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Anatomy Lesson at the Gemeentemuseum

  Rembrandt’s astonishing painting of the anatomy lesson is temporarily housed at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. I couldn’t wait to see this painting. In fact, I’m afraid I rushed through rooms full of many of the other paintings that are temporarily housed there while the Mauritshuis is being renovated … Continue reading

Author : nike

A walk in York

I went for a lovely ambling walk in the city of York today, with the charming, ebullient and very engaging local historian, Chris Kelly. I have to make notes for the exam he threatened, but in the meantime, here are some of the very wonderful things I discovered with his … Continue reading

Author : nike

Three good things

One of my best friends in the whole world taught me about keeping a gratitude journal. It’s not something I do regularly, mostly cos this year I’m too busy keeping my four-minute diary (I learned how from the totally awesome Lynda Barry, who tumblers at The Near-Sighted Monkey). But today, … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 4 Comments

Orphan masters and executions

Today’s little entry in the cabinet of curiosities comes from the royal palace in Amsterdam. The palace squats at the edge of the Dam – the large central plein of Amsterdam. It was built in the mid-seventeenth century as a town hall, and its history as a centre of bureaucracy … Continue reading

Author : nike

Surprise! You’ve got mail

At the risk of being terribly self-centred, today’s object is not one I discovered in a museum, street or gallery. Instead, it arrived by post from the United Kingdom. A box of books. My books. Not just books I own, but books I wrote. I wonder if there any moments … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 4 Comments

A sign in the window

This very ordinary little wooden plaque with tin triangle advertising the sale of watches played a role in saving hundreds of people’s lives in Haarlem during the Second World War. During the period of the nazi occupation of Holland, the Ten Boom family ran a safe house above their clock … Continue reading

Author : nike

Spicy birds, healthy beer, and the number 8 tram

God, I think I’m becoming a museum tragic. All of my letters home are filled with the stories I find in them, and in the conversations I rarely have the courage to strike up with strangers. I’m sure I’m boring all my long-suffering friends to death, so instead I should … Continue reading

Author : nike

Svanhamnen

This image is one of five illustrations Jon Bauer did for the 1908 publication of Helena Nyblom’s Svanhamnen. Bauer was a wonderful Swedish artist and illustrator, best known for his illustrations of folk and fairy tales. His detailed, imaginative and emotionally engaging compositions influenced other artists working on children’s illustration, … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 3 Comments

Rupetta

Next year my novel, Rupetta, will be released through Tartarus Press. It’s been a long time coming, which is a story all on its own. The novel’s main character is a four hundred year old mechanical woman – not a robot – who comes to life/consciousness in 1619. I chose … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 5 Comments