After all the hard work last weeks, I needed a little break.
My ‘men’ and I stayed with my parents.
We visited an art exhibition and ofcourse I had to say hello
to my beloved waves…

I started working on a big art journal page last week.
I finished it this morning.

Alle dinge zijn mi te inge

(Miscellaneous big art journal: 25 x 35 cm - 9.8 x 13.8 inch)

Used materials: dictionary book page, distress ink, adirondack color wash,
clear embossing powder, white sharpie

The poem on this page is written in in the 13th century by Hadewijch (c. 1240)

Here’s a little ‘history lesson’

Hadewijch is at the very heart of literature from the low countries.
This mystic from Brabant occupies a lofty seat in the throne-room
of spiritual courtly poetry and was the first woman in Europe to risk
singing of mystical love in pure love poetry.

In the late Middle Ages, Hadewijch was deeply admired in religious circles.
When her work was rediscovered in the nineteenth century, people were
initially astounded: was it erotic or spiritual love that was being celebrated
so ardently? Soon a new fascination developed, no longer kindled by religious
sentiment, but by Hadewijch’s linguistic virtuosity: at the dawn of Dutch
literature stands a woman who, with astonishing craftsmanship, gave shape
to a passionate mysticism of longing.

(source: national library of the Netherlands)

The poem is almost impossible to translate.
I know there are English translations available, but I don’t have them and
I don’t dare trying to translate it myself. This poem is in ‘ancient Dutch’
(from the 13th century) and already hard to read for Dutchies today…
the poems of Hadewijch belongs to the Dutch literary history and is still
learned in high schools

Alle dinge, zijn mi te inge
Ik ben zo wijd, om een ongeschepen
Heb ik begrepen, in eeuwigen tijd.
Ik heb’t gevaan, het heeft mi ontvaan
Widere dan wijd, mi es te inge al el
Dat wette wel, gi dies ook daar zijt.

Summer vacation in Holland is almost over… some of the schools
already started and next week, most kids will be back to school.

Time for moms to find some ‘me time’.

So here’s a reminder for you:

My (online) workshops in Autumn!

Registration for these workshops is now open.
Click on the images to get all the information on the website.

With August on the calendar, and light getting shorter in the evenings, it sure
feels like fall now! I decided to turn the ‘bad’ into ‘good’ and made plans for the
upcoming season then!

For me, some great things are in the pipeline – including teaching a long,
luxurious live workshop-weekend  in November – and then there’s also
something fantastic bubbling and growing, which I can’t say anything about
yet…  but it’s starting to come together and getting real!
Eeeckk… I hope to reveal it soon!

All in all, I had no time to also create a new online workshop for this Fall,
so I decided to offer two existing (and popular) online workshops again.

The online workshops that will start in September are:

Let it Loose (September 12 – October 20; 2011)

This workshop will loosen you up and take you
a step further in creating your own, unique art
journal pages. You’ll learn some basic writing
techniques to improve your journaling and you
will get tips and techniques to use your own
handwriting (You dislike your own handwriting?
You might be surprised what you can do with it!)
Furthermore, you will learn art techniques like
working with collages, paint, colours, gesso and
gel medium.

A Creative Art Journey (September 13 – October 21; 2011)

If you love art journaling and are eager to learn some
art history along the way, this is the workshop for you!
In 12 lessons you will be introduced to 12 different art
periods in time. Each lesson concentrates on a specific
art period, handling the characteristics and showing
the artists and highlights. Every lesson comes with
multiple prompts – inspired by the specific period/art –
from which you can choose which one suites you best.
You will learn about Ancient art, Renaissance,
Impressionism, Cubism and others.

And then there are still some places available for live Workshop by the sea

November 4 to 7, 2011 (National / Dutch)
November 11 to 14, 2011 (International / Bilingual:
Dutch-English)

This weekend will take place on the inspiring peninsula
of Walcheren (Province of Zeeland) in the Netherlands.

Besides binding your own book/art journal, working
with different techniques to create backgrounds and
a haiku workshop (provided by the writer/poet
Johanna Kruit), I will also teach you how to create
an ingeniously folded booklet.

Last weekend, I made such a folded booklet to use as an example in the
workshop. Here’s a sneak peek.

All  information about the workshops on the website: Marit’s Paper World

Registration for the online workshops is possible in the  shop.

If you are interested in the live workshop, then let me know
and I will e-mail you with further information about registration.

I’m sure you can guess what more I created last weekend!
Yep, right

The Chronicles of Marit 2011 – Week 31

(30 x 21 cm - 11.8 x 8.3 inch)

The background is gessoed. After that, I added acrylic paint and spray ink.
The ‘bubbles’ are made with paint and a sequin waste (template). The photo
is a cut-out from a magazine. Tiny alphabet stickers (October Afternoon)
used for ‘week’ and ‘month’ and journaling/doodling with sharpies.

I’ll be back on Friday with another art journal page.
Maybe even two 😉