Back on the blog! Let the Amsterdam slideshow begin!

Whew! It's been a rough couple of weeks. That Amsterdam virus (a big cold, or maybe it was the flu?, mixed with bronchitis) was a nasty one. It took me about two weeks to beat it and even now I'm still a bit shaken by it in the sense that I get tired very fast and still sometimes go into a coughing fit out of nowhere.

But...I feel so much better! And most of all I feel so much more like doing things. You can tell how I'm really sick by the fact that I don't even enjoy reading anymore. I suppose only a book lover like myself can understand the seriousness of that, haha. But since last weekend I'm really back to enjoying things again and I have gone back to work this week and also back to the studio, so things are definitely looking up. Yay!

But remember how before I got sick I went on vacation? Amsterdam, that's right. I was only there for a few days, but they were good days and I still owe you a bit of a slideshow, so that's what we'll be doing in the next few posts: I'm taking you to Amsterdam with me! Better late than never, right?

I couldn't afford a long stay, but I made up for that by picking one funky appartment! It was located north of the city center in a quiet neighbourhood and the owner was kind enought to help me get my luggage to the place and back to the train station by giving me a ride. That's good service, right?

For the rest of the stay I took the nearby bus to go into the city proper. When you live where I live a short bus ride is nothing. On this island everything is at least an hour and a half away by ferry. ;-)

Anyway, the apartment was cool and colourful. When I posted these pictures on Facebook several people let me know it was perfect for me, and I guess they were right. I do like colours and I do like things that make me laugh and this place was full of both.

Things like lamps made out of motor helmets and a big fake rhinoceros head on the wall. It wasn't really how I would do my own place, but I always feel a lot of sympathy for places that have character and personality.

In the next couple of  posts I'll give you an impression of my visit to the city itself and I hope you will enjoy the trip with me!

For now I wish you all a wonderful and artsy weekend and...it's so good to be back!

PS
A big thank you to you all for your good wishes both here and through other media, it really means a lot to me.

The Amsterdam Virus

Well, this isn't an actual post. This is a little sign of life just to let you know that I'm still here.

I had a wonderful time in Amsterdam and will tell you all about it later, because unfortunately I also seem to have picked up a little virus there and became sick a few days after I returned.

It's a severe head cold mixed with bronchitis, which pretty much means I'm coughing like crazy, can hardly breathe when I lie down and you can just forget about any real sleep. It's slowly getting a little better, but I'm still more of a coughing zombie than a person, so I won't be posting this week either.

All in all I'm feeling real sorry for myself, but at least someone is pretty pleased that I'm at home all day these days.

Look at that content face, I don't know if I should cuddle or smack him! ;-)

Anyway, I'm hoping to feel better soon so I can tell you all about my Amsterdam trip and share my pics. Until then I'm wishing you a wonderful artsy and above all healthy time!

Pages from Flora (the journal) and announcing a blog break

In my last posts I've been showing you some new endeavours in some new sketchbooks. Or maybe they were old endeavours in some new sketchbooks. Field notes, sketching and doodling, it all took place in the journal this year. But slowly my journal is returning to its roots of...well...just journaling.

For me my journal is the account of my days, a diary, the story of my life written by me, or maybe the story of my inner life written by me. Something like that. A sketchbook is something different to me, a place to practice my art, and I feel the need again to seperate them. That my journal is artsy does not undo the fact that it's still 'just' a diary, an illustrated diary.

For me the art practice and the journal are still very different things. One is not more important than the other, but I do distinguish between them in my head and heart and often also in my books. I need both to stay sane, that's for sure. ;-)

So over the past week Flora is becoming just a journal again, whatever that means. I know what it means to me, but I find it impossible to clearly explain. I'm doing layouts for writing again and alternating them from time to time with what mostly reminds me of what in this day and age are called smashbook pages. Pages where I just put ephemera from everyday life and my own photographs together.

Here are some of my latest spreads:

I love that I'm doing my layouts again. It seems my journal style always comes and goes in waves. Sometimes I do it this way and sometimes I do it that way. Maybe that's just my way of keeping it interesting or maybe it just reflects my flaky nature, haha.

Now for something completely different.
Today I am starting my fall vacation. Next week I'll be staying in Amsterdam for five days! I have rented a quirky apartment and I intend to visit several museums, walk the streets and take many photographs. I have already planned this trip since my short visit to Amsterdam with two friends in June (read about that in this post). I really wanted to stay a week, but I just can't afford it. Five days in Amsterdam, even last minute, is costing me as much as two weeks on one of the islands! Still: five days isn't bad and if the pictures can be believed my apartment really is cool!

Anyway, this means I won't be blogging until somewhere after 13 October. I'm sure I'll be back with a slideshow though so you can all vicariously travel with me. And if you want to travel with me real time you can always befriend me on Facebook as I will probably do a quick daily report there.

Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy week!