woensdag 28 december 2016

December: reflection mode...

On these dark days in December when it is too cold in my studio,
I am re-organizing my desk and am a bit in reflection mode while doing my administrative jobs.
Sometimes that is a good thing...




maandag 19 december 2016

Inspired by felt

I was really looking forward to seeing her work, and when I entered the top floor of the Museum, 
I immediately became inspired. Claudy Jongstra, a famous felt-artist in the Netherlands shares her work and process in the Fries Museum.
To see the creative process was so beautiful,
all those natural colours and the felt techniques of twisting and turning,
oh life is too short to learn everything!





#claudyjongstra #felt #feltartist #dutchdesign

maandag 12 december 2016

Making...

Love making things, here I am making christmas decorations.
Of course you could print these, but I find it more interesting to make one-of -a-kind items.
So I took my watercolours and painted these:





Similar ones are for sale in my Etsy-shop.

dinsdag 6 december 2016

Frost inspiration

It has been very cold here for some days. When I walked in our vegetable garden the beautiful frost gave me some inspiration for pictures and drawings:



Colours are different when it is freezing...




Colours inspiring me to these watercolours, fluidly flowing:




maandag 21 november 2016

Blob drawing in red

Hey, some more blob drawings, it is a funny exercise, inspired by #carlasonheim:



dinsdag 15 november 2016

Portraits

Making portraits is challenging. 
Each person is different, am I able to catch his/her characteristics?
I like that it is difficult, making several sketches really helps to come to grips with the shapes and dimensions.

This one I made in soft pastel, soft tones:


And here I played with contrast in Photoshop:



dinsdag 18 oktober 2016

Sweden and its handmade culture

STƄNGT... Swedish for closed. 
This little shop with handmade ceramics in a little town in Sweden was closed, 
so I could only take a peek through the window.


The shop was in a little harbour where there were several handmade shops together.
It is something you see a lot in Sweden, small craft shops full of printed textile, 
woodwork, ceramics, paintings. It is in their culture and I like it!
Too bad we don't have that in the Netherlands, the rent of any shop is so high, 
and people are not really focused on buying handmade items.
At least, that is my experience...

maandag 10 oktober 2016

Paintblob... last one

I kind of like this one, difficult shapes, turned out okay.

Before:

And after:


Two fashion ladies.

maandag 3 oktober 2016

Paintblob before and after, no. 3

Before:
I used the ink straight on with a dry brush, and diluted with water.

And after:


Weird one...

maandag 26 september 2016

Paintblob before and after... no. 2

Before:

And after:


This blob could have turned out many ways. I thought it would be fun to use as a stola/scarf.

donderdag 22 september 2016

Before and after... paintblob no. 1

I made paintblobs after having seen a video by Carla Sonheim.
She has awesome drawing exercises!
I used Indian ink on small cards.

So this is before:



And after:


#carlasonheim #drawingexercise #paintblob #happydrawing

maandag 12 september 2016

Rugs from Portugal

In the East of Portugal you can find beautiful handcrafted rugs, 
they are called "Mantas Alentejanas".
In the picturesque village Reguengos de Monsaraz, 
we visited a small shop which promotes this handcraft. 
We spoke to Mizette Nielsen who is working hard to preserve this craft, 
see for more information here.
The rugs are sturdy, sustainable and beautifully made in lots of different colour combinations.
I wish we had such a craft in the Netherlands! Maybe I should research that...



In our hotel there were several carpets on the floor, slightly different, but I liked them as well.


#mantasalentejanas #frolicportugal #portugalhandmade #mizzete

maandag 29 augustus 2016

Building a painting

To me painting a person is a bit like making a sculpture: 
you start with studying the shapes and forms,
you make corrections,
you look at light and dark colours,
you study the expression,
and each time you adjust.
My brush feels like an extension of my hand in shaping the model.

Maybe you can see it in this painting which is in the process of being built:

Small painting on panel, by ZIZOlabel



dinsdag 23 augustus 2016

Loving what you do

I have been busy in the garden and in the studio,
harvesting fruits and beans,
and working on various paintings.
It is so good to work on something you love doing.



Moods - small panel by ZIZOlabel

maandag 15 augustus 2016

The waterside...

Worked on this painting some more, and finished it.

The waterside, painting by ZIZOlabel
Inspiration came from the landscape surrounding me:





woensdag 10 augustus 2016

Ameland... nice island in the sea

In August and September my products are for sale in a gallery on Ameland,
a well-known island in the Netherlands.
A lot of tourists visit this island,
so hopefully they will buy some of my products.
The gallery is called Zee van Kunst, see here.


It is a very nice gallery, with lots of modern handmade products and art.
Close to the sea and log beaches.

maandag 1 augustus 2016

And some more summer pictures...

Catching the last light of the day flowing over our vegetable garden...
Love the softness of the colours, 
and love making photos/pictures.




dinsdag 26 juli 2016

Evening ride... by the roadside

Went for a bicycle ride and stuck my nose into some grasses, so lovely...


Changing perspective, go down on your knees and be a part of the grass world...

A bit further I saw these yellow colours:


These photos help me with perspective, ideas for paintings, colour combinations. 
Maybe not on short term, but later on... so go exploring!