GABROEN

Purring in the sun

2012-03-02T00:06:00.001-06:00

Gabri is back to Tucson to help with the final (?!?) stretch of the beading book in the making by Kate, Jean and Dustin. The book is most definitely going to be worth every penny, delica bead, peyote stitch and air-mile traveled; if those Fabulous Four put their minds in sync or in synergy, spectacular things happen. Also, I have seen some of the projects and some of the pictures (so can you in the earlier posts Another marvelous day in the desert and The 'no name will do it justice' experience), and these are even before Kyle Cassidy added his signature spin on them. So trust me, the book is going to be beadalicious.

What better place to be than Tucson, when the Chicago winter is dreading on. Although the 2012 winter is overall still pretty mild, there's another storm coming tomorrow afternoon with up to 6 inches of snow in the forecast. Much better to be purring in the Arizona sunshine. Enjoy, bead magicians, and take in that vitamin D. As in delica with a capital D, or as in a big smiley :D

GABROEN on behalf of Jeroen

A Florida B-day

2012-02-25T19:50:00.001-06:00

Today is the day Jeroen is adding another year. Celebrations already started early this week with the fabulous fisheye lens (see also the last post). Experimenting with it was a lot of fun, and there's still a lot to learn to make sure that the lens' distortion makes your subject's body mass index more in stead of less favorable. But if the picture is good, the wide angle of the shot helps create a whole story. Also, it's the first lens I ever worked with that actually does not limit the image to less than what your eyes see, and that is pretty sweet. Click on the pictures to get a higher resolution image; these large thumbnails in the blog posts are an odd thing when posting from an iPad.

Today was also the day when the early evening sky showed Pisces accompanied by a tiny waxing moon, Venus, Uranus, Mercury and a hint of Jupiter. All these constellations gathering around over the Gulf of Mexico to celebrate my birthday down in Florida. My Venus was also around, and there is nothing more I could wish for.

GABROEN, Jan and Tine spent today in Naples, Florida's "members only, club card required" town. It is entertaining to watch and stroll around for an afternoon, and somewhat of a relief to be able to leave behind. Even in this haven of the wealthy under-taxed, it is nice to see entrepreneurial spirits start an all organic ice-cream business serving crazy flavors like cardamon or mango-chili. Too bad for them that the taste was nothing out of the ordinary. Their claim to adhere to German hygiene laws is not gonna save them, but bless them for trying............

Yes, my Venus was around. Being her happy self, contaminating the world with her radiating smile and her hair all bouncing curls again because of the warm humidity in the air. She really inherited her thermostat from her dad. And Nina Simone was singing on the car radio "Here comes the sun", in a manner, well............. only Nina can. A beautiful day indeed.

GABROEN on behalf of Jeroen

Fisheye

2012-02-21T23:06:00.001-06:00

My birthday is coming up later this week, and since GABROEN moved to the US we have tried to start a tradition of celebrating this with my parents in Florida. It actually worked out for four out of the six years so far. This year, they swung by Chicago with New Year's (see Parents in the attic, uuuh arctic) and went from a brisk 10 degrees F walk along Fort Sheridan Beach to numerous balmy 80 degrees F hikes along Fort Myers Beach.
GABROEN arrived here on Sunday, and as an exciting prelude to my birthday I already received an awesome present at Monday breakfast. A fascinating, creative, fantastic fisheye lens - one of the things from my wish list coming out of our Tucson weekend of photographic magic last month. I got it in advance of my birthday, so I could start using it straight away and use Florida as a backdrop for fisheye wonderland experimentation. In case you want to know, it's a 7.5mm lens with about 150 degrees angle of field. And even if these facts do not interest you in the least, check out the things coming out of experimenting with this beauty, yesterday while hiking in Fort Myers Beach, and today on Sanibel Island. I'm so pleased with it, and grateful that I got it already in advance. Double-click on the pictures to see a larger image. Fisheye rules!

Keep your eyes out for more fisheye. There will definitely be more, much more coming from this thing.
GABROEN on behalf of Jeroen

Stick around

2012-02-19T20:36:00.001-06:00

Starting last October, Ruba "more attitude than hair" Gonzalez started a new habit. At least twice a day when we walked her, she picked up little sticks and brought them back into the house. At first very obvious, with the sticks sticking out of her mouth like very fancy thin cigarettes or thick cigar stumps. But when after the third stick we no longer allowed her to bring in more, she became much more stealthy with this, storing sticks in her cheeks or under her tongue. Although the stick was invisible, we could still recognize if she was collecting by a change in her behavior; rather than the usual sniffing around and side stepping from tree to tree, she became very focused on getting back home without once looking at you or ever opening her mouth. Once she understood that we were on to her again and her behavior gave her away, she started further perfecting her stealthy hobby. And with 3-4 walks a day, of which 2 in the dark, she had plenty of opportunity to become the expert collector. She brought in over 40 sticks that we know of, and chewed/swallowed about 7 that we know of. What finally stopped her was the cold; a hairless dog that needs to do its business below 30 degrees F clearly has other things on her mind and butt than adding another stick to her collection. We thought all the effort, all the searching and sniffing, all the perfecting of the stealth skills, deserved attention. So we framed her collection, and are pretty pleased with the result. A dog's attempt to stick around.

We dropped her off yesterday at her foster home for a week-long sleepover. Although her heart was racing when we left, I did see her pick up another stick from their garden and bring it up to the door. Bless her precious little collector's heart...............
GABROEN on behalf of Ruba

Winter also has its perks

2012-02-11T23:33:00.000-06:00

So far, Chicago's 2012 winter has been pretty mild, or a "cake walk" as I heard on the local NPR station. Average snowfall should be around 40 inches, and the last four winters topped that with more than 50. But until now we have not had much more than 15 inches and January was much warmer than usual. Nothing subtropical, so nothing to get excited about; most of January was just above freezing during the day and mostly overcast and humid. But winter does come with some perks. After our snow-shoeing trip three weeks ago (see the earlier post Well, well, we even enjoyed the snow), amazing salt crystals appeared when we let our snowshoes dry.

click to enlarge these sparkly diamonds

These crystals are tiny and difficult to photograph if you don't have a good macro lens. But please click on the photos and explore this tiny salty universe. A macro lens is one of the things that I have on my wish list since lying flat on Kate's Tucson driveway last month, with Kyle Cassidy's macro lens and flash lights to take close ups of some harvester ants.

After two more inches of snow yesterday, we woke up to a brisk but crisp blue, sunny morning. That's another perk of Chicago's winter, at least our limited experience with the 2011 and 2012 winter: snowy days are followed by these refreshingly crisp days with sunlight so bright that you feel the vitamin D rush through your cheeks. So this morning we walked the 20 minutes to our local Italian bakery for espresso and homemade canoli, and people looked at us from their SUVs with heated seats as if we came from another planet. In fact, most people from the Chicago North Shore suburbs consider Amsterdam another planet. But we got our vitamin D, caffeine, sugar rush and met a new antique dealer - an Abbott spouse who was born in Alabama and who's still mad at her husband for bringing her to the North Shore................. 25 years ago. Go figure.

Dia de los Muertos

2012-02-08T21:54:00.000-06:00

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures with a latino ethnic background. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration takes place on November 1–2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.
The Day of the Dead is also celebrated in areas of the United States, such as California, Texas, and Arizona. Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl.

Marigolds are a significant symbol for the Day of the Dead festivities and are known as the "flower of the dead". Their scent is believed to "attract the souls and draw them back". They are also a symbol for passion and creativity.

Mexican Cempasúchitl (Marigold), the traditional flower to honor the dead

I finished my beaded marigold flower today, and have something in mind that will link its symbolic meaning for the Day of the Dead and for creativity with a big project I'm brooding and working on for some time now. It will become clear later, once I get further into the project and post about it. I have the feeling that this project will be my first statement as Gabriella the Artist.

My beaded version of Cempasúchitl

GABROEN on behalf of Gabri

It takes time...

2012-02-03T15:00:00.001-06:00

to grow flowers.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Are you gonna go my way?

2012-02-01T23:48:00.000-06:00

Some people spent yesterday supporting other people with very uninspiring names like Mitt or Newt, but GABROEN had better ideas: we cheered on Lenny and Raphael. As in Lenny Kravitz and Raphael Saadiq that is. Lenny returned home to the US for his new world tour "Black and White America" with Saadiq as his very special guest a.k.a. funky opening act. And yesterday night they played the historic Chicago Theater.

Fabulous Chicago Theater

The theater dates back to the roaring 1920s, a particularly roaring era in Chicago with the likes of Al Capone. It's in walking distance from the downtown train station, so we rode our local express, enjoyed a dinner of Angelo's green chili tamales on the train, and arrived way before the theater actually opened its doors. This did give us time to explore the immediate neighborhood, but if the most exciting thing around is the actual studio where they are broadcasting the local ABC evening news, sports and weather, you know you are in trouble. If you think there's still a hint of glamour when you're watching your local news on TV, think again; to see the studio and news anchors both on and off camera is as exciting as going to the local ugly mall to watch a bunch of teenagers lanterfanting (that's a Dutch term that doesn't translate well, but I'm sure you are getting the visual). Going inside the theater was much more exciting; acoustics may not be optimal, but the building's interior is pretty smashing.

Main foyer chandelier and ornate walls

Central staircase

Being a long time fan of Lenny, Gabriella got out her rock chick look of beige and red, which happened to exactly match the color scheme of the Chicago theater interior. While observing the other concert goers, she can't wait for the show to start.

Pondering rock chick

Raphael Saadiq and his band put down a groovy, funky opening act, with backing vocals that danced like you have not seen before, a horn section that was world class and a pianist with amazing voice and moves for a 300+ lb physique. A physique that literally would have fitted five times the female backing vocalist in snug black leather pants. Lenny's show was very energetic as well, and we were surprised to see how popular he is. He got the whole theater standing and dancing with the third song, and that party lasted for the rest of the night. Sometimes a bit too much energy - rock songs that were thumbing like a jack hammer and strobe light effects that would drive an epileptic into a definite fit. But a great performer, probably one of the truest rock stars in the industry and a voice that can still give you chills. Let love rule....................

The start of a Marigold flower

2012-01-31T10:55:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I took 2 workshops with Bead Master Huib Petersen. He's a genius! He can bead every flower, every critter you can think of. We were supposed to bead an Anemone.
I finished the leaves (very challenging piece of beading!) and started the flower (2-drop peyote). I soon got stuck with my first leaf and Huib asked me if I knew how to read the diagram. "Uuuh, obviously NOT".
Well, I finished half a leaf. I'm happy.

The second day's project is called 'Talons' and these are kind of a dragon tail links.

What a brain challenge!!
3-Dimensional Right Angle Weave. I think this is the most challenging piece I've done ever. Squares, triangles attached right, left, up or down. What is this man thinking!

After spending 9 hours at the workshop, I finished one whole link and another half.
I hope to finish it somewhere this year. But I learned more from Huib than I imagined when I signed up for these classes. Thank you Huib!

The main reason I took the anemone class was.....I needed a Marigold flower for my mask. And see, here's the start....

Happy Tuesday!

Well, well, we even enjoyed the snow.....

2012-01-22T11:51:00.000-06:00

.......for an hour.

By the time we bought our snowshoes last winter, the snow was gone. So now that the snow has finally returned we had to venture out - sun or no sun. We got about 10 inches of snow on Friday.

Ruba's facilities Friday night.

Although the light on the pictures suggests it is late afternoon; it's not! It's 11am, overcast and more snow in the air.

Fort Sheridan watertower

Some light far far away in Wisconsin. Not here.

Jan en Tine: zijn jullie niet reuze blij in Florida? Mmmmmmmm 28oC en strand!

Our winter neighbors.

It started to snow..,

2012-01-20T13:15:00.001-06:00

.....seriously!

Party in AZ

2012-01-18T23:25:00.000-06:00

Saturday, our last day of the Kate & Kyle adventure in Tucson, turned out to be another highlight. While Gabri finished her first horned bracelet and immediately jump-started a second, Jeroen joined Kyle's photo workshop with Doriot, Robin, Diana, Jean and new addition Sarah Imholt. After exploring the all powerful trinity of aperture, shutter speed and film speed, we played with different lighting and it was Jeroen's turn to model his serial killer mugshot in front of the camera in stead of behind it.

A field trip to Tucson's Arroyo Chico resulted in coyote sightings, rock star in prickly pear pictures and a cover for the soon to be released new album, book or movie (still to be decided, but Kyle and Photoshop can make either one happen within minutes) by Augurk LikKen. Kate's pool and street front became the exciting set of another Cassidy photo shoot, involving dress up in extravagant dresses for all the ladies. First up was red fury Doriot, complete with jump cables, a crow bar and a cookie sheet. Whether in a red or blue dress, she scared the hell out of the Mormons doing house calls in the neighborhood. Next up were Sarah and the $150 bottle of scotch, a killer scene by Jean in the middle of the street and both Diana and Robin hugging trees each in their own way.

The backdrop of palm trees and dusk skies made for a very interesting atmosphere. I'm not sure the neighbors agreed, but hey.... they should be grateful for not receiving the house call that afternoon. And I wouldn't argue with these ladies..........

And for the final shots in the street: bring in Kate's Mazda Myata. Kate rocking it on top of the trunk, and Gabriella glamouring it in another smashing dress, pink this time.

To top it all off, Sarah served up her first surprise to the group: we already enjoyed her company, but she quickly yoga-ed herself like a pretzel upside down in the Myata to add a surreal element to Gabri's glamour shoot.

Sarah had another surprise up her sleeveless silk dress when she started directing the evening shots of Kate at the pool. She was precise, concise and clear in telling Robin as gripper, Kyle and Jeroen as flash holders, and Kate as model what she wanted when. And the shots are just beautiful.

More sleeveless dresses meant more surprises, as Kate's house started to fill up with a dozen roller derby girls dressed to kill and to do another Cassidy shoot later that evening at their training track. Doriot had exchanged the jumping cables and crow bar for tools to make a killer chicken salad and all was good. Oh wait, what would such an evening be without a belly dancer? Sure enough, Kate invited a belly dancer over for a poolside performance. Serious party in AZ.

GABROEN

Hunting down evening dresses

2012-01-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

Friday, day 2 in Tucson. After yesterday's photo shoot, one can easily get used to seeing Gabri in an evening dress. It's very pleasing to the eyes. And why wait for the occasion if you can create one any time? She looked smashing in the vermillion dress in the desert, but also while in line for the restroom in Poco and Mom's messy kitchen where we had breakfast, or when licked by a horse. This clearly asks for more, so today is devoted to hunting down the local antique and thrift stores for some prom dresses. Unsuccessful, but we do pick up some interesting finds: Jean scored five (!) polka dot dresses and books on distilling your own alcoholic beverages and on the Male Motor from 1927 (don't ask, just frown). Kyle invested in shoes that he hopes will take him through 2015, and Gabri found an antique lead spool with antique tiny glass beads from "Tombstone I was told". Having visited Tombstone Arizona last year, we'll gladly accept that story. Topping this was her one suit sailor outfit with 1980s shoulder pads for $3.50 (50% off on Friday); definitely party worthy, but I also see some Helmut Newton or Pierre et Gilles inspired photos in the future.

Gabri finished a stunning, vermillion (what else is there) horned bracelet that will be showcased in Kate&Jean's new bead book. Robin Douglas continued her intriguing chain mail work in silver, Jean fiddled with some beads and Jeroen with a gun and a camera (see the earlier 'Hummers' post).

The party is complete with the arrival of Doriot Lair from San Diego and Diana Cannon from Chicago, all in time for dinner at Delectables, shots of whiskey and pickle juice, a party in the Barbie Coach and for Saturday's photo class by Kyle.

Drinks and beading

The 'No Name Will Do It Justice' Experience

2012-01-15T22:35:00.001-06:00

Just returned to a winterish Illinois from our four day trip to Tucson and our heads are spinning, our hearts filled and our creative senses nurtured. Too many impressions to describe in a single blog post, so I'll try to post one blog per day in an attempt to cover at least most of what this trip was about.So let's start with day 1, Thursday. We already posted about the pretty amazing photo shoot of fierce desert fairy Gabri by Kyle Cassidy in Sabino Canyon, and the result is in quantity as well as quality. Among Kyle, jewelry designers Kate and Jean Power, fantasy novelist Emma Bull and flash holder aka assistant aka light shedder Jeroen we have more than 1500 shots taken that day.

Photo by Kate McKinnon

But the quality of Kyle's shots is even more impressive, capturing a radiant beauty in Gabri in a vermillion dress against the backdrop of a breathtaking landscape.

Photo of Gabri with Jean Power and Kate McKinnon triangles by Kyle Cassidy

While this was all happening, other interesting things popped up, mainly involving jumping cholla cacti, Emma Bull's story telling (which deserves a dedicated blog post) and stop signs in the middle of the desert.

Jean Powers exploring the wonders of a stop sign

Exhausting, impressive and wonderful at the same time. We leave Sabino Canyon to visit Emma Bull's home and writer's retreat with she shares with husband and fellow fantasy novelist Will Shetterly, some horses and the best cat in the world.

The house is on the far outskirts of town, at the foot of the Catalina Mountains where Ken Thomas famously shot Kyle's hat. We are licked by horses, drink a terrific scotch and oh well, life is great.

And while Kyle and Jean have their butts frozen off watching the local women's roller derby team with Kate's daughter Bri as the jammer, GABROEN join Kate and Robin Douglas for a nice nouveau Mexican dinner at Tucson's downtown Poca Cosa. And that was only day 1.

Hummers

2012-01-14T00:44:00.001-06:00

Never mind it's January. Today was a beautiful day and Kate McKinnon's garden is still humming with various sorts of hummingbirds. But don't be fooled by their cute features and angelic wings; these tiny birds are fierce protectors of their little space on earth. Their piercing eyes seem to see right through you, their bills like spears ready to strike. They are like the chihuahuas of the bird kingdom - what they lack in size, they make up for in attitude.

And those nectar bird feeders may not be of the most beautiful design, but it sure must feel good to be eating and at the same time getting an upside down fisheye perspective of the world you just defended. Great little creatures. I'm happy to have temporarily shared their space.

Another marvelous day in the desert

2012-01-12T21:54:00.000-06:00

GABROEN made it out to Tucson for another fabulous inspiring visit to Kate McMedema's creative retreat in the Sonoran desert city. We flew in yesterday night into Phoenix, making the 100 mile drive south to Tucson on a dark desert highway lit by a slightly waning moon. No warm smell of colitas rising up through the air, but still a nice dry air that immediately transitions all your senses from damp to crisp. We share Kate's retreat with the mighty Jean Power and Kyle Cassidy, and all of us meet fantasy novel writers Emma Bull and Will Shetterly for a Southwest breakfast. The breakfast place is packed, could be most famous for the fact that the restroom are in the kitchen, but the chile rellenos was pretty nice and seeing Gabriella in a fire red prom dress in this place was kind of surreal and wonderful.

Why was she wearing a prom dress? Well, the main goal of today was her first modeling gig with awesome photographer Kyle in Sabino Canyon, creating hero shots for Kate and Jean's new beading book.

Both Kyle and Gabri did an absolutely stunning job, shooting over 800 pictures of beaded jewelry with the red dress as the common theme. She was radiating, like a fierce desert fairy, and the beauty and force are bouncing of the pictures. I was the humble holder of the flash, happy to shed light on all of this. Stay posted for more desert greatness.

GABROEN on behalf of Jeroen

Beading With Friends

2012-01-08T16:25:00.001-06:00

Today was the monthly 'Beading With Friends' at NanC's. These get-togethers with fellow beaders always guarantees plenty of food for thought; today's contemplations were coming from reading the book 'Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery' by Leanne Prain. Some quotes from this book reflect why I love to bead, embroider and all the other things I do.

Embroidery is offering meditative calm, a necessary respite from the chaos of everyday. It allows us to be silent but not subservient - Leanne Prain -

Embroidery requires thought, care and commitment, which are qualities that make relationships lasting and meaningful. - Ivava Olenick -

I embroider as an antidote to the heightened pace and fleeting nature of contemporary dating and modes of communication. - Ivava Olenick -

Last summer I created this embroidered piece, called "The story of my life". Once I got going, I quickly realized that this canvas, but also any other canvas, is not large enough to capture that story. :)

So I hope many more canvasses will follow as my life's story continues to evolve.

GABROEN on behalf of Gabri

ANSEL ADAMS' classic images

2012-01-07T18:04:00.001-06:00

Today we checked out the Ansel Adams exhibit at one of our local venues, the Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, IL. It was the last weekend of the exhibit, so understandably a little busy, but it's good to see so many people interested in this iconic photographer.

The exhibit showcased about 60 images of his life's work, including a number of his well-known classics. I guess most of you know his work from calendars, postcards and books, but seeing the high contrast gelatin prints in large format is a whole different experience. Adams is a master in combining technique with artistry and beauty, and he developed the Zone Theory with shades of grey from pure black to pure white which is now basic science for professional landscape photographers. So this makes him one of the icons of GABROEN's motto of 'artistry and science, seeking beauty and happiness'.

I have tried to shoot Adams-like images of the monumental landscapes in the national parks of Arizona and Utah, and noticed how much of a challenge that is. One of the difficulties was that those one day trips did not provide the time (and neither did I have the patience) to wait for the perfect light, that perfect cloud, that perfect time of day. Adams practically lived in Yosemite, which does not sound like a bad idea at all, just a little impractical for most of us. So my shots never came close to his images, but merely studying his work did change the way I look for compositions and images, and did improve my pictures. I'm actually proud that one of my images, "Road to Zion" was dubbed Adams-worthy by the photographer that teaches the Photoshop class I have been doing this winter at the Highland Park Art Center. I did not agree with her, but it is a nice compliment. You can judge for yourself:

I had to use Photoshop to have pure white and pure black in the picture, but that's okay - Adams also enhanced his prints in the dark room, and was known for his skills. But anyone who can produce images such as "Moonrise, Hernandez N.M." and "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome" (see below), dark room enhanced or not, is a technical and artistic genius. Especially as these were taken half a century ago.

"Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico" by Ansel Adams

"Monolith, the Face of Half Dome" by Ansel Adams

I was a fan, and now that I've seen the gelatin prints I am in awe.

GABROEN on behalf of Jeroen

The heat is on

2012-01-06T21:46:00.000-06:00

Today was unseasonably warm around the Midwest, with temperatures approaching 50oF (10oC) and plenty of sunshine. I like to think that the sun decided to shine a little brighter today. Just because it's nice to think so. And today's sunset certainly inspired (or should I say ignited) such a thought. The sky seemed to be on fire, and it felt like the heat was on.

I was walking on campus, from a meeting back to my office (close to a mile apart), and was taking this picture with my company blackberry. You need authorization to take pictures on campus, and I would not be surprised it's also prohibited to use company phones for such personal pleasure, but what the heck. If the sky is on fire, one should break the rules. And any day the sun decides to shine a little brighter, I'm sure I can count on some forgiveness.

Masked beading

2012-01-05T21:37:00.000-06:00

As most of you probably know, I LOVE to bead. And I love BEADS, these tiny splashes of color, shimmer and shine! I started stringing my first beads into a necklace about 5 years ago, a couple of months after arriving in the USA. Since then, I have made dozens of necklaces, bracelets and earrings, evolving from straightforward stringing to much more intricate bead weaving and embroidery techniques. Some of these pieces I still wear today, some I gifted or sold, and some I just look at.
Over these years, my sources of inspiration are evolving as well, and with that I am working on a transition from crafter of functional, wearable jewelry to a creator of art. Art in the sense of how Wikipedia defines it:

"Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions and intellect."

Last February I created my very first non-jewelry bead-piece; an aquatic basket with fish as a Pisces present for Jeroen's birthday.

And recently I embarked on a much larger adventure, picking up wooden masks from the African Festival of the Arts on Chicago's south side. I am going to use these as a blank canvas. A canvas as a template for beads, fabric, leather, and anything else that fits my inspiration. The mask I started working on right now is a mask from West-Africa. The first step was some good old cleaning, sanding and repairing the major cracks and dents. E voila: a blank canvas. How exciting!

I'll keep you posted on my progress in the coming months through GABROEN posts. As someone said: 2012 is going to be my year. We'll see about that, but 2012 is going to be the year I created some beaded masks, some pieces of inspiration, some pieces that will definitely affect my senses and emotions, and hopefully those of many other people as well. I can't wait.............

GABROEN on behalf of Gabriella

Parents in the attic, uh... arctic

2012-01-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

On their way to Florida, Jeroen's parents made a short stop in Chicagoland for New Year's Eve. They used our loft space annex guest bedroom, which also doubles as an attic with the hot water and central heating furnace. And Jeroen's dad Jan the chemist/physicist/scientist/know-it-all was quick to analyze that hot air goes up, so it is nice and toasty up there. In contrast to outside, where temperatures started off unseasonably mild with highs of 48oF (9oC) on December 31st, but dropped to arctic conditions with wind chills of 10oF (-13oC) during the day on January 2nd. Or as Jan put it: "This is the coldest place I've ever been".

So we picked December 31st, the warmest day, to drive southwards all along the lakeshore, taking a quick stroll beautiful Glencoe Beach and ending up in downtown Chicago.

The weather held up for us to comfortably explore Millennium Park, in particular the amazing art piece Cloud Gate, dubbed by Chicagoans as The Bean. The curved surface creates nice photo ops of distorted and sometimes surreal reflections of Chicago's downtown skyline in the back and spectators in front. See if you can spot Gabriella with her arms spread wide in this picture...........

After Millennium Park, we walked up north to Michigan Avenue's "Magnificent Mile". With dropping temperatures and the After Christmas Sale going on at Eddie Bauer's, the polar hats were in high demand by the family. Some look better in a polar hat than others; Jeroen's mom Tine does not want to be found dead in such a hat, but for Jan form always follows function.

New Year's Day was mainly spent puttering indoors, but the new hats did come in handy when we took a walk on our local beach at the end of the street on January 2nd. The arctic temperatures did not seem to bother a Mexican Hairless, as long as she is dressed in her fleece jumpsuit and fire red balloon shoes - that's a topic for another post.

Jan and Tine left 4am (!) on January 3rd to a somewhat warmer Florida Gulf Coast, but that cold spell is not going to last long. Nonetheless, we're looking forward to see pictures of Jan in his shorts and Eddie Bauer hat............

Bohemian Rhapsody

2011-12-31T17:17:00.000-06:00

Next to the oliebollen, here's another Dutch tradition for the last days of the year - this may be something we want to introduce in the US as well, as it has grown out to a true phenomenon. So for the non-Dutch followers of Gabroen, the Dutch public radio station Radio 2 broadcasts the "Top 2000" of best songs ever, starting each year at December 26, and ending with the number 1 song at midnight on December 31. The top 2000 was created in 1999 as part of activities surrounding the passing into the new millennium. The idea was to finish the year 1999, and enter the year 2000, with the 2000 best songs ever made. From the start of 1999, the listeners of Radio 2 were asked to select a song along with any special memories attached to the song, and send it to Radio 2 via mail or email. This way, 2000 so called "Millennium-songs" were collected throughout the year 1999.

It became so popular, that Radio 2 decided to continue this as an annual tradition, dubbing it the radio event of the year. Currently, about half the Dutch population listens to it, and for 2011's edition the number of votes was around 20% of the population. It creates a feeling of nostalgia that perfectly fits the last days of the year. And it seems to fill a need for people to feel some good old "gezelligheid" or coziness in this individual era.

So what are the most popular songs according to the Dutch?

Well, the songs that make up the top 5 are almost always the same, switching places each year. But out of the 13 editions so far, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen made it to number 1 a total of 11 times (!).

So this year's top 10 was:

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
The Eagles - Hotel California
Deep Purple - Child in Time
Boudewijn de Groot - Avond (Dutch.........)
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven

Next to these classics (there is a large imbalance with mostly songs from the 1970s in this list), the highest new entry this year is actually from 2011: coming in at number 6, Adele's "Someone like you" is the highest new entry ever.

Anyone feeling melancholic? All you need is ......... the top 2000!

Happy New Year - that yours may be your stairway to heaven, your Hotel California, or whatever you wish it to be!

Oliebollen

2011-12-30T21:51:00.001-06:00

From the American iconic "bourbon balls" for Christmas to the good old Dutch tradition for New Year's Eve: Jeroen made "oliebollen" (literally translates to "balls of oil") today. According to Wikipedia and other websites oliebollen are somewhere between doughnuts and New Orleans beignets, but Gabroen says oliebollen are oliebollen. Period. So today's version was made with trappist beer for extra flavor and they turned out pretty nicely. A new tradition is born in the Gabroen household. For anyone who's interested (we know Marcia is for sure), here's the recipe for 40-50 balls:- Dissolve 50 gr fresh yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm milk- add 5 eggs, 15 gr salt, 125 gr sugar, 70 gr butter, 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract, pepper and cinnamon to the yeast and mix well- in a large bowl, add 1 kg all purpose flour and make a well in the middle; pour the yeast mixture into the well and mix- while stirring, add 2 cups of milk and 3/4 cup of trappist beer (or an Imperial Stout beer)- mix till smooth batter and leave to rise for 1 hour covered with a damp cloth- gently fold 500 gr raisins, 500 gr currants, 1 tsp lemon juice and 3 apples cut in small pieces into the batter

- leave to rise for another 15 mins- meanwhile, heat about a gallon vegetable oil in a dutch oven (i have no clue why this is called a dutch oven, but that's a topic for some other post some other time) to 330-350oF- deep fry about 6 bollen at one time for about 6 minutes, turning them halfway for even browning, and let them cool on tissue paper; they should have the size of a small apple

- cover with plenty of powdered sugar, take a bite and the new year will be here before you know it

Pretty darn good for a first time, or as Jeroen's dad put it: "not bad for an little amateur".

Jeroen's mom and dad arrived today from Holland on their way to snow-birding in Florida.

After Christmas shopping

2011-12-29T16:25:00.001-06:00

Back from Atlanta, we went to our local mall to check out the "after Christmas sale". If this was supposed to be an indicator of increased consumer spending and a recovering economy, we still have some way to go - it was quiet as always in this mall, except for the Mac store. But who says mall parking lots are ugly? In general that's very true, but check out what beauty we walked by to get back to Johnnie Outback.........

A great American holiday tradition

2011-12-24T14:51:00.001-06:00

We just finished preparing the iconic American holiday treat: Bourbon balls. The recipe is easy-peasy, just follow along: take a gallon of Ol' Granddad Bourbon whiskey and drink two glasses before you start. Mix a quart of bourbon with 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of crushed vanilla wafer cookies, 4 cups of molten chocolate and 4 cups of chopped walnuts. Drink as much brandy as needed to overcome your reluctance to putting your hands in a mushy dark brown paste, roll little balls, which are likely to turn out more like turds given your lack of coordinated movement, and roll through powdered sugar.

Enjoy the ...... uuuh..... whatever you call these things. I don't remember.

Christmas in the ATL

2011-12-22T15:36:00.001-06:00

It's warm, wet, thunderstormy and a madhouse with Christmas shoppers at Lenox mall in Atlanta. We're racing out of the mall area, but could still get an interesting shot of the huge christmas tree on top of Macy's.

Happy holidays!

Collaborative ring

2011-12-21T16:02:00.001-06:00

Couple of weeks ago I met Alicia Piller at the 'one of a kind' show in Chicago. She had a booth over there selling funky art pieces.
Her work caught my eye. It's colorful, with fearless use of many different materials.

I fell in love with this piece. It's mine now! This wreath is made out of leather, beads, a tile, metal bolts and elastic bands from Africa. How marvelous!!

At the show we chatted and she was interested in the beaded necklace I was wearing. I ended up making a bezeled Swarovski for her that she incorporated in a ring.

Maybe the first of many collaborative pieces....

Check out her website www.designsbyaliciap.com

Holiday wishes from Gabroen's mom(-in-law)

2011-12-19T19:35:00.000-06:00

Today we received the beautiful product of the explorations of digital media by Marianne, Gabri's mom; an e-holiday card made from a picture she took. We already knew artistry is in the van Diepen genes, but she now has some serious digital creative juices flowing.

The picture was actually taken in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, the hometown of electronics giant Philips. So forget about Paris being the city of lights, that's for overly romantic souls. Eindhoven is the new city of lights (not particularly new, as this is what they have been teaching kids in Dutch elementary schools for more than 40 years now). Or, as the annual "GLOW - International forum of Light in Art and Architecture" shows, it's the hip city of lights. Check out these cool pictures from various projects this year, with the theme "Illusion and reality": www.gloweindhoven.nl.

Baby, its cold outside....

2011-12-18T11:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Sunday. Stay warm, like me.

Return to the digital era

2011-12-17T15:49:00.000-06:00

You pleaded, begged, scolded, and ultimately convinced us: after months of absence and distancing from social media, untweeting and inactivating Facebook accounts, Gabroen has returned to the digital era with the very first post on a brand new blog. So you will be able to follow both his/her exciting and less exciting story-telling, creations and daily life observations.
The very first post starts with this year's first winter wonderland where Gabroen came out of hibernation this morning. The first inch of snow dusted the Northern Illinois lakefront.

Stay tuned. You asked for it...........