"AMSTERDAM"

 
The 30th April each year is known in The Netherlands as Queen's Day, and is a national holiday to celebrate the Queen's Birthday. Famous as "the world's largest street party", Amsterdam overflows with party-ing pedestrians - no vehicles allowed, except the ubiquitous bicycles. On this day people wear orange clothing and creative  orange accessories to honour the Dutch Royal Family, the House of Orange.


Early morning  marks the start of the city-wide 'free market' - locals open their doors and sell their bric-a-brac, used clothes and crafts for next to nothing on the footpaths right outside their houses. Throughout the city, amateur and professional street performers vie for attention with huge outdoor concerts.  Cafes and bars spill outside onto the footpaths and beyond, and street drinking (modest) is permitted. Amsterdam’s canals are packed with thousands of boats, large & small, filled with revellers.

 

 I have twice before had the fun and good fortune of being involved in a Dutch Queen's Day:

 

 The first time was in my youth when I was travelling around Spain with two brothers who had Dutch passports, and somehow we were invited by the Dutch Embassy in Madrid to attend a Dinner Dance to celebrate Queen Juliana's Birthday. I pulled out my all-purpose, uncrushable long black skirt from my rucksack and nipped down to the local market for a few accessories...........Yes, Cinderella, you SHALL go to the Ball! My lasting memory to this day is of the dining tables displaying the most dazzling array I have ever seen of glass- and silver- ware at each place-setting. It was marvellous.

 

 The second time was when I went to Amsterdam to see the Van Gogh Centenary Exhibition. By chance, this coincided with the stunning spring Tulip Festival, and the unique experience of being part of Queen's Day in Amsterdam on 30th April.

 

 I have also been to Amsterdam on two other visits, and the concept of this collection of Canal Houses of Amsterdam has been percolating in my brain over this long period. Finally, I have transfered the works from my head to reality. They are fun.....enjoy!

  

 

The Paintings:

These unique paintings of Amsterdam canal houses with their distinctively-shaped roofs are painted on medium density fibreboard and reinforced with solid pine. The images are created using acrylic paints and ink. There may be other mediums used occasionally (for example, pencil). All surfaces and edges have been well-sealed, and the images have been further protected with several applications of matt varnish.  

 

Some of the paintings have been cut out of one piece of board. Others have been “jigsawed” together to utilize available shapes and create the desired outline. Where materials have been attached and/or joined, including the supporting struts of solid pine, a cross-linking woodworking glue of superior strength and exterior quality has been used. Further strengthening has been applied where appropriate with a mesh that is impregnated with the same strong adhesive.

 

Eye hooks (with attached cords) have been inserted into the inside plane of the pine struts, as this will enable each painting to hang flat on the wall. Ideally, the paintings are best hung on a nail or screw or similar - which should also help them to hang flat on the wall - rather than from a rail-and-cord system.

 

Each painting is a complete stand-alone work in its own right and does not rely on being with others for its character and appeal. However, the “Amsterdam” paintings have been created with the canal brick walls and edging all equidistant from the bottom edge, and can therefore sit well with others if desired, and in any order or grouping.