Cay Denise

Update :  I've finished reading the book now as well.  It was a lengthy and interesting read.  There were times when I felt like a ping pong ball due to section topics where events included those that were in earlier, and sometimes unrelated, sections.  It made envisioning the timeline challenging.  The bibliography is excellent and takes more than 100 pages of the book.  That said, I learned a lot!  It makes my recent visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam all the richer knowing more of the family's background and understanding just how vital a force Jo van Gogh-Bonger was in creating the level of appreciation for Vincent's work that is renown today -- across the globe.  Original Post : The zine is done, but not the book.  I'm halfway through it and expect to have many more notes. So I've started writing on the back of this single sheet of paper used to create the zine.  It's already a treasure trove of key points about her life through the point of Vincent&

Seeing new sites and experiencing new places, customs, languages, and events can all trigger inspiration for creatives regardless of the creative discipline.   While abroad recently, my plan was to sketch and draw a great deal more than what I did...which ended up being almost nil.  Instead, I took lots of photos to capture the local life, tourist attractions visited, and charming scenery discovered.  After returning and downloading hundreds of photos, I've started sketching and drawing images inspired by some of them.   In the work below, my intention has been to capture a scene.  Accuracy isn't a priority....capturing the essence is. Sometimes, the more fluid and/or less accurate or wonky a drawing is...can lead to more whimsical and delightful pieces.  FYI - A blind contour, of which there are three below, is done by only looking at the subject--not the paper you're drawing on or while one is drawing.  As much as possible, the pen should never leave the paper until the a

Her name is Jo van Gogh-Bonger.  She was the wife of Theo van Gogh and sister-in-law to his brother, Vincent van Gogh--the artist. I saw a book about Jo while recently visiting the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).  It is nearly 2" thick, quite heavy and contains 535 pages of which 171 are a combination of notes/footnotes, abbreviations, bibliography and an index.  The book itself is written in six sections.  The first section is about Jo's life to the point when she marries Theo.  That is as far as I've gotten.   What I'm looking forward to reading in the remaining sections is how she grew into the ambitious, determined and undeterred advocate of Vincent's art after his and Theo's deaths, especially since she was left to raise a son on her own.   Below is the book's cover with Jo's photograph.  As part of reading it, I've started a zine to act like SparksNotes to keep track of the key points to me about her journey.  Below the book cove

Since late March, I've been planning an international solo trip that included meeting up with friends.   The planning is what makes a trip an adventure, and it was definitely fabulous -- now that it is in the rearview mirror -- so to speak.   During my two weeks abroad, the sights visited included the: Mauritshuis, a lovely art museum (The Hague, Netherlands) Binnenhof (The Hague, Netherlands) Delft (Netherlands) Kasteel de Haar, a castle (Haarzuilens, Netherlands) Museum Speelklok (Utrecht, Netherlands) Walking Tour of Amsterdam (Netherlands) Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Dutch Resistance Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) De Oude and Nieuwe Kerks aka old and new churches (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Sainte Chapelle/Conciergerie (Paris, France) Giverny - Monet's residence at one time (outside Paris) Versailles (outside Paris) Musee d'Orsay/VR Event titled 1874 Impressionists First Exhibition