axel vervoordt/

axel vervoordt castle/abstract

One of my favorite images from my visit to Axel Vervoordt's castle outside of Antwerp is a bit abstract. Gotta love a good moat.

axel vervoordt/

from antwerp/

A favorite pic from my time in Antwerp.

axel vervoordt/antwerp

axel vervoordt/antwerp

axel vervoordt/antwerp

I made a visit to the breathtaking HQ and home of Axel Vervoordt earlier this week. Here is just a tease image from his home since I have not had a moment to edit the images yet. I've been shooting non stop. But more soon. It is beyond beautiful there...

curio magazine/antwerp

Hello friends! I am back after a bit of a break and it feels good! I've missed you!
Today an image I shot in Antwerp. I remember shooting it and just loving all the lights happening in this one area of my friends home. The quality of light was gorgeous (as you can see...look at those cast shadows!) and I even love the cords - in fact I think I love the cords the most! More about these lovely friends soon...I have been meaning to post on them forever.
I did want to mention that the beautiful online magazine Curio has a Q&A with me in their new issue that just came out. I feel pretty fancy being such wonderful company as Roman and Williams, Ana Kras, etc. Very fancy indeed. If you don't know Curio yet, you are in for a treat. Take a look.

scenes from Antwerp/light and sound

This was my view out my window in Antwerp when I was there last September. I have been saving it for awhile because I shot a series of views out to this square and I wanted to run them all together, but I just haven't had the time to do that. And then yesterday, as I was trying to get my head to a place where I could clear away all the thoughts and get to that quiet, true place I have to get to for writing, I heard the sound of these skateboards in my head and I was there. When I  first heard them as I was writing the Julia Kalthoff People Watching post and the sound made me get up and look out the window. It was late afternoon and the sun was raking through the square. Just look at this kid...doesn't he look like he is dancing? Just beautiful...

On another note I'm still plugging away at my Kickstarter for Handcrafted Modern Europe. I am almost half way!! Please take a look and pledge this weekend...and have a good relaxing one while you are at it!  ; )

J'adore Antwerp/Tobias van Hattem

One day while I was in Antwerp, I was feeling a bit unsettled. I am sure it was from all the travel and the fact that I was in the middle of writing a NYT post, but hey...what's a girl to do. This girl goes for a walk! And that day in Antwerp, my walk led me to Tobias van Hattem. I could hear him playing his piano for a few blocks away and just unconsciously walked towards it. And then I just sat for about  a 1/2 hour and listened. I was not alone, in fact he had quite a crowd. It was wonderful just communing with my fellow man in the city streets through music. A rare experience.
Click here for a clip I found on youtube. this clip actually doesn't do his playing justice...
He told me he plays all the time and has a place nearby where he "parks" his piano. For some reason I love the idea of seeing where he parks the piano. I wonder how far he pushes it. He mentioned it is quite close, but before he said he was pushing it from home and that was really far...

J'adore Antwerp/ le zoo

Did I mention that I fell in love with the city of Antwerp during my trip? Well, I did...for so many reasons. So for the next few days I am going to share just a few of them.
I happened upon the entrance to the zoo completely by accident. It is right next to the Centraal Station. I cannot remember why I was over there but I went for a lot of walks so that is the most likely reason. The lion just captivated me. How incredibly beautiful is he?! I didn't go in. I just admired the entry...and then that class of school children walked out in pairs and all I could think was "how lucky to be able to come to this zoo as a child."

antwerp/

I cannot get this creepy doll out of my head. I went to have a coffee a La Chascona yesterday before I jumped on the train and was compelled to photograph her again. Isn't she crazy? Why do I keep thinking about her? Look at her strange hand gesture.
But you can see from the last image why I returned to La Chascona. How cute is just the mix of coffee cup, saucer and creamer alone- AND good coffee!
Of course, I am in Paris now and shooting my last shoot of this trip today! Crazy!

centraal station/antwerp

Another travel day today but I have to say, it is so hard to leave Antwerp! I really love it here. But promises have been made for my return so I feel sure I will be back in the colder months. On to Paris and my last scheduled shoot of the trip!

renaat braem/sneak peek!

I thought I would share a bit from my shoot at Belgian Modernist architect, Renaat Braem's home today. Nothing better to start a weekend than a little sneak peek! Plus I just love these material samples from his office! I was the girl that loved 'back to school' because I could get new paper and pencils and notebooks. Yes, a total geek. I think this love of materials somehow stems from that.
These images were the last thing I shot on Wednesday. I was all packed up and ready to go and Jo Braeken, the curator of the house, and I started chatting about some of the pieces in the house. I always have a lot of questions and after awhile, I get my courage up and I hear "what's in that box?" come out of my mouth. Luckily Jo was just as enthralled as I was. My favorite is the box of wood samples. I mean how gorgeous is the box alone? So beautiful. The carpet samples had me lamenting what is available on the market today. Nothing this good...
Have a beautiful weekend my friends. Monday I head to Paris and by the end of next week I'll be back in California! Crazy.

antwerp/a walk in the park

My first day in Antwerp I arrived rather early at the house I was shooting. The curator was still eating breakfast and I felt so bad to interrupt! Luckily there was a break in the storm so I headed out for a coffee, but instead stumbled into this beautiful park that the house backs up to. The light was moving fast and furious that day making for breathtaking moments, fleeting, though they were. The light on this tree just took my breath away. Doesn't it look velvety? I know you all are just chomping at the bit to see interiors, but this walk in the park was so lovely I thought I would share it. The night before had been really windy (I can attest to this because I flew into the tiny Antwerp airport in a prop plane. What a ride!) so there were limbs down and leaves strewn everywhere.

antwerp/office equipment

I am not sure why but I am a little obsessed with this image I shot at Renaat Braem's house yesterday. In fact all the old office equipment looks so damn lovely. Computers are just so - oh I don't know - current. Give me an adding machine any day. The blue helps too.