Amsterdam delight

I loved Amsterdam.




The last time I went there, I was a pot smoking teenager with no ambition. (just look at me now!) Back then, I loved Amsterdam for a whole lot of other reasons, but this time it was for the concentration of contemporary jewellery, the beauty of the city and how it felt like a ‘toy’ town, the friendliness of the inhabitants and the plethora of kitsch clog souvenirs.




Unfortunately my visit coincided with Object in Rotterdam so both Galerie Ra and Galerie Rob Koudijs were closed – bummer! Rotterdam is only a short train ride from Amsterdam but the exhibition opened 2 hours before my return flight to Tallinn. I got to look in their windows but it’s really not the same.

Another town only a short train ride (an hour and a half) from Amsterdam, is Nijmegen– the home of Galerie Marzee.




Fortunately Marzee was open and I was able to see exhibitions by Karin Seufert, David Clarke, Wiebke Meurer and Karola Torkos and a show by the students of the Munich Academy.



that's David Clarke's work in the foreground.

Marzee is amazing. 3 floors of jewellery joy. Including the Marzee collection which is the gallery’s collection of contemporary jewellery on permanent display. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take photos of the jewellery but the collection is very substantial and I spent a fascinating couple of hours going through the drawers.


the home of the Marzee collection: over 200 drawers!

I was also able to stock up on some catalogues and I even bought 2 brooches! One by Flora Magi




and the other by Mah Rana.


I only got one but it's in a container on a ship steaming it’s way to Melbourne from Europe so I nicked this photo from the innernet.


Back in Amsterdam, Galerie Louise Smit was also open and I was able to see a beautiful exhibition All Else Imaginable by Helen Britton. I am in awe of her imagination. The brooches are seemingly complicated constructions but every aspect is thoughtfully assembled to form these fantastic compositions.




I also managed to spend more of my Euro here and bought a neckpiece by Christoph Zellweger BUT unfortunately it’s in the same container as the Mah Rana pin so I can’t photograph it but it looks something like this.



And, yes, obviously I'm back in the country and I have so far escaped the depressed hole into which I thought I would fall. There's lots of catch up on the way.

The beginning of the catch-up

A quick post from my hotel in Sorento, sun-burnt after a day trip to Positano on the Amalfi coast (what's that...? It's cold in Melbourne...? sorry)

Since I last posted I've been to The Netherlands, back to Estonia, back to Rome, to Florence, attended a repousse workshop in Tuscany, to London, to Birmingham and Edinburgh and now the south of Italy. On arrival in London I found out that the Damien Hirst exhibition had had so much press that to go and see the skull was 'booked out'. That's right, folks. You have to book to go and see it. So I didn't.

To Amsterdam: I came upon a fabulous design store called 'The Frozen Fountain' on my way to visit some jewellery galleries and I thought I'd share some images of things which caught my eye.






I liked the eclectic mix. Quite unlike the design stores of Melbourne.




I liked how they displayed their textiles.




you'd be forgiven for thinking I was obsessed with Ted Noten (that's his work above), given the amount of times he's mentioned on this blog, but I'm not. Really. Ok, yes, I bought his book from this store... And yes, I did buy one of his brooches, but that's where it ends.




Jergen Bey 'Tree Trunk Bench' 11,000 euro

And my very favourite...



The Tejo Remy 'Rag Chair' 2,630 euro.

And so, 5 more sleeps and then I'm home. More catch up on my return

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