van der Harsten

Last evening we had a mini- van der Harst reunion here. a new baby, Zoe, was introduced to us. She hopefully will be added to the many portraits I made of this family. The photo is of course a Johns=Cooper. The earliest portrait here was painted in 1991. Sjoerd is in Switzerland, Thijs in Brabant, Fridtjof in Mongolia, Dick in Belgium and Sophia in San Francisco. Floran, on top is the closest by in Utrecht.

Spring!

Not that the winter here in Holland was anything compared to that in the Hilltowns of Massachusetts! but we still express a lot of joy when the winds get softer and the sun gives us warm smiles. the waters around us get this incredible deep ultra-marine blue-magenta color.
Herman's sister Wil brought me this bunch of flowers whose name I do not know. The buds start out white-cinnabaar green and unfold into such diverse shades of pink, mauve, lilac and even red.

I couldn't help think of Claude Monet's burst of apple blossoms and Vincent van Gogh's birthday present to his new-born nephew Vincent= almond tree blossoms on a rich blue sky painted while he was in the Saint- Rémy hospital. These two are my heros and they must have been totally involved in the spaces between the throbbing flowers as well as the blooms.

 It's all about the movement of growth and joy of spring.

Yesterday's Roses

Still can't get enough of these Luxor roses!

Lisbon night life

Those were nice days in Lisbon, the capitol of Portugal. Here is the alley-way going up to the hotel. The Electro Tram is one of the most romantic ways to get around, especially #28. The Portuguese need these old trams to get up and down the steep hills. If you go there, don't forget that the Metros open at 10 a.m. This was not mentioned in the guide books we had with us. The people are very friendly and price of food and wine cheap. we ate in typical small restuarants visited by the locals. Simple food with lots of fresh herbs and garlic.

Flower profusion

Tulip Painting Marathon

Lynn Golden from Cornwall, England, and I are spending this week in our greenhouse painting tulips and other spring flowers. It is our third year doing this. Herman gets out there around 8 a.m. as the light is coming on and gets a good fire burning in the stove. The flowers have stayed good for us the whole week because of the cold nights and cloudy days. We have been toasty warm. sorry, over there in America. I feel grateful to be living in two worlds.

portrait

still have one leg on each side of the Atlantic. This is one of the series made of Cummingtonians. hopefully I will shortly be posting Blogs from paintings I am now doing here. meanwhile everyone in America has been shoveling again. and again. Fortitude!