Tagged: art

Stone sculpture of a lion on Delft Gate in Rotterdam

4. October 2024

Bronze and Stone Animals in Rotterdam

The animal kingdom has always been a source of inspiration for art. Anyone who looks around in a city like Rotterdam will see countless animals immortalized in statues, reliefs, and murals. World Animal Day, October 4th, is a good time to take a little tour of these beastly artworks. A photo blog with the theme: Rotterdam’s animals made of bronze and stone. And paint and other materials, but that would make the titlea bit long. Delft Lion Perhaps lions are the most frequently portrayed animals in art, so you can regularly encounter them in Rotterdam. And that’s remarkable when you… Read More

Wall with 35 ceramic tiles with kaleidoscopic patterns in spring colors

Digital art

1. July 2018

Springtime in Kaleidoscopia: Mandalas and Milky Ways

Half a year ago I wrote about my first visit to Kaleidoscopia. That magic kingdom where ordinary photographs are transformed into colorful abstract patterns. Where leaves, flowers and other natural phenomena turn into geometric artworks. A few weeks ago I returned to Kaleidoscopia. But while I first used photos of fallen leaves and other autumn scenes, I now submitted pictures of blossom, young leaves and similar springtime scenes to my kaleidoscopic Photoshop actions. The result: 35 new kaleidoscopies, collected below on a tiled wall. And if you think it’s a quilt: be my guest. The question is of course: do… Read More

The giant steel sculpture The New Delft Gate by artist Cor Kraat on the corner of Pompenburg aan Haagseveer in Rotterdam

Photography

15. April 2018

The Rotterdam Public Sculpture Top 10

Every city has a collection of statues and other works of art in public spaces. But I do feel that the average sculpture in Rotterdam is somewhat larger than elsewhere. The city has a remarkable number of artworks that are so large that you can walk through them. The reason may be that, in the spaciously designed post-war inner city, there is simply more room to go big. I wondered what were my favourite public sculptures in Rotterdam and I came to this list of ten. Let me start with a disclaimer: I don’t know much about art at all.… Read More

The Forest Planetarium of Arnhem: eight stainless steel spheres in the Cold Pond in Sonsbeek Park

Space art / Various

18. January 2017

The Arnhem Forest Planetarium and the Lost Planets

A few years ago I had a brilliant idea: a scale model of the solar system with the size of the municipality of Rotterdam. Just because it’s important to see the bigger picture, to know which larger system we’re a part of. And because it’s fun to be amazed about how big everything is. And how small we are ourselves. Streetplanetarium The city of Rotterdam is a very suitable place for such a streetpanetarium because there is a long trail of port areas attached to the city. Therefore, the distance between the center and the extreme outer regions is so… Read More

A virtual relief, creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface,, done as a colorful tile mosaic in a white wooden frame.

Digital art

4. February 2016

Virtual Reliefs: 3d Illusions on a Flat Surface

A while ago I visited an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam, dedicated to the work of Jan Schoonhoven (1914-1994). An artist from Delft who is best known for the cardboard reliefs he made. They made him world-famous, and he even had to hire assistants in order to meet the demand. One of his reliefs was auctioned in 2010 for more than 800.000 euros. Yet he continued to work until his retirement as a civil servant at the Dutch Mail. Reportedly the money he earned with his art was to a large extent spent on the jazz concerts that his wife organized.… Read More

Photo of the Marstunnel in Zutphen looking from Noorderhaven and De Mars towards the city center

Photography

3. January 2016

Marstunnel Zutphen: a Colorful Underpass

Since I was in the neighborhood, I took the opportunity to visit the Marstunnel in Zutphen. Another recently completed project in the east of the country in which I’ve put an lot of hours. Among other things, I made the artist impressions for the project when I was working at Royal HaskoningDHV. Mars The name Marstunnel has nothing to do with the Red Planet and also not with candy bars. It refers to business park De Mars (The Swamp). The new tunnel connects that area, and the new district Noorderhaven, with Zutphen’s scenic old town center. It replaces the level… Read More

Artist impression of a fictional Icelandic cafe, warm and cosy inside, with paintified landscape photo's on the wall, beer on the bar and the Icelandic flag on the tables, and with a snowy landscape outside

Digital art / Visualisation

27. November 2015

Virtual Iceland – Cafe with a View

Iceland, the land of ice and fire, of volcanoes and glaciers, fjords and lakes, hot baths and boiling mud pools. The land of four seasons in one day, where the sun, the wind and the clouds continuously provide a spectacular light show. The land where nature is the boss and where you are sometimes get stuck for a day because a ford is not so fordable for a while. The land on the edge of the world; and perhaps the most beautiful place on the entire planet. I was in Iceland in the summers of 2005 and 2008, the winters… Read More

The melting pot version of a colorfull composition with 48 flags of European countries, as decoration on a stucco wall

Digital art

6. July 2015

Creative with European Flags

It was perhaps not the best time to do something creative with the flags of the 28 member states of the European Union. With the results of the Greek referendum in this morning’s papers, the future is uncertain. There may very well be only 27 members states somewhere in the very near future. And in that case my flag project is instantly outdated. Moreover, one of the characteristics of a political union like the EU is that countries can join or leave. In the past, only the first happened and currently the second option seems to become fashionable but the current gloomy mood… Read More

Sail boats under a blue sky in the marina in Flushing, the Netherlands

Photography

24. March 2014

Return to Flushing – part 2

(see also Return to Flushing – Part 1 ) But even without the implementation of the plans for the Scheldt Quarter, Flushing is an interesting destination at the end of the railway line . It is like a smaller version of the antithesis of Amsterdam-Rotterdam: Middelburg is beautiful and picturesque but actually Flushing is more interesting. Even if it’s only because of the vessels, bound for Antwerp, that come very close to the beach: Maritime Or the maritime atmosphere with the robust quays, the sheds and yards and jetties in all shapes and sizes: Past glory Or the magnificent pieces… Read More