Christmas Card

This Christmas card I drew and designed for the gardening company I work for: http://de-groene-vingers.org/

PAN logo design

I designed this logo for a fellow gardener (http://pan-tuinen.nl). It is based upon the folkloric motif of the Green Man.

Garden tractor

I drove this toy for grown-ups some weeks ago. 

Weeds

Some of the plants I weed at work are actually quite beautiful. Sometimes I even take seeds or seedlings home with me to plant in our garden. Not the ones in the drawing above, though. They'd run riot.

Sleeping bees

With some species of wild bees, the males spend the night in a flower, mostly bell flowers; in this case Creeping bell flower (Campanula rapunculoides, akkerklokje). The species of bees I'm not sure of, but I think Chelostoma rapunculi. 

I wonder if bees dream.

Pruning shears

I drew these pruning shears in the intervals between inching forward the van pulling the trailer on top of which my colleague stood trimming a very tall and long beech hedge. (What a sentence!)

Trimming conifers

Trimming conifers is a bit like sculpting.

Red mason bees

I have finally put up the bee hotel I made some time ago. It has already attracted a lot of 'guests' over the past few weeks. So far I have only spotted one species of wild bees nesting in it: the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis; rosse metselbij). They have occupied most of the larger holes and reed stems by now (the pictures were taken earlier). I hope it will attract some other species as well over the next few months.

Bos & Heij

I'm showing and selling my drawings at Bos & Heij café + store in Arnhem! The exhibition showcases both mounted prints and original drawings. Please visit www.bosenheij.nl for location and opening hours.

Bergenia Cordifolia

This Bergenia Cordifolia is called 'schoenlappersplant' in dutch, meaning as much as 'shoe polisher's plant'. According to Wikipedia it is called 'elephant's ear' in english, and I can imagine why with those large floppy leaves.  I love the way the sun shines through them.

Journal Pages

'Hold it!' I shouted, 'I haven't finished drawing that yet!' After her initial startle the waitress smiled and tried to put the cup back exactly where it had been.

Business Cards

I've been making my own business cards from scratch. I first made paper pulp by shredding bits of used paper and cardboard. I also included the pre-shredded remains of the Yoshizawa crab (see previous post). After soaking and further shredding to an even finer consistency with a kitchen blender I added some pencil shavings for extra texture and colourful detail. The pulp was then dispersed in a tub before 'pulling' card sized sheets of paper with a specially constructed mesh sieve. Those wet sheets where transferred onto felt and left to dry. After drying and flattening I stamped on my address and (hand-cut) logo.

Drawing Tiles

Looking for a way to exhibit and sell my journal drawings without cutting up those precious handbound books I came up with a good solution: to make high quality color prints and glue those onto thin MDF board. In this way they become into fine objects on their own which can be sold for affordable prices as they aren't originals. Ready to hang on the wall, they don't need framing. Most are about postcard size or slightly bigger.

Yoshizawa Crab

I managed to fold this crab (designed by origami grandmaster Akira Yoshizawa) with no more aid than a picture of the finished model and the basic crease pattern shown in Robert Lang's Origami Design Secrets. Unlike the traditional version of this crab which involves cutting the paper, this one is folded from a single uncut square of paper.

This is all that remained of my first (succesful) attempt after professional shredding by our cat Sushi. It actually took me quite a while to get the base together for a second time!

Stick huts

On a walk through the nearby woods I came across several stick huts. They remind me a bit of the work of Andy Goldsworthy. While I was drawing this one a little girl's voice suddenly rang through the trees, singing a verse from a nursery rhyme about Little Red Riding Hood: 'in the woods wild animals live'.

Happy New Year!

This Christmas card I drew and designed for De Groene Vingers; the landscaping company I work for as a gardener.