The winter sun was shining and with time on our hands before the gig we did a bit of exploring of this new-to-us ancient town (first settled by the Romans over 2000 years ago). There were plenty of good discoveries to be made…

atmospheric ruins

golden light

the hard-working (even on a Sunday) River Waal

black swans, and other plumply perfect feathered friends

trails through the blue

elegant spires, onion-topped towers
(and ducks flying in pleasingly wonky formation)

feisty felines… definitely masters of their domains

winged watchers

a giant bunny balancing a bright red ball on his nose (highlight!)
["Uitkijkkonijn" by Florentijn Hofman]

and Scout…
despite having a nasty cold and feeling very lousy for it, had us all captivated with another goose-bump inducing performance of raw emotional power.

‘guardian dragon’ by Yoko Hayashi

We’re very honoured to have such a handsome creature watching over us in 2012 – thank you, Yoko!

You can find more of Yoko’s beautiful work on her blog or her Flickr photostream – if you’re in need of a bit of magic do go and have a look.

While on the subject of prints (and dragons), I am close to completing a new series of little screenprints (with the working title “an amateur naturalist’s specimen collection”). The series consists of eight specimens (each in an edition of 13), and some of the critters include hand-coloured details (which has been a time-consuming, but satisfyingly obsessive, process ;). Here is one of them, simply entitled ‘larva’ – he started out life as some sort of crustacean larva, but now that I know 2012 is the year of the Dragon I like to imagine that he might be a very young dragon…

Osch
(and CCTV surveillance courtesy of ‘the man’ ;)

Interested in other ‘adorned’ urban environments?
Some previous street art ‘collections’ can be found at the following links:
Zaragoza | Barcelona | London | New York | Amsterdam

Astronaut/Cosmonaut by Victor Ash
(and a giant bubble spotted floating over the Brandenburger Tor)

Street art abounds in Berlin, and we came home from our recent visit with a lot of pictures of said street art… I have therefore split the wealth of images across two posts (to keep my future referencing of them, and your current viewing of them, more manageable. Part II to follow tomorrow). As is often the case with the street art images I’ve gathered in cities far and wide I’m unable to credit many of the artists – references have been included below images where I am able to credit the creators.

ROA

BLU

[Contextualising the epic ROA and BLU pieces shown above]

Interested in other ‘adorned’ urban environments?
Some previous street art ‘collections’ can be found at the following links:
Zaragoza | Barcelona | London | New York | Amsterdam

… as a certain dim-witted, but well-meaning, feline might say.

Lots of both to all of you!

picturesque Prenzlauer Berg  |  golden morning light in Mitte

Peter Eisenman‘s affecting Holocaust memorial, ‘Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas’  |  Norman Foster’s Reichstag dome

gemütlich indoors, with flammkuchen (a controversial suggestion perhaps… but could flammkuchen be even more delicious than pizza?!)

(Franz) Joseph Haydn in contemplative mood, and Chibi Totoro finds a tasty (and possibly hallucinogenic) snack, in the Tiergarten

into the wald!  tiny wooden toys from the Erzgebirge region  |  wintery reflections in the Tiergarten

bits of The Wall left standing, lest we forget

darkly monochromatic…

… and vividly colourful

~ elegant curves ~
the Oberbaumbrücke over the River Spree, and a classic VW Beetle

intersecting lines

and last but not least, as a long-time vegetarian I find wurst pretty disturbing at the best of times… but this guy is the stuff of nightmares (although you do have to admire his self-condimenting concentration levels)!

No wanderings in London’s South Kensington would be complete without a visit to the Natural History Museum… if only (when time is tight) to have a(nother) look at the dizzying array of plants and animals sculpted in buff and cobalt-blue terracotta that adorn many of the building’s surfaces.

From the Natural History Museum’s website:

Terracotta tiles provide decoration inside and outside the building. Many feature relief carvings of plants and animals. The buff and cobalt-blue terracotta is both attractive and practical, as a hardy material that could resist the acid smogs of Victorian London.

In his design, Alfred Waterhouse included elaborate sculptures of plants and animals on the interior and exterior of the building, to represent biological diversity. Those on the western wing are of living forms, while those on the eastern side show extinct creatures.

Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London – designed by Alfred Waterhouse 1865 – 1881 (when it opened)

I have just finished packaging up a big order of the ‘Panthera Pair’ cards I made a while ago, and while doing so I was reminded that I quite forgot to mention them here! So, here goes… ‘Panthera Pair’ greeting cards are currently available in my shop.

The message I hoped to convey with the motif of a leopard and a tiger in peaceful repose is one of restfulness, peace and harmony… all good things to aim for at this time of year, and for always, methinks.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has purchased one of my limited edition ‘Panthera Pair’ prints in aid of the Panthera wild cat conservation group – I’m grateful to you, and so far we have together been able to donate $225 to Panthera! I still have some prints available, and I think they’d make excellent gifts or stocking-fillers for your animal-loving, conservation-minded friends and family (they receive a limited edition print and the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that 100% of the purchase price has been donated to a very worthwhile, much-needed conservation effort).

Place your orders for cards or limited edition prints by 11am (GMT) tomorrow (Tuesday 6 December) and I’ll make sure they’re in the post to you tomorrow afternoon for Christmas delivery *

The cards and limited edition prints are available in the bright orange/yellow colourways illustrated above, but also in crisp, minimalist black and white:

* international postal services willing!

Updated 6 Dec 2011, midday: there are some ‘Panthera Pair’ cards & prints still available in the shop, but postal delivery in time for Christmas (to destinations beyond Europe) can no longer be guaranteed…

whassup?
[precocious hyde park resident, london]

It has been a very busy few weeks around here and as is usually the case when I’m juggling multiple projects ‘n things, I drop the blog-ball first. Ah, well… needs must!

Amongst other things, I’ve spent an intensive week and a half at the printmaking studio working on a new series of small screenprints, experimenting with colour variations and different papers etc. Not all of the experiments were a success but it was a lot of fun and a great learning experience – I hope to show some of the work-in-progress and end-results here soon.

Amidst all the busy-ness I was whisked away on a surprise overnight outing to London, for this great musical trip-down-memory-lane at the Royal Albert Hall. Fun! (and especially so as it was all a complete surprise :)

Here are a few impressions from a whirlwind day and a half in London…

the rarefied environs

of the royal albert hall

and its unbeatable acoustics

tate modern looming large beneath a watery, winter sky

currently showing: ‘gerhard richter: panorama’
(that man sure can paint!)

and this ‘mystical protest’ by the collective ‘slavs and tatars’

dale chihuly’s strange & beautiful chandelier under the dome of the v&a museum’s main entrance

and this majestic beast!
['king silver', hand-twisted wire coat hanger sculpture by david mach. part of the 'power of making' exhibition currently on at the v&a museum. if you're in london i would highly recommend a visit to this fascinating exhibition of over 100 exquisitely crafted objects. ends 2 january 2012]

enigmatic tranquillity

and gorgeous glazes in the v&a’s china galleries

And last but not least, my favourite favourites at the V&A (I always make a beeline for the Japan Room when I’m there!), the tiny, beautiful, intricately carved netsuke…

stoat and rat on a pumpkin  |  boar sleeping on a pile
of leaves [signed masatsugu]

tiger [signed tomotada]  |  grimacing mask [signed ryugyoku]

fruit of the winter cherry  |  snail on a lotus leaf

OK, must dash! Have a great weekend.

When one is in need of a nature-fix but doesn’t have the time or opportunity to escape the city, urban cemeteries are often wonderful places to find an unspoilt natural enclave. Zorgvlied is no exception, and is always a beautiful place to experience autumn unfurling in all its kaleidoscopic glory. The pleasant and meandering bike ride along the Amstel River, to get there, doesn’t hurt either :)