Bright blue trousers with a pink top and Ron Mueck’s exhibition
Marjolein, being my photographer for this shoot, spotted this vivid image at the restaurant of the Voorlinden estate and museum. She called me back to take this photo as I was already on my way in, absolutely not noticing this photo opportunity. I was following the smell of cappuccino. I am glad she has such a good eye. The colours of the picture enhance my outfit of bright blue trousers with a pink top. I decided to pile on pearls.
Marjolein and I decided to pay a visit to this modern museum and see the exhibition of Ron Mueck sculptures. He makes life-like sculptures to such detail that you think they are real humans even when you are centimetres away from one. Sometimes they are life-size, sometimes they are tiny and sometimes they are enormous. Which is why you will see me in all the photos of his work. It is to indicate the size.
Below: Let’s start with a shocker. Good morning!
Below: At least she had a bathing suit on. I was dying to touch it and see whether the artist had put a real bathing suit on her or whether it was part of the sculpture.
I wasn’t allowed to touch so I didn’t (I am very law abiding). Later I realised “of course it is sculptured, you idiot.”
Below: Not a flattering photo of my back but the sculpture is too good not to include. (And when do I stop slouching!!)
Below: The whole room (big one) was filled with these skulls, all different from one another.
Below: This enormous sculpture is one of his best-known works. I had seen most of his sculptures before, years ago in Paris, where I went with my friend Lia for a weekend. We came out of the underground and saw the exhibition across the road. “Why not take a look?” We had never heard of the artist or his work.
Below: Another good one. I am not in the photo this time. Coincidence: the man behind the sculpture is also crossing his arms.
Below: I couldn’t help it. I had to lie down haha. Got a lot of strange looks from the other visitors. This photo also shows the silver flats well.
Below: Marjolein asked me to assume the same position as the sculpture. Again, I was sooo tempted to touch the sheets (I didn’t). Are they real sheets? NO OF COURSE NOT.
Below: The hair! What a painstaking work. And the expression of the baby! So good.
The hair is put in perhaps not one by one, although sometimes it is, but still little bit by little bit.
Below: Time to photograph Marjolein who was wearing a stylish combination.
Below: Larger than life size, much larger. Wouldn’t like to come across these hounds in real life.
Below: You see how close you can get to the sculptures?
Above are all the sculptures I have photographed. If you want to see more or want to know more about Ron Mueck, here is a link to his work, the video is really good.
Below: We also came across this clock by Maarten Baas. Somebody inside the clock wipes away the hands of the clock and then draws them again, a minute later. And so on and so on. Of course, there isn’t anybody in the clock anymore but that is how they recorded it. Another painstaking work. Read more about it here. I have been to his exhibition as well, in 2017 (link to blog post with Maarten Baas’ work).
Below: Then there was a swimming pool that wasn’t a swimming pool. You see those people ‘under water’? They aren’t.
Below: This is me ‘under water’. It is a work of art by Leandro Erlich. Read more about it here.
Below: Having seen the exhibition and watched the video how Ron Mueck created his sculptures we were ready for some coffee. So, we headed outside to the beautiful estate building.
Below: Before we stepped inside, Marjolein took this photo.
Below: And in return I took this photo. Marjolein managed to find a pair of trousers which matched the colour of the jacket exactly. And if you think “No, they are a little lighter”, that is only because of the sunlight on the material. The trousers are fabric and the jacket is leather. They were really the same shade. She didn’t even have the jacket with her when she bought the trousers. I can never remember colours.
The cappuccino in the restaurant was one of the best I ever had. And when we expressed our desire to buy the cake of which we got a little complimentary slice with our coffee, the waitress came back with 4 more slices and apologised that they didn’t sell it. That’s service.
Below: On our way out we spotted these Belted Galloway cows. We saw one of them standing in the middle of the water and we were debating “Is that normal? Or can’t she get out?”
To set our minds at ease, I phoned Voorlinden reception. “No problem”, was the answer, “she is having a little cool-down”. Poor receptionist. How many of such calls does she have to answer daily? LOL
Below: This must have been the gatekeeper’s house in the old days.
It was another joyful day.
What happened in my life this week
Saturday we had our annual Street Party. The weather gods were kind to us, warm but not too warm, and we accepted the wind. As usual it was ‘gezellig‘, a typical Dutch word that cannot be translated in any language. It means nice, warm, cosy, friendly, funny, comradery and much more. One of my neighbours took this photo and blurred the other people behind me. Looks a bit funny, as if I am photoshopped into the picture, but it is real.
For the first time we actually went ahead and put stickers with our first name and house number on our shirt. A lot of neighbours moved away so there were quite a few new faces. I think it helps when you wear such a sticker.
Below: This is the outfit I was wearing. Link to the original post. I changed the belt, the white top, the jewellery and the bag. These trousers are the same as the pink ones you saw last week.
Below: Outfit Sunday to visit my brother and his children plus grandchildren for my SIL’s birthday. This outfit could have featured in a separate blog post but there you go, I am throwing in a new one for free. LOL
Unfortunately, Ron got really ill as I just about arrived so I only enjoyed the gathering for an hour and then headed back. It is an hour and 40 minutes’ drive. On the bright side, Ron recovered fast and was up and about the next day.
Below: On one of my bicycle rides I saw the view from this bridge again. I have featured it before. Isn’t it pretty?
Delivered a specimen of my urine to the hospital as I am investigating whether I am eligible for a urethra support strap (as I call it). I am losing only one or two drops of urine and certainly not every day, but I am getting annoyed with even 1 drop a week. The pelvic floor exercises helped a lot but I couldn’t get it to 100%. And 100% is what I want. The urine delivery went very quick. Driving to and from the hospital plus peeing in the little container took me half an hour. Speedy Gonzales. To be continued.
Some people might consider this TMI (too much information), but I deliberately mention it, so other women can perhaps profit from it. We hardly ever speak of these things, just as we don’t mention menopause and we really need to share more information. A number of bloggers in their midlife do talk about their menopause struggle but I cannot. 1) I am past it and 2) I hardly had any symptoms. I was very lucky, most women aren’t.
Below: Marcella came round for coffee and lunch. She had been cycling through the Netherlands with her daughter for a week. They obviously have had nice weather.
Marcella was wearing a jumpsuit, had dyed her hair (she is going back to blonde as she doesn’t like it) and forgot to put earrings in. The woman who creates and sells earrings, forgot to put earrings in. How is this possible?
Below: Jilske sent me this photo of Errol, on his way to Spain. That bird has a much better life than with me.
Below: They visited Marijke in Spain and Errol is drinking her wine. In the evening I received a video of Marijke reading a bedtime story to Errol. That bird is a source of pleasure.
Below: Did a photo shoot with Loes. With coffee afterwards, of course. She only had time in the morning which was fine with me. I even prefer that as the light is so much better in the morning.
Looked after our grandchild for two days this week. We took her to a playground and she loved it.
Greetje