A good night at the International Art Club

I am making friends at the International Art Club (IAC), and am having more fun drawing from the figure. I am the only American, which is good. We meet from 7:30 till 10:00, and the time just flies. Here are two of the better drawings from that evening. The first drawing absolutely emerged from the paper, it was magical. I really enjoyed the evening.

We sail the ocean blue

The fabulous, incomparable, sailing trip with Sandra, Ingrid, our new friends, and Captain Tom Hamers and crew was made on the Larus (1893). The trip lasted two nights and two days, and was boatloads of fun. The Larus is a tjalk, a type of cargo vessel used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first day's trip was made by sail from Harlingen to Terschelling and was sunny and comfortable, heel lekker. Coming back was a bit colder, windier, and we went without sails because the wind was too strong - life vests were advised. I learned a lot of Dutch via osmosis, and met really wonderful, thoughtful, and generous people. Ingrid and Sandra have a beautiful life together, especially when the measure is made by the quality of friends with whom they have surrounded themselves.

Group photo:
Front: Ingrid, Sandra, Pier, Kasper, Klaske, Marije, Edith
Back: Linda, Annelon, Kees, Arnoud, Anneke, Mirjam, Peter, Erik, Tamara, Marleen

Visits from home

Tamara's mother, Jacqueline has arrived - we've had a great time at the beach and at the Mauritshuis museum. We are off to a wedding in northern Netherlands this weekend. Tamara's cousin Ingrid is marrying Sandra. Afterwards, we are sailing for two days with the close friends of the brides, so we feel very lucky and honored to be a part of the sailing trip. I will bring the sketchbook. Erik Stokstad (from the old 'hood on Sherman Ave) stopped by last night with his brother Paul, and we had a grand fine feast. Erik is visiting Amsterdam and came down for a short visit. Hopefully, Erik will post the pics he took from that evening as a guest blogger soon.

Some new drawings

Yesterday was productive, and I am happy about these two drawings. The sunflower was drawn outside in the sun, which felt great. The self portrait was done with Conte charcoal on lovely archival paper - Conte is really a superior charcoal and worth the extra expense, such a pleasure to use. The last image is this morning's visitor to the pond. I'm pretty sure he got a goldfish.

Another evening at the International Art Club.

These first two sketches were done at last night's International Art club drawing session, and are half hour sessions each from an older model, around age 60. She models with confidence and style, a fun combination with which to work .

The eye is the one part of a self portrait that I liked from this mornings drawing at home. The gesture drawing is from T painting her nails a couple of days ago, she will not stay still of course - so it is fun to try to capture her.

The last photo is of our art-cat dilettante, Shiva. Who says that cats have no sense of aesthetics? Notice his careful placement in the center of the rug, and smug sphynx-like demeanor. To complete the performance, he is undoubtedly barfing on the carpet as I write this blog, conveniently away from home and unable to clean up his latest installation.

Raw herring taste good if you go to the right stand.

So, I dragged my intrepid guest Clair to my favorite herring stand in the Haag, "Wilger's" in Scheveningen. Clair said the fish there was a lot better than what he expected, which isn't a ringing endorsement - but he did finish the sandwhich. I, on the other hand, think the traditional dish of raw herring prepared at this stall is incredibly good. Succulent firm, sweet raw fish is served on bread with onion. I've disparaged raw herring on this blog, but I must say that it was my mistake due to a bad stand at a street fair. Meneer Wilger takes his business very seriously, and works this corner every day except Sunday and the very coldest part of the winter. Although it's better not to watch how the fish are prepared. (The fish is beheaded and gutted, then the slimy bits are scraped off the fish and deposited in a hole in the cutting board.) I think the key to good herring is a careful preparation of the fish, which takes a little bit of time. I come to Wilger's a lot. I think the street is Duinweg - will confirm that later.