The final leg of our Europe 2013 trip was a brief stay in Amsterdam. I was really charmed by the city and its people and hope to visit The Netherlands again to see more of the country. One of the highlights of Amsterdam was definitely visiting the Rijksmuseum. It had only just re-opened earlier this year after extensive renovations. We were lucky enough to go first thing in the morning and it was a joy to be able to see the Vermeer paintings with hardly anyone in sight! A huge difference to the previous week’s visit to the Louvre, where it was like walking amongst a mob.
This trip to Europe was also special because I was able to visit two of my old friends from the days when I was an exchange student at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. I saw my friends Lee Ting Yi, in Paris, and Uzine Park, in Amsterdam. It had been over 13 years since I last saw them and we picked up right where we left off. I was really happy to see that we were all still painting and making art!
By the end of the two week vacation, walking over 8 hours every day, I was very grateful for everything that I had experienced but was also very happy to be heading home. I needed to get back into the studio in order to digest everything that I had seen and hopefully funnel that inspiration into some new art work. It’s always the best feeling when my mind is brimming with ideas!
