It has been a bit since I wrote, sorry about that.. Alex was here and we were traveling and I was sick, so that took a lot of my energy... But to make up for it, I have decided to post some photos of my studio and you will get to see some of the work that I have been doing..

Alex and I went to Amsterdam and Paris, and of course s

pent a good amount of time in Antwerp. It was a really great time... She brought a sense of home with her, so I was thankful for that..We visited a few galleries in Amsterdam and did a lot of the tourist stuff in Paris. And I took her to several of the gall

eries here in Antwerp. I really like some of the galleries here, there are a few that I visit almost every week even tho the work only changes every month or so. It is still inspiring. One of the reasons why I wanted to come here was so that I would stop being confined to my computer when it came to viewing art. Well that has definitely happened. I really love being surrounded by so many gall

eries and museums. It makes me feel like I am a bit limited in Sarasota

when it comes to that. But that withstanding, I have found that there are a few things that I a

m missing, sushi for one.. and some people of course and I still miss

Home Depot.. but everyday I am finding more things that i like about Antwerp and it is actually starting to feel like a home.. I know that I am really going to miss the people here when I go back to the states.. I really am going to be friends with some of these people for the rest of my life. Julie, Alison and I had a lot of fun working in the studio today. They said my pr

onunciation of the Dutch language has improved a lot and everyone still gets a kick out of teaching me dutch phrases. I like it too. Alison, Julie and Jente's exhibition is next week so it has been late nights for all of us this week, but productive is a feeling I have always welcomed. I finished and started a couple of paintings this week and some

photographs as well. I am really enjoying taking photography with Johan, but i am not very

sure about my skills as a pho

tographer. The girls in my photo class are really quite brilliant with a camera in their hands and I am a bit intimidated by their work, but I truck on nonetheless. Johan and I are going to sit down next week and look at all of my work for his class that I have done and discuss it... that should be interesting. The weather was amazing today, it was sunny but not overbearing and warmer, much much warmer...I think it made it up to 51 degrees.. perfect temperature if you ask me. Well, I still have work to do tonight and it is already

1am.. so, until next time...

As promised, photos from my studio......

Hello readers,

I worked in the studio all week and I picked Alex up from the airport friday morning. It is truly great having her here, I feel like a piece of home is here with me. We had a nice night in Antwerp and hung out with some locals. I went to Mark's funeral Saturday morning. It was at the Cathedral at the Groenplaats. The service was lovely and Philippe Heylen gave a very touching speech about Mark and his connections with Ringling, including some sweet anecdotes about his colleagues at Ringling who he was very close with including Bradley, Ann and Robyn. Alex and I headed to Amsterdam Saturday afternoon on the train. I took her to the alternative space, w139; it was nice seeing the additions to the space sense the last time I was there and the progress that the artists were making. We also went to the Ellen Project space, a gallery in the center of the city, which was new to me and had interesting work. We also saw the infamous red light district, which smelled of cheap perfume and had a glow of an unfamiliar yet eye-opening way of life. We just got in around midnight tonight. I have classes for the next three days and several lectures to attend which Alex will be accompanying me to. Then we are headed off to Paris on Thursday.

More to come but ta ta for now,

Dannielle

London Trip

Hello All....I went to London this week and it was a really good trip...I wish I could have spent more time there! The train ride was delightful but customs was a nightmare.. the English asked me all sorts of silly questions before permitting me into their country. On the way back the French were much less concerned that I was coming... There is so much to see and I only had a few days to see it in. We went to the Tate Britian, the National Gallery, The Saatchi Gallery and the Tate Modern... all of which were very different, but extremely enjoyable. I got to see the Big Ben and the Eye of London. I didn't get to see the queen, but maybe next time :). The underground, their subway system, was fairly manageable and after just a few days of riding, I am certain I could find my way around it. I would really like to live in London at some point in my life. It is quite rainy there though, made Antwerp seem much less so. I spent some time in Camden town and saw the legendary stables... that was quite fun. I will be back in the studio working tomorrow and then Alex will join me in Antwerp at the end of this week. We are going to spend a few days in Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Paris...I am really looking forward to her coming. I will include some pictures from my trip to London..I hope you enjoy.

My Best,

Dannielle

Back from Amsterdam

Hey everyone!

Just got back from Amsterdam, it was a really great trip! I went to the Rijksmuseum (pronounced Right museum) which holds a collection of Dutch art from early religious works to the masterpieces of the golden age. I also went to the Van Gogh museum and a Torture museum. I liked getting to see a lot of van gogh's work that was based from japanese prints. The Torture museum was a bit insane but I completely loved it! One of my favorite places in Amsterdam was W139... an alternative space located just outside of the red light district. All of the artists there were really great to talk to, they paint directly on the walls and then will paint over it after the exhibition is done running. I am going to try and make it back for their opening on April 2nd. I got to see a lot of galleries while I was there, one of my favorite was the Torch gallery who had an exhibition of Danielle Kwaaitaal photographs where her figures photographed in water take on a sculptural and painterly feel. Also went to the Annet Gelink Gallery, Steendrukkerij gallery, and Justin Ten Haaf's gallery which is currently showing work from some younger artist out of Japan, all of which were worth seeing..

It was a great trip to AMSTERDAM all in all... the hostel I stayed in wasn't so bad and I took a boat ride on up the canal to see the city, along with the National Monument, Royal Palace and the architecture... I really enjoyed the time.. I also went to the Ann Frank house, it was a really emotional place.

The whole city has a great sense of history... it was beautiful and just a couple hours on the train from Antwerp.

I will be back in my studio on Monday and then headed to London on Tuesday....

xxxooo, Dannielle

Here are some more photos from Amsterdam..

Hey Everyone,

I am heading to Amsterdam for a few days. My train leaves at 10 in the morning. This week we are on spring break for the Carnival, so it is the perfect opportunity to head to Amsterdam and get in some of the sites and galleries.. I have several galleries and spaces that I am planning on visiting along with some of Amsterdam's museums... I will post again when I get back and plan on taking plenty of photos. I am really looking forward to this trip! Oh, and for those at home keeping count, Sunday was my one month anniversary of being in Antwerp..and just so you know, although I miss some things about home, i love this city and being over here just keeps getting better..... :) Okay, well I must pack now and will talk to you all soon.. Also, I am headed to London next week, so if you have any must eat at restaurants or places to see, please feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment section..oh, and if you are watching the news then you probably heard about the train collision that happened early this morning on one of the commuter trains in Brussels, my thoughts are with the families of the victims of that crash and i hope that the injured will have a speedy recovery.. Please keep tuned in to the news to see how they are doing. Talk to you all soon! xxxxxoooo

Hello All....

Today was a very productive day. Had a meeting this morning then went and dropped off some film for development.... Met up with Frankie S and we went to a magical land... known as Antwerp's version of a mini home depot! Needless to say, I was in heaven! Very exciting stuff here... I also learned a new Dutch phrase.. After our adventurous ride and stop at Ikea (aka the devil's playground) I took my new goodies, lots of wood and screws and sandpaper back to my studio. Had a tea with Julie, afternoon class and a slave like devotion in the studio. It was possibly my favorite day in Antwerp yet! A much needed improvement after Friday's getting ran over by a girl on her bike incident. Accompanied with this little bit of information is a photo of my studio in part with work in progress.. Enjoy... Salut for now...

xxxooo Dannielle

Today in Antwerp 2 Feb 2010

Today was rainy and it has been snowing on and off the last couple of days...it is really beautiful when it snows though. I have been working in the studio, figuring a lot out about what it is that I am saying as an artist and where my work is going to go from here. We had an artist/professor from Berlin come in today with Hans and Ellen to talk with us about our work. Everything they said had truth to it, so it was a good conversation.... I just have a lot to mentally figure out for my work. I have also had two photo shoots this week for the photography class that I am taking. They went really well and I am extremely happy with the way the photos (or they spell it fotos) turned out. Class tomorrow and I am going to make it to the museum of art this weekend, so I am looking forward to that a lot. Working on my journal a lot for my independent study, the main questions I am answering by looking at the work here is how it differs from work in the states and how they show their historical roots in the work. It is a new way to approach seeing work, I like it so far. More to come...