30 Comments

Such a wonderful concept- falling in love with a place & documenting it thru changing weather & seasons! I love the term "unofficial artist's residency", as well. Excited to see what you will do.

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Definitely fell in love with the place, as you have noticed. Some days when I sit there and sketch, I have to pinch myself, because it feels unreal.

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Oh, I simply love the idea of the “self-appointed, unofficial artist’s residency.” This is how I now want to call my ongoing personal projects, too 😊 It truly gives the personal project a right mindset and perspective, with a helpful dose of lightness, I think. And yours is such a beautiful project, exploring a narrative of a place.

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And the place changes all the time, something I might not have noticed had I not sketched it.

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Ok, I am going to admit it. I have googled 'artist residency national park', since I read your post. Because I love the idea and would love it if this was an actual program in the Netherlands (haven't found it here).

I was reminded of the Dutch line by Lucebert: 'Alles van waarde is weerloos' (crude translation: everything of value is fragile) in relation to the protection of nature (which the national parks do) in our current political climate. I could really see some initiatives that even celebrate or emphasize that 'weerloosheid' with art, which is also weerloos.

I'm seeing some connections here ... very interesting!

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I too was surprised when I couldn’t find any artist residency programs tied to the National Parks here in the Netherlands. It feels like something that should already exist.

And yes, both art and nature are fragile and within the spinning of the big capitalist machine it is easy to diminish the value of both nature and art, but we as humans need both for our souls to thrive.

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I love this so much! Also loved the links to Ólafur Arnalds -- he's one of my absolute favorites! I've been working to him almost exclusively this past month!

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Thank you so much! Yes, his music has so many sound layers, I love it.

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I must try this! I think this idea is going to catch on!

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Yes, do! Would love to see what you come up with.

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That tree that corkscrews around itself is The Coolest!

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Right?! I love how trees in the wild get to just do their own thing.

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Love Zuid-Kennemerland, it is my fav too (especially Duin en Kruidberg)! Such a great idea to do a self-appointed residency, studying the same area over and over allows for so many explorations.

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Duin-en-Kruidberg is one of my favourites too, the trees there are so beautiful. I can’t wait for the water to reside so that I could explore deeper into the park again.

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Fabulous idea and beautiful captures! Can’t wait to follow along.

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Thank you, Victoria! I’m pretty sure that the place will give me enough inspiration to fill up many more sketchbooks.

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I was so excited when I saw Amy Stewart's post, and I love that you were ALREADY DOING ONE!

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Yes, that post got me excited too! It gave me that little kick in the but to ‘own’ the project.

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So cool!

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What a great idea and initiative, I love seeing the behind scenes of your beautiful artwork. Now I’m curious to find where this national park is located and maybe I’ll visit it someday. Thanks for sharing 🌼

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Thank you, Susan! It is a beautiful park. Hope you get the chance to visit it.

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Great painting!

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Thank you, Frieda!

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Oh, I love your paintings so much! Thank you for sharing your process ❤️

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Thank you so much, Lisa! It makes me so happy to hear that!

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What is your painting music?

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The Chopin Project by Ólafur Arnalds and Alice Sara Ott

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Love this! Thanks so much for the shoutout!

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I have to say thank you to you, for inadvertently giving me the permission to take my own project more serious.

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Not inadvertent at all! That’s the whole point to me of the self appointed artist’s residency. Give yourself a title! It means something

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