Today was my last day of a very special 2 week holiday/working period that I have been spending in Den Oever, in the northwest of the Netherlands. (1st blog post from here is 'Schoorl'). I have been a humble part of this tiny village, where I came to relax as well as to work. Therefore, I rented a huge beautiful studio. This marvelous studio is an initiative of Jos Kruit, a great artist (and teacher) herself, who has built this palace with lots of love an energy -trust me. Moreover, the building appears to be permanently protected by the heavy wind itself.
Daily, I could make longer and shorter walks to watch the 'Wad', the boats, the sea, the stunning bird flocks and to feel the wind blowing away my old skin.
Unfortunately, I have been a little ill also, and very lonely at times, especially the first days. But with all this, I have come to realize once again how quietness needs deep patience and how necessary this patience is to be able to create in an honest way.
So yes: I have been reading, thinking and writing a lot, and drawing (results will follow).
And not to forget: I have been making lovely friends. I met Peter and his two dogs on one of my morning walks. He stopped me to say that I needn't walk so fast because I was missing out half of 'it'... -a crucial lesson that I have (re)learned. I needed to find out how to enjoy the emptiness, rather than to get itchy about it, I needed to remember how to live all the endless hours that took hours... I visited my new friend and his wife Threa one evening and we had some nice plain human talks, and Peter squeezed me some oranges when I was ill. In short, I was taken care of. Also by Jos. So tonight I invited them all, plus my best friend Kristien, to come and see my 'results', and simply also to say: Goodbye and cheers to us all!
