Tagged: iron, steel
October 8, 2013
Autumn
Could it be that ‘it’ was in the air? That we walk around with themes that unconsciously develop in our head until they are ‘ripe’ to be triggered? This morning my eye was caught in the garden by extraordinary cobwebs in the dewy morning sunshine. They looked like solid…
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July 30, 2013
Bricks and iron
No time to write long blog posts: I am in the process of giving birth to a book! But my eye continues to travel and this is what I have collected rcently. The brick walls of a small countryside church on Walcheren, in the south-west of the Netherlands:…
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April 6, 2013
Bricks
These days I’m reading about the use of iron in early architecture, especially since a group of researchers has found a way to reveal the DNA of ancient pieces of iron, so to speak, in fact a digital identity, by analysing their inner, grainy structure. This has given…
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January 18, 2013
Doodles
What is the difference between a line – and certainly characters – drawn by hand and in print? How come that in the first case there is an unmistakable warmth which is hard to fake in print even if a collection of typeface imitates classical handwriting to perfection, specially adapted…
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October 26, 2012
Reinforcing steel
Hidden from view inside a park not too far from my home is a large building site. Contrary to most construction sites around us these days the entrance gate is never closed and, apart from the builders, hardly anybody ever comes there anyway. From a distance I watch the building…
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October 8, 2012
Inspiration: the small scale
We’re often being taught to expand, to research new things, to think big. But what about remaining true, at least for a while, to the small scale? The painter Giorgio Morandi found repeated inspiration (and fame) in a collection of bottles and pots. © Giorgio…
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August 16, 2012
Reading and writing
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…
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July 26, 2012
Thought associations
Crossing 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…
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July 21, 2012
Inspiration. Beach collections.
This 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…
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March 27, 2012
Self-confidence
These 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.
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December 19, 2011
Looking back #2: Training at a crafts school
On 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…
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