BLOG HOP

Vibeke of 'a butterfly in my hair' invited me for a BLOG HOP
here are my answers to the 4 questions

what i am working on:
at the moment i am working on several things
i will have my yearly exhibition in october in the finest shop in our village
i am therefor brooding on different ideas, there will be linocut prints of nudes and birds, and some quotes
all in black printing ink on white paper and some gold
and i finally will open an etsyshop this month (oops! so little time left) 
besides that i am making lists of the seeds i want to order for my kitchen garden 
and i am making my own clothes again  ;^))

how my work differs from others in it's genre:
such a difficult one, i don't know.... i just make things i like to make, for me, for myself
little stories about me in a clear line, clean and simple, in black on white (when it comes to linocuts)
in everything i try to stay true to myself, which i find difficult now and then
and 
it still can surprise me that somebody else likes what i make as much as i do

why i create what i do:
i just have to, it makes me happy to work with my hands 
i see myself more as a maker than an artist, i like so many things
which is nice but also a problem, when it comes to focus
since i was little i love to draw, etching and linocuts came at a later stage
i love the smell of the lino and of the printing ink, and i love the sound of my beautiful printing press
since i have that press (a Korrex Stuttgart proofpress from 1967) i can also print texts
using old wooden letterpress letters and hopefully soon also lead type

how my creative process works:
most of the time it starts with writing down a more or less vague idea 
in words with little doodle drawings to support
than the brooding begins
inspiration can come from an image, something someone said, and so many other things
i like the process of writing, drawing and thinking, of inventing, modifying, adapting and sorting out
whether it's a linocut, a painting or an interior project
i think i like this the best, the brooding part
after that (when it comes to linocuts) i draw directly on the lino and adjust, when necessary, while cutting and proof-printing
finally i print just a few, i like my editions to be limited

thank you Vibeke for asking me for this BLOG HOP! 
now it's my turn to invite some very inspiring women i admire a lot
please visit: 
Renilde of AT-SWIM-TWO-BIRDS
Inge of geruit blauw
and Merlijne of carnet de voyage

thanks and
i wish you all a fine weekend!