m a r f a . s h a d o w s

shadows on the wall.
a few winters ago we began renting a wonderful house in marfa that had adobe walls surrounding the backyard. every evening around 5 pm the sun would be beginning to set and i realized i could create these silhouettes against the walls. i began doing them with my son . we incorporated all his toys; skateboard, plastic swords, bow & arrow, cowboy hats - whatever we could find.... eventually it began to involve friends ( among them & pictured above writer daphne beal and L.A  artist susan carter hall ) who happened to be there at the right time. sometimes for cocktails, or an early dinner or a spontaneous visit or playdate.
last febuary penelope green came to do a story on  PHB, my husband and his about-to-be published novel,  for the NY Times Home  section. shortly after her visit the nytimes photgrapher tony cenicola came to document the story and included one these shadow pictures. ( thats his tripod pictured in the upper right photo)
i have continued to make these against sails while sailing penobscot bay and even on the doors & walls of our wassenaar, NL rental apt. but they never had the impact that these do. its that famous MARFA LIGHT  which i am missing quite dramatically right now as we endure the below freezing temps of the east coast.

bethel. part two

bethel weekend : part 2.
one of our  returning-to-the-states-and-trying-to-embrace-winter activities is cross country skiing.
seeing as this winter we are skipping marfa, our usual winter spot, we are doing our best to get outdoors and enjoy what the season has to offer.
 i've always loved nordic skiing in maine and decided my son, age six is the perfect age to learn.
so we brought our previously owned, used skis ( bought here) to bethel and skiied both days across a gorgeous, expansive lake  - right out in front of our friend's home. we managed to meet up with a family ice fishing and arrived just when this beautiful bass was being caught. the yellow perch came shortly after. so no, i have not taken up ice fishing but i am intrigued and loved the whole scene......
especially bitter sweet was when the kids leaned down to look closer at the just-caught bass and my son said : "mom, its still breathing!"

bethel. maine

     
i intended on doing a blog post on our last chapter in the netherlands and how we spent the holidays, in amsterdam and northern holland but, alas, i am already stateside. so i think i'll work backwards.
this past weekend, my son and i visited a my writer friend melissa coleman and her twin daughters in bethel, me.
one of our most enjoyable weekend kid-centric experiences was swimmming at the outdoor heated pool at the bethel inn    as many parents know: kids + water = fun & happy kids so we lingered and swam around surrounded by snow and winter temps for what felt like hours. ( there are saunas there to warm up in afterwards)
it was exceptionally warm for a maine winter  day - they are calling it a  "january thaw".
the combination of steam and fog created a mysterious and beautiful  scene. i decided to brave the pool   with my iphone and took many photos - a few of them, as you see here.
stay tuned, more on bethel in my next post.

dutch shipping containers

so this may seem like a strange posting : dutch shipping containers however, there is a story.
a while back i art directed a kids shoot in marfa, tx. and at the end of a long, hot wonderful day we ended up shooting at el cosmico  - a modern day trailer park. it just so happened that our stylist  had my son ( one of our key models) dressed perfectly in coordination with my husband and the shipping containers they had onsight for storage so we shot some great images of them. one ended up being the author photo for The O'Briens.
so - fast forward to this fall and we are living in Wasseaar, NL. as i biked past my son's favorite skatebaan one afternoon, i noticed these shipping containers on a construction sight and they were painted exactly the same as the ones we had as background in texas. so now i know where they came from, a strange coincidence.
in the netherlands, space is a premium and they are the kings of recycling so naturally they inovatively use these containers for student housing, pop up stores, exhibiton spaces, low income housing -  you name it.
in our hometown in maine there is an amazing house made up from 12 of these shipping containers, see the ny times or Maine Magazine pieces on this architectural wonder.
additionally - while researching a bit about these containers i was reminded of the nomadic museum that i visited in nyc in 2005 and santa monica the following year. it housed the ashes & snow exhibit by
photograpgher/filmaker gregory colbert - it was quite memorable.
i am thinking i'd like to have one behind my house as my studio but not live in one necessarily....you?

N Y C

new york.
last week i left holland to take a trip back to the states. ( now i am back in NL) i was struck by how incredibly beautiful the recently snow covered dutch landscape was thru the plane window. as we ascended, it became even more beautiful and the ocean ( see above photo) looked like it was glowing...
golden and heavenly looking. it was hard to leave
i arrived in nyc ( where i lived for a stint in the early 2000's) and it rained for the first few days but i still ran along the west side hwy park and walked the highline. i think this is my favorite place to go nowadays, especially early am and late afternoon when there are no crowds. ( middle photos) the view from my window in the west village ( thank you H & J)  serendipitously looked out at a typical dutch brick building, possibly from the 17th or 18th century, that could be one you see in holland quite often
i had a very nyc experience, one that is hard to put into words, suffice it to say, it was mezmorizing, memorable, fun  and so peaceful.  i encourage anyone in nyc over the next few weeks to go see Ann Hamilton's "event of a thread"  installation at the Park Ave Armory. you will enter the armory, leave the city behind and emerge inspired, relaxed and smiling......
nyc, i miss you but its always so immensely enjoyable to come back and visit.

A M S T E R D A M

decided to do another post on AMSTERDAM with a few more of my favorite spots
 * Museumplein - spend time here even if you have no intentions of going to a museum or if you, like me, have a one museum a day max but your traveling companion wants to hit more..it is a wonderful open park with a skatebaan, cafes, a huge green lawn, a pond that people skate on in the winter and amazing people watching. this is where  the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum (the collection is currently housed in the Hermitage museum), Stedelijk Museum, and the  concert building Concertgebouw are located. 
( the photo of H & i was taken here as well as the woman sitting on top off the letters  M & S,  perfectly color coordinated)
* Cafe De Jaren -  a cafe‑restaurant  that occupies a rather enormous former bank. it is situated on a canal with gorgeous views, the ceilings are unusually high and flooring is multicolored tiled mosaic. it is said to be:  " fashionable without being pretentious." they have the best assortment of magazines, newpapers, they offer free wifi and its always buzzing with people working onlaptops or just relaxing.
just over a nearby canal is  the famous * Droog  "concept" store filed with dutch design ( including gorgeous woodburning stoves for sale) . i love the beauty shop upstairs and the cafe. 
* Haarlemmerstraat - such a fun street for window shopping, eating, or hitting the "coffee shops" of which there are plenty.
* Foam  which is an extensive photography center, with classes, exhibits,  a museum - i recently saw a Diane Arbus show there.
* westergasfabriek park where i saw the Unseen Photo Fair earlier this fall 
( these are the photos of photo-billboards - stunning)
more  AMSTERDAM  soon

amsterdam

amsterdam - its an extremely urban yet feels-like-a-cozy-village city. i could never cover it in one post - so here are just a few of my favorite images & places,  focused mainly on the centrum close to jordaan & westerpark where i keep returning again and again.
love the gasfbriek & westerpark - the old water & gas works buildings restored and now used for events. they house a cinema, nightclub/jazz club, restaurants, cafes and events spaces. huge green park space too.  i love de bakkerswinkel for breakfast or lunch. amazing bakery & wonderful people watching with a lively & creative interior. 
the sailboat is an original ship model ( from 1600's) used for building and equipping naval ships and instructing their crew. it is housed in the rijks museum collection of historical objects. a "must see" but go early and on a weekday. 
the car & the dog in a bikebasket - these are just some of the koooky, fun, unexpected things one will stumble upon when walking around amsterdam.....the canals and architecture alone compel me to go into amsterdam about once a week to just take it all in.