La Douce France

PAN 2025

 Last week we visited the 40th edition of PAN Amsterdam.

This was the first time security didn't allow me to bring my pocket camera.

 I'm sorry for the poor quality of the photos.

The antique tiles of Lameris... a good tradition to start with.

Then my eye caught two 'collectebussen' (poor box, collecting tin)

ELD = Eer Langs den Diaconie

Oe Mn & Vn Huis = Oude Mannen- en Vrouwenhuis

'The Curtain' by one of my favourite PAN artists Jan Ros

A exciting new artist to me this year is Ben McLaughlin, a contemporary painter from Britain.

The collection of collages and small paintings was drawing lots of attention....

... small intriguing paintings,

a bit confusing by its composition, not a complete picture,

objects covered in romantic light.

Something very different... this work of art from 1968 'Weißer Regen' 

I like it. It seems the artist Günther Uecker is primarily known for his nail reliefs.

Curved and Organic

A vintage chair by Joe Colombo

I was impressed by this work, a glass sculpture by Karin Mørch

Big Line Amorphous Peridot

Beautiful art deco glass by René Lalique 

⬆︎ 'Mimosa' vase in opalescent glass and ⬇︎ 'Acacia' vase

Dark bronze okimono of a cormorant drying its wings by Okabe Tatsuo.

Wooden Marten sculpture by Fernand Vago Weiss (1896-1942)

I thought I would have bought it in 2024, if it hadn't been already sold by then.

Just my kind of 'thing'. The wooden material, the stylised form, a fauna subject, 

incredibly skilled carving..... and now, what a coincidence, I got a second chance!

If its wasn't for the price, I would have bought it straight away (big smile).

I reconized this artist from a far distance herman de vries.

One of my favourite artists. A link to an earlier post with his work is here

Apical #7 by Diana Scherer

Wandering Albatross Egg by Leila Jeffreys

'Pecten' from France, 17 million years old

Fossil fish from Green River Formation, Wyoming USA. 50 million years old

"Aap op houtvlot" by Carolein Smit

I'm not so interested in jewelry, but then I spotted this piece of art:

"Pistil" by Marta Mattsson in collaboration with glass artist Jessica Tsai.

Borosilicate glass (flower-body by Jessica),

Rhino beetles, copper, enamel lacquer, silver, resin.

My friend Antoon is great company when I visit an art fair!

This year being our 10th anniversary since we started in 2015 ★

Here some links to our earlier visits to PAN and other art fairs:

PAN 2024, PAN 2023, PAN 2021, PAN 2019 , PAN 2017 , PAN 2015

Eurantica 2016 , Art Breda 2017

Autumn Love

A bordeaux freckled green lantern... 

opens and transforms into a fragile flower... 

and is so much more appreciated in autumn time when the overload of summer is over

My Life with Swifts

One Hundred Days a year we can enjoy the company of swifts

 

Swift books and art

Books: 

On Cresent Wings a portrait of the swift - Jonathan Pomroy

The Sreaming Sky In pursuit of swifts - Charles Foster

Swifts In a Tower - David Lack

Swifts and Us The Life of the Bird that Sleeps in the Sky - Sarah Gibson

Nature Needs You the fight to Save our swifts - Hannah Bourne-Taylor

The Wind Rippers Encounters with Swifts - Martin Garwood

De gierzwaluw - Remco Daalder

 

book for children:

Super Swifts small birds with amazing powers - Justin Anderson

 

 

Artist Jonathan Pomroy:

https://jonathanpomroy.wordpress.com/world-swift-day-june-7th-2020/ 

All Flowers in Time

"All flowers in time bend towards the sun

I know you say that there's no-one for you

But here is one, here is one, here is one"

 

A beautiful song from 1995:

All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun

by Jeff Buckley and Elisabeth Fraser

Bathing Bark

After pollarding some trees, there was fresh material available to experiment.

Not the best time of year for harvesting bark.

Mid-spring (May) is ideal, when the sap has risen and new leaves are well opened.

But the period for willow (Salix alba) is much wider, from April to August.

 

It takes some strength and effort but then you'll end up with a nice piece of bark.

Inspiration

Perhaps you remember my Neolithic beach find from 2021.

A Doggerland 'spits', you can read about it here.

There was an opportunity to join the Resurfacing Doggerland project.

The project lend the spits and I agreed to remove a small piece of material.

After 19 months, ZooMS and C14 research, the spits returned home.

(as soon as I can, I'll share the results of the outcome)

When we went to Leiden in January to pick it up,

I was intrigued by these objects....

The fur one inspired by a mummy; the Arrow Quiver of Iceman Ötzi

Back to DIY:

You can fold the bark and make yourself a 'bag' or 'quiver' (smile)

Have a can with rain water available to keep the branch and bark wet.

Your material will dry quickly as soon as you start peeling the bark.

 

If you're not sure what to do with it yet....

You can buy some extra time by preventing it to dry

.... the harvested bark is underwater now. 

The largest piece is rolled with the outer bark on the inside and secured with wooden pegs.

  

You can dry the bark to store it for arts-and-crafts projects later. Soak it well before use.

I also tried to harvest a piece of bark from the goat willow

(aka great sallow, pussy willow, boswilg, Salix caprea)

It was really difficult, labour-intensive and not motivating at all.

There wasn't enough sap, it has been a very dry year so far.

Next spring I'll give it another go.

My previous post about bark harvesting: Barkin Time

Tree Treasure

Last winter I found a black and soaked branch collar (takkraag) in the woods.

After letting it dry slowly, to prevent cracks, it's on the wall now.

I just love it. To surround yourself with beauty can be easy.

It doesn't have to be expensive or 'arty-farty' at all.

Ocean

- We have one ocean, we have one world -

If you can go to the cinema to see Ocean by David Attenborough... do it!

The film, the underwater shooting, is phenomenal and the message is clear.

As humans we're disturbing the balance and the damage is incalculable.

But there is hope!

We have to change our thinking and protect a bigger area of the ocean. 

We are lucky, the restorative capacity of the ocean is incredible.

The 2025 UN Ocean conference will be held in Nice, France, from 9 - 13 June 2025 🍀

Barkin Time

I started this blog and have been posting since 2012

and I just can't believe it has been 13 years already.

Time flies!

The last year has been a 'turbulent' year for me.

The blog disappeared to the background. Life can 'absorb' you.

But then someone reminded me of my blog (merci!)

When I checked the statistics today, I was blown away.

All time 234 K

Last 12 months 52 K

Last 30 days 8 K

Last 7 days 2.81 K

Last 24 hours 776

 

Most views from Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil, Austria and Germany.

A big thank you to all of you  ♥︎

Especially to those who come back to have another look.

I could really use some extra motivation and energy.

Some how I want to continue where I left off. 

My blog became some sort of diary or external memory to me (smile).

The big gap has to be filled now (wink).

 So several new posts with old news will be antedated to 2024.

Please be patient with me and in case you're curious, scroll back to 2024.

There will be posts about sea visits, walks, design and art soon.

Hopefully my blog inspires you to see beauty in simple things,

enjoy wildlife and spend more time in nature.

Or perhaps it will inspire you to visit a museum, the cinema,

a concert or, even better, make time for your own creativity. 

It provides the best medicine to our stress and busy lives.

Perhaps you already support or protect wildlife. Chapeau! ★

 

harvested white willow and 'noisetier rouge' bark

The Earth has a lot to offer.

I think we should treat it with respect and be careful with what we take.

The trees and shrubs in our garden need pruning and pollarding regularly.

Instead of stacking the wood for wildlife, I harvested some bark form the cut branches.

I don't want to take the risk of damaging a tree or shrub.

Rolled up and dried, the bark can be stored for a very long time.

My intention is to gather enough material and use it for a bark weaving project.

I will keep you posted so to be continued...

Bats Rock

Sometimes Bats are associated with evil events.

Or people are scared for whatever reason. 

Perhaps they think a bat might get tangled up in your hair... NOT!

So don't be scared and appreciate them.

They're catching insects ands bugs.

Like humans bats are mammals.

They're the only mammals that can fly.

Bats are nocturnal animals and sleep during the day.

Perhaps that's one of the reason to think they're creepy.

The Dracula story might add to that (smile).

Bats are wonderful, useful and vulnerable creatures.

Threatened by natural enemies, disappearing habitats and ignorant or violent people.

Local (Limburg's) Bat expert Ghis Palmans, here unlocking a winter stay of the bats,

is training and coaching the kenderman and the youngest volunteer of the local team

 to identify and count bats in the wintertime, during hibernation.

It's difficult to find new volunteers willing to put in some effort.

Bats are 'cool'. The more you get to know about them the cooler they get.

Given time you can become a valued and dedicated volunteer or even an expert.

 Perhaps you are interested to help out? Then contact your local nature organisation.

Tips:

Don't disturb them, keep you're distance, don't touch them.

Even during hibernation bats can be very sensitive to:

• light don't use bright (flash)light
• sound don't talk when they are near, just whisper
• smell you're breath or deodorant can wake them

Please leave them alone.

 Let them be and respect their need for a quiet and undisturbed environment.

Just enjoy the short encounter!

Would you like some to find more information, links and video's:

In English: Bat

In Dutch: Vleermuizen in Vlaanderen en Vleermuizen

Link to my earlier post: BaT Habits

(PS the photos from bats were taken for education purposes only)