Will you be careful?
I know that you’re only running an errand here at the corner and that you’re not dressed for a long journey. Your kiss is light Your look calm And tranquil are your hand and foot But behind this corner another part of the world, after this moment a sea of time. Will you be careful? "Afscheid (Farewell)," Adriaan Morriën Translated from the Dutch by AD Capili Earlier this summer, my friend Shiho Nakaza and I went on a little art adventure that included a week in Amsterdam. We participated in sketchwalks (during a record-breaking heatwave in July) as part of the 10th Urban Sketchers Symposium. During one of the walks, a few us stumbled upon this idyllic corner of the city. Entranced, I found some shade and set to work. I was pressed for time and after a while, was not quite hitting the mark, so I decided to leave it a bit unfinished and work on it more later. I didn't pick it up again until I returned home. Some of my fresher marks inevitably disappeared, but in the end, I think it conveys more of what first drew me in. In my all-too-brief time in Amsterdam, many points of interest were lost on me as I rushed, like many a tourist, from here to there, oblivious to the history beneath my feet. I found out later that the official name of the little park that overlooks this scene is the J.W. van Overloopplantsoen. "A green bank of the Plantage Muidergracht, sandwiched between Hortus and the former Zeeman Laboratory of the UvA, named after the Dutch Nobel Prize winner Pieter Zeeman who reportedly received Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein here. Heroic ground.... JW van Overloop himself was slightly less illustrious. He was a local resident who fed the pigeons every day in this park. He called those pigeons 'my sisters', according to writer Adriaan Morriën who also lived there." ( source: idovergagen.nl ) I’ve since read that the poem above is inscribed on a monument at this little park, but I don't recall seeing it there. At the time, I didn’t know anything about this place, or about some of the darker passages of history that took place nearby. I just sat there with J.W.'s sisters, sipped my coffee and tried to soak in as much as I could before I had to move on. #uskamsterdam2019 #usk #watercolor #travelsketch #sketchwalk #sketchtopainting #pleinair #pleinairtostudio #paintoutdoors #pleinairmag #outdoorpainter #urbannature #amsterdamoost #plantage #plantagemuidergracht #canalsofamsterdam #grachten #jwvanoverlooplantsoen #weesperbuurt #plantagepark #einsteinwashere #meanderingamsterdam #lostinamsterdam #foundinamsterdam #iamsterdam #adriaanmorriën #afscheid
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AuthorI have a passion for plein air painting. I try to capture and share the moments of beauty I find. You can see some of my work online at: Archives
September 2019
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