Here is another quotation in the same spirit as in last week’s blog post from an inspiring little book, ‘What is history’ by E. H. Carr: ‘…as soon as I have got going on a few of what I take to be the capital sources, the itch becomes too strong…
Read moreToday, in a reflective mood about the artist’s work, I’m only quoting others… ‘… the making of art has nothing at all to do with knowledge, education, craft, technique, sophistication, style, concept, subject, process, praise, the judgment of others, who you know, where you live, your age,…
Read moreCrossing the road on my daily walk this morning, I noticed that the asphalt had been repaired in a surprisingly playful way and on such a scale that it could not be a coincidence. The intriguing designs created by the roadworkers reminded me of…
Read moreThis summer I see rusty colours wherever I go. It is the theme of my daily (pre)occupation. Large steel tubes for a North Sea wind turbine Recently, a short stay on the beach… Fishing gear on a…
Read moreI’m preparing a book on the most heavy material imaginable: iron. And ever since I’ve begun this project, wherever I have gone I’ve always come home with some feathers. It often makes me wonder what will follow later on, as I’ve never consciously…
Read moreMy recent Great Sweep through my studio included going through my ‘Rajasthan‘ cupboard. It was good to unfold and rearrange a collection of Indian textiles – nothing exceptionally valuable but a testimony to change as a number of hand-blocked cotton pieces are not available anymore if…
Read moreA moment of pause to pick up this journal after a month has, once again, passed too quickly. I’m listening to Benjamin Biolay’s music compilation ‘Rose Kennedy’ which sounds very French and summery and fits a Sunday afternoon of making order around me. Changing the scenery in my studio is…
Read moreSince I began this journal three months ago, I’ve intended to write about my current book project, Living Iron. The idea was to present it in a logical order, following the development of my research and adventures until today. That time has not come yet,…
Read moreThere is a park not far from where we live, where I walk almost every day. It surrounds an elegant country house which has now become offices without losing too much of its charm, and the variety of trees it harbours shows the vision of the 19th century landscape architect…
Read moreThese past weeks I have often wondered about what makes people great, why they are often humble, and how badly we miss trustworthy models at the moment. Several recent press articles made me draw once again the conclusion that greatness resides in a subtle combination of humility and self-confidence.
Read moreIn a BBC2 interview with Andrew Marr on 27 February (A Culture Show Special: The Art of Seeing), walking through David Hockney’s current Royal Academy exhibition in London, the artist talks about how we forget to see things, to look at things. A photograph, he says,…
Read moreToday, while the Dutch are keeping their fingers crossed for the first chance of a Elfstedentocht after fifteen years and people have taken out their ice skates all over the Netherlands, I remember freezing but sunny days on the Zeeland beaches in search of images for my book A Resistible…
Read moreAt the launch of Rajasthan in London in the Fall of 2003, a journalist asks me why, being Dutch, I have not made a book about Indonesia. Although the question is meant to tease me, it is fundamental and the journalist himself is surprised by its effect. What is the…
Read moreMy Indian friend Nina Subramani gave me the Camera Chronicles of Homai Vyarawalla for Christmas last year. Homai Vyarawalla (9/7/1913 – 15/1/2012) was the first woman photojournalist in India, and many of the most famous pictures dating from the time…
Read moreOn a trip to Venice after finishing my university studies, I found a little manual on bookbinding. Its detailed explanations echoed a wish I already cherished at school to learn how to bind the exquisite books I had seen on display in Paris. My husband constructed a simple press and…
Read moreAfter secondary school I went to university – I guess it was in the line of things. I began at Saint-Louis in Brussels with a broad combination of philosophy, social and political sciences and economics in the tradition of the Jesuit canon who was at…
Read moreThe Artibus art academy in the Netherlands stood on its own in the ’90s because it firmly believed that one should not have to choose, at the start of art training, between drawing and painting on the one hand and sculpture-related subjects on the other. Their programme was founded on a…
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