I promised Jan to post a drawing once in a while but you know what I sort of forgot about them. My guess is I was too busy making jewelry.

Anyway … here is another one of Jan his drawings because …

Throughout his life, my partner Jan made black and white drawings to “mark” events in his personal life or in history.  Some of these drawings are nothing more than abstract doodles
while others tell a whole story.

WORLD TRIP

When my partner Jan was 18 years old one of the first things he bought was a motorcycle.
Years later when I met him he still drove one and we made, with me on the back of the motor, many trips. I remember one trip all the way to Southern Italy via the high mountains of Switzerland. Anyway … I guess this drawing is about Jan’s big dream …

Several of the prints made by Jan are available right here.

The house used to be part of a cotton plantation and therefore had a large amount of ground around it. In fact so much land that if I went for a walk in the woods, I could walk for over half an hour and still be on our own land.

When we came to live in the house two dogs were living on the property. The former owner of the house had left the dogs behind. The dogs spent most of their time hunting in the woods; they were pretty wild and not approachable. They caught small animals like rabbits and squirrels and so provided in their own food.

It took great effort and a lot of time but eventually I managed to tame both dogs and later on they just lived in our home.

Lately, this video was a big hit on Dutch TV so maybe you are familiar with it, but every time I see this movie I laugh and remember my wonderful wild dogs in Georgia … because I too have never managed to teach my dogs not to hunt deer.

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Although not all of Alaïa clothing appeals to me, this exhibition is absolutely beautiful!

The detail in some of the clothing is just amazing!

I have no idea If we ever going to use it, but recently we happened to play around with this …

Because I forgot to take my camera, the photos above were taken by Joop Kok,
a friend of mine …

The exhibition Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st century in the Groninger Museum in Groningen, The Netherlands, is still going on up to May 6, 2012.

After two weeks of sawing, hammering, hauling out old cabinets, cleaning and painting the walls, this is the result.

Finally room for my collection of  Maigret detectives, artbooks and a whole lot of big and small ginger jars.

In search of a new lamp I came across these beauties …

These beautiful lamps are called SKOG. The design is a collaboration between designer Caroline Olsson and Magnor Galssverk. Skog is the Norwegian word for forest.

Simply place a few of the lights together on the floor or on a table in order to create your own little forest. Or how about a few on my new cabinet?

Will it ever become winter you think? I have not as many birds in my garden as other years and you know what? My Forsythia already has a few tiny flowers !

Since this week I hung up some food for the birds and several times I spotted a red-spotted woodpecker eating from the peanuts. During the big storm the birds swung dangerously back and forth. And often all the food was blown from the tree.

High time to buy a nice sturdy house like this …

Designed by Frederick Roijé and for sale in his shop.

Like every year we tolled the bells of the small church we live nearby and afterwards went to a party to dance the night away! Sunday was a lazy one and today everything went back to normal, so …

This is the first brooch of 2012!

Large brooch made ​​of silver and coromandel by my partner Jan Kerkstra.

Every year between Christmas and New-year I  have the same feeling; a feeling
of everything coming to a standstill. For me personally New-year is a much more emotional festivity as Christmas … it is a time of melancholy but also of hope…

Via

Today we started our “winter project”, building a new cabinet in our office.

So if all goes well we have in a weeks time a big wall cabinet that looks a bit like this.

Right now everything is one big mess but I am convinced that everything is going well …

To make things easier I made ​​enough Chile for a few days …

The recipe can be found by clicking here …

I am looking forward to 2 relaxing days … we are going to Herberg Het Volle Leven with friends to enjoy a vegetarian seven course dinner.
And the next day bring a visit to  the Groninger Museum, for 2 great exhibitions
Azzedine Alaia in the 21st century and Studio Job.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas !

See you next week … stay warm …

Via

The only thing I did today was making a wreath of holly for the front door of our Atelier. A small token of welcome for visitors in these dark cold days  …

Photo via Toast