You don't have to be a Rockefeller to have what you want...

Meet Herb & Dorothy.

He was a postal clerk. She was a librarian.

With their modest means, the couple managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history.

http://www.herbanddorothy.com

She thinks...

New York, a ten minute impression...

We ♥ NY! from Kathleen Steegmans on Vimeo

Angel-A by Luc Besson

Things that come back...

During our visit in NY we made the picture below...


Going through some old pictures, I found this picture made in 1996...


POST NO BILLS!

Damien Hirst!

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
@ The Met, NY.



For the Love of God
Untill december 15th @ Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Invitation for november 20th.

Projections of my work @ Soir Jeudi

Place: Cafe Capital, Rubenslei 37, Antwerp, Belgium
Hours: 22.30u - 5.00u
Free Entrance All Night Long

Resident Deejays: Prinz & Pirrès
Free sticker (as above) for everybody!

Johannes Kahrs

From the expo 'EYES ON HIS BODY', Luhring Augustine Gallery, NY.

Alfred Kubin

Alfred Kubin (April 10, 1877 – August 20, 1959) was an Austrian Expressionist, illustrator and occasional writer.
The first major museum exhibition of Alfred Kubin's work is now open at Neue Gallery in NY and will be up til January 26th.

Very impressive!

Unconditional love

Is not supposed to change when conditions change...

Or is it just a term used to justify actions at one moment that can be taken back the other?

Letting go

is one of the most difficult things to do...

Today

I decided to have more time for the things I really want to do!

From december I'll have a big space to work but I'm not going to wait, the time is now!

It's all in the mind...

New York - Part I

I ♥ NEW YORK

New York was great!

Pictures and stories will follow soon!

For now a view from the plain during the first flight from Zaventem to Shiphol...

Party time! :)

New York, New York...

Here we come! We'll be visiting from october 4th untill 11th! Looking forward very much...

“One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years”
Thomas Wolfe

I need to...

do something!

I have a dream

Text by Ilse Wanten. 

Written for the 'I have a dream' project / 'The mistress in motion'.

The project is still in a dreaming phase, more news about this if and when it becomes reality...

The days of the wise men are over.
Their stories turned into mythes.
The heroes and heroïnes of which they spoke
all seem to fade in the mist.

The natural state of mankind
is standing on our doorstep again.
Growling and grinding, gasping for breath
she says : 'Please, please let me in!'
Free as a bird you think you are ?
I dare to say you are wrong.
The things you were told?
Well, you've bought what they sold
and they made you believe you needed them.
You see, freedom has nothing to do
with how you keep yourself
locked in a cage.
Don't think for a second
what i say is not true.
'cause who would you fool
but yourself... '

(c) ilse wanten 2008

Just a face...

The Mistress in motion

Forbidden fruit...

from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Innocence is lost after eating this much desired fruit...

CO.ntradiction portfolio

Pleased to say the CO.ntradiction portfolio is ready!

I played a role in the video and made the artwork, website 

and MySpace...

Click here to see the video

Click here to see the complete portfolio

Click here to see the new CO.ntradiction website

Click here to see the new MySpace

On the road again...

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” 

Jack Kerouac

Leaving for London today and very much looking forward! Back on Tuesday...

A magical weekend...

We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream
to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes
come true, as long as we keep believing...
Louisa May Alcott

Popfolio, coming closer to 'the end'... (beginning!)

The last few days Tim and I have been acting. We've been playing a role in the videoclip for Contradiction. It was a very nice experience and we're looking forward to see the result.
First I need to make a cd booklet, website and new myspace for Contradiction. The results can be seen (and voted for!) from september 1st on the popfolio website...

All that's needed is action!

"Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that
would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing;
forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action."
Orison Swett Marden

Blijburg aan zee, an impression...

We had a great time in Amsterdam! On saturday there was the expo in (bl)ijburg, sunday we visited the city.
An impression...

Blijburg aan zee, here we come!

This afternoon Tim & I will be going to Amsterdam. Blijburg aan zee to be more precise! Dj Prinz invited me to have a one evening expo over there and we're very much looking forward!

More news when we're back!

Action!

I made two new paintings this week. Both are based on illustrations 

I made quite a while ago...

Perfect Friend

100 x 140 cm

Woman_One

60 x 70 cm

Bar Jeudi

Thanks to everyone who was @ Bar Jeudi yesterday! 

It was a wonderfull evening!

A short impression...

More pictures on Flickr soon!

Open your eyes...

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to 

recognize it as such.
Henry Miller

Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and The Tangerine

I was just looking at the program of the Guggenheim museum and the Louise Bourgeois retrospective is only running untill september 28th... We'll arrive in NY on Octobre 4th... I would have loved to see this exhibition!


Click here to see the trailer of the documentary about Louise...

Bar Jeudi - Thursday July 24th!

Today there was an article about Bar Jeudi in Zone 03.

Click here to read it!
Click here for more info about Bar Jeudi...

Join me on July 24th for an evening of fun, good food, drinks and dancing!

To enjoy the wonderfull dinner that will be served please
let me know your coming before teusday July 22 or send
an e-mail to marcella2306@hotmail.com...

Aperitif from 19h, dinner from 20h untill 23h and afterwards >>
Dancing!!!

Proficiat Ollie & Mieke!

Today Ollie & Mieke got married. To congratulate them Tim & I made this short video. My first iMovie experiment! I want to experiment a lot more! :)
Not now however... we've got a wedding party to go to!!! :)

The power of PASSION!

The last few weeks I've been working on a brochure for the 21st qualitycongres of The Flemish Quality Management Center.
This year the theme is 'Passion'! I can definitely recommend everybody who cares for quality, innovation, transformation and of course PASSION to take part in this event. Because it's located in the Flanders and mostly spoken in Dutch it would be convenient to life in Belgium or the Netherlands... ;)

Click here to see the brochure.

Invitation...

Join me and my friends on July 24th for a One evening only expo @ Bar Jeudi, Café Capital, Anvers! The best food, drinks, music & a good atmosphere are guaranteed!

Click here for more info!

Life & love...

Change...

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.
To make a deep mentalpath, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."
Henry David Thoreau

To change it's most important to break the patterns we life by...

How good do you want to be?

Reading suggestion: Paul Arden: It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be.

Some quotes:

* Don't look for the next opportunity. The one you have in hand is the opportunity.

* When it can't be done, do it. If you don't do it, it doesn't exist.

* Don't give a speech, put on a show.

* Energy! It's 75% of the job. If you haven't got it, be nice.

You must have one grand passion!*

What do you do when you've got several?

Today I first met my team for the Popfolio competition. This competition brings together 'creative souls'. In the first stage bands, photographers, graphic designers, writers, art directors and videomakers could make a profile on the popfolio (dating)site. Afterwards profiles could match each other. I chose to make a match with CO.ntradiction. After the first meeting today I am very much looking forward to work on this portfolio. 

The music is mysterious, jazzy, bluesy, sweet, pop, rock, ... 

The team is divers and eager to make this a succes...

I've got a very good feeling about this! 

More info: Popfolio, CO.ntradiction MySpace

I first found out about this competition through Silver Junkie, the band I'm working with for several years now. With Tino Biddeloo I'm currently working on a new concept for the theatertour and a new cd.  www.silverjunkie.be

Besides this I'm also working on a brochure for the yearly congres of The Flemish Quality Management Center. The theme for this year: passion!  www.vck.be

In between I try to find time to work on new paintings and a new portfolio for myself... 

Also thinking about an exhibition...

And discovering the new (fantastic!!!) iMac...

+ enjoying life!

I need 80 hours a day!!!

* Truism by Jenny Holzer

If you can dream it...

you can do/have it!

After working on a small and slow laptop (Vista... Aaahhhhh!!!) for almost a year now one of my dreams has come true! 

Yesterday I bought my first 24inch iMac and it's magic!

Pictures & (computerbased) artwork will never be the same again...
(new pictures online after recieving the Adobe Creative Suite, hopefully very soon! ;))

Creative thinking...

There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.
Edward de Bono

Last week I did a course in Creative thinking >> http://www.cocd.org/
I can recommend it to everybody!

Monday! Most likely to be 'Procrastination Day'...

Procrastination is a type of behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

While procrastinating today I found this movie about it...



Movie found on the Creatopia blog >> http://www.creatopia.typepad.com/
Check it out for lots & lots more info about Creativity!

What about TODAY?

TODAY we're thinking about the human brain, creativity & perception...

One of many aspects to consider:

We can only see what we THINK is there... >> we get 'used' to our own vision of reality. Why? We think in patterns and patterns become naturally dominant! For this reason >> postpone your judgement to see new possibilities!
Perception consists of information gathered from outside for only 20%, consequently 80% is produced in the brain itself >> Reality can change when our perception changes...

Conclusion >> many changes begin with a new way of looking at things!

More info? http://www.creativitytoday.net/

Götterdämmerung - Vlaamse opera

On thursday we went to the general rehearsal of Götterdämmerung, an opera by Richard Wagner, directed by Ivo van Hove with a scenography by Jan Versweyveld.

For this production is a great combination of 'the old' & 'the new' I would recommend everybody to go and see this masterpiece.

Presentation to cast & team by Ivo van Hove and Jan Versweyveld.

More info & playdates on http://www.vlaamseopera.be/

Busy, busy, busy...

More news to follow soon!

Some music (with a great clip) for now...

(Thanks to Callie!)

On tuesday Tino Biddeloo from Silver Junkie did an
interview @ Radio Centraal.
Click here for an impression...

Knights of NOW

On april 17, the Knights of NOW visited the
VVSG Meetingday in Gent.
Click here for an impression of the day...

Great things...

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
George Eliot
(Mary Ann Evans)

Silver Junkie Live

April 18, 2008, Evere
Click here to see some action...

Letting go...

It took me four years to paint like Raphael,
but a lifetime to paint like a child.
Pablo Picasso


I'm painting now...
I'm feeling now...
I'm letting go...
I can't predict...
I'm curious...
I'm afraid...
I'm excited...
...
I'm going now...

The time is NOW!

So I'm getting ready to spread the word again with
"The knights of NOW"!
For more info go to: http://www.riddersvan.nu/

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift, that's why we call it the present.
W.C. Fields

ENJOY!

Silver Junkie @ Cultuurnacht

Saturday Silver Junkie performed at the Cultuurnacht, Antwerp...

Click here to see all the pictures...

To get something done...

action is required!

That's a simple fact!

And still... lot's of things need to be done and not a lot of action is going on...

Time for a change!!! >> 1, 2, 3, GO!!!

A process called life...

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
Anaïs Nin

It's time again...

No new work today but good news!
Starting from tomorrow I'll be painting again. I found an atelier to rent for three weeks with the goal of making a new series of oil paintings...

More info and (maybe) previews to follow soon...

For now I wish everybody who reads this a great day and/or night,
ENJOY!

Xx

Weekendfun...

After a heavy but fun party weekend I'm now totaly back on track! Most things are 'in progress' so for now let's just see some 'weekend pictures'! ;)

It's all in our minds...

He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't.
This is an inexorable, indisputable law.
Pablo Picasso

If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.
Walt Disney

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
Albert Einstein

Transition_03_2008

Now it's time for something new...

Freedom of choice...

Hugo Claus, 1929-2008

BDay Party Invitation

Click here to see the complete invitation...

A start in contradiction...

The Mistress
Oil on mdf
108 x 108 mm