

Tube life

He got off at Baker Street, half lifting, half dragging the beanbag

They got off at Camden ... she had strings of pearls looped in her hair

Looking forward to getting back to ...

The Large Sketchbook ... the "walking legs" ... the monoprint-and-handstitch books ...

Blast from the past - cafe art

Drawings on cafe receipts, made between 2010 and 2012, which turned up recently. The dancing girls are from a book project round about the turn of the century.

Both activities - scribbing on receipts, and cutting out joined-up people, are very pleasurable, though drawing in public is less "remarkable" than cutting out paper dolls would be!

Shouldn't, really...

Blast from the past - three-wheeler

Photographed in 2012. It’s either a Reliant Rialto, successor of the Reliant Robin, or a Reliant Robin. It was popular because it could be taxed at motorcycle rates, a considerable saving. The engine is in front and drives the rear axle, while steering is via the wheel in front. The Robin was manufactured in the UK between 1973 and 1981.

"In 1989, Reliant produced a new and totally revamped Robin featuring a new fibreglass body, and increased engine power. This Robin was face lifted again in 1999 when the final version was launched ... with completely new panels, and Opel Corsa front lamps. ... this hatchback-only model lasted until February 2001 when Reliant announced the end of production." (via)

Blast from the past - the start of Poetry Thursday

What is now Poetry Thursday on this blog had an unwitting start, a follow-on from a book project that involved memorising ten sonnets. Initially I tried to memorise a short poem a week, and later this morphed into researching the poem and its author ... and finding a picture to go with it. (Sometimes the picture came first.)

But the first poem memorised was only six lines long, and though the exact words escape me, "it" is very much with me, and very apt in a year commemorating the start of the First World War. The poem is by Rudyard Kipling, a writer with a sad childhood, sent away by his parents in India, to England to school, at the tender age of 6. The personal history of the writer is very much with me too.

 A Dead Statesman

I could not dig: I dared not rob:

Therefore I lied to please the mob.

Now all my lies are proved untrue

And I must face the men I slew.

What tale shall serve me here among

Mine angry and defrauded young?

Blast from the past - selected colours (2011)

Blast from the past - Imber church

Last year we stopped at Imber on the way to north Devon, as it was one of the village's annual open days - it's part of the army training grounds on Salisbury Plain. The church dates back to the 12th century and is now in the care of the Church Conservation Trust. The caretaker has beehives of a rare pure strain of bees, isolated by distance from contamination - honey was being sold. Also at the church was a display of the history of the village, and we chatted with a man who had been born in the village - the entire civilian population was evicted in 1943 to provide an exercise area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe.

In the church tower are these 17th century paintings of the changes of bells to be rung -

ringing the changes

 The ring of six bells was installed in 2010; wonder how much use those ropes get? -

An atmospheric place -

Off to Amsterdam

A little holiday. Museums and walking around and that sort of thing. Last time we were there it looked like this -

Unexpected art - Hampstead Heath

More small changes at Cloud Cuckooland Studio

 The things you find! The plans you had for them! And - what to do with them now?

The bits of old pottery obsessively collected from the foreshore and (surprisingly) Hampstead Heath -

I had an idea about drawing or painting them, a la early Lisa Milroy...

Collections of threads for some project or other -

They'll simply go back into the thread drawers, projects terminated.

"Pens to sort" - which of them still write, and ... who needs so many pens anyway???

 A little project for a rainy day.

It's scraps that give me the greatest fabric pleasure - here, from a bag on the floor, we have some tulle, some wools (for rug hooking), and silks (for JQs and suchlike projects) -

 They need to go in separate places, and though my smaller bits of fabric are organised in a haberdashers cabinet of glass-fronted drawers, these don't fit into the classification - and reorganising that cabinet isn't going to happen soon. Plus, the scrapbox is rather full and it's not going to get sorted just yet either.

One thing I've learned is - what to leave alone "for now".

And speaking of fabric -

Can one person use all this white fabric in what's left of a lifetime? The dream was once to start everything from white fabric, dyeing or painting it as needed. There was also "the all-white patchwork" project, which never really got off the ground. Ah well, move on!

More paper! -

It's not good to keep paper rolled up, especially thicker paper. This will be rehoused soon.

What about the "portable projects" in their pouches?

These little books made of various papers will come along on my next trip, to be stitched with linen threads -

Boxes ... who doesn't collect boxes, who can resist a pretty container ... but what's in them that needs to be decided about -

It gets really trivial - a collection of thread ends!! These are from hand-sewing at the table-under-the-window; they just mount up. I've used similar collections for sandwiching between net and machining, a satisfyingly brainless activity, and we all have moments when a brainless, satisfying activity is called for ... but it would be easy and practical to simply empty the jar occasionally! -

Finally, another small delight - a reorganised area, under the table -

The press won't stay there (I plan to use it for printmaking, in a rudimentary sort of way), but its new location is yet to be decided. Meanwhile, moving the drawers closer to where the chair is makes that catch-all top drawer more accessible. Also, taking things out and looking at them made me think about getting a new cover for the portable ironing board,  about replacing the flooring with carpet tiles (red? orchid? not dark grey, not beige...), and about sorting out that sewing basket, bought in Oxford in 1982 ... last used last century!

With counter tops cleared, I'm ready to leave this alone for a while.