Why nothing seems to happen...
Important announcement and exhibition on the way
Dear all,
Last month I sent you an email with an update about the unproductive summer and since then very little has happened in my artistic life. You may remember that I wrote about not feeling well over the holidays and now seems like a good time to share what's going on as it will have a major impact on my productivity in the coming year.
You guessed it: I'm pregnant! And not just like that, no, this
time it's twins.
All summer long I had a feeling that this was not an ordinary pregnancy, because with Efisio and Artemisia I was not nauseous and I didn’t feel bad in any way at all. When we were told during the first ultrasound that there were two children in my belly, I was not surprised. It is of course very nice news, but a twin pregnancy is accompanied by many more checks and also a bit more fatigue than usual. Since nine weeks I have been feeling very well, but mentally I am far away from my artistic projects and mainly focused on my mission to have a worry-free and pleasant pregnancy and delivery, despite the fact that I am under medical supervision.
I am only 15 weeks along, but the urge to nest has already set in and rearranging the rooms on the top floor, purchasing new baby supplies, but also preserving apples and quinces for jam or clearing out the attic seems suddenly much more attractive than standing in front of my easel for a few hours. Yet I still have to persevere, because in January Galerie Bonnard will take me to the Art Fair in Naarden. For this purpose I am painting two medium-sized works from imagination, inspired by Rocks in the Night. In the most recent video on YouTube you see me standing in front of an unfinished painting that is also going to Naarden.
No other obligations, other than taking some rest and giving in to my urge for domestic activities. I had to cancel some things for next spring. This included an artist in residence place in Cornwall, which I was really looking forward to.
Fall is a very special season for me. The grape leaves and rose hips color beautifully in the garden and all the trees suddenly become potential painting subjects. The apples, pears and quinces being sold along the road, in wheelbarrows or cupboards, make me very greedy and I now look with pleasure at the first homemade jam in the sideboard. I still have a crate of Seedling apples to process, but a large part of them will also go into the cake. Because this week is a party week for us. Artemisia and I have our birthdays on October 17 and 18 and an autumn party is exactly what I'm looking forward to. Where strawberry and red currant cakes were on the festive menu in the summer, I can now indulge in pumpkin, apple, walnut and pear pie. Efisio and Artemisia enjoy drawing and crafting together at the table now that it is getting colder and rainier and we have already made a lantern from paper mâche with autumn leaves on it. The Spiderman version has yet to come, because that is of course much cooler than autumn leaves.
From November 23 to December 29 you can see many of my recent plein air paintings at Galerie Année in Haarlem. I am participating in the plein air group exhibition, just like last year. Please come and have a look!
Brebella
If you are wondering when the picture book about sheep Brebella will be published, here is the honest answer: so far I have not been able to find a publisher who dares to do it and so we are almost a year further. I may try to approach two smaller publishers, but I dread waiting for a response and am considering publishing the book myself. This is of course a lot more work and as long as I still have urgent painting projects to complete, I can't delve into it. But hopefully from January I will have time to learn more about it. To be continued.
Oh and if anyone has experience with self-publishing books, I'd love to hear about it!
See you soon,
Anna Maria