Thursday, February 28, 2013

Dutch Laws ~ Four Farmers Road Rules





Once upon a time in a faraway land
Came 4 funny Dutch farmers with a little time on their hands

They all agreed to go for coffee at ole Joe’s shop
They all left their four houses; drove down the road, then came to a stop.

They came from the four corners of their country farms,
From the north, south, east and west,
All heading to Joe’s not causing any harm.

But when they met each other on that old country road
They knew they were in a pickle ~ truth be told.

Who should go first and pass by the other
She wasn’t around so they couldn’t ask their mother.

The farmers began to argue all pointing and waving their hands in the air
Shouting and explaining why each should go first and that it would be fair.

After an hour or two with no end in sight
One of the Dutch men declared to the others delight.

If this should ever occur again in history,
Let it be said.. We’ve solved the mystery.

In the great land of The Netherlands and at the four corners of a street
Let it be that the person on the right is right even if pedaling by feet.

The person to the right will always have the right of way
We will write it down as a law and that’s how it will stay.

We don’t need any STOP signs, people will just know.
And if they don’t…hmmm, hmmm, It will be funny, watching their faces as we pass by and GO!

The four Dutch farmers, shook hands then proceeded on their way,
All headed to Joe’s Coffee and enjoyed the rest of their day!




So if you’re traveling to The Netherlands and taking a drive, remember this:
When coming to the corners of most of the roads the person to the right has the right of way.. Unless they have the shark teeth on the pavement.. Then you are free to keep on going. My words of advice.. Proceed with caution, even the bikers don’t stop.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Fortunately –Unfortunately



Fortunately sometimes a rare opportunity comes along and brings you and your family to a faraway land.

Unfortunately, that move takes you far away from others you love.

Fortunately there are times when they get to come for a visit or you get to go back home for a visit.


Unfortunately that doesn’t happen often enough.

Fortunately if you are lucky, you will meet others who are in the same situation as yourself. And if you are really lucky you are able to call these people your friends.

Unfortunately, all too soon, the job they were sent here to do ends and one of them leaves to go back home.

Fortunately, after they dry their tears, they will usually throw you a going away party.

Unfortunately, after the wine is all gone, usually the friends will say good bye as well.

Fortunately, organizing the movers over the next several days keeps your mind occupied and gives your heart a chance to heal.

Unfortunately, the time comes, when the last box has been loaded onto the truck ready to be shipped across the sea to great lands.

Fortunately, things settle down, holidays come and go and life begins to march on.

Unfortunately, there is always one missing from the group at lunch. Their smile, their whit, their charm, their amazing style and grace.

Fortunately, sometimes the spouse, friend, life partner.. whoever needs to travel again for work to the same location. And sometimes your friends find out and welcome you back with open arms. And sometimes, once again you can hear the laughter, the tears, the funny stories and more. And fortunately, you know deep in your heart, you will always call them friends. 


Welcome back to The Netherlands Becky.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

In Step…. With Ruxi Darie




If you had to choose a color from a box of Crayola Crayons that you would like to use for the day, what color would it be? I’m not talking the small box… I’m saying the big box~64 crayons. For me, it would be blue. I love how cool blue is and how it calms my heart and soul. My favorite thing to do is to sit on a sunny day when the sky is as blue and wide as the eye can see, looking out over the ocean. The sound of the blue water crashing is very calming and peaceful to me.

But I asked my friend this question the other day and her smile became brighter as she lit up the room searching for an answer. “All of them”, she finally said.



Meet Ruxi Darie!

Ruxi is a friend of mine I met through the International Women’s Club of Eindhoven. Her quiet but dynamic personality was like a beacon calling to me to get to know her. First we sat next to each other at a few meetings of the club enjoying our time chatting. Next I found myself in an art appreciation class with Ruxi and loved hearing not only her accent but her take on the art that was being discussed. I had heard that Ruxi was an artist but when I saw her work, I was shocked! She is an amazing artist!
Ruxi invited me to her home to share a cup of coffee and a chance for me to see some of her work. I had been to her home once before with mutual friends. It was then and there that I fell in love with her amazing style.

But today as I walked into her home, colors splashed about the room and leapt from painting to painting beckoning me to look at one painting after the other. My eyes wandered from a painting of
 a fish with silver gills glistening through the water,

 to a girl with an earring,

 to the streets of New York,

 to the blob in Eindhoven

 and back to canals in and around the streets of Amsterdam.

Ruxi was born and raised in Romania. As a child she would doodle with her pencil and paper during school, occupying her mind as she listened carefully to her teachers. I asked Ruxi when she or her parents knew she had artistic talent. She said she was always drawing as a child.  Just little things here or there, but her first memory is of a painting she did of a still life when she was only eleven. She had been told by someone that it was hard to do a still life and that it probably wouldn’t turn out. Game on! Her inner artist burst out and that painting still hangs at her mother’s home in Romania.

Ruxi continued to draw through her teens. Growing up in Romania, fashion was very conservative at the time but Ruxi made sure to leave her mark. She would design her own dresses for dances. Flare and color were a big part of those designs and fabrics. She remembers designing a green leopard dress for one ball. Her mother was shocked that she would leave the house in a dress so bright with color and different from the other girls at her school. Now today, people think nothing of wearing leopard print or bright vibrant colors. Little did Ruxi know, color would become a major influence in her life.

In 2001, Ruxi and her husband took an exciting work opportunity, leaving Romania and headed to The Netherlands ready to explore new international opportunities. Searching for an international connection, she joined the International Women’s Club of Eindhoven and eventually joined the board as Special Activities Coordinator.

Eleven years ago a friend of Ruxi’s from the International Women’s Club of Eindhoven inspired Ruxi to start painting. Jenny Bertenshaw was a very positive influence in her life with her kind words and encouragement and helped to put Ruxi in contact with her first gallery experience here in The Netherlands.

During college, Ruxi had developed a fascination with buildings. She earned her degree in Civil Engineering and now as an artist, she is able to keep that love of line and angles in her work. With the privilege of being an artist, she is able to add what she wants to her work. She likes to add color and feelings to the buildings she paints, whether it’s the row houses in Amsterdam or the Blob in Eindhoven.


Ruxi feels that she needs a personal connection with her work. When she paints something, she has to love it or have feeling for it. She will only paint something she has seen. For example, Ruxi would never paint a picture of my childhood cottage in Michigan. I could tell her about the emotional feelings I have with my cottage and the smell of the pines and the sound of the whippoorwills, but she needs to feel the emotion. Without seeing a place or a person, there would be no emotion, and without emotion, she knows it would not turn out the way she would like. Once Ruxi has decided what she would like to work on, she takes a lot of pictures of her subject catching the different light and angles. She will leave the photos up and research her subject. “Then one day, I can come back to it and look at it. And it hits me! That’s what I want to paint!” said Ruxi.

Ruxi enjoys finding things to paint near where she lives. Having the beautiful landscape, the history, the striking buildings and the wonderful history of famous artist like Vermeer, Van Gogh and others surrounding her all are such an inspiration for her. That is simply what makes her happy.

Ruxi says, “Once a person decides to be an artist, you have to develop your own style.”   She likes to mix medias and experiment with different materials and techniques. She also enjoys layering different pieces into her work. If you look closely, you might find a ticket stub or a clipping from a newspaper in her paintings.  Ruxi says she of course is influenced by everything around her. She just finished her classes at the Knust Academie in Arendonk. There she was able to learn how to intertwine free graphics into her paintings.

In Ruxi’s life, color means feelings and happiness.  It could be a rainy day and you look at a piece with color and it can change your emotions. There are a lot of rainy days here in The Netherlands. She wants others to see the amazing colors here in The Netherlands, not just the grey.

Ruxi loves living in The Netherlands. It’s such an inspiration to her. She has done many paintings of Amsterdam, canals, and fields but right now she is focused on Eindhoven. She loves how Eindhoven is building its own personality where old meets new. She is fascinated with how The Blob sits right along with other buildings that are older. Ruxi enjoys how organic and rectangular forms are able to work together to make Eindhoven the dynamic city it has become. She says, even if you don’t love The Blob, you know where it is and it’s a focal point in the Centrum. Just like she enjoys mixing her medias, she also enjoys the buildings who’s ages are intertwined. It provides a lot of interest in her artistic view.  Other cities may be finished with the building of their city but Eindhoven is a work in progress. Eindhoven is such an inspiration.


Ruxie Darie~ Story teller of life with the use of color.

www.ruxandra-darie.com

Ruxi’s work has been shown in France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Hungary and Romania. 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Ducks in the pond one morning in Holland



As I look out into the morning light,

I watch as the moon drifts slowly out of sight.

A light fog drifts through the air,

As ducks and geese take flight with flare.

Frost covers the milky grass,

Setting to sleep all the winged ones at last.

I look through the trees and then beyond

Waves like an arrow float across the pond.



Monday, February 4, 2013

My Daily Thriller



Well.. I’ve been thinking about writing about The King of Pop for a year and a half and I’m finally going to let you in on a little known fact. Since moving to The Netherlands, I‘ve heard a Michael Jackson song every day. I’m not talking every couple of days.. I’m saying every day. One day I had even gone the whole day without one when I was listening to I Heart Radio. A station I like out of Detroit was playing Christmas music and who comes on.. Jackson 5.. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.


I’m a Motown girl. Born and raised just outside of Detroit in the height of the Motown days. 

I grew up listening to The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops and many more. I would not be who I am if I had not sung my heart out into my hair brush with my best friend Cheryl to The Supremes. 

And if you knew me when I was a little girl, you knew I loved The Jackson 5. On my bedroom wall hung a poster. Not Donny Osmond (although I will always have Puppy Love for him),

 not Davey Jones (although I was a Believer),



 and not David Cassidy (although I Think I Loved Him).




 I had a poster of Michael Jackson.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Michael watched over me as I studied my ABC’s 

and talked on the phone to my elementary school crush (I will leave him nameless. DC) but Never wanting to Say Goodbye.


 Michael mania had even spread to my friends. In 5th grade in classic grade school fashion, my friends and I appeared in the end of the year talent show. And yes, we were the finale… as we came dancing out of the audience to sing Stop, The Love You Save. Oh baby… we rocked the house.


But here I am in The Netherlands missing my America in all its glory. Someone must know that I need a little encouragement from The King of Pop. Today’s MJ appearance in my life… Strolling through my Facebook feed, all talk was about Beyoncé, the Super Bowl and a blown fuse. And someone posted a halftime classic, Michael in all his glory.


 This American Girl is ever so grateful for being blessed to be raised in Motown and the classic music helps to beat my heart. And yes, Michael, I Want You Back. 



Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Saturday, February 2, 2013

The Pottery Barn



Since moving to The Netherlands, I’ve developed somewhat of an obsession. Well, I’m actually obsessed by many things here…



Doors
(Maastricht)


Vintage Signs
(Paris)


Travel
(Budapest)


Nature
(Swan.. looking for food in the pond at The High Tech Campus in Eindhoven)


Windmills
(Kinderdijk)


and a few other things that are making life oh so enjoyable. But this new love is put away in my kitchen cupboards… Polish Pottery.


I believe my first encounter with Polish Pottery was at the International Women’s Club of Eindhoven winter market. Vendors and members from all over came for the day to sell their beautiful items. I purchased many things that day, but my favorite was something from The Pottery Barn in Germany….


 a Polish Pottery Salt Pig

 I actually didn’t even know what a salt pig was, but thought it was so cute. I bought one for each of my sisters and for myself.


The other day, my friend Carrie and I drove to Voerde-Mehrum, near Duisburg, not far from Venlo and the Dutch border, situated on the lower Rhine River, to a charming place called The Pottery Barn. Now don’t get confused. This place is not like the Pottery Barn in the States, which to me is beautiful in its own right. The Pottery Barn in Germany is actually in a barn, located on a farm. And inside the barn is an amazing display of Polish Pottery to purchase.



The Pottery Barn is run by Four Seasons Pottery & Gifts. The owners, Charmaine Barber & Johann Horstkamp have been selling the pottery worldwide for the last 15 years. They offer pottery exclusively from the pottery studio Manufaktura and are the German supplier, both wholesale and retail for the company in Boleslawiec, located in Southwest Poland. They work very closely with the company in that they attend various trade fairs for the owner so are able to represent them and even do some of the designing in keeping with the history of the pottery.  

This area in Poland belonged to Germany until 1945 and was named Bunzlau at the time. Potters began working with the rich clay over 500 years ago and in the 18th century it became popular to stamp and decorate the pottery. The oldest pot dates back to 1749. Patterns like “Eye of the Peacock’s Tail” and “Silesian Blue” became very popular. The pottery was not only wonderful quality but beautiful as well. Today there are over 3000 designs and are still hand stamped and painted, and it is exported worldwide with 80% of it going to the States and 20% to the rest of the world.


Normal patterns carry the symbol of Manufaktura, a bottle or jug and the mark “hand painted in Poland.”  You will also find on the bottom of each piece of Polish Pottery  a Unikat or Master Design, the signature of the artistand the mark “Unikat.”  This means that this particular pattern is only painted by the artist who signs the item.*
*All pieces now have the artists name on the bottom, but only the Master or Signed pieces are signed by the artist by hand and not with a stamp as are the others.


Now I’ve been to other places that sell Polish Pottery, but the reason I’ve fallen in love with The Pottery Barn is because of the charm, location, and the way every piece is lovingly displayed. Having a nice lunch in the nearby village along the Rhine was pretty spectacular too.


My three daughters have all fallen in love with the pottery so I know I’ll be making several little day trips to Germany to pick up a piece here or there.


As Carrie from Sex and the City would say about shoes… I’ll say this about Polish Pottery.. Me Likie!




If you would like to visit The Pottery Barn:

Hofacker 15, 46562 VOERDE-MEHRUM

Opening times:
Fridays from 10am - 6pm (18.00)
Saturdays from 10am - 6pm (18.00)

Office:             0049 (0)2855 303 1955      
Charmaine mobile:             0049 173 29 35 628      
Johann mobile:             0049 173 73 42 189      

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