Blogblast for Peace 2016

Today I'm joining hundreds of bloggers across the world in a movement called "Blogblast For Peace". Bloggers will unite in a global cry for peace in this annual event. One day. One voice. All it takes is one post. You can also join us by using social media. Post and share, anywhere you are online. It's that simple. Join us.

This is my 9th year of participating. I used the image of a painting by John William Waterhouse called 'Miranda' (1875). Miranda is a character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Waterhouse painted versions of Miranda at the start and end of his career. The other versions are both dated 1916. I love all versions, but while the later versions show the storm this one feels peaceful to me. Although you don't know whether it's the calm before the storm or after...
It goes very well with the quote I used. I wrote it down years ago and I can't remember where I got it from but it felt suitable for this year's globe. So many storms are raging around the world... It can be hard to find the peace, within ourselves, our nations, our earth...

When storms are raging all around you
Find the peace that calms your troubled sea

To everyone: I wish you peace! One moment, one step can be the beginning; one person can make the difference!


Blogblast for Peace links:

• BFP website
• info on Mimi's blog
• fanpage on Facebook
• grouppage on Facebook
• Causes-page

Bruegel's Witches

Last Saturday Ron and I visited a wonderful exhibition called "De Heksen van Bruegel" (Bruegel's Witches) in the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It is an exhibition about witches in art, a unique collection of scenes from the turbulent period of witch hunting in the Low Countries.

 

It turns out that it was none other than Pieter Bruegel the Elder who helped shape our modern idea of witches. There was no stereotype image of the witch until the sixteenth century. Bruegel changed all that with two prints (I posted them under this alinea), and they in turn became a source of inspiration for other Dutch and Flemish artists. And his witches are still with us, even today they feature in many fairy-tales and movies. The old hag, with a broom, a cat and a cauldron... The exhibition shows the prints by Bruegel, but also books, paintings and lots of other artefacts. It was very interesting!

We used the audio-tour on iPod (available in Dutch and English), which guided us through the exhibition.The texts are also in a little booklet. I took a ride on a broomstick and flew over the city (pics were too dark unfortunately) and I got weighed:

Afterwards I bought the exhibition catalogue (in Dutch, but also available in English), which shows all the features and even more info. The exhibition will be in Utrecht until January 31st and then it moves to Bruges, Belgium until June. If you have the chance to go, I'd say: GO!

Scandinavian Rock Art

Friday evening I went to a lecture with slide projection about Scandinavian rock art by Ellen Meijer (and Jurri Jurriaanse) of The Tanum Museum of Rock Carvings (Tanums Hällristningsmuseum Underslös). The prehistoric images were beaten into the rocks by people from the Nordic Bronze Age and early Iron Age (ca 2000 BC - 300 AD). Ellen showed us pictures and told us lots about the images and how they are interpreted. It can be hard to determine what they represent and especially about the animals not everyone agrees. Some of the images are filled in with red so the tourists can see them, but there are a lot more that are documented by volunteers.

both pictures © Tanums Hällristningsmuseum Underslös

It was a very interesting lecture, told by wonderful people with passion for all the work they do. I won't even try to reproduce the info here; that wouldn't do them justice anyway. I bought the booklets by Ellen & Jurri, so I can explore this subject a bit more. I would love to visit the Tanum World Heritage site and museums!
If you are interested too, here are some links:

• Tanums Hällristningsmuseum Underslös (English)
• Rock Art Scandinavia (Facebook-page of the museum, English)
• Vitlycke Museum (Swedish & English)
• Rotstekeningen in Bohuslän (Ellen's website, Dutch)
• Adorant (Jurri's website, Dutch)

Vikings exhibition

Last Sunday we drove to the Drents Museum in Assen to visit the Vikings exhibition. We were with a group of 9 people, all interested in Vikings and the Norse pantheon & history. Some are astruar.
The traveling exhibition “We Call Them Vikings” can be seen as an extension and development of the permanent exhibition on “The Vikings” in the National Historical Museum in Stockholm, one of the world’s largest exhibitions of objects from the Viking era. The exhibition has been produced to go on tour in cultural historical museums in Europe. Assen is the first venue, after which the rest of Europe (Edinburgh, Moskou, München among others) and the United States (Davenport) will follow.

video about the exhibition (English)


video about the exhibition in the Drents Museum (Dutch)


First we attended a 45 min. general introduction by an art historian. The exhibition itself was very interesting and I'd definitely recommend it. There is a lot to see and do, also for children.
We had lunch and drinks in the museum restaurant. Later on we visited the other (permanent) departments of the museum. Ron and I especially liked the archaeology section a lot. The old part of the museum is very beautiful on its own too. We had a great day!

Here are our pics (just click the image below):

Worlds Biggest Summit (free!)

Worlds Biggest Summit

Goddess Leonie of Goddess Guidebook.com is organizing a wonderful event, and it's completely free! Learn from 100+ great teachers including SARK, Julia Cameron, Lynn V. Andrews and many many more. Business luminaries, spirituality leaders, health & wellness visionaries, creativity goddesses, the writers you worship, the bloggers you bow to, the geniuses you ogle, the wisdom you’re craving...

It's online, so you can download and listen when the time is right for you!
Come and join us!

Magical Realms stampset

I collect stamps, Dutch stamps, but when I came across this beautiful British set I simply couldn't resist.

The set is called Magical Realms and features worldfamous magical characters: Rincewind & Gytha Ogg (Terry Pratchett's Discworld series), Dumbledore & Voldemort (J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series), Merlin & Morgan Le Fay (Arthurian legend) and Aslan & The White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis). My compliments to the Royal Mail for this amazing issue!

Want them too? I ordered directly on the Royal Mail website.

Finally found!

I finally found my black panther statue! After years of looking, searching, asking... The black panther is my power animal or totem for as long as I can remember. I really wanted a nice statue, but most I found showed an angry panther, often with open mouth. I know they are predators, but still I was looking for something else. A few weeks ago I was surfing the web when I encountered BlackPantherAnimals.com. Wow, a paradise for black panther fans like me (they also have other animals though). After some consideration I decided to buy Black Panther On Rock and Tiny One. The postage costs startled me as always from the USA to here, but I really wanted to have this. Now that I found her, I couldn't let go... I'm very happy!
Bastet shows you how big it is:

Ceramic art

Some time ago I noticed a picture on Flickr by Suzie Ridler that showed a lovely ceramic bowl. I did some searching and ended up at Etsy. De Baun Fine Ceramics sells beautiful handcrafted bowls, incense burners and more. They have all been created by artist Diane De Baun. She has been working with clay since the early 80’s. Her websites are full of wonderful ceramic art, so it was hard to choose! After a while I had narrowed down my list to two bowls. I couldn't decide, so I just ordered both! Last week they arrived and I love them! The left one with cats and triple moon is 4 inches in diameter, the right one 4 1/2. I've put them on my altar.

Do you want to shop for yourself? Here are the links:
De Baun Fine Ceramics - website
De Baun Fine Ceramics - Etsy Store

United C (ballet)

Yesterday evening I've been to a ballet performance: WHO cycle by United-C in De Melkweg in Amsterdam. It consisted of 4 different performances: 3 solo and 1 with 4 dancers. As their website says: "4 intimate documents, each pleasing to the eye as well as alarming. Each literally as well as figuratively in all nudity." Yes, the dancers were naked, but that was never a sexual thing. Sensual, sometimes erotic, but most of the time a beautiful tribute to the body.

I really loved the performances, the dancers are great, each in their own personal way. I was on the front row and the dances captivated me from the first second to the very last. It was intriguing, magical, enchanting. Sometimes I had to remind myself to keep breathing. At the end of the third solo there was a twenty-minute break, but I had to stay on my chair for a while to get back from some kind of trance. I may sound lyrical, but that's just how good it was!

In the first solo Hilde Elbers was amazing. She went through a lot of emotions: falling hard on the ground, crawling like a panther, her moves always beautiful and perfect. Her laugh was contagious at first, but slowly changed to hysterical and back.
Marleen Kleinstapel expressed despair brilliantly in the second solo. It looked as if she couldn't finish a certain move. She started over and over, bringing her despair to the public although she was completely in her own world.
The last solo was the best one for me. Marjolein Vogels danced with a mattress in a staggering way. Her face and body have an amazing range of expressions to show feelings, tell stories. Her performance took me to another world.
After the break the floor was soaking wet with olive oil. Four dancers were lying motionless among dozens of broken glasses. Slowly they started moving, swimming through the oil and glasses so easily but always graceful and elegant as if the broken glass wasn't dangerous at all.

If you want to see them: on May 7 & 8 they'll be dancing in Eindhoven!

J.W. Waterhouse exhibition

Yesterday Wonder and I went to the J.W. Waterhouse Exhibition in the Groninger Museum, the largest retrospective of the art of John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) ever mounted. Although Waterhouse’s compelling scenes are admired by millions of people worldwide, the general public knows relatively little about the man himself and his artistic production. This exhibition features 92 paintings, drawings, and sketchbooks. It is the first to consider his entire career, demonstrating his engagement with contemporary trends ranging from antiquarianism to mystical spirituality.

I have always admired Waterhouse's art. It was amazing to see the paintings for real. The colours, the texture, looking up close, the sketchbooks and studies... fabulous!! I enjoyed myself so much. I have bought the hardcover catalogue guide and will look back very often. Our pictures can be found here.

After Groningen (until May 3rd) the exhibition will travel to the Royal Academy of Arts in London (June 23 – Sept. 13, 2009) and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Canada (Oct. 1, 2009 – Feb. 7, 2010). If you like Waterhouse and you get the chance: GO! :-)

COT #26: pictures and an artist

CATS ON TUESDAY is a group of cat lovers

who share pictures and/or stories about their cats once a week,
hosted by Gattina.

Ron's birthday present was a new digital camera (Canon EOS 450D), so that had to be tested. What better models than the cats? In the end they tried to hide! "No daddy, please stop now!" ;-)


This edition of CoT I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful artist who makes fabulous cat drawings. Do you know this one?
I've had it in my files for quite some time. I love it, but I never knew who made it. Through a mutual friend on Facebook I discovered the artist. Her name is Carrie Hawks. Take a look at her website and her Zazzle Gift Gallery. Great gifts for yourself and other cat lovers!