Mather Life

On a roll, kicken it at the beach

2011-06-10T05:53:00.007-06:00

So...now I'm on a matherlife blog roll. Addison and I had a glorious day on the beach and in the woods yesterday, and I wanted to post this before the memories drifted under the ocean of photos that just pile up in digital fathoms on the hard disk.

So Addison and I made a cool fort out of sticks we found in the woods and then had a nice picnic in the fort. Then we went for a stroll along the coast to close out the night...pretty cool. He is also killing me at an ongoing gin rummy game...as I write this he is up 165. Beach is awesome.

Looking out from the shore, you can see dozens of Windmills spinning in the sea. Looks cool. Some Dutch don't like them, claiming that they spoil the visual landscape...ok...sure.

Recap of the third year in Amsterdam. Geweldig!

2011-06-06T08:55:00.023-06:00

Ok, so yeah…it's been almost a year between entries, but maybe this entry will help kick start the matherlife blog again. No promises ravenous fans. Basically, I feel like this annual round up is going to help me remember what the heck we've been doing.

Where to even start…I think the overall point is this…the Mather family has come a long way in the last year.

First, the sad news, two thirds of the family ended up being allergic to the puppy, Gulliver, so we found him a new home. This is good but sad. The really good part is that he now goes 'to work' everyday where he can play outside all the time…much better than apartment life for a dog. We miss him, but I'm glad to have a healthy family again.

So…on with the good stuff. HCA, Hockey Club Amsterdam…this is the new Ice Hockey team. Started among the friends from the old student club, we are now playing and competing well in the 2nd division. Pretty eye opening hockey, we get to play against some incredible players, former pros and young players still moving up. A very competitive league…we placed third…best hockey I've played in my adult life. We are looking for some players this coming season and tryouts start in September…www.hockeyclubamsterdam.com BOOM!

What else…I think the really important development for Malia is that now she has her own brick and mortar craft shop to compliment her successful online shop. Penelope Craft is rocking and rolling in the Leidseplein area of Amsterdam. Check it at Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 99. Site is as it was: http://www.penelopecraft.com/

The shop features mostly craft supplies, but there is also a wide selection of cool gifts and hipster zines and plush stuff too. We carry NoBrow art zines, and toys from Amanda Visell and NoEfrim etc etc. Very cool, stop in and visit.

Andenken / Mather:Kunst has had it's most successful and active 12 month period since moving to the Netherlands. We are participating in some higher profile fairs around Europe and have had good success at fairs like BLOOOM in Koln, and in the Stroke series around Germany. Still looking to round out our fair schedule with a few more choice selections. This is a great way for the business to expand and to see other parts of Europe in the process. As a family, we have still done surprisingly little travel around the continent. Below is a picture of my fair partner at the last Stroke fair in Munich 'Helpy the Ghost' . Helpy was way popular with the ladies...so much so, that I'm considering wearing a bag over my head where ever I go.

The gallery space is also in the best shape of it's life since we opened our location here and the summer schedule is amazing. Hedof, Aiko (former member of Faile), Chad Vangallen, and Amanda Marie are all doing solos this summer / fall and we just did a super bad ass group show called, 'Hello Distinguished Champions'. You can buy yourself an exhibition catalogue on blurb…here is the link: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2222248

I think the gallery is gaining the kind of respect we were hoping for here and it has been good to become more a part of the scene here.

I was recently a judge on an MTV spot for sportlife, which was fun. My friend passed the gig to me, and I was a little unsure what was going to be expected of me. He said, 'Dude, I can't make this gig at MTV, would you mind to fill in for me?' or something like that. 'No worries. What day, what time?' blah blah blah…the next thing I knew I was in the green room about to go on camera…:-) Oh well, not the first time this fading rocker has been on MTV, if anyone remembers the naked 'riot' of 94.

Just found this old image of Won Lump Some on Reg's site...jeezus.

Speaking of rocking out, 'Barnboy' which is my music project was recently signed to Massive Music…they are a world wide agency that syncs music with film, tv, commercials, etc…I hope they can find happy partners for my songs, but I'm not holding my breath…just flattered that they found me and liked the tunes. You can check out barnboy tracks here: http://thebarnboyblog.blogspot.com/

Let's see what else. Addison can swim pretty well now. His school is going good…excellent in math, good confidence when speaking in front of the class, good in gym…not great in hand writing…go figure. He is reading well in both languages and has just finished reading his first chapter book out loud to the family, 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox'. Very proud of him for that. Oh yes, and he also completed the pyramid puzzle we received as a gift at Christmas. This puzzle bested the entire adult contingency at my mom's Christmas get togethers, but Addison sorted it in about 15 minutes. Look out Brandon.

Speaking of puzzles, Addison and I attended a Prusa Mendel masterbuild class in Maastricht in the early part of the year. For those of you unfamiliar with the relatively young field of Reprap 3d printers…here is an overview. http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

During the course, Addison and I were able to build a 3d printer (most complex machine I've ever built) and test it at the class. The inventor, Josef Prusa was at the event along with some other 'giants' of this fledgling community. By my estimation home use additive printing (3d printing) is one of the most important developments in technology in this new millennium. 3d printing is not brand new, but this kind of affordable home / small office use of emerging and open source technology is going to revolutionize the game. My guess is that in 10 - 15 years, 3d printers will be nearly as common in homes and offices as normal ink jet or lazier printers. This is big people. Imagine communities that can produce replacement parts for special machinery on the spot…or rural and / or impoverished communities where replacement prosthetics can be 'printed'. Here is an interview with Josef on TED. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viz4Ijahddg

It was my friend Jeff that hipped me to this, and he has always been way way ahead of the tech curve. He has a Reprap company going in the U.S. and you can check it out here: Aleph Objects. http://alephobjects.com/

What else…ok, so I am writing this from our caravan in Bakkum. We've written about Bakkum before, but to recap, it is a small beach community about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam. This is a great place to escape the bustle of the city…Addison and I spend long hours hiking through the woods and dunes along the beach. There is no auto access to the beach in the area where we are...so this is a very comfortable place for Addison to ride his bike like a maniac. We spend some time chasing bright green frogs and watching the wild horses in the grassy dunes. I had never seen wild horses. Pretty amazing. Bakkum is also a good place to quietly plink away on ideas and projects that seem to get pushed aside in Amsterdam. I'm working on a large printed book about the history of Andenken to date..we'll see when that gets finished, wading through like 10000 pictures. I also made another book for my 'little things' paintings that you can also order from blurb, here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2134140

I think I'll make more of these 'little things' books…

Boating life is still awesome. We've been out on the canals a handful of times this year. We took Larry Seethaler and his girlfriend, Brenda and Brant Seethaler out the other day. This was a good way to partially pay back Larry for taking me and Greg Seethaler out on his Super Cub airplane when we were little kids. Good times...

Ok TTFN.

Hyland

Sweet Summer Ends

2010-08-23T02:08:00.007-06:00

Summertime saw us travelling, camping, partying, and spending time with our new puppy, Gulliver.

Hyland and Addison spent some time camping in Bakkum and I joined them for the second trip. It's kid paradise there. Several of his classmates have caravans there, so they spend some time running down dirt paths to see each other.

Then there's the beach, the dunes, and just hanging around the camper sites.

It rained a bit while we were there so Hyland painted Little Guys and we played Monopoly.

When it dried out a little we collected pine cones and sticks and made a little art fence and a garland to decorate the campsite.

Later on in the summer, the gigantic event, SAIL, happened within walking distance of our house. This event phappens only every 5 years, and in 2005, 1.8 million people came to see it. Addison and I walked around and checked out the ships and other attractions. They had fireworks 4 nights in a row!

After a sunny and dry weekend, as fate would have it, it rained cats and dogs the morning of Addison's first day of school. And of course, because of SAIL, we had to ride the long way around to get there. Needless to say we were drenched to the bone.

And a new school year begins!

Sweet Summer in Amsterdam

2010-06-05T04:16:00.015-06:00

Ok, so it is really really nice in Amsterdam right now. Yesterday, I went on a long bike ride to meet an art collector buddy at his flat and rode through both Wondel Park and Rembrandt Park...total frisbee season.

The weather in this part of the world is by no means 'excellent' so when the sun is shining everyone is outside (even more than usual).

We've been busy doing what we love.

The new Andenken space is open now and we have the stellar Morcky exhibition up right now.

At the opening the Blus Bus was in effect, run by our very friendly studio mate Dick.

We are so lucky to have our studios here. Malia's studio is looking amazing.

Serving up the cupcakes

Before the Morcky show we did a successful install of the 'Where On Earth Have You Been?' exhibition at Streetlab.

This was our third show with Streetlab and they have really been a great partner for Mather:Kunst and Andenken.

We sold our Block Building in Denver in April and I've got 'happy - sad' going on about it.

The building was so beautiful, but we just don't live there anymore and .... now we want to do something bigger here. So, yeah, after more than a decade of solid art activity in Denver, we quietly disappeared from that landscape.

Took an artist friend, Joe Holbrook out on the boat last night. He was a real good sport, we broke a pin and ran out of gas...both things that can turn a mission sour in the wrong hands, but he handled it with poise and after we McGiver'd the pin we celebrated with about 20 beers.
Here is a mural Joe painted with another artist friend, Lil'Shy

Addison, had a spreekbeurt at his school, which means that he had a 'speaking turn' , so this was his first report in front of the class. He did his report on the basic movements of the chess (schaken) pieces, the Rook (toren), Bishops (lopers) King (koning) Queen (dame), Knights (paarden), and the Pawns (pionnen).

I was / am very proud of him. It is very difficult to explain the movements of chess pieces concisely to other 8 year olds, and he was able to do it effectively in Dutch. I'm also amazed at how well he is playing the game itself, he is a good strategist.

On Monday, I'm off to Denver to gear up for the Summer Art Market.

Andenken in Amsterdam

2010-05-28T14:07:00.005-06:00

Damn have we been busy. And neglectful of our blog. Sorry folks. And here I am with just a short little note about our newest exploit.

Tomorrow night, Andenken gallery opens its doors for the first time in Amsterdam. Yes, we've been putting on art shows over the two years we have lived here, but under the name Mather:Kunst. When the Andenken location in Denver closed up we decided that Andenken would live on with us here in the original sin city.

So, if you're in the fair and slightly chilly City of Amsterdam tomorrow night, please drop by. If not, be sure to at least check out MORCKY and find out what you have been mising.

Malia

Look, we're on TV. In Holland!

2010-01-22T11:27:00.005-07:00

Well folks, we have made our television debut here in Holland. Check us out here on the RTV-NH site:

http://www.rtvnh.nl/player.php?stream=UitzendingTV&item=65

Skip to 2:10 to see our segment. It's about people from outside of the Netherlands who move here and the sentimental things they bring with them.

Malia

Our Holidays so far

2009-12-29T03:47:00.009-07:00

Ok, to recap, we had two Thanksgivings, an art show, a rock show, a Sinterklaas, an amazing christmas eve dinner, a white Christmas filled with friends and merry making, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Here are some photos to prove it:

The Art show was entitled Mish Mash Kabash, and was held at StreetLab. It was such a nice show. Here we are:

The Rock Show was a really special occasion. Our friends John and Chad of Drag The River played at the Winston and Hyland's act, Barnboy, opened for the show. Drag the River was touring with a band called Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves who were a really tight act of super cute young men. One of them is named Addison. It was a fun night.

Christmas was very gezellig. The Jordans came over as they did last year. It was just like a typical family Christmas, except no one got in a fight about something inconsequential. We even finished a puzzle together.

Here are Addi and Ferris foolin' around.

Hyland was like a kid on Christmas :)

Addi got tons of presents.

Happy Holidays!

xoxo Malia

Conference Bike

2009-10-25T13:57:00.006-06:00

This afternoon, we were invited to go on the Conference Bike to a birthday party for a bicycle shop called Work Cycles.

The Conference Bike was invented by Eric Staller, and, as you can see, is just plain cool. Here are a few snaps of people riding along.

Addison's legs were just the tiniest bit too small for the bike pedals, but he rode anyway, and still had a nice time.

Hyland drove on the way there.

These lovely ladies are Amy Joy, Billie and Sietske.

Party shots:

While we were at the party, Hyland took a little stroll through the Jordaan, and spotted these Faile stencils. Never misses a trick, that one.

It was really fun riding the bike, running into people we know at the shop, and then riding the bike back again. Go check out the site for Conference Bike. It's really cool. If you live in Amsterdam, you can even rent it.

Awesome Autumn for our Family of Artists

2009-10-16T05:01:00.009-06:00

I have plenty I should be doing, so I guess I'll blog instead....very common condition in this day and age, yes. Ok, so we have had a lot of really good things go down lately. To summarize, we have a new studio here in Amsterdam, and both Malia and I have exhibits up at the moment. It has been a nice autumn.

Malia hosted and curated a show for the Ladies Fancywork Society at Wolf and Pack the area mainstay for up and coming hipster art types. Julian at Wolf and Pack was a great host and an overall bad ass transplant from the New York City. The show was a crocheted triumph and we were very lucky and happy to host a few of the Ladies from the group at our flat.

I also have a show up right now at StreetLab which is an awesome awesome space down the street from our new studio. It is a 'string fort' like the installation I made at the 400 a few years ago. Addison helped me with the 'other blocks' component. I could not be much happier with how it turned out and StreetLAB was very happy too. I am curating a show with other artists there next month. Should be great.

More work on display at StreetLab

Ok, now about our new Atelier (studio) is located on the Kinkerstraat and it is in a building with a number of other studios, very much like any of the Andenken locations...so we are very used to the format, only this time we are a sharecropper and not the lords of the building.

I cannot tell you how nice that is for the time being. Somebody else is saddled with the responsibility for keeping everything rolling and we just get to do our thing. It was pretty nasty when we moved in but we've cleaned and painted and put in a second level and new floors etc. We are just about ready to have an opening thing in a month or so.

Lastly, Malia has been learning a little guitar and we are playing a bunch of old Cowboy songs together, so far she has 'Back In The Saddle' , 'Hey Good Lookin', 'My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean' and the Dean Martin title 'Five Foot Two'. Look out for more from the Mather Family Band.

Here is an awesome song by Coconut Records, featuring the sk8boarding of The Gonz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTzEp4CeWT8

Anyway, that is the update from here in Amsterdam.

Are You Kidding Me?

2009-09-11T07:34:00.012-06:00

Ok, so Addison was on a field trip the other day with his class, and they went to the Petting Zoo, they call is a Kid Farm here, 'Kinderboerderij', very cool. I've mentioned it before, they are all around the city. I've probably been to 10 of them with Addison. I had though, before last Wednesday, never been to the one that is located outside the Flevopark in Jeugdland oost. They had everything they normally do, chickens, goats, pigs etc, but they also had spotted Deer (which you never see in the 'wild' here)...but the really amazing thing that they had was not the farm, but this unreal 'shanty town' of forts made by children. It was so incredible and dangerous looking the parent in me was astonished, but the kid in me was in heaven. They had a zip line over a small canal too, which Addi heroically challenged several dozen times.

Anyway, I was so intrigued and I went home to see what I can find. Amazingly I think this shanty of construction by children has been organically evolving for a very long time...like more than 60 years as near as I can tell. Check out some of these photos I found.

Allright, so that is one amazing thing lately, and the other is that we went finally on a huge houseboat barge onto the Ijsselmeer for, get this...a sailing race of turn of the century barge converted house boats. It was amazing of course. Here are some pictures from that too.

Many of the brown sails are made of hemp (I believe sailing is how the Dutch got into the Marijuana business in the first place), but anyway, show me a canvas sail that is a hundred years old and I'll show you my copy of a Gutenberg Bible. Here is my daily dose of politicin...'Hemp....it's not just for smoking anymore.'

So yeah, it has been good around here lately.

Malia is working for a company called Airworks and they make giant inflatable things for concerts, and festivals etc. Here is a giant blue horse they made.

My sister Katie was here on another visit and my friends Jasper and Rena were also here at the same time. We goofed around, but nothing too too crazy.

Well, that's it for now I think. We have a new studio...but that is another post. Hockey season just started and I couldn't be happier about that....Blah Blah Blah.

It is starting to get colder etc.

peace,
hyland

Camping Dutch Style

2009-08-07T04:26:00.009-06:00

We just returned from a relaxing, if not exhausting camping trip to Bakkum. I say exhausting only because we rode our bikes there and back with all our gear and child in tow. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the bike riding, but it was a bit of a stretch for my current level of daily exercise and the last hour of each leg was tough.

I am such a baby. It was only 45 kilometers each way.

Here is my photo essay:

Part One: The Journey

Part Two: The Destination

There is no real wilderness in Holland, I'm told. So camping is always in organized grounds or on a farmer's or otherwise owned land. Lots of times these camp grounds include caravans. This one is almost all caravans with the exception of some yurts and other temporary buildings.

A cute little Ampitheatre at the grounds. Kids do little plays and stuff here. Addison got pretty good at throwing pine cones on the roof.

There is a nature preserve called the Noord-Hollandse Duinreservaat that flanks the campsite. It is really pretty, so I went for a nature hike one morning.

I found these longhorn cow creatures in the woods eating the shrubbery and looking very docile and mellow. Cute, eh?

There are tents, but they are always accompanying a caravan. A guest room, if you will.

Part Three: The Return Journey

Did I mention it was one of the hottest days of the summer so far? It was.

Love,
Malia

Where Does the Time Fly Away To?

2009-07-27T08:34:00.023-06:00

So... very long time from post to post. Updates.

Summer is very pleasant here in Amsterdam. The boat rides are playing first fiddle...popular for family...and for friends.

Addison has lost so many teeth his face looks like a half eaten corn on the cob.

I had a trip to Denver for three weeks in June... was awesome. Weather was very lush for Colorado in June. The mountains were very very green. Saw old friends...and Calan and Mandy and Creedy added a new baby to their family, Purity Leigh...few pictures...

Was super stoked for Steve Beneski's beautifully organized 'Tour De Hood'. Played 4 Square, Kick Ball, Rings, and Frisbee, with intermittent bbq stops through out the neighborhood in NW Denver.

Best thing about the event was that every person rode a bicycle through out the day from location to location. In fact, I saw a huge influx of bicycle riding in general in Denver which made me feel very positive.

Still...all the new build roads do not contain bike paths...so it isn't as if infastructure has taken any hints...whoa nelly. Anyway, Denver was good.
Summer for Malia and Addison and I has been a summer of bicycle rides with Addison getting longer and trickier rides through the city under his belt. We continue to discover new and beautiful landmarks, parks, and pass times. Right on the edge of central amsterdam and just to the west of center is WesterPark The park is fairly huge and filled with pockets of very neat cafe's, play grounds (which I've written about before) a swembad (swimming pool) for the kinderen, wide fields, wide paths...etc. But recently I've discovered a great new pocket of interest in the area just behind westerpark...We found a very old and amazing graveyard, rediscovered the Petting Zoo, discovered a quiet nature patch with tall mazes of grassland and the best thing is the amazing Volks Tuin (public garden) behind Wester Park
.

We might have mentioned it in passing before, but Volks Tuin plots are a common social lifestyle for the Dutch.

With a very low percentage of houses to yards the Dutch 'make up for it' with Volks Tuin plots which are like tiny vacation cottages in small garden paradises back to back row to row for acres.

It seems like the remnants of a feudal oasis...if you can think of such a thing.

Anyway, pictures can share more.

Malia is organizing several events for September - October.

Malia has been working on an art opening at the area mainstay gallery, 'Wolf -N- Pack' for October.

Malia is also charging forth with her online boutique Penelope Craft. I finally 'finished' my first Barnboy record 'Two Minuts is Now 3 Minutes. I'm happy with it...it's weird. You can buy it or download it from Amazon.

The beach was awesome earlier this month. We went to Bakkum outside of Castricum. Addison Loves the Beach. We played on the beach hardcore for 3 days straight and had the sunburns to prove it.

There is also the amazing Dunes that lead up to the beach...Addison and I had some good long walks in the woods and dunes.

We were lucky to stay in our friend's Caravan (which is another popular Dutch 'get away').

Motherhood in Amsterdam

2009-06-14T15:44:00.004-06:00

I felt like a perfect tourist hanging my camera out of my friend's car window to snap this photo, but this is an excellent example of how moms (and dads) get their little snowflakes from point A to point B.

It's no wonder people here are generally so fit and healthy.

Can you imagine taking johnny to karate, and then having to take sally to ballet on the other side of the City, only to have to bike right on back to the dojo because johnny needs his yellow belt that was left in the bakfiets, then just a moment to rest before picking everyone up again and riding home just in time to make a fresh dinner?

Life is good.

Canal Crawling 2

2009-06-10T00:54:00.003-06:00

An Experiment in uploading video, part 2.

Love,
Malia

Canal Crawling

2009-06-08T12:37:00.006-06:00

Some of you might have noticed that we haven't really been blogging all that much lately. Here's why.

You see, we got a little grachten crawler, a little boat with an outboard motor that we jump in and go cruising around the canals and waterways of the city. It's quite addicting, and we have been known to while away the hours on a Saturday just cruising.

If you live in Amsterdam and love cruising, ring us up. Chances are we'll take you out for a ride in the boat.

Koninginnedag 2009

2009-05-01T08:53:00.007-06:00

Well folks, we made it to see another Queensday! This year we celebrated properly with festivities, flea market shopping, and (for the sake of alliteration) fun.

Koninginnenacht is when the parties get going. Street parties abound with stages set up in virtually every square in the City Center, and house/flat parties are everywhere. We got going too with fun at our friend, Shawn's houseboat on the Prinsengracht. The night was punctuated with some music by Amy Joy and Jackamo (who later got almost, but not totally, naked), delicious Sangria, and the company of many cool friends.

The city, at this point, was packed with party-goers. Our particular location left us in the middle of all this, so for most of the night it was really impossible to leave the party without entering a crowded corner. I finally got home around 3am. Whew!

The following morning is when the thrift paradise begins. I got up early to meet Pete and Ferris at the Pont at 8am so we could get a proper jump on the deals. And boy did we get some good deals. Both Addi and Ferris scored cool pirate swords.

Here's Ferris. At one with his pirateness.

And Addi. His sword is more like a samurai sword, truth be told.

I also got some cute skirts and shirts, Addi got some corduroys, pirate jewels (costume jewelry), a whole bag of smurfs, and two plastic robots.

But for me, this was my biggest score. I found 5 skeins of angora wool blend yarn and two cones of merino/nylon blend. Go on over to my Diary of a Craft Fiend blog if you are a fiber nerd and just have to know more about these..

So, after some treasure hunting, Addi and I packed it in. The other boys headed off in search of more wooden train tracks at superb discounts but we just wanted to people-watch and use a proper bathroom :)

Here are some shots from the top of the houseboat on Koninginnedag. It's shoulder to shoulder people and boats all day long.

Addison had a great time playing with his newfound treasures and watching the people float by on boats.

Then we went home and had a nap!

With Love,
Malia

Ultradelarue, Parents Arrive and The Keukenhof in Spring Time

2009-04-07T01:22:00.014-06:00

Well, my folks arrived on Saturday morning. Saturday night we had the opening for Ultradelarue which was awesome, awesome, awesome. Great work by all the artists. I really liked Wayne Horse large yellow Rooster Painting, Rich Jacobs mural wall, and Lil'Shy's pieces on felt, and Michael Perry's wall of drawings. Every artist had good work. Here are a few pieces from the show.

Wayne Horse's piece, 'I remain a Proud Cock'

Michael Perry's 'Pie Anyone', my mom's favorite piece from the show.

A very large 2 meter x 3 meter piece made by Chris Stain. Here it is during the install week.

Rich Jacob's 'Go To Bed Early With Yur Head'

Lil' Shy and Ellis Gallagher, 'I Swear To Fucking God' (I always feel weird just writing that down)

Michael Perry portrait 'action series'

My wall of 'found objects' that I made for the show, piece is called, 'Other Wall'

Rich Jacobs Portrait, from the 'cold chillin' series. It was such a great priveledge to work with Rich and get to know him better. I've known his brother Steve for about a million years and I really enjoyed kicken it with Rich who is a legend in our art scene.

Sunday morning the whole family went to the amazing Dutch gardens at Keukenhof, the literal translation is Kitchen Garden, but it is also known as the Garden of Europe and it is just outside of the small town of Lisse.

Addi having a walk around in some uncomfortable wooden shoes, 'klompen'

Installation after my own heart in the green house.

Windmill at Keukenhof.

Amazing floating triangle boat thingys. Reminded me of an artist we have shown a lot, Bonnie Ferrell Roman.

Keukenhof is the world's largest flower garden.

They have something like 7 million bulbs planted every year. Growers from all over Europe show off their hybrids here. The Dutch are the largest exporters of flowers in the world. Not bad for such a small country.

The garden is only open to the public for a few months from End of March to Mid May. The garden is of course massive, and there are great winding paths all through it. Very wonderful.

http://www.keukenhof.com/

Anyway, that's all for now, maybe a Jefferson Airplane song, since all the flowers gave me the ol' 'Summer Of Love' feeling

New York / Amsterdam Exhibit - ULTRADELARUE

2009-03-24T12:00:00.016-06:00

Well, we've been so lucky and really blessed to work with some awesome people since moving to Holland. We're getting another great opportunity working on this exhibit with AFARAI.

Ultra de la Rue: Contemporary Urban Graphics

This exhibit is opening April 4th, right across the street from Beautiful Amsterdam Central.

The exhibit focuses on contemporary styles in art as represented by artists from the sister cities of New York and Amsterdam. These are two cities that share a long history (long for America anyway). The roster for the show is pretty 'hard hitting' :

NYC artists

Ellis Gallagher, www.ellisgallagher.com

Mike Perry, www.mikeperrystudio.com

Rich Jacobs

Chris Stain

Taylor Mckimens, www.taylormckimens.com,

Amsterdam Artists:

Lok Jansen, www.lokjansen.com,

Jeroen Koolhaas , www.favelapainting.com

Wayne Horse, www.waynehorse.com

Twothings, www.twothings.net

Lilshy, www.lilshy.net

Raymond Lemstra

The exhibit space is at Prins Hendrikkade 33.

This former public building is currently in use for exhibitions but is slated to be developed into the first art’otel in Amsterdam. Another example of how the Dutch finding exciting and excellent temporary uses for buildings slated for other develpements.

Let's see, what else. Grandma and Grandpa Mather arrive the same day of the exhibition opening. A nice timing. Addison has a birthday coming up in April, I'll write more over that later.

Spring is in the air, leaves are starting to sprout, city and people are coming out of their caves for the first time in months. Time to bike off all the winter cookies. I love the way Dutch people say, Cookies.

Still trolling for a boat, not literally, but Manos and I are in the market. Oh well, that's it for now, just really wanted to plug the show!

hyland

Auntie Katie takes Holland by Storm

2009-03-17T06:33:00.019-06:00

Well, my sister, 'Auntie Katie', was just here for a visit. It was great.

She and her friend Thomas stayed with us, they also did some traveling. Thomas got as far south as Paris. Katie went to Brussels and Antwerp and Brug, I think. I never listen.

Thomas and I closing up shop in some Saki bar near the redlight district.

It was fun to go to bars with my sister. Here she is with my friend Sean on his birthday. Sean was a founding member of our Lovers Of Fresh Ideas Artist Coalition many years ago. It's good to see him becoming a responsible adult as he rounds the corner into his 40's.

Katie crashed her bike later that night and then refused the help of a very polite British stranger. My friend, Manolis, seemed to think it was pretty funny.

Being 'socially rounded' people we had been to the Van Gogh earlier this day and had seen 'The Starry Night'. The painting is on loan. I'm glad we got to see it. Amazing collection there now, many classic's on loan for the next few months.

Last year Sean fell in a canal twice. That's not bad for a guy who lives on a houseboat.

Here's me and Manolis, good thing neither of us is driving.

Spotted in the distance! this lucky photographer snapped a rare image of the Albino Wombat.

Auntie Katie, and Addison in Monickendam. Check out the little bruiser, my little Paul Stastny. He's got whipping cream 'slagroom' in his nose.

The ride to Monickendam is 15 or 18km and Addison was bored out of his skull. Katie Loved the ride of course.

It is so great to go around on bikes with Katie. She was always up for a good long ride, which is one of my favorite things to do.

At one point in the ride, I said to Katie, 'I think we should go to Monickendam, it will be super pretty.' to which Addison replied, 'I think we should go home to the house, it will be super warm. Total smartass.

Katie and I enjoyed long bike rides to Monickendam, Ransdorp, Durgerdam and along the Rhine Canal. In Nederlands, long bike ride, 'lange fietstocht'.

Addison's greatest new triumph is the invention of a card game he calls, 'Patterns and Pairs'. After a handful on not so successful attempts over the years, Addison has finally developed a game that our family can play for years. Played with 2 standard decks of playing cards plus 6 jokers, and similar, but more complex than 'memory', I love his game. Last night he and I played a 3 person version with Brant Seathaler, an old family friend.

Also on Katie's visit, she and I had a chance to 'jam' music which was a wonderful first. Katie rocked the drums and my friend Pepijn and I played electric guitars. There is a really awesome practice place called, quite appropriately 'Jam Studios' http://www.jamstudios.nl/ and it is across the street from Westerpark. We tried our hand at a few classics, Bowie's 'Queen Bitch' and The Nerves, 'Hanging On The Telephone' .

Just like every other cool place here, Jam Studios has their own bar. There's a bar at the skatepark, a bar in the music studio, and a bar in every ice rink I've been to in Holland. Nice segway for the next topic, Amsterdam THOR, the ice hockey team I play for was eliminated from the playoffs by the Enschede Lions enschedelions.nl

This photo tells the story pretty much. Here I am in the background looking to the Lord for some strength after they pounded in their 8th or 9th goal of the game. Good luck to Enschede in the championship.

The weather is getting really nice here, in a few weeks Grandpa and Grandma Mather will be here, our first effort to see the mega-fields of tulips is coming up quick.

Hyland

Tourists in our own Town

2009-02-26T06:39:00.004-07:00

A couple of months back we bought Museum Jaarkaarten. The passes enable you to visit a whole slew of museums throughout the Netherlands for one low fee (35 euro). You also get to bypass the line, and get discounts in the gift shop. In short, they rock.

Last weekend we went to the Rijksmuseum for an hour or so. Earlier this week, Hyland and Addi went to the Amsterdamse Historisch Museum. Addison prefers artifacts to paintings, so this was a fun visit for him. Earlier this month, we stopped by the Verzetsmuseum, a museum dedicated to Dutch Resistance. Addi and I did the children's guided tour all in Dutch. Very interesting, and educational. They focused mostly on the Resistence during the Second World War, but also had an exhibit featuring posters, videos and fashion relating to other eras of social uprising.

When we first moved here, we weren't very interested in all the tourist stuff, and just focused on trying to be locals. Now that we are in a comfort zone with our surroundings, regular museum visits are really attractive.

And, now that it is warming up a tad, we have been exploring the parks again and Addi has been riding his bike like a natural.

Here's a cool swing in a playground we visited in Amsterdam Noord with our friends. The boys dug the panama canal.

Hugs and Kisses,
Malia

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T04:24:00.003-07:00

Today is Valentine's Day. Yippee.

This is the first time in my life ever, since the days of walking around the desks in primary school handing out Valentines to every member of your class, that Valentine's Day has been pressure-free. Neither Hyland nor I will worry about gifts, candy, flowers, fancy dinner, or any of that consumer-based loving that has gone on in the past. We're just loving, plain and simple.

Don't get me wrong, they do celebrate Valentine's Day here, it is just FAR more mellow. In the States, there is constant advertising telling you that you are a failure if you don't give or get something fabulous on Valentine's Day. The jewelry stores are pumping propaganda over the sports talk-radio shows for a full month in advance, pushing men to buy buy buy and women to expect. Most of the Americans I know despise this too, it's just so in your face you have to push back to deny it.

One year, I tried to diffuse the situation by scheduling dinner in the steak house at the Diamond Cabaret. (You know the old joke: women get Valentines Day, so men should get Steak and BJ day) To my surprise, we were one of the only couples there that night. Go figure. The steak was awesome ;).

Earlier this week I had a gezzelig lunch with my friend Alex, and was delighted to see these Dutch Valentine Hearts on the counter at the restaurant. They say Leuk and Nee, which translates to Nice and No. It was this cute little reminder that Valentine's Day even existed. If it weren't for these, I might not have remembered at all. It's nice that there is a day especially for remembering love and those you love, but it's just better when that is what it is really about, instead of getting or giving things.

Hearts, Stars, Rainbows, Moons, Love.
Malia

Bright Trade Show, Frankfurt Germany

2009-01-27T09:01:00.029-07:00

Bright Trade Show was the first stop for our traveling group exhibition, 'Where On Earth Have You Been?'

4 to 6 hours from Amsterdam is Frankfurt, Germany. Again, the proximity is just tasty! Frankfurt is an entirely different culture and has a really nice skyline. It isn't all fabulous though.

The city is intensely brown. Various Shades, but brown brown brown.

There is good public sculpture for the most part, but Lil'Shy commented on a particularly ugly one of a Giant Glowing Blue Euro Symbol floating in a lake of Golden Stars. It was awful and she summed it up nicely in her very french English, 'Zis has to be ze most fuckhing uglee zculpture I have eeever see, it es sooo fuckhing terrible.'

I met up with my longtime friend Sonja Bergstrom, we used to work together at GOOG design in Denver. she is from Germany and is back living in Frankfurt now, her place, Bergstrom Studios is the bomb! She is so gifted and the visit to her place was a highlight of the trip. She and her partner Rafael make these really great sheep stools. She's going to be a mazillionaire from them.

Let's see, what else. The streets were very clean, except for the homeless people, but they were clean too. In a weird way they didn't look homeless, well accept for the couple we saw 'shooting up' in broad daylight in the middle of downtown. That was weird and really stomach churning. I always flirted with trouble and don't mind a few grinds in my coffee, but I can't even look at hard drugs, Thank God. I ate a big hamburger.

The Trade Show was cool. We skated the bowl, and it was cool. There were some nasty lines being drawn in there by some of the amazing skaters. Good skaters are like Kung Fu masters.

The Where On Earth Have You Been exhibtion was well received. Many people told us it was their favorite thing at the entire event. I saw some other amazing stuff. Saw Jon Fellows new Hession Mob skateboards in the flesh. Hooked up with my sponsor and grabbed some new
kicks.

Jeroen and Lil'Shy were very fun to travel with. We made a good team, curating together and working the whole time side by side in near harmony. We even got our party on one night.

It was fun, dancing, and drinking hard, except for Jeroen who is one of those great people that doesn't drink or do any drugs whatsoever and just has the best time out. What up Vin Comparetto and Andrew Novic! Lil'Shy and I however got hammered.

Then, somebody I know
proceeded to absolutely 'smash' the club. At one point, she even had some boys in such a frenzy that she wrote on this guy's teeth and all over his face. When I came to try and herd our little princess into the taxi, the dude threatened to kill me, but I told him it was hard to take him seriously because someone had just tagged his grill.

Here he is the next day. 'Es everybodys frenz, no?' He was cool, Shy was the coolest.

Hopefully we'll be able to move the exhibit to other locations soon and keep adding more artists to the collection it was so impressive to see everything up on the walls. I was really really happy with it.

The most popular pieces that we showed were the Kenjon Bajus piece he made from 'working in centimeters', Evan Hecox once again, the Dutch artist, Shoe, and the Jeremy Fish original painting I bought at the show Ryan Riss curated in 2006 at Andenken called, My My Hey Hey.

German countryside was really nice, rolling hills and old farms.

Fancy bathrooms in a gas station in Germany were like the chill room at a rave. Sweet smells pumping with ambient music. They even had these self cleaning toilet seats that were so 'german jetsons'. I'd never seen that. Then again, I've never paid 50 euro cents to take a huge dooker at the filling staion in Germany. I felt a little out of my league in that bathroom, a little under dressed. It was almost like a limousine ride that bathroom.

When we got back to Amsterdam I felt really glad to be 'home' which is exactly when it hit me, 'I live here now, with my family. This is my home.' Such a good feeling, I really hope we can stay and stay and stay.

As far as Where On Earth Have You Been? We need to make a long list of artists to add to our collection and start searching for funding.

Anyway, as we say in Germany, super ciao!

Frozen Waterland and New Year Mayhem

2009-01-09T11:52:00.022-07:00

Well, it is very very cold here right now and the beautiful canals are freezing, or frozen. The boats are frozen into the grachts and as I rode my bike North of Amsterdam and into the heart of the nearby Polder farm lands the water in the Markermeer looked like a true Arctic Sea.

The population is still out on their bikes, though not for entertainment.

I've started to dread long rides that I know I have to make at night...or really at all. Hopefully it warms up soon.

On the flip side, I have been able to do some nice outdoor pond hockey and also enjoy the really amazing outdoor rink that the city maintains which is beautifully located in the cross shadows of the Van Gogh and Rijks Museum on the Plein.

Things have finally settled back into normalcy after the holiday season. Addison is back in school. Andrea has returned home after a nice visit. It was so cold though that we weren't able to show Andrea everything we wanted. Note to visitors: Come when it's warmer, or bring your ice skates and a thermos or whiskey flask.

I've yet to stroll into the Red Light district in the winter to see if the working girls still have on their bikinis. :-)

Oh, and New Year's Eve was crazy here, there were so so so so many fireworks all over the place, and nobody seemed to be 'officiating' . Everyone, everywhere was lighting off fireworks, it was bordering on scary, but it was beautiful. At the party where I was, there were probably 40 different groups of people lighting off fireworks, not just little black cats either, full on shoot into the sky and explode into a giant color flower bombs! At one point I just had to laugh there were fireworks going on all around and people were dancing and kissing and the railroad tracks were on fire. It was mayhem.

Anyway, because I've been longing for some warmer and longer days, I made a little slideshow of pictures that I took in the summer / early fall. I have it over on the www.matherkunst.com

Prettige Feestdagen

2008-12-24T06:44:00.007-07:00

Yesterday we received boxes from the Mather family, and look what we now have hanging on our Christmas Tree:

Hyland's dad, Jim, has been passionate about wood carving for some time now. His carvings are very beautiful and detailed with a great deal of character.

Here is our humble little Kerstboom. It is really typical to get a huge tree in the US, but here, where people frequently have flats instead of houses and bikes instead of cars, there are far more smallish Christmas Trees.

We swore a few years ago that we would never buy a cut tree again. Two years ago, Hyland's nutty crunchy side kicked in and we got a big, fake white Christmas tree and happily decked the halls with it for two Christmasses running.

This year, Hyland got into the Christmas Spirit early and went out on the town op fiets in search of a tree and came home with this guy. Now we are sweeping evergreen needles from the floor daily, and swearing we're never going to get a cut tree again. Still, it is nice and it smells all piney.

This is another kerstboom ornament that was given to us. Click the photo for the full story.

Prettige Feestdagen is the equivalent of Happy Holidays in the US. Kind of incorporates all of the Feestdagen (literally translated: party days) that are celebrated. The Dutch generally keep Christmas for Christ, and have Sinterklaas (Dec. 5) for all the secular gift-giving. Boxing Day is celebrated here too - that is the day after Christmas. I have been told that there has been a rise in Santa Claus appearances at homes in the Netherlands, but that it is not the overwhelming commercialized event that is typical in the US.

Addison has been wrapping his toys in whatever kind of wrapping paper he can find and deciding who to give them to. It is really a sweet gesture. All he has are his toys, so that is what he has been wrapping to give people. It's the most genuine kind of gift giving. Remember that story about the wife who sold her hair to buy her husband a watch band and the husband sold his watch to buy is wife a comb for her hair? It's selfless like that.

Prettige Feestdagen, Fijne Kerstmis, much love,

xoxo
Malia

Tiny Christmas Jumpers!

2008-12-17T02:37:00.003-07:00

Ok, this is a double post, but not everyone here checks out my Diary of a Craft Fiend blog.

Here are my latest crafting exploits. Christmas jumper ornaments. (For all you Americans, jumper=sweater)

Happy Holidays
xo
Malia

Rossetti Wins!

2008-12-10T02:36:00.002-07:00

Not that we announced a competition or anything, but the first Christmas Card sent to us from abroad came from my former employer, Rossetti!

Here it is nestled in between a Faile Bunny Boy sculpture and an OG Jarrod Stuhlsatz sculpture.

Rossetti is an Architecture firm in the States with several offices. The best thing about working with Rossetti was that, even though they are involved in some really high-level work, they still always felt very much like a family firm. Matt Rossetti, the President, always sends out Christmas cards that are designed by his sister, Miga Rossetti, and personally signs them.

I left the company 8 months ago, but I still got a Christmas Card from them, sent across the sea. Thanks everyone at Rossetti - you know who you are.

Malia

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-02T05:56:00.006-07:00

Warning: This one is personal.

Ok, so I'm an Army Brat. Army Brats, and other types of Brats (military, political, corporate) spend their young, developing years being carted around from place to place as their mother or father's job dictates. This means new schools, new friends, new houses every several years. This kind of constant re-establishing of my life has given me some basic personality traits that I personally find useful. I am generally outgoing, make friends easily, accept different kinds of people readily, etc. On the other hand, it has made me a little insecure about my roots, where I come from, and my lack of a close extended family. I am a little bit worldly, a little bit vagabond.

So this past weekend we took a trip to Heerlen in the south of Holland to attend the opening of the Evan Hecox show that Hyland installed at the Glaspaleis, an extraordinary center for culture.

Well, as it happens, I lived just outside of Heerlen as a child when my dad was stationed at AFCENT. Just two train stops past the center lies the sleepy little town of Schaesberg where I was fortunate enough to live for 6 years between the ages of 6 and 12. This is the longest I lived anywhere at one time before I moved to Colorado at the age of 17 and living here had a great and lasting effect on me. So, we took a little trip to my childhood home and I have the photos to prove it.

Here is my street: Brikkebekkerstraat. Isn't that the cutest name ever?!

Here is the street. I learned to ride a bike on this street. I kissed the boy that lived in the first house on the right and thought it was yucky. I played Barbies with the girl who lived there after that boy moved away. My best friend Diana and I kicked around the neighborhood playing, fighting and being girls.

This is me and Addison in front of my old house. One year for Christmas my mom decorated the window to look like an old curiosity shop and hung a bunch of candy canes and such in the window. The kids in the neighborhood asked us if the candy canes were for sale and my brothers and I sold them to them. I think we got a Guilder each, which was a lot of money for a candy cane.

I even remember that my mom threw my dad a 30th birthday party in the garage. I'm almost 4 years older than that now.

So, this was really nice for me. Many of you probably cringe when you think of your high school reunion, or delight in seeing all your friends that you have known since elementary school when you go home for holidays. This is about the closest I'll ever get to that, but it is nice nonetheless.

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me!
xo
Malia

Sinterkerst and Zwarte Piet, Addison the Fietser

2008-11-18T04:38:00.046-07:00

Well, Addison has graduated to the 'no training wheels' era. He is now Eine geweldig Nederlands Fietser! Heel Goed! I don't have any photos of him riding without the training wheels yet, so
I'll just include a picture of the bakfiets loaded with artwork from the recent exhibition.

Hey 'fixed gear heads!', now this is a 'fixed gear' bike, yo.

Addison is also speaking such good Dutch now. In fact, so is Malia. I am definitely in last place with the learning Dutch thing. I saw my friend Jaromil yesterday, had some afternoon beers on the Gracht and went to an exhibit of his at the Netherlands Media Art Institute.

Meeting up with Jaro was a nice reminder of our time here and just how much we've really settled in over the last 7 months. Jaro was / is my first friend in Amsterdam, and he was a critical ally when we were moving.

Jaro is a real live 'squatter' and he and some other activist types squat a beautiful abandoned house here. Want to learn more about squatting in the Netherlands?

Squatting is just one of many many customs that you have to get used to here. Speaking of which, lately we have been inundated with tons of really wonderful / strange Dutch holiday traditions.

First, St Martin's Day . Sint Maarten is a Dutch / Germany tradition. It is celebrated on November 11th, which is also my mother's birthday.

It is something like the equivilent of Halloween in the States. Kids go from door to door singing songs and carrying a small paper lantern and at each house they get candy for their bags. It was very fun and funny.

Now it is time for Sinterklass, who is like Santa Claus but a bit different. Sinterklass has little helpers called Zwarte Piet, and believe me when I say, this would not fly in the States.

Zwarte Piet is Sinterklass black little 'helper'. This is a hard pill to swallow if you've grown up in a PC mindset (which actually breeds it's own kind of prejudism). Anyway, We've been to several parade's / landings of Sinterklass' boot. Sinterklass always arrives via boat here.

The kids are nuts about Zwarte Piet, mostly because Zwarte Piet always hands out the candy to the kids at the parades.

The Zwarte Pietjes basically seem like clowns, but instead of white face they have black face. It doesn't seem to offend the many different colored people who attend the festivals. I do imagine though that liberal do gooders somewhere are totally irate. Anyway, we even saw a band called the Pietels that just sang Sinterklass songs.

You cannot believe how many freaking folk songs are known by the entire Dutch population...
everyone was singing every word to these holiday gems.

I guess it is similar in the US, I know my mother knows about 50 Christmas songs.

Ok, so pretty soon, Addison will start leaving his shoes out on some nights during this season and Sinterklass comes and fills the shoes with candy and toys. Fun!

We do like our own traditions though too, so we'll have some Thanksgiving with some other Americans we know here, and of course Christmas is on the way.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy all the pictures. Here is a Sinterklass song

Hecox Exhibition Thoughts and Tun Fun

2008-10-27T04:50:00.021-06:00

Well, we've been pretty tired last couple days. Getting the Hecox exhibit here to Amsterdam and getting it hung in a single day and then having such a great opening...we're a little tired.

I had to go back to Denver for 6 days which was an eye opening and whirlwind experience. It was great to see friends and I had about 7 burritos, but not all at the same time. We dropped off our mail in ballot applications so hopefully everything will arrive in time for us to get our votes in for the critical upcoming election. The vibe is tense in the US with the financial crisis and the looming 5th of November.

The tenants at the Block Building seem to be doing well. FM magazine has just released their 3rd, crushingly solid issue. 1nventory is just as polished as ever. Tom has more artwork on consignment at Andenken than he could possibly know what to do with. Adam Sikorski has a cute new intern and the new guy Brian McFadden is a southern gentlemen. We do have mice in the building though, so I'll need to do something about that. FM also hosted a 'bang on' party at the Block Building while I was there, the theme...Michael Jackson .

There is something really awe inspiring and simultaneously irksome about the 20 something cool kids crowd and their sence of heady invincibility. They party really hard and with few taboos. The DJ's, particularly a dude name MUSA, were stellar.

But enough of the state side recap.

The Evan Hecox - Urban Abstract in Amsterdam exhibit, is underway at the Chiellerie, and the reception has been very very good.

All the work is available for sale at www.mathershop.com , and there are still a few of the prints available at www.andenken.com .

The show is just up here in Amsterdam for a few more days and then it is slated to arrive in Heerlen at the Glaspaleis in late November where it will stay on exhibit through 15th of February. This is quite a coup for us, to have our first curated show in the Netherlands traveling to a museum quality venue.

Yesterday was the last day of Addison's autumn school break. They have lots of breaks. It was raining cats and dogs all day, so we went to this amazing place called TunFun.

I've probably said it before, but if not, the Dutch are amazingly resourceful at using their limited space. TunFun is an undergound speilplaats (play place) for kinderen, built in a now defunct tunnel near Waterlouplein.

The city was planning to fill the tunnel, but apparently a playgound seemed like a better idea. The place is massive, duh, it was a tunnel for autos. This is like Chuck E Cheese on Hulk Juice, but without all the Uber fattening, somnabulent inducing deep dish pizza.

Also, again, here is a great example of the mentality of the Dutch with regards to Street Art / Graffiti.

The first step is in realizing that trying to stop Creative people from painting on stuff is impossible, so then you must ask the question, "How can we curb the destruction of private property and still allow for the painters to paint?" answer, Provide Public outlets. The entire interior of Tun Fun is covered with Graffiti. It looks awesome.

There is a slide in this place with about 6 feet of vert. Addi chickened out, adding the excuse after reading the sign, 'Deze slide is vor kinderen 7 jaar tot 12 jaar'. Yeah buddy, you can get by on that excuse for a few more months.

In Malia's last post there is a picture of the BakFiets we use to move big stuff around town. I love driving it, it is a real workout with a full load, but nothing makes you feel like an Amsterdamer like a giant work bike. I'll try to get some better pictures on Wednesday when the show comes down.

Anyway, that's it for now, here is an old Guided By Voices song.

hyland

Q: How Do You...

2008-10-26T02:18:00.008-06:00

...get more than thirty pieces of artwork to the gallery without a car?

A: With a bakfiets, of course!

The show was great, more pictures coming...

xo
Malia

Evan Hecox Show , Painting, Judo, and Booten

2008-09-29T06:24:00.021-06:00

Many things are happening quickly for us right now here in Holland. First, and very important for our new business, the Evan Hecox show -Urban Abstract in Amsterdam- is opening at the Chiellerie on October 24th.

Evan is a designer that has worked with Volkswagon and Sony and Dwell Magazine to name a few, but is most widely known for his 1000's of skateboard designs over the last 10 years for Chocolate Skateboards.

This is our first show here and it is critical that it is received well. It is also a rare opportunity for us to be able to sell original Hecox paintings which are difficult to come by and don't last very long whenever we have them.

The show is getting good coverage so far. The local hipster zine here RELOAD put a 2 page full color story about the show in their latest issue and we've been frequenting the board sport and record shops with our fliers etc. There should also be a print released for this show, so be on the lookout. Press release is available here.

Recently, Addison and I painted his room. It came out awesome.

I really like creating with Addison, he has great ideas and he is helpful and patient for a 6 year old.

He and I are planning on having our own exhibit in April of 09, the room is a good primer for it.

We have also been making some other paintings together, which you can look at here: addi and daddy paintings .

They are each available for purchase, nicely framed in Birch, shipped complete to your address, for $250 or a set of 3 for $600. I've also been making a lot of my little guys paintings. You can see all of those here. All of this work should be available in our online shop soon. mathershop.com

Addison is also well into his Judo classes now.

He really really likes it. He also has a friend in his Judo class who is his same age and lives in our building. Hopefully they'll become best buds.

We took Addison on his first boat ride the other day. We needed to find a zwemvest before he could go out, and they are surprisingly expensive for a country covered in water.

Enjoy, and here is a great old Paul McCartney song.

T

Look at Addi driving the boat.

This smiley dude is our friend Manos.

hyland

Sweet Things

2008-09-13T18:17:00.007-06:00

When Hyland and I came to Amsterdam on a visit several years ago, we found this heavenly chocolate shop that had the most delectable chocolate bonbons. I bought some chocolates there for Addison that we brought back to Denver with us.

So, this week, when I crocheted these Amigurumi Chocolates for a friend's birthday, and needed a box from a proper chocolate shop to showcase them, I of course thought of the shop that I had visited years ago and set out with Addison to find it. Being just a stone's throw from the hotel where we had stayed, it didn't take long to find and soon Addison and I were eating delicious chocolate goodness outside of the shop, and I had the box in hand.

It was this wonderful moment for me because I had thought of Addison when I first discovered the Chocolaterie, and now here we were staring together at rows of chocolate bonbons.

Things remind me of circles a lot lately.

Love,
Malia

12 Differences between Here and There

2008-08-22T02:14:00.018-06:00

So, I talked to our preacher, Joe Lusi, the other day on the phone and he asked an

interesting question: -What is the single biggest difference you've noticed since moving to Holland?-

I couldn't narrow it, so I decided to go with the classic 'top 10' list, but it ran a little long.

1. Bicycle Culture - I keep saying it but it's a pretty amazing concept that you can live in the western world in the 21st century and have little or no use for a car. There are bike paths everywhere in the city and the country.

2. Language - We don't speak Dutch fluently yet, and of course it is a barrier. One nice fringe benefit of our barrier is the complete omission from constant complaining and bickering we can't understand.

3. Proximity - Instead of everything being spread out as far as possible everything here is more compact. We are 2 blocks from School, 2 blocks from the grocery, 20 blocks from Central Station, 15 blocks from the library, 5 blocks from the hardware store, 2km from the art supply store, 20 blocks from the computer store...In Colorado, I had to drive to I-25 and Colorado Blvd.to get a new harddrive, approx 20 miles away.

4. Health Insurance - they actually aren't just trying to screw you over month to month with high premiums and then completely abandon you as soon as you need help. Addison got a black eye a few months ago and about half a dozen people asked if we had seen the physician yet! As if.

5. Pace - I'm sure it isn't true for everyone here, but our pace has slowed considerably, with more time for family, reading, painting, plinking, fietsen, socializing, cooking at home...

6. Boating Life - Canals and Grachts - Boating is a huge part of the culture. I take about 10 ferries per week. I cannot wait to get a little canal boat. I think it will be the next major purchase.

7. Open spaces. Even though Holland is a tiny country, it has large expanses of open space and farmland even very close to Amsterdam. Within 15 minutes of riding my bike either straight east or east and north, I'm in farmland, met schapen, koeien, paarden and vogels.

8. No Guns - Ok, so the Politie have guns, but no one else does. It is illegal to buy guns here! Can you believe that, totally illegal. Maybe the revolutionary thinks this is a bad idea, but as far as the day to day peace goes, it is an amazing relief. The teenagers here are not shooting each other, which is nice.

9. Quiet. The culture here is remarkably quiet considering that this is a major metropolis. You rarely even hear sirens. In the morning there is sometimes the pounding of giant steel girders being planted very deep into the sandy soil for construction.

10. Architecture. This is the most beautiful city I've ever seen. Hardly any skyline, no really tall buildings to speak of, but many very old and beautiful buildings, towers, kirks, palaces. The oude buildings are coupled with many niewe contemporary architectural examples in a very tasteful way. The main building materials menu includes, steel, glass, and brick.

11. Less Corporate B.S. - As far as the shopping goes there are far less (i.e. hardly any) giant boxstores and shopping malls. There are far more small businesses in Amsterdam than I'm used to seeing. Don't misunderstand there are huge companies here, Nuon is our Energy supplier, Waternet is the city water supplier, they have IKEA...etc. However, by and large it feels much less like the entire nation is under the thumb of corporate presence.

12. No Mexican Food - If there is one thing that I miss it's Burritos. There is just not much that is really spicy here. As a red blooded American I have eaten about 10 to 20 thousand burritos and I sorely miss the eye watering spice easily available in the States. The comparable cuisine is the Donor Kabobs. Essentially, Holland has as many Gyro stands as the States have Burrito shops. Turkish Pizza Baby! It's pretty tasty.

Pictures here are of the zoo Artis, and of a longer ride we took with Addison along the Rhine - Canal. It goes from here all the way to Germany if you please. Addison's friend is Ferris, and the other father is Dishwasher Pete. Naturlijk we didn't get any pictures of animals at the zoo.

We were very lucky to get a snap of the ghost of Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, so I thought I'd do a Stones Classic

Residency Permits

2008-08-15T07:33:00.016-06:00

I returned from a trip to London and Amsterdam in February of 2007 half depressed. I had just had an amazing time, but the realization that I wasn't living in Amsterdam had me pretty blue overall. I told my wife, - I want us to live in Amsterdam.

-Yes, someday that would be nice- she said, patting me on the arm as I whined like a baby.

-No, I'm serious, let's leave tomorrow- I said.

-I'll go- She said, and 18 months later, nearly to the day, we now have Dutch Residency Permits for the whole family.

I'm really so proud of my family. Malia and Addison have shown tremendous spine in making this life changing dream a reality.

The new arrival of our longer term Residency Permits will surely help our stride.

As if that news can be topped, I also have a hockey tryout coming in October with Thor.

Looks like I'll have to send for my gear. Warning to the animals in the cargo hold that day - Remember your respirators -

Addison is back at school, and the whole family is having trouble adjusting to the new 'bedtime' schedule.

Here is a Modern Lovers jewel

Floating Gay Pride Parade

2008-08-04T09:50:00.006-06:00

They say that Amsterdam has the biggest Gay Pride Parade outside of the United States. It was certainly an extravagant and beautiful one. What is really amazing about it to me is that there are a lot of companies supporting their gay employees by sponsoring a float. See below for IBM, WaterNet (the water company), TNT Post (The Post Office). I have also heard that the police have a float some years.

Thanks to our buddy Shawn, we had front row seats atop his canal boot house on the Prinsengracht. What a sight!

Making Things:

2008-07-23T04:45:00.006-06:00

Those of you who know me well know I am consumed with making things. This post is about making things.

Making Patterns: This is my first crochet pattern, officially published and ready to purchase on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5961649. I am really happy with it, for a first pattern. It is a crochet scooter modeled after a Vespa Primavera, early 70s. Miss my scooter.

Making Flyers: This shot is from our Gocco Session at the flat, making flyers for the upcoming Evan Hecox show we have planned for October 24th in Amsterdam. I love Print Gocco, and I will be very sad when they stop making it. I still stress pretty hard when I am working on a project. The perfectionist in me freaks when things aren't perfect.

Making Friends: I have discovered several very cool new friends who are also makers of things, and creative to the core. These photos are of crafty things that are cool to me.

A mitten Dagmar is making .

Crazy cool crocheted jasperschermers. This is Janine's wonderful creation.

The table at Wendel's house before the delicious barbeque. This was the Stitch and Bitch BBQ celebrating the beginning of summer.

This is a cupcake that Wendel made. Seriously friends, if you like this, go and check her flickr page with other amazing delights. Check out the bento boxes, they are fantastic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookatmyphotos/

I also have a great new friend, Kim who is giving me singing lessons in exchange for knitting pointers and possibly some graphic design. Photos and details another day...

Making Meals: These few photos are of the famous Albert Cuyp Markt in Amsterdam where I occasionally find myself shopping for ingredients. There is a closer market where I go more frequently, but this one seems to fall on my path from time to time. I love the man working the vegetable stand. So salt of the earth. Having really fresh ingredients is very nice, and the culture of shopping here is really geared towards getting the freshest ingredients as you need them, and not in a gigantic shopping trip to Super Target.

We have had several dinner parties at our house, continuing the tradition of the Mather family Denver dinner parties. Sadly, I don't have any photos of them yet, seems food, friends and wine detract from photo taking at these events!

Friends Forever,
Malia

Open Library, Open Book, Open Windows

2008-07-21T06:36:00.024-06:00

The Amsterdam Central Open Baar Bibliotek is a triumph.

Located a few blocks from Amsterdam Central Station, it is either very thoughtfully located, or very fortutously placed.

It is my guess that it is not an accident. The Dutch are excellent city planners, and they do love their books.

If you ride or boat through the city at night you will see in the windows of the houses along the grachts and canals, almost always a living room with a large book case.

In fact, it seems very standard in a Dutch living room that there is a large 'eet tafel' (dining table), a book case, and some kind of amazing clock, and maybe one very nicely framed painting.

Typical Dutch houses have the curtains drawn open even at night time.

Apparently it is a Dutch tradition, that offers standard
social proof that the family has 'nothing to hide'.

The love affair with books can't just be for show, I don't
know, maybe...

The Dutch are among the most educated populations on the planet but even they have mind wiping Television.

We have no television in our house though, which means I
at least have to go to the pub to see Oranje loose to the
Russians in the football Eurocup. My friend Dishwasher Pete has given me a new team to look after though. I am supposed to be doing some homework on becoming a 'Tim' which is the nickname given to the fans of the Scotish Premiere football league champions, Celtic.

Anyway, It has been really good not to have television again, although
now we just sit in a long line at our 'eet tafel' plinking away
on our laptops (my Dell did happen to die yesterday though).
Addison is about to get his first laptop, when he gets to 100 stars. It will be running Linux 'naturlik'. Please email if you have any extra laptops lying around. :-)

Anyway...without the television we have been doing more learning of De Nederlands met de Rosetta Stone language software. Useful that.

We have also had more time, particularly Addison and I, to get completely lost in the role playing video game FATE.

We have read the first few Harry Potter books and a History of Quidditch. Basically right now it is all about magic and adventure.

Addison's bed time stories now are always about a tribe of little tiny Indians that were once part of the greater Choctaw tribe.

After being badly beaten in a battle with Viking settlers the Indians were shrank with a spell from their famous shamen SosiPosi in order to escape with their lives.

They have stayed tiny ever since. It takes a crew of 14 Little
Indians to fish one salmon from the river.

Anyway, the library has thousands of Dutch kid books, which are
another good way for Malia and I to try and figure out the
language. Here are a few more pictures of the amazing library and another Australian garage rock anthem

Oh, and why not, here's a Hawkwind jam too.

Toothless!

2008-07-10T09:13:00.004-06:00

Check out this toothless grin. Our little man is growing up *sigh*. I am really shocked to see how quickly the new tooth is coming in. He talks with a slight lisp now which is really cute. Soon he'll have those teeth that seem way too big for his mouth until he grows into them!

Love, Malia

The Path To The Polders

2008-06-25T14:58:00.021-06:00

Riding bikes around here is the best thing going. We haven't been in an automobile once in 2 months. So...now the adventures are getting a little bigger.

First, Addison is riding most everyday. He still has his training wheels, but he's getting it.

Second, we've starting riding out of the city. North from Amsterdam is an amazing day get away to the polders.

The free ferry leaves the docks behind Amsterdam Central and drops you on the north side of the HET IJ . From here you basically go recht for 10 kms, heading east and north. Now, the polders...this is cool.

A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes. There are three types of polders:

* Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the sea bed;
* Flood plains separated from the sea or river by a dike;
* Marshes separated from the surrounding water by a dike and consequently drained.

Much of Holland Nord is a polder. Moreover, these polders are very old, some dating back to the 11th century. There is a saying here, "God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland".

The history of polders in the Netherlands gets high marks for cooperation and engineering. Apart from Protestant Calvinism, building polders might be the most significant contributor to the Dutch socio-economic model.

The Polder Model is the Dutch version of consensus policy in economics. The term is also used to describe similar cases of consensus decision-making. Consensus policy requires tons of negotiating and compromise which are typical ingredients in their culture.

About the amazing scenery...The Ransdorp tower was the furthest point of travel on this recent outing. The tower is 32 meters high, which makes it by far the tallest thing for 5 kms in any direction. The view is amazing as is the tower.

Malia and I saw a place to have a dinner date in a town called Durgerdam, Cafe De Oude Taveerne.

The little towns are so picturesque it doesn't even seem real. The sail boats, the sheep, the canals, the churches. It really is amazing.

I've also included some FAILE pieces, and an Invader piece from secret locations in Amsterdam . Lastly an effort from the 60's girl group, Jeannie and the Big Guys

Father's Day in Holland

2008-06-15T15:08:00.020-06:00

Well today was just a perfect day for me. French Toast, Home Fries, and Eggs for ontbijt.

We went to Rembrandt Park today, which is just south of the main parts of Amsterdam. It was very beautiful, natuurlijk. At the park there was a giant 'rope' jungle gym.

They have them in the States but this was a massive one. 12 Meters high, kids all over it. It looks like a spider web covered in kids. Addison climbed to the top. The very top. Only kid in the park to do it. He stood at the top, on the top rope 'the crows nest' and he held both hands over his head and yelled 'Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!' at the top of his lungs.

I was so proud of him. It was a nice gift for Father's day. I also got 3 pairs of Argyle Socks bought at a Saturday Market . Malia is the Markt Koningin .

We also saw an amazing mural piece in another part of the park.

There was a zip line for kids. We got video. They seem to have zip lines and kinder borderij (kid farm...petting zoos), everywhere.

I've also posted a few shots of Westerpark. Addison and I went to a Tree House, Gnome Land, Pirate Ship type location in Westerpark on Saturday. Addison took most of the photos. He really works for his shots. I'll sign off with the images and a 'freak beat' 60's garage rock classic from the UK Renegades

On Pirate Parks

2008-06-13T11:31:00.008-06:00

There are a lot of playgrounds in Amsterdam. I mean, practically every block has one. This particular park we call Pirate Park. Partly because Addison is pirate crazy, and partly because it's a huge pirate-ey boat with a sign that reads "Spelen op eigen risk". Play at your own risk.

The Netherlands, and I believe Europe in general, is very much a play at your own risk type of place. When we first arrived, Hyland and I both noted a flat we used to ride by on the tram that had this gigantic window, usually totally open, with about a 30-foot drop to the pavement outside. Inside, the family carried on their regular lives, unaware that death awaited their toddler at the hands of that window.

Now I realize that they have made it clear to the toddler that he/she may die if he/she goes too close to the window, the child has agreed to not fall or jump out the window, and they move forward without making too much of a fuss about it.

Here, you will find railings with huge, baby sized gaps in them; super tight, 3inch deep spiral stairs that only the most fit adults could manage through; and boats crammed to the brim with drunk people floating down the canals and booming techno music. I have never seen a single person actually in the canal, or falling off of one of these floating ragers. Amazing.

Coming from a place where everyone around you must somehow be at fault for your misfortune, this has been an aspect of life here that is both strange and comforting. It is comforting because, well, all this finger pointing has made Americans sissies.

This week, Addison fell off the monkey bars in the gymnasium and they had to call me to come down and check him out. He got a huge shiner from falling right on his head, but was totally fine. He came home for the rest of the morning and went right back to school in the afternoon. I couldn't help but think about what percentage of parents in America might have suggested that the teachers were negligent, or should have somehow prevented this from happening.

I just kept thinking about Pirate Park. Play at your own risk.

Boot Party

2008-05-29T02:15:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I was invited to a verjaardag boot party! This is when you have a boat (boot), some people (one of whom has a birthday - verjaardag), some wine and other party favors, and take it all out on the canals around the city, drinking and reveling.

It is a really amazing sight, the water, the houseboats, and the lights. It is also a very different way to see the city. Most of the time, you bike around the water, basically getting around the city by going over and around the canals to reach your destination. On the canals, it really feels like you are going the quickest route. We floated up the Prinsengracht, around Prinzeneiland, around Central Station, down through the Red Light district, through the old center, and back to park the boot at the Prinzengracht.

I have been super excited about learning Dutch, so it was really fun to learn the birthday song - Lang zal ze leven. It goes:

Lang sal ze leven, Lang zal ze leven, Lang zal ze leven (Long shall she live)
In de gloria, In de gloria, In de gloria. (In glory)
Hippity hip - hurrah
Hippity hip - hurrah

Too bad I can't actually sing it to you because the tune is really cute and catchy. (or, lucky for you , however you want to look at it!) I like how it's all about living long and having a glorious rest of your life. I can't wait until they sing it to me!

Friends Forever,
Malia

Kids are cool.

2008-05-27T02:37:00.005-06:00

Addison started school today at the local openbare basisschool. That's the public elementary school a few blocks from our house. So, the vacation is officially over for Addi. But, in five weeks, we'll be on vacation all over again.

Lately Addison has been taking these great close-up photos of his own sculptures. It's really cool to see the perspective that he has for his own work. This particular sculpture was made on a trip we took with Pete and Ferris to a pirate show.

Hyland took these of Addi when we were out on a walk discovering the neighborhood.

2008-05-12T03:03:00.007-06:00

Yesterday we took the ferry over to a cafe in north Amsterdam called the Norderlicht to meet some friends of friends that have lived in Amsterdam for the past 6 years. Just after we got off the ferry, Pete gave us a brief bike tour of this huge warehouse that has been converted into an art compound - for lack of a better word. It is an old warehouse that was once squatted by artists, and has become legal. The place seemed to be evolving very quickly with a new front door going in and studios throughout the space being built. There was a skate park in the building, and we could hear the skateboarders, but we didn't have a chance to go up and check it out. We'll definitely be going back to get a better look. It was pretty amazing.

After that we had a really nice meal and a few delicious beers with Pete and Amy and their son Ferris. Addison had a great time pretending to find asteroids and kicking around in the sand. It was really nice to have some social time with other parents. The cafe was really cute, a quanset hut building with clear plastic siding. They incorporated the use of strawbale in parts of the building, and Pete explained that they have a cooling system that works like a swamp cooler with water and fans.

(the photo of Addi and Hyland in the tree is actually from a few days ago when we fietst through flavopark.)

Images from Amsterdam

2008-05-08T06:02:00.005-06:00

It is difficult to explain what it is like here in Amsterdam without posting photos. So, today I have a bunch of various photos from the seat of a bicycle and from the window of our flat.

It is such a beautiful place, and the living is good. We have eaten nothing but fresh food since we have been here, and we are cycling everywhere every day.

There is a park out in front of the flat where Addison can play. There is a great photo here of him jumping off the apparatus in the playground.

There are great sights and smells all over the city, and it is a never-ending discovery for me.

The day we signed our contract for our flat was Konningendag - seemingly the biggest holiday for the Dutch. It was so busy in the City, people everywhere dressed head to toe in Orange - the color of the ruling house. Above is a photo of the carnival in Dam Square during Konningendag.

A New Place to Live for the Mather Family

2008-04-29T09:53:00.006-06:00

Well....Today we signed the lease on our new place. It is an amazing space in a beautiful building in a great neighborhood. It has a park across the street and an Albert Heijn grocery store on the next block. It is also right along a wide canal / small boat port ...just perfect. I'll post a few pictures too. It certainly is an awesome relief. Now the next things health insurance...residence permit etc.

Tot Zints

2008-04-27T08:13:00.003-06:00

Well Malia and Addison made it safe and sound. Yesterday we got a bike 'feits' for Malia and a seat for Addison to go on my bike.

We had a meeting with a potential design client, nice, cross your fingers it would be great to be working already.

Today we went to the beach outside of Den Haag. It was awesome, Addison collected like 2 million sea shells.

Tuesday is a huge day for us. Say a little prayer for us for that day. It is a secret for now, but I'll tell you later if it all works out.

later,
hyland

2008-04-24T00:09:00.002-06:00

Well I have been in Holland a little more than one week. I can't wait for Addison and Malia to arrive. Hopefully we'll have a place starting in May. I have been pounding the pavement everyday looking. Cross your fingers everyone.

I have done quite a bit of painting since arriving. You can see em at www.andenken.com/netherlands_little_guys/ and www.andenken.com/netherlands_little_guys/cowboys.

There is a wonderful site a woman turned me onto here called Laura Speaks Dutch. It has podcasts for learning dutch. I put them on the ipod and just comb the canals riding my bike and learning. www.lauraspeaksdutch.info

I have been all over the city on my bike. I love traveling this way, but my ass is surely sore.

I have been staying with these crazy Italians, Jaro and Alisio, last night Jaro and another friend Chris and I went to an exhibit at a media center it was pretty nice sound installation. I can't remember the name, oh yes, Melkweg www.melkweg.nl/

Talk soon,
hyland

It's Official!

2008-04-01T11:55:00.006-06:00

We got our tickets. No turning back now. Hyland leaves on the 14th and Addison and I leave on the 24th.

Last week we moved into our friend's vacant, recently Ikea-ed-out apartment for our last three weeks in Colorado. We are ever-thinning our belongings and are now down to what we can fit in two pieces of luggage each. This whole excercise has made me realize that we don't need so many "things". It has made me love my boys even more than before, and I thought I had already topped out the love scale on these guys!

It has also brought up memories of growing up an army brat, moving every few years. Funny how I don't remember being upset about it at all. I remember feeling excited about meeting new friends, having a new school, and reinventing myself. That's how I feel now.

Peace and Love,
Malia

Now you know.

2008-03-17T18:40:00.003-06:00

The entire motivation to start this blog is so that we can keep our friends and family up to date on our lives. So, here's the dish.

On the grand checklist that is our life leading up to moving, we have checked off a lot of the boxes. Some of those boxes include: selling our rental and our house, making some preliminary preparations in the Netherlands, getting the Rossetta Stone for learning Dutch, alerting my work that we are moving, getting rid of about 90% of our belongings, and renting out almost all of our studios at the Block Building.

Hyland leaves for Amsterdam the first week in April. Young Mather and I are scheduled for departure during the third week. We've been desperately trying to get in some quality time with our friends before we leave, but we are really hoping that the April art opening at Andenken will bring everyone out of the woodwork.

There's not much more to say for now. Once we're across the pond, I'll probably have a lot more exciting things to share.

Eternally yours,
Malia